The Shaman calls forth the essence of plant through the icaros, which the Shaman sings. Each plant has a madre, or what we would call a spirit. When someone is ill these songs rebalance the body, mind and spirit. The plant energy, summoned by the Shaman through the song, mirrors the human energy to facilitate re-alignment. The wisdom of the icaros and the practice of singing them not only heals individuals, but it is part of the way the Shaman maintains the balance of the rainforest with its people and the spirits that live therein, called Sacha Runa. The Cuartanos' belief system is to bring their mind, body and spirit into alignment and into balance with their surroundings, the rainforest. The Cuartanos deeply understand that they are dependent upon their forest and that the forest depends deeply upon them. Like the rainforest, they are entwined together forever. The Shaman is the keeper of this wisdom, he or she reminds his people of this interdependence.

Tanya explains that the ancient craft of the Shaman focuses on this balance, not individual power or wealth, but this healing ability can be used for good or ill will. She says that unfortunately some Shaman forget that they are in service, not in power. They use this craft to cause harm vs. balance. She says that the people call this poison darts (similar to a curse in other cultures). Just like us, some healers misuse their abilities and succumb to their egos and/or desire for wealth and personal power. The advent of western ways has brought new imbalances into the forest that may mislead the Shamans and the people. These imbalances encourage them to seek wealth and power at the expense of balance - and ultimately silence the icaros. And, she says, we westerners often do this completely innocently and with the best of intentions.

We are losing the forest's wisdom to corruption – to tourism money, to drilling for oil, to cutting down trees, to mining, to all of the things we do that diminish the forest and the culture that sustains it. We are at a point where we can’t go back...there is all that modern stuff there now. There is no pure Cuartano culture anymore. Modernism has been introduced, some good, some bad. And its introduction - often done with the best of intentions- in one part of the culture affects the entire culture and the forest. Everything is a tangle, like the rainforest. When you introduce money into a gift-giving culture like that of the Cuartanos, it impacts the people's belief system and their practices - everything that underpins the harmony. The result is that the introduction of money can introduce a deformity in the culture and in the balance. One of these deformities is often the loss of the icaros and the healing plants that inspire these magical sounds.