Medicine Modality: Koshi Chimes.

At Blue Morpho (retreat center) in the Amazon, there's always a "ceremony" after the ayahuasca ceremony. 

It's what Malcolm, one of the Maestro shamans, calls the "soft landing." The Peruvian shamans leave the ceremony house, after what's usually three hours of an intense medicine space filled with icaros... And the ceremony assistants, the apprenticing shamans, and Malcolm all ease us out of the intensity and into a space where we come down.

The lanterns are turned on, and we're allowed to quietly talk and move about... But not allowed to leave the ceremony house or have liquids just yet. It's something that Malcolm and the other shamans started doing a few years ago to assist with the processing of what you experience in the intense part of the ceremony. 

Part of the "soft landing" includes the use of musical instruments that gently move the energy in your thoughts around. My favorite - and many others' favorite - are the Koshi Chimes.

I ordered some a few weeks ago from Germany, and they arrived yesterday. There are four. I only received three, as they still have to finish making the fourth for me.

They are wooden on the outside, and have a circular range of little bars on the inside. When they are shaken, they play a beautiful story of a melody. The four that I ordered are styled after the four elements (left to right in the photo above): Water, Fire, Air and Earth (still waiting for that one).

In the "soft landing" ceremony, the ceremony assistants and apprenticing shamans walk around while shaking them gently.  They'll stand over you and play them specifically for you. Just like Reiki, icaros, massage... The melody moves energy around in your mind. It eases you. It relaxes you. It allows you to connect to what you just experienced in ceremony.

They are magical. And I knew I would eventually buy some myself.

I love their sounds...

These are now a part of my own personal medicine toolkit. Just like with the smudging of sage, I walk around my house playing them in various parts to move the energy around.