Kambo Medicine
Kambo, or “frog medicine” is the dried venomous secretion of the giant leaf or monkey frog native to the Amazon basin.
To gather the secretion, the frogs are tied by the legs and the waxy substance is scraped and collected onto pieces of wood from the back and legs of the frog. Once dried, kambo can be stored for later use. When used, it is mixed with water and applied directly to small burns made on the skin to enter the bloodstream.
What is Kambo?
Kambo is growing in popularity across the US and the world, which is causing concerns for the frogs and the effects of harvesting methods. Although the frogs are not killed in harvesting, they can be traumatized with unknown short or long-term effects. I’ve only worked with people who have a source that is (at least we think) in integrity with gentler harvesting methods that presumably are less traumatizing to the frogs and that results in medicine with more spiritual integrity.
Kambo is known for many traditional therapeutic applications. Once the secretion is applied to the small burns created for that purpose, the medicine can be powerful and even cause purgative effects. Even though Kambo can be an “ordeal” it is sought out and used as a cleansing force to revitalize the body and mind.
Kambo Ceremony
The Kambo ceremony may be held in ways specific to the facilitator and may be more or less reverent depending on the experience, training, and intention.
Because Kambo can elicit intense sensations and purging, it’s certainly not a party “drug.” It’s serious medicine that is generally used with greater intention for purging energies, cleansing the body and mind, and general healing.
Kambo ceremonies are the “set and setting” for the application of the medicine and the journey of the participant through the effects of the medicine.
As with most psycho-spiritual substances, it’s common to believe that the medicine will always give you what you need. There is a lot of truth to that in my own experience, however, intention seems to play a large part in it.
Kambo Experience
Kambo is generally served in groups as small as a few up to a dozen or more depending on the number of facilitators involved. Each participant should have easy access to tissue and a purge bucket, either or both of which may be needed at any time.
The facilitator (s) will generally provide an introduction to the medicine and a grounding ceremony, invocation, or prayers and may invite each participant to share their own intention to create a sense of collective to the experience.
Once this initial phase is over, the groups I’ve been with begin by offering another medicine called “sananga” (see my sananga page for more info), which is applied to the eyes as drops and initiates an intense burn that is said to heal and repair many eye-related issues.
After sananga, the facilitator will come around with a buring incense stick that they use to make the burns on the skin. In reality, the burn is made in an instant and is intended only to take off the first few layers of skin and not create any kind of deep or lasting wound.
These burns are often referred to as “gates” or “points” as they allow the frog secretion to enter the bloodstream very quickly once applied.
Because the gates often leave small scars, participants often choose where to receive them and can make designs with the dots that may mean something to them. These scars are most prevalent over the first few weeks after a Kambo ceremony, but often fade depending on the natural skin reaction of the individual. Often, the facilitator will apply some form of oil, balm, or in my experience dragons blood to soothe and seal the wound once the Kambo is removed after the 20 minutes when the medicine stays on the skin are over.
For those who have never experienced Kambo, it is common practice for a “test point” to be used to determine if the participant may experience any adverse effects to the medicine. Once safety is established, the facilitator will begin application to the additional gates. Participants may receive as few as one or two points and as many as ten or twelve depending on their own desires and specific experience and intentions with the medicine.
Kambo Benefits
- Detoxification: Kambo is believed to help cleanse the body of toxins and impurities, both physically and energetically.
- Pain relief: Kambo contains peptides that may act as natural painkillers, and it is often used to alleviate chronic pain.
- Boosting the immune system: Kambo is believed to stimulate the immune system and help the body fight off infections.
- Enhancing mental clarity: Many people report feeling more alert, focused, and clear-headed after taking kambo.
- Emotional healing: Kambo is believed to help release emotional blockages and promote a sense of well-being and inner peace.
- Spiritual growth: Kambo is often used in shamanic practices as a tool for spiritual growth and connection with the divine.
My Journey With Kambo
My journey with Kambo began not so long ago. I’d heard of it through the webs of connection though I’d never been drawn to it necessarily. A good friend was working with Kambo and wanted to go through facilitator training, so I suddenly had a close connection who was trained to serve Kambo.
Soon after, she offered me the opportunity to sit with Kambo and I accepted. It was a time in my life when I felt a powerful energetic draw and an intuitive understanding that I needed to step into that energy and ride it to wherever it took me, though I had no clue where that might be. As it happened, I say with Kambo for the first time in a circle of a dozen others (see photo at top of page). As it was my first time, I only took 3 points on my left forearm to see what the effects might be. As the left forearm leads directly to the heart, I did feel an immediate and intense rush, though it wasn’t over the top and didn’t last long. I did not purge or even come close. However, that energetic rush accelerated the feelings I was having overall and I felt more and more powerful as I stepped into the unknown.
After the ceremony, the facilitators told me that they would be holding another Kambo opportunity a couple of weeks later and explained that sitting with Kambo 3 times within a lunar cycle was considered to be a “super purge,” effectively resetting your system from an energetic standpoint, as well as the guy biome and immune system. I felt this was in alignment with me, so I committed to the second ceremony a couple of weeks later.
That second ceremony was very different from the first. It was held indoors instead of outdoors and there were only 3 people scheduled to be there, one who didn’t show up, so it was me and one other person lying on a living room floor. At this ceremony, I took 5 points, again on my left forearm and again, I felt an intense rush all up my left arm, into my neck, ear, and the side of my head. The feeling was warm and I intuitively breathed through it, so I did not purge and didn’t feel the urge to at all. The overall effect was very similar to the first ceremony and I felt even more empowered to take control of my destiny and the unknown of what would happen next.
Closer to the end of the lunar cycle, I sat for the third time. It was a Tuesday, a fact I may never forget. At this ceremony there were again only a few people in the living room. This time, I took 7 points, 2 in my left forearm and 5 in my right forearm. The experience and effects were very similar to the first 2 ceremonies except that I felt even more powerful, as if I were jumping into the abyss and I had to trust the universe to catch me and provide for me. As profound as it seemed at the time, it wasn’t challenging because it seems entirely natural for me to be taking that path.
Interestingly, two days after that third ceremony, I flew to Asheville, NC to meet someone I’d only met online. It was a fast and deep connection that called to me. I trusted and took the risk and it was soooo perfect.
I was going to spend the weekend, then postponed my trip back for another few days, which then led to the snowpocalypse in Austin and my flight was canceled. Without planning for and without expecting it, I ended up cohabitating for 2 weeks over Valentine’s day 2020. It was unreal sharing that kind of space with a powerful, multi-dimensional being. We went super deep together and though we haven’t remained lovers, we’ve become each other’s super fans, supporting each other in all of our endeavors and teaching, learning, and growing together to this day.
Since that first series of Kambo, I sat only one more time about 18 mos later. It was a great energetic purge that I felt, though I’ve never actually vomited or anything on Kambo. The only other time was just a week before this writing at an ayahuasca ceremony where the shaman gave me 5 points on my right shoulder which ended up being very mild. I can say that I had a sugar addiction prior to the first series of Kambo and those cravings were completely gone and the addiction completely broken after those ceremonies. Although I would say my experience with Kambo is very limited and perhaps unique, I have felt the healing power of the medicine and its ability to open portals of growth, connection, and remembrance that I’m grateful to have experienced.