Rainforest Medicine: Preserving Indigenous Science and Biodiversity in the Upper Amazon
432Rainforest Medicine: Preserving Indigenous Science and Biodiversity in the Upper Amazon
432eBook
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Overview
The book is illustrated with unique botanical and cultural drawings by Secoya elder and traditional healer Agustin Payaguaje and horticulturalist Thomas Y. Wang as well as by the author himself. Payaguaje shares his sincere imaginal view into the spiritual life of the Secoya; plates of petroglyphs from the sacred valley of Cotundo relate to an ancient language, and other illustrations show traditional Secoya ayahuasca symbols and indigenous origin myths. Two color sections showcase photos of the plants and people of the region, and include plates of previously unpublished full-color paintings by Pablo Cesar Amaringo (1938-2009), an acclaimed Peruvian artist renowned for his intricate, colorful depictions of his visions from drinking the entheogenic plant brew, ayahuasca ("vine of the soul" in Quechua languages).
Today the once-dense mysterious rainforest realms are under assault as the indiscriminate colonial frontier of resource extraction moves across the region; as the forest disappears, the traditional human legacy of sustainable utilization of this rich ecosystem is also being buried under modern realities. With over 20 years experience of ground-level environmental and cultural conservation, author Jonathon Miller Weisberger's commitment to preserving the fascinating, unfathomably precious relics of the indigenous legacy shines through. Chief among these treasures is the "shimmering" "golden" plant-medicine science of ayahuasca or yajé, a rainforest vine that was popularized in the 1950s by Western travelers such as William Burroughs and Alan Ginsberg. It has been sampled, reviled, and celebrated by outsiders ever since.
Currently sought after by many in the industrialized West for its powerful psychotropic and life-transforming effects, this sacred brew is often imbibed by visitors to the upper Amazon and curious seekers in faraway venues, sometimes with little to no working knowledge of its principles and precepts. Perceiving that there is an evident need for in-depth information on ayahuasca if it is to be used beyond its traditional context for healing and spiritual illumination in the future, Miller Weisberger focuses on the fundamental knowledge and practices that guide the use of ayahuasca in indigenous cultures. Weaving first-person narrative with anthropological and ethnobotanical information, Rainforest Medicine aims to preserve both the record and ongoing reality of ayahuasca's unique tradition and, of course, the priceless forest that gave birth to these sacred vines. Featuring words from Amazonian shamans--the living torchbearers of these sophisticated spiritual practices--the book stands as testimony to this sacred plant medicine's power in shaping and healing individuals, communities, and nature alike.
Product Details
ISBN-13: | 9781583946237 |
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Publisher: | North Atlantic Books |
Publication date: | 09/17/2013 |
Sold by: | Penguin Random House Publisher Services |
Format: | eBook |
Pages: | 432 |
Sales rank: | 717,035 |
File size: | 30 MB |
Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Table of Contents
Foreword Daniel Pinchbeck xi
Author's Preface xv
Chapter 1 Introduction to Indigenous Science in the Upper Amazon 1
A Celestial University 4
A Unified Worldview and Way of Being 11
Good Masters Are Hard to Find 15
A Show of Power 18
Obtaining Healing Plants from the Celestial Realm 19
More Mysterious Affirmations from the Yagé 22
Meeting the Chiefs of the Animals 24
Raising and Lowering the Mythic Underworld Nets 28
Cloth, Thread, and Needles from the Crab Jaguar's Store 28
The Future of Ayahuasca 30
Chapter 2 Degradation of the Spiritual Science: Sorcery and Superstition 33
No Tolerance for Sorcery 39
Cleansing Temptations of Sorcery on the Sun Canoe, a Secoya Practice 41
Perils and Pitfalls on the Path of Shamanism 43
Reining in Sorcery 47
Chapter 3 The Gift of Ayahuasca 53
Various Approaches to Ayahuasca and Yagé 58
Important Differences in the Consumption of Ayahuasca and Yagé 60
The Meaning of the Names Ayahuasca and Yagé 64
A Medicine Capable of Inspecting the Innermost Vibrations of Mind 67
Origins of Ayahuasca 70
Chapter 4 Elements of the Experience 85
Sacred Songs of the Medicine 86
Yagé Toyá: Designs of the Visionary Realms 105
The Ceremony of Yagé 113
Cultivating the Sacred Within 117
La Dieta: For Purification and Spiritual Mastery 118
Chapter 5 Preparing a Proper Brew 137
Sourcing and Harvesting Ayahuasca 138
Cooking the Plants into a Sacred Drink 151
Chapter 6 The Celestial Summer of the Cicadas 167
Meeting the Cicada People 172
Downy Cicada Jaguar, Diety of the Southern Cross 173
Two Frogs in the Learning of the Tradition 174
Sacred Plant-Based Technologies of the Celestial Summer 177
About the Secoya, People of the Multicolored River 184
Fulfilling the Dream of a Yagé Drinker to Reclaim Ancestral Lands 190
Sharing the Oral Tradition from a Jaguar-Centered Worldview 195
Chapter 7 The Deep-Forest Perspective of the Waorani 211
Meñeiriwempo: Protector Deity of the Waorani People 213
Songs of Hidden People 215
Two Waorani Set the Clouds on Fire 216
Insights into the First Contact 219
The Right of Non-Contact 221
The Origin of Those Who Ate Their Father 223
The Good Way of the Ancestors 224
Working on the Demarcation of Waorani Territory 225
Village Life 228
Becoming an Iroinga 229
Origin Myth of the First Miiyabu 232
The Subtle Use of Miiyabu 237
Chapter 8 The Eyebrows of the Andes 239
The Perspectives of the Condor and King Vulture 241
The Tropical Wet Forest: A Conservation Priority 244
Napo-Galeras: The End of the World Jaguar Mountain 246
Lessons of the Mountain: Powerful Spirits and Places 250
Unkiyabe: Galeras Mountain in Waorani Tradition 256
Jaicunti: Galeras Mountain in Secoya Tradition 257
Modern-Day Adventures in Caretaking a Sacred Mountain 259
Establishing and Protecting Napo-Galeras National Park 262
Wairachina Sacha, Rainforest of the Purifying Winds 267
Chapter 9 Lineage Holders of the Ancient Traditions, Deep Forest and Urban 271
Urban Ayahuasqueros of Peru 273
Don Casimiro Mamallacta, Seventh-Generation Keeper of a Sacred Mountain 282
Amazanga Community 286
Stories of the Old Waorani Warriors 292
Torchbearers in the Darkness 299
Conclusion 301
Endnotes 307
Glossary 353
Bibliography 371
Index 381
Acknowledgments 403
About the Author and Contributors 404