Laguna Tree at Jirijirimo Falls, Vaupes Painting

Inspired by an ayahuasca vision of a Lapuna tree (Ceiba pentandra) growing out of a stone cross floating above a tropical Amazonian landscape, this painting shows the sacred falls of Jirijirimo in the Amazon basin of Colombia. Located on the Apaporis river, near the border between Vaupes and Amazon Departments, the Raudal de Jirijirimo (Torrent of Jirijirimo) is also known as "The Anaconda Bed," due to numerous aquatic boas living in the river's waters. According to ethnobotanist Richard Evans Schultes, who explored the region during the early 1940s, the petroglyphs found near the confluence of the Apaporis and Pairparaná rivers relate to the story of the Sun Father, who brought the first man and woman down from the Milky Way in a spirit canoe, along with three sacred plants: yuca, coca, and yajé (ayahuasca).