Ayahuasca

by Wilcox, Joan Parisi

• ISBN13: 9780892811311
• ISBN10: 0892811315
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-10-10
• Publisher: Park Street Pr

Summary

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 how to dispel the illusions we hold about ourselves, making it possible for us to release our true nature and our power. This book reveals the ritual protocols that must be followed 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. Book jacket.

Author Biography

<p> <i>Ayahuasca: The Visionary and Healing Powers of the Vine of the Soul </i> is an autobiographical account of the author&#8217;s experience with ayahuasca, the potent and sacred plant brew of the Amazon known for its extraordinary visionary and healing powers. This book describes the ayahuasca ritual, and the sacred songs that are sung while receiving the gifts of the plant. </p>

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	viii
Author's Note	ix
Introduction: Exploring Ayahuasca	1	(9)
Part One: THE BEAUTIFUL STRANGENESS BEGINS
Meeting Ayahuasca	10	(26)
Greater Than the Sum of the Parts	36	(14)
Prelude to the Amazon	50	(17)
Other Voices, Other Journeys	67	(16)
Studying Through the Field of Love	83	(17)
Part Two: THE MOTHER OF THE VOICE IN THE EAR
Off to the Amazon	100	(20)
Growing Green	120	(19)
The Jungle---Inner and Outer	139	(21)
Finding the Light in My Heart of Darkness	160	(10)
Intellectual Interlude	170	(13)
The I That Sees	183	(20)
Saying So Long But Never Good-bye	203	(9)
A Summing Up	212	(12)
Notes	224	(3)
Bibliography	227