Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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.

If you are looking for a serious and intensely personal take on the magic of our universe, the plant world and indigenous deep spirituality then here is one of the best reads I have found. I have read many books on this and related subjects by strong and informative writers such as McKenna, Pinchbeck, Calvo, Luna, and Strassman, and I heartily recommend this warm and human exploration of the mystery of our universe and consciousness.

In chapter 11 of her book, Wilcox opens with a quote from Carl Jung: "In psychology one possesses nothing unless one has experienced it in reality. Hence a purely intellectual insight is not enough, because one knows only the words and not the substance of the thing from the inside."

Although Wilcox offers plenty of fascinating intellectual insights, this book is first and foremost a personal account of her experience with Ayahusaca, and it is the autobiographical nature of the book that makes it so engaging. Wilcox actually experienced "the substance of the thing from the inside" and then openly shared it with us in her book. If and until the rest of have the chance to experience the "Vine of the Soul" for ourselves, this book is the next best thing.

This work is an account of a dedicated shamanic student's experiences with one aspect of shamanism. She does not purport to be an ayahuasquero. Rather, one of her stated purposes is to instill a respect for the traditions and knowledge of the plant masters. She does this extremely well. The writing is solid, at times delightful. One can tell that she was a teacher of English. The story itself read like an adventure novel, akin to those by Castaneda. The material was well researched (which, I suspect, is why she cited other authors). Highly recommended for those who seek to understand plant allies.

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.

This book should have been titled "My Ayahuasca Vacation or how I spent two weeks in the Amazon so I could write this book". Frankly, her time would have been better spent back in the (remedial) writing class she attended. Since she spends so much time quoting the other ayuahuasca works why not read them?
Don't buy this book, if you are interested in ayahuasca buy the two easy reading books written by Lamb about Manuel Cordova-"Wizard of the Upper Amazon" and "Rio Tigre and Beyond" with forewords by Dr. Andrew Weil; these books are some of the best on the subject. Once you start to read them you will find they are almost impossible to to put down.
Ralph Metzners work "Human Consciousness and the Spirits of Nature" is another worthy but more scientific tome.
Better yet read Stanislav Grof's "The Adventure of Self Discovery" which deals with non-ordinary states of consciousness.
Leave Joan for her writing class...

This is not a book I would recommend unless you want to read an account of one woman's Peruvian ayahuasca experiences. The writing style is flowery and repetitious and it blends personal narrative with a term paper. The author spends a significant portion of the book quoting other authors. She mentions on more than one occasion that she was an English Lit major, as if that somehow makes one a good writer. It doesn't and the prose nearly made me stop reading. To be fair, her ayahuasca experiences might be of interest to those who plan to spend some time in the jungle drinking the medicine. She pretentiously implies that her experiences are somehow more valid than others because of the diet she maintained before drinking the tea. They seem to be quite normal compared to other experiences I have heard, read, or experienced.

My husband couldn't get past the second chapter.

I too feel this is a self indulgent and amateur work that lacks any kind of rigour or frankly much information of any real interest. The majority of the text is a first person subjective narrative about the author's ayahuasca experience/visions. I can't see how this would be of value to anyone else. However, if this is what you are looking for then this might be the book for you.

If you are looking for any kind of in-depth descriptions/discussions about the process or history or usage of the vine then you will probably be disappointed.

There is an amateurish attempt at the start of the "book" (I would say blog) to sound scholarly, but this topic is so clearly out of the author's depth. Stay away.

I don't often leave reviews but this book was so disappointing that I thought I'd warn future travellers.

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.

Joan Parisi Wilcox did a wonderful job at describing her experiences with the sacred, mind-altering,entheogen,drink of the Amazon called Ayahuasca. Anyone considering imbibing this drink should definitely read this book before packing off to S. America to a Shamanic retreat.
This book is good for people interested in taking a spiritual journey as well as those who just want to take an imaginary trip along with a qualified aspirant who is sincere in her endeavors. Joan's presentation of her experiences is personable and down to earth while remaining practically informative. She does not get hung up in theories or technical jargon yet the information she provides about the ceremonies and her background research are both sound & useful. Also, though I have noticed a percieved bias that shamanic initiation is geared toward men; women either being seperated or more often excluded all together. This book is definitely fitting for women who are interested in the path of Ayahuasca because the story is told from a woman's perspective and because there were no differentiations or preferential treatments in how the Shaman guided the seekers of knowledge.
I particularly appreciate her emphasis on the importance of following the traditionally prescribed methods. The how's and the why's are discussed in some detail.