Customer Reviews

Amazon Magic: The Life Story of Ayahuasquero & Shaman Don Agustin Rivas Vasquez

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4 star:		(1)
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I am very pleased to see the life and work of Don Agustin Rivas in print. This man has and continues to lead a remarkable life. Having worked with Don Agustin as a teacher for several years and heard many of the stories, it is good to see that the book remains true to them and captures the heart of Don Agustin's adventures. The book focuses on Don Agustin's personal challenges and accomplishments, but also contains many teachings and wisdom from one who has sacrificed much to be of service to the people and to the Earth. I highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to know more about ayahuasca shamanism and/or the life of Don Agustin Rivas.

Many years on from THE WIZARD OF THE UPPER AMAZON this book is an engaging adventure story of the same time. Endearing frankness ... from multiple sexual adventures to cannibalism ... combine with a fearsome determination to excel in his shamanic world, years of undergoing plant diets (ayahuasca the principle plant medicine but there are many more discussed here) ... all make this man seem oddly trustworthy. The directness of style is nicely free of many literary conventions ... these are Don Agustin's most striking memories, told in a clear way, worked into a book by Jaya Bear. I enjoyed it as a fine adventure story, a great jungle yarn.

This reviewer delights in learning, especially about people and cultures who can and did make an impact...and natural medicines that have their roots in a period thousands of years ago. So, when author Jaya Bear sent me her book, Amazon Magic, I discovered a wonderful opportunity and biography, as well as a narrative filled with mystery about a totally different reality.

Don Agustin Rivas Vasquez (1933-) was born in Tamshiyacu, Peru, a small jungle town along the Amazon River. What is was to grow up in this totally different (from us) environment...learn to be a shaman...and acquire the skills to use healing plant medicines such as ayahuasca, are the subjects of this fascinating new book.

Amazon Magic enables the reader to walk in the shoes of a shaman and understand his experiences and adventures...and his training and discipline to achieve his widely-regarded status as a profound healer. This reviewer was fascinated by not only plant medicines, but the spirits that reside in the jungle. And how ayahuasca, for instance, can help one see the spirits, and the demons. "Each of us has our demons, and ayahuasca shows them to us so we can face them and heal. Ayahuasca teaches us truth about ourselves".

Author, world traveler, artist and student of many spiritual cultures, Jaya Bear, felt drawn to travel to Peru after her husband died. She met Don Agustin Rivas Vasquez, and has continued to work closely with him since that time.

The result is Amazon Magic, a fascinating look at a culture and individual that have made an impact. Jaya Bear presents this revelation in an easily- read- and- understood fashion that captures Don Agustin's words, love and compassion!

I first read this book in Germany (yes in German) and found some of it a little "off the top". However I have just returned from a journey from the the Amazon where I spent two weeks with this amazing man/healer/spirit. I can truly say that after reading the book and then meeting the man, there is nothing "off the top" about him. He is everything the book says he is and lives a life of healing and caring that I could not fathom until I actually met him.

Amazon Magic by Jaya Bear is the astonishing biography of Don Agustin Rivas Vasquez, an ayahuasquero, or shaman who is skilled in visionary and healing plant medicines. From his childhood in a small jungle town beside the Amazon river; to his spending a year living with an Indian tribe; to visionary encounters with plant, water, and jungle spirits; Amazon Magic presents to the reader an evocative and amazing story of one man's journey to magic, enlightenment, healing, and wisdom. Amazon Magic is enthusiastically recommended reading for students of Shamanism, Metaphysics, and indigenous life of Peruvian Amazon indians.

I read this book a while ago and although I have forgotten much, it stands out in my memory as a very interesting and remarkable narrative in first person form.
He very much likes to talk mainly how good he was at chasing women (he even goes on to tell how he had sex with a river dolphin). But there are a lot of other strange stories and happenings in the book as well, for example about giant boas, yacurunas robbing people, shamans transforming into owls etc.
I happened to visit Tamshyacu myself and I can tell that these kind of stories seem to be relatively widespread in the region. For example they tell that there are boas (or anacondas) that are 40 meters long, I argued that according to scientific books they are only 10+ meters with majority being even smaller, but they insisted that scientists are wrong and "hay mas grandes". Also they tell you that there is a city in the bottom of amazon...well the level of water was relatively low in the river and I insisted that the rooftops should be seen. In response to that they had to admit that this is only something in the visions of ayahuasca, but went on to tell a story about a boy who while once playing with others in the river vanished into a vortex and then three shamans came together and after doing their magic for three days were able to pull out the boy and apparently it was the boy who told these accounts.
But the book definitly is worth reading regardless if you belive all this or not. But I dont think that if a story is strange then it automatically has to be a lie. Remember, in the old times people belived that earth is flat and similarily rejected all stories about stones falling from sky (meteorites) but were proven wrong in the end. It could be similar case here.

this is a very interesting book. the way Don Agustin narrates his life is sometimes very blunt and to the point, which makes this book refreshing. his life story is truly remarkable. his philosophy on life shines through his story, even though he does not outwardly state it. he has a down to earth, wise, and yet joyful approach to life that is very uplifting. at times this book is also comical, as Don Agustin has a good sense of humor.