Ayahuasca: The Visionary and Healing Powers of the Vine of the Soul
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By: Joan Parisi Wilcox
Format: Paperback
From: Park Street Press
Pub. Date: November 2003
From: Park Street Press
Pub. Date: November 2003
Product Details:
Catalog: Book
Release Date: 2003-12-31
Media: Paperback
Number Of Pages: 240
Ean: 9780892811311
Isbn: 0892811315
Catalog: Book
Release Date: 2003-12-31
Media: Paperback
Number Of Pages: 240
Ean: 9780892811311
Isbn: 0892811315
ABOUT THE BOOK
EDITORIAL REVIEW
A comprehensive autobiographical account of the transforming experiences possible with ayahuasca
• Reveals the protocols of a traditional ayahuasca retreat and the importance of its ritual diet, isolation, and sacred songs
• Relates an extensive personal account of the traditional indigenous use of ayahuasca for healing and revelation
Ayahuasca: The Visionary and Healing Powers of the Vine of the Soul is an autobiographical account of the author’s work with ayahuasca, a potent and sacred plant brew of the Amazon region that is known for its extraordinary visionary and healing powers. As she learned from her experience, with the help of ayahuasca we are able to grasp our paradoxical nature, the first step to acceptance of ourselves in both our glorious and dark aspects. Ayahuasca teaches us how to release the illusions we hold about ourselves and makes it possible to integrate our many diverse aspects to acquire our true power.
This book reveals the ritual protocols that must be followed prior to partaking of ayahuasca, including the traditional preparatory “diet”--which requires enduring austere conditions, isolation, and only small amounts of bland food before receiving the powers of the plant spirit from an ayahuasquero, a healing master--and the sacred songs, icaros, that are sung when imbibing the substance. Although the use of ayahuasca is growing among “underground” spiritual seekers and through the burgeoning ayahuasca tourism trade in South America, few of its seekers understand how it is used traditionally and the importance of the rituals the indigenous people follow. With this book, the author hopes to restore the importance of these indigenous practices so that we may truly understand all the gifts of ayahuasca.
• Reveals the protocols of a traditional ayahuasca retreat and the importance of its ritual diet, isolation, and sacred songs
• Relates an extensive personal account of the traditional indigenous use of ayahuasca for healing and revelation
Ayahuasca: The Visionary and Healing Powers of the Vine of the Soul is an autobiographical account of the author’s work with ayahuasca, a potent and sacred plant brew of the Amazon region that is known for its extraordinary visionary and healing powers. As she learned from her experience, with the help of ayahuasca we are able to grasp our paradoxical nature, the first step to acceptance of ourselves in both our glorious and dark aspects. Ayahuasca teaches us how to release the illusions we hold about ourselves and makes it possible to integrate our many diverse aspects to acquire our true power.
This book reveals the ritual protocols that must be followed prior to partaking of ayahuasca, including the traditional preparatory “diet”--which requires enduring austere conditions, isolation, and only small amounts of bland food before receiving the powers of the plant spirit from an ayahuasquero, a healing master--and the sacred songs, icaros, that are sung when imbibing the substance. Although the use of ayahuasca is growing among “underground” spiritual seekers and through the burgeoning ayahuasca tourism trade in South America, few of its seekers understand how it is used traditionally and the importance of the rituals the indigenous people follow. With this book, the author hopes to restore the importance of these indigenous practices so that we may truly understand all the gifts of ayahuasca.
USER REVIEWS
"Interesting for the beginner perhaps...She went to Peru and took ayahuasca several times with a small group of friends. This is an interesting story of her trip but I wouldn't call it authoritative on the subject; ancedotal maybe. Ayahuasca tourism. Not that she didn't have some deep experiences, but it's kind of a new age tourist's perspective. Difficult to describe in words, one of these journeys. Kudos to her for trying."
~ Written on 2008-02-17
~ Written on 2008-02-17
"Maybe you want help deciding if the ayahuasca experience is something you want to attempt. Maybe you hope that someone you can relate to, someone a little like you, is doing the thing you dream about, and telling the tale.
You probably hope that when the story is told it's as honest as it can be when revealing personal information about the journey, and that the author describes both the difficult and the sublime instances of the story with little regard for how it might make them appear to the reader.
I'm guessing your mature and well read yourself, and so you know the book won't have everything you need, won't satisfy all your questions and isn't the last or final word on the subject. I imagine the particular flavor your searching for usually requires that you wander through the whole subject garden, alighting on many pages as you seek to satisfy your own particular preferences.
Joan Parisi Wilcox isn't even a little bit like me in the way of profession, gender or background. We have nothing in common there, but her honesty, courage, determination, and deeply personal insights left plenty to savor as I buzzed happily through the pages."
~ Written on 2008-01-12
You probably hope that when the story is told it's as honest as it can be when revealing personal information about the journey, and that the author describes both the difficult and the sublime instances of the story with little regard for how it might make them appear to the reader.
I'm guessing your mature and well read yourself, and so you know the book won't have everything you need, won't satisfy all your questions and isn't the last or final word on the subject. I imagine the particular flavor your searching for usually requires that you wander through the whole subject garden, alighting on many pages as you seek to satisfy your own particular preferences.
Joan Parisi Wilcox isn't even a little bit like me in the way of profession, gender or background. We have nothing in common there, but her honesty, courage, determination, and deeply personal insights left plenty to savor as I buzzed happily through the pages."
~ Written on 2008-01-12
"This is a great account of Joan Wilcox's experiences with ayahuasca within the context of the true Amazon shaman traditions and her own spiritual journey. A must read for anyone interested in shamanic wisdom and the use of ayahuasca and other plants as teachers."
~ Written on 2007-06-24
~ Written on 2007-06-24
"If this book had been released in the late 80s it would have been revelatory. However, it's 2004 and there's nothing new here. In fact, you may read more words of wisdom by entering "ayahuasca trip report" on your net browser. It's all a bit dull. The author and various others she writes about seem to be interested in taking ayahuasca for sorting out their own neuroses/problems, e.g. "Mother Ayahuasca, help me with my fear". A straight sitter would have been an asset to record the trips as they happened. This is what helped make True Hallucinations a great read: Terence McKenna was there to record his brother Dennis's reportss from the peripheries of reality. Here, Wilcox has to rely on her memory and her memory fails her on occasion. There's also too much waffle on what others have written about ayahuasca for my liking.
This is basically an advert for ayahuasca tourism, although Wilcox says she visited a proper healer. Late in the book this healer states he thinks ayahuasca tourism is a good thing because it keeps the old traditions alive. Wilcox makes the point that ayahuasca is dangerous if taken without the supervision of a trained ayasquero. However, not one statistic is supplied about how anyone has been taken ill by taking it away from a traditional setting. Therefore this statement may just be a bit of propaganda to encourage the ayahuasca tourism trade. "
~ Written on 2004-09-12
This is basically an advert for ayahuasca tourism, although Wilcox says she visited a proper healer. Late in the book this healer states he thinks ayahuasca tourism is a good thing because it keeps the old traditions alive. Wilcox makes the point that ayahuasca is dangerous if taken without the supervision of a trained ayasquero. However, not one statistic is supplied about how anyone has been taken ill by taking it away from a traditional setting. Therefore this statement may just be a bit of propaganda to encourage the ayahuasca tourism trade. "
~ Written on 2004-09-12
"What I really like and respect about this book, in addition to the excellent factual material it provides about ayahuasca, is the intensity of the personal viewpoint it provides. There are a lot of books that cover the science of ayahuasca, and its history and ethnobotany. There are even some good books, like Metzner's, that combine sciene with excerpts from experiences by "regular" people. But this is the only book I've found that showed in a sustained way what it's really like to study with this plant teacher from a personal perspective. In fact, that's what the author frankly explains as her intent, and it's what she delivers--beautifully. If you don't want a memoir, an intimately personal experience, then don't read a memoir. You can't, as at least one reviewer has done, blast a book for being exactly what it claims to be! But if you do want a personal portrait that also includes excellent additional factual material, then this book is among the best.
In addition, I think there is little that is self-indulgent about this author. Some reviewers have charged the author with wearing rose-colored glasses and romanticizing her experiences. Have they read the same book? Maybe their memory is selective. I found the author to be surprisingly frank, especially about her fears and about the embarrassing situations that came up during her ayahuasca retreat. She certainly doesn't try to "pretty" things up in the least. Yes, she does take an intensely spiritual perspective, even what some might call "New Age," which some might not agree with. But I found her insights heart-felt and sincere. I also found her experiences caused me to ask a lot of questions about my own journey. For instance, when she is visited by the "spirit doctors," she becomes frightened and asks them to leave. It caused me to wonder how I would react to unexpected and startling spiritual events. As the author says, it's one thing to think about such things. It's another to actually live them!
I also found this author to be fair-minded about the allure of the ayahuasca tourism trade (she doesn't support it) and about the growing underground trend to treat ayahusaca as just another psychedelic experience. She speaks out strongly on this, asking all of us to respect indigenous tradition. In fact, her respect for this plant teacher is everywhere evident in this book.
I say "thanks" to Joan for putting it all out there for others to learn by. Because of her book, I have a much better understanding of and appreciation for what the ayahuasca retreat experience can be like--not through the eyes of a scientist, botanist, or other professional, but through the eyes of someone not unlike most of us. Sure, this is only one person's experience, but the author also presents testimonies from several others, a few of which say they wouldn't work with ayahuasca again. This is an account of the rigors and the mysteries of working with visionary plants that really takes you there, into the jungle, to share the experience. I think it's a page-turner and that the author has a sensitive eye and ear for the environment. She transported me there, into the world of an ayahuasca retreat in the Amazon, like few other books on the subject. That's why I highly recommend this book for those who want a real glimpse behind the scenes of an ayahuasca retreat."
~ Written on 2004-08-01
In addition, I think there is little that is self-indulgent about this author. Some reviewers have charged the author with wearing rose-colored glasses and romanticizing her experiences. Have they read the same book? Maybe their memory is selective. I found the author to be surprisingly frank, especially about her fears and about the embarrassing situations that came up during her ayahuasca retreat. She certainly doesn't try to "pretty" things up in the least. Yes, she does take an intensely spiritual perspective, even what some might call "New Age," which some might not agree with. But I found her insights heart-felt and sincere. I also found her experiences caused me to ask a lot of questions about my own journey. For instance, when she is visited by the "spirit doctors," she becomes frightened and asks them to leave. It caused me to wonder how I would react to unexpected and startling spiritual events. As the author says, it's one thing to think about such things. It's another to actually live them!
I also found this author to be fair-minded about the allure of the ayahuasca tourism trade (she doesn't support it) and about the growing underground trend to treat ayahusaca as just another psychedelic experience. She speaks out strongly on this, asking all of us to respect indigenous tradition. In fact, her respect for this plant teacher is everywhere evident in this book.
I say "thanks" to Joan for putting it all out there for others to learn by. Because of her book, I have a much better understanding of and appreciation for what the ayahuasca retreat experience can be like--not through the eyes of a scientist, botanist, or other professional, but through the eyes of someone not unlike most of us. Sure, this is only one person's experience, but the author also presents testimonies from several others, a few of which say they wouldn't work with ayahuasca again. This is an account of the rigors and the mysteries of working with visionary plants that really takes you there, into the jungle, to share the experience. I think it's a page-turner and that the author has a sensitive eye and ear for the environment. She transported me there, into the world of an ayahuasca retreat in the Amazon, like few other books on the subject. That's why I highly recommend this book for those who want a real glimpse behind the scenes of an ayahuasca retreat."
~ Written on 2004-08-01