Ayahuasca: The Visionary and Healing Powers of the Vine of the Soul

Worth a read! The author makes no issue of her less than lifetime experience with ayahuasca, making her account very personal and readable in that context. This is not a reference book, but a personal account - and in this vein, well written, well executed and lacking much in the way of distracting waffle.The good - An honest picture of who and what ayahuasca is. A clear and forthright account of the authors experiences. The ayahuasca experience tends to be very hard to describe in terms of language as much of the experience is so far beyond words that attempting to convey all but the driest details is impractical to say the least. Try describing the taste of a pear to someone who has not eaten one - you'll get the difficulty involved quickly.The bad - Tends to 'drift' in a few places, but not in a way that is seriously detrimental to the overall text. Little else to worry about so I am happy overall with the lack of criticisms available.The last word - A worthwhile read for anyone interested in Ayahuasca journeying. It is not a recreational pursuit and the author conveys this clearly - anything that tastes that bad AND has such strong purgative reactions within the body is never going to be a recreational drug,.. a point the author makes quite clearly.

Having traveled to the Sacred Valley of Peru on numerous occasions I've come to know and understand the benefits of this amazing "Plant Teacher" AYAHUASCA.Joan Wilcox excels in her description of her journeys with the "vine of the Soul" Having never used any hallucinatory of mind expanding natural earth plant I can only enjoy her experience thru her words. Many times in the reading I felt that I too was experiencing the visionary journey with her.One day it is my hope to take part in a Ayahuasca Ceremony.It is my intent to experience the silencing of the ever present Yama-Yama of Ego conversation going on in my head. I now know, thru the reading and better understanding of the writing that it's just the tip of the iceberg for the many theraputic and healing powers of this plant "Ayahuasca"Looking forward to the journey-Thank you Joan.

This book didn't hold much interest for me. There was some fascinating tales of peoples lives and the positive effects of their Ayahuasca experiences, but all quite forgettable in the end. The reason I bought it was because I really liked her previous book:  Masters of the Living Energy: The Mystical World of the Q'ero of Peru This one seemed to be more of a compilation of stories than an in-depth study or exploration of the plant medicine, which I guess I was hoping for.

Since I have thought about taking a trip to Peru to experience an aya retreat this woman's personal experience was eloquent and thoughtful as well as real and meaningful. I felt like I had the privilege of experiencing this journey through her eyes, mind and writing in order to help me determine if I am ready for such a journey myself. I really enjoyed this book and could not put it down!

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.

Beautiful book

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.

bloddy good

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