Customer Reviews

Initiation: A Woman's Spiritual Adventure in the Heart of the Andes

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

 

 

I started reading "Initiation" on my way to Cusco, and was immediately hooked on it. I just couldn't stop reading. Elizabeth Jenkins' accounts of her experience with the Apus and Pachamama are so vivid that you feel you are actually living them through her words. I am Peruvian and have been for some time researching on Andean mysticism. I was not fully aware of the path that would open before me when I started my research, and just like Elizabeth, I heard Pachamama's call loud and clear. So I can fully relate to her story. The smooth and personal style in which the book is written makes it easy to read - but this is not just another nice story. This book takes you by the hand into the realm of Pachamama, and it actually complies with its mission of bringing Pachamama's word to the world. The description of the Hatun Karpay (initiation) is very vivid and compelling, and it truly opens your eyes so you can learn to distinguish between the real Andean mysteries from what is merely (to put it some way) a description of Andean folklore. I fully recommend this book to anybody who is seriously interested in embracing Pachamama's ways. After all, it did change my life!

This is a superficial and at times naive account by a yet another starry eyed, eager and willing "shaman's apprentice". Elizabeth Jenkins worked as an English teacher in Cuzco when she met a "fourth level" shaman, Juan Nunez, who showed her around Peru. Juan immediately initiated her into the fourth level herself. The apparent ease and efficiency of this "initiation" process has, if i am allowed to be slightly cynical, allowed Elizabeth and Juan to create a major business catering to those who are looking to get something for nothing. About 20 times a year, Juan initiates yet another group of wide eyed tourists, and both E. and J. lead initiation workshops all over the world, including the US.

This book will be of interest to people who are inclined towards safe "spiritual adventures". I would not recommend it to people who are looking for more resources on shamanic "technology", initiation or peruvian beliefs.

This is a well-written and thoughtful account of a woman's spiritual adventures in the Andes. Her experiences, along with a group of initiates into the 4th level of an Inkan (and world reaching) tradition are explained. The language, while being connected to spirituality and esoteric principles, is easy to understand.

This book is for any level of spiritual searching person. Unlike The Celestine Prophecy, I did not want to throw the book across the room - her writing is very good and although adventurous, does not read as being trite or ill conceived.

The only connection I feel comfortable about in relating these two books is in my wish for it to be as wildly popular.

I tried to find a title for this review that was less harsh, but there's nothing else for it. I have read the book at least twice, and attended some workshops with another teacher of South American curanderismo, who speaks well of Juan Nunez del Prado. Juan has apprenticed with a true curandero in Peru.

The emphasis on her 'specialness' and references to 'initiated fourth-level priest' on her website speak volumes of where Elizabeth herself is coming from. I contacted some of her 'fourth-level priests' in Europe asking if they knew another healer who lived in the same city they did. They answered back with a short 'no', and goodbye. How much REALLY did they want to help heal others, when they ignored an opportunity to learn about another potential teacher in their backyard?

I agree with another reviewer, this is yet another book by yet another person promoting superficial spiritual tourism. Look at her website and see how many times you find the word 'initiation'.

There is accurate info regarding South American curanderismo, particularly in the second section. My advice if you are seriously interested in helping people with their pain and suffering using Peruvian curanderismo, is to get this book and the one by colleague Joan Parisi Wilcox used (so you aren't putting money in their pockets), ignore the ego, and read for useful information. There is some there.

Hi there! I found this book by accident, read it on one go and booked a trip to Peru for the following summer. I had fantastic time practising the old inka/q'ero indian energy excercises at the Inka temples and power places. I would warmly recommend this book (and the trip) to anyone spiritually inclined - and the practises really work!!!

I saw Shirley McClains "Out on a Limb" several years ago and it really got me interested in Peru and Machu Picchu. Now that I have read this book, I am determined to go. I truely feel pulled to visit there - I imagine a lot of people will feel this way after reading this book. It sounds like a truely mystical place to grow spiritually and learn about yourself.

I like that the author does not just write about her initiation, but includes her first stay in Peru in her story. Her first encounters with the Apus and the first group she joins shows how one must be strong and trust your intuition.

I just thought that this book is wonderful for anyone who is at all questioning what is going on with their spirituality. I fell in love with it. "When the spirit is willing, the teacher will be known."

Look at the Editorial Review up above here... go ahead. In the first sentence you will notice mentioned the, quote, Andean village of Cuzco, Peru. This is as good a place as any to start with why this book should be considered memoir or even fiction, but certainly not a serious guide to a Real spiritual tradition.

Why? Cusco, Peru is a city of 400,000 people, has internet access, credit cards, and also a multi-million dollar tourist industry. (It is the city where I live.) Peru is often considered the Number One tourist destination on Earth. As such, a booming Mystical Tourism industry has sprung up as well, capitalizing on the Western Worlds interest in the oh-so-Mystical Andes. Jenkins describes her experiences with Mystical Tourism, but calls it Mysticism.

So, if you are interested in the genuine article, skip this book. If, instead, you want to read a romanticized account of a foreigner learning the spiritual ways of the Andes, read the Celestine Prophecy. The author of THAT book does us the favor of telling us up front it is Fiction.

I say this with a great deal of love for the authentic and Vanishing spiritual traditions of the Andes and Peru in general.

I say this because I am NOT interested in seeing the flea markets and open-air-markets of Cusco replaced by consumer-capitalist Super Markets-- AND at the same time, I am NOT interested in seeing the Real spiritual traditions of the Andes replaced with user-friendly, mass produced, soul-devoid styrofoam imitations. I am not interested in Spirituality as Entertainment or Presumptuous Self-Involvement.

The author, sadly, perhaps without even realizing it, is promoting just that kind of shift in Peru. I hope readers will have the sense to see through the romanticized illusion. In the end, those who want to do something to promote spirituality in the Andes and in the world-- like the author presumably does-- should consider joining programs to increase the standard of living in this incredibly poor section of the world. While Jenkins and her foundation make money off of the Initiations they perform, Peruvians continue to be dirt poor. Where is the love for the Pachamama and the Apus in that? Where is the mysticism and mystery? Mystery? I would say that it looks rather obvious.

I was already into shamanism even before I read this book, but it helped me see and understand why I feel the way I do about Incas, shamanism, healing and energies. This was like coming home for me... it touched my heart and soul. Before I read this book I had no wish to visit Peru and the Andes... now I do... I long for it! Someday maybe I will...

This book was a personal door to my roots. Originally I am a Kechwa native American. But I am adopted to Dutch parents when I was young. Since a copple of years I have 'strange' experiments. By this book I now know what that means. Every word is true, a real reflection of the other level of life wich western cultures have forgot. I hope this book will be a door to the real world of Kay Pacha. Mark Lucana Champi-van Deursen