Kambô is the common name of Phyllomedusa bicolor, a large, bright green tree frog native to the Amazon. Kambô is also the name of a resin secreted from P. bicolor’s skin, which has the ability to induce an intensely enveloping mind and body experience. Rituals involving Kambô originate from Amazonian tribes throughout Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, French Guiana, Suriname and Venezuela (Figure 1). Like ayahuasca, the Kambô ritual has spread around the world, though not without some controversy surrounding the practice. Kambô clinics have popped up in the United Kingdom, Kambô is practiced in Brazil by the Santo Daime and União de Vegetal (UDV) ayahuasca religions, and it can be found in neoshamanistic practices throughout the Western world.1Click Here
Map of South America with red dots indicating the location of the Phyllomedusa bicolor frog
FIGURE 1: THE NATIVE RANGE OF PHYLLOMEDUSA BICOLOR IN THE AMAZONIAN BASIN TYPICALLY MATCHES THE AREAS IN WHICH THE KAMBÔ RITUAL TAKES PLACE. MAP BERKELEYMAPPER/AMPHIBIAWEB. 2020.
Traditional & Ritual UseDetails
Kambô is also known among various groups as “sapo”, “kampu”, “dow kiet”, and “vaccino de floresta”, and is used for spiritual, medicinal, and social reasons.2 Traditional uses of the substance include purification of the body and mind from negative energies, treating ailments such as snake bites and malaria, and to rid the body of “panema”, a depression-like state.3 The Matses people of northern Peru use Kambô in a ‘magic hunting ritual’ that they believe grants hunters increased stamina, endurance, and luck on their journeys.4 Kambô is used in the western world to treat depression, anxiety, addiction, pain, chronic infection, and autoimmune disorders. However, there is currently no clinical data to support any therapeutic benefit of Kambô.5Here
The Kambô ritual (Figure 2) begins with the capture of a frog, which is then tied off at each limb in an X-shape and placed near a fire. The tightening of the skin and warmth activate the frog’s defense mechanism, i.e. the release of the skin secretion, which humans have co-opted for the aforementioned purposes. The secretion is collected on a stick, left to dry, and the frog is released back into the forest.4
Details
Some traditions involve the offering of Rapé and/or a Sananga tincture before the Kambô is used.6 Rapé is a tobacco snuff made from a mixture of Nicotiana rustica and other medicinal plants from the Amazon, while Sananga is an eyedrop tincture made from Tabernaemontana undulata, which contains iboga alkaloids.7 Once ready, a participant is asked to mix their saliva with the dried Kambô to produce a paste. The Kambô paste is then applied to light burn marks made in the skin. Males typically receive the Kambô on their arm, while females receive it on their calves.8
Image split into 4 quadrants. Top left, marked A, is a Phyllomedusa bicolor, also known as Kambô or sapo. Bottom left, marked B, shows the frog tied off at each limb, while it's skin secretion is collected onto a stick. Top right, marked C, shows a human shoulder with small burn marks made in the skin to which the dried frog secretion is applied. Bottom right, marked D, is a close up of a human arm with burn marks from the Kambo ritual in a line pattern.Details
FIGURE 2: (A) PHYLLOMEDUSA BICOLOR, ALSO KNOWN AS KAMBÔ OR SAPO; (B) THE FROG IS TIED OFF AT EACH LIMB, AND ITS SKIN SECRETION IS COLLECTED ONTO A STICK; (C) SMALL BURNS ARE MADE IN THE SKIN OF THE PARTICIPANT, TO WHICH THE DRIED SECRETION IS APPLIED; (D) THE BURNS ARE OFTEN MADE IN A LINE OR OTHER PATTERN, AND LEAVE SCARS. SILVA FVAD, MONTEIRO WM, BERNARDE PS. IMAGE CROPPED BY UPLOADER., CC BY 4.0
The extreme visceral effects of Kambô begin immediately. Participants report a sudden burning sensation that spreads throughout the body from the point of application. What follows is about an hour of extremely rapid heartbeat, dizziness, delirium, nausea, vomiting, and an added hyper awareness of these bodily sensations. Once the immediate effects of Kambô abate, recipients often become listless and sleep for long periods of time, reportedly up to a few days.2,9 Once a recipient’s energy returns, they often report feelings of increased strength and endurance, and continued hyper awareness of their surroundings. This is likely the reason the Matses people use this ritual before hunting. These intense effects of Kambô have led to multiple Kambô poisoning cases, and at least one case of death was reported.10
Some of the first reports of the Kambô ritual to the Western world were authored by an amateur journalist named Peter Gorman. Vittorio Erspamer, an Italian pharmacologist credited with the discovery of serotonin, was greatly interested in amphibian-derived compounds and was in contact with Peter for years before the former’s death. Erspamer included an experience of Peter Gorman’s in a publication about the frog secretion4:
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The moment the drug is placed upon your skin your body begins to heat up. In moments you feel as though you’re burning from the inside; you begin to sweat…You became aware of every vein and artery in your body…you may feel urges to do things you’ve never done before . You might find yourself growling, barking or moving about all fours. You feel as though animals are passing through you, trying to express themselves through your body.