Vine of the Soul: Medicine Men, Their Plants and Rituals in the Colombian Amazonia [Paperback]

Richard Evans Schultes (Author), Robert F. Raffauf (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2004

Imagine a world where healing with plants takes place daily, and where ritual and magic are as much a part of normal life as sitting down to a meal. This is the enchanting world that we are introduced to in VINE OF THE SOUL: MEDICINE MEN, THEIR PLANTS AND RITUALS IN THE COLOMBIAN AMAZONIA; it is a world which was threatened by extinction back in 1941 when the author, Dr. Richard Evans Schultes, first began his 14-year-long visit, and it is threatened even more today. In fact, its 1941 version could already be said to be extinct. Because of the importance (from anthropological, botanical, historical and humanistic points of view) of this title, Synergetic Press, which had published a first edition previously, produced the second edition, cited here, with the addition of front and back matter by three of the most attentive conservationists of our time. VINE OF THE SOUL features a preface by National Geographic Society Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis, a foreword by former director of the Royal Botanical Gardens (at Kew, England) Sir Ghillean Prance, and an epilogue by Director of the Institute of Economic Botany (at the NY Botanical Gardens) Michael Balick. VINE OF THE SOUL is a collection of essays and photographs (more than 160) depicting life in the Amazon rainforest during the years that Schultes lived there. While Schultes, who proved to have a great eye for lighting, composition and subject matter, took the photos himself, the essays are co-authored by botanist extraordinaire Robert F. Raffauf. As plants are a priority for the indigenous peoples of the rainforest just as they are for Schultes and Raffauf plants and the people who use them (particularly medicine men, or payés) constitute much of the subject matter. Schultes learned a great deal from his indigenous mentors; he collected more than 20,000 specimens, discovered some 300 species new to science, and chronicled more than 2000 medicinal plants which are in use (many of them saving lives) in the pharmaceutical world today. But he also learned something more. For the indigenous people, plants are not only for healing but also and perhaps more importantly for leaving behind the ordinary world and connecting to the spiritual world. Vine of the Soul, in fact, is a translation for Ayahuasaca, the preferred sacred plant for most payés and the one most likely to link them to their mystical past. When a payé returns from this kind of excursion, he brings back with him information that is useful for his tribe: everything from plant prescriptions to information on births and deaths to choice building sites, to messages from ancestors. And while the payé is generally the only one to enter the supernatural world at this level, trancelike states induced with less potent plants provide more ordinary folk with spiritual access as well. In addition to their spellbinding relationship with plants, we learn about the myths, arts, dances, festivals, jewelry, clothing and social habits of the many tribes that Schultes (who had learned seven indigenous languages by the time he left) encountered. The book, which is a companion title to WHERE THE GODS REIGN is destined to be remain the most consequential work on this subject matter.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Quite simply a masterpiece... VINE OF THE SOUL deserves to be read by everyone interested in rainforests, indigenous peoples, shamanism, hallucinogens, ethnomedicine and conservation." --Mark Plotkin, President, Amazon Conservation Team

"Even to look at the book s cover...conjures up, well, another world! The giant Ayahuasca vine hanging the length of the Great Tree...with the deepgreen rainforest jungle as backdrop, teeming with...dangers and delights! Adventures! Unpredictabilities! Nothing ever standing still! Surprises teeming around every corner. Vine of the Soul contains some of the most significant photographs on this subject ever taken plus detailed descriptions of the use of plant substances, with information on their bioactive chemistry. This is a book you ll go back to throughout your life." --Fraser Clark, UP Magazine, Parallel University

Vine of the Soul is replete with synergism. The inclusion of the preface by Wade Davis, a former student of Dr. Schultes, and a dedication in the fore-material is a welcome addition to the second edition. All writing in the book...complements the scholarship and the incredible photographs, making the whole better than the separate parts. Each segment fits the other like hand and glove, as smoothly as heavy cream pouring from a pitcher.
Synergetic Press is to be commended for publishing Vine of the Soul. It will be useful and appreciated by many at all levels...is a highly recommended book.

--Willard Van Asdall, Retired Professor, University of Arizona, Former Editor, Journal of Ethnobiology

About the Author

Richard Evans Schultes (1915 2001), the father of ethnobotany, was one of the first authors to advocate preservation of Amazonian rainforest. He served as director of Harvard University Botanical Museum and mentored Tim Leary, Ralph Metzner and Richard Alpert as they set about developing the Harvard Psilocybin Project. Among his students was Dr. Andrew Weil, an authority on healing herbs in holistic medicine. He received numerus awards over the course of his life, including a top honor in botany from the Linnean Society of London

Robert F. Raffauf (1916 2001) was professor emeritus of pharmacognosy and medical chemistry at Northeastern University. Over the course of his life, he explored New Guinea, India, the Amazon River Basin, and many parts of Africa for medicinal plants. Following his retirement in 1990, he continued to educate others about medicinal plants and rain forest environments as a member of the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College. He is the author of eight books.

Product Details

• Paperback: 282 pages
• Publisher: Synergetic Press (January 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 090779131X
• ISBN-13: 978-0907791317
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #404,442 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > History > Americas > South America > Colombia

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful and absorbing tour of faith and spirituality, February 9, 2004

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vine of the Soul: Medicine Men, Their Plants and Rituals in the Colombian Amazonia (Paperback)

The collaborative work of Richard Evans Schultes (formerly Jeffrey Professor of Biology and Director of the Botanical Museum of Harvard University) and Robert F. Raffauf (formerly Professor of Pharmacognosy and Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions, Northeastern University, Bost-on), Vine Of The Soul: Medicine Men, Their Plants And Rituals In The Colombian Amazonia has been newly re-issued by Synergetic Press and is an informed and informative exploration of the religious beliefs and superstitions of the people native to the Colombian Amazon River area. Here studied are tribal sacred dances, art, petroglyphs, and architecture, hunting and fishing rituals, and more. Vine Of The Soul is wonderfully enhanced with different black-and-white photograph, and text captions describing particular aspects of the Colombian Amazonian native traditions represented therein. A beautiful and absorbing tour of faith and spirituality, Vine Of The Soul is a core addition to personal, professional, academic, and community library Amazonian Studies reading lists and South American Indian reference collections.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Photo Essay of Colombian Amazonia, September 15, 2008

By 

Brian Allen "neotropical birding" (Manistee, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Vine of the Soul: Medicine Men, Their Plants and Rituals in the Colombian Amazonia (Paperback)

This is much more of a picture book than I had expected but it is a fascinating book. For the most part of it's 270 pages there are full page photos of plants, places and traditional people of Amazonia engaged in the use of medicinal plants, traditional art or music. Accompanying the photos are brief one to two paragraph descriptions of what peoples use the plant, where they are located, where the plant is found and what its traditional usage is.

The black and white photos are of places rarely seen including sacred waterfalls, rock formations, unique endemic forest and plant communities that are not often depicted in photographic books on the amazon region.

This is a great book to thumb through and read as your curiosity is caught by one page after another showing a scene of extensive forest, a cliff-side pictograph, a strikingly bizarre flower. It is not a detailed text of ethnobotany, it is more like coming across an explorer's own notes and pictures that gives you a sense of privilege to view.