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Bustos S. 
“The Healing Power of the Curanderos’ Songs or “Icaros”: A Phenomenological Study”. 
. 2004 Spring.
Abstract
The literature on the healing effect of the Peruvian Amazonian curanderos’ songs or icaros is scarce despite their central position in the curanderos’ healing practices, particularly in ayahuasca rituals. The purpose of this study is to explore in-depth the experience of the icaros as healing with a focus on the perception of their musical features, during a lived sound-recorded ayahuasca group ritual. The study will be conducted at Takiwasi, center for the study of traditional medicine and the rehabilitation of drug addicts in Tarapoto, Peru, as well as in other areas of the Upper Amazon. Participants will be five men and women with prior experience with the brew who have intensely felt one or more icaros as healing. The research approach is qualitative and the method phenomenological. Data collection will be based on the participants re-listening to musical extracts of the session and subsequently entering a writing and open-ended interviewing process about their experiences.
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