Wizard of the Upper Amazon [Paperback]

F. Bruce Lamb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 27, 1993

Wizard of the Upper Amazon is an extraordinary document of the life among a tribe of South American Indians at the beginning of the 20th century. For many readers, the most compelling sections of the book will be the descriptions of the use of Banisteriopsis caapi, the ayahuasca of the Amazon forests. This powerful hallucinogen has long been credited with the ability to transport human beings to realms of experience where telepathy and clairvoyance are commonplace. Manual Córdova, the narrator of these adventures is a well-known as a healer in Peru.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is one of the three or four best books I have ever encountered."
—Peter Warshall, The CoEvolution Quarterly

"A rare glimpse of the private life of a Peruvian healer."
—Andrew Weil, M.D., author of the The Natural Mind

About the Author

F. Bruce Lamb was born in Colorado in 1913 and holds B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan. He has traveled widely, in North, South and Central America, as well as Africa and Asia, and has held many posts and consultancies in the field of forest engineering, specializing in tropical forestry. He has published two books and numerous articles in this field. Married and father of one daughter, he lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and is retired Technical Director, Forest Resources for Champion International Corporation.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: North Atlantic Books (January 27, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0938190806
• ISBN-13: 978-0938190806
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #91,356 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > History > Americas > South America > Peru
  • #65 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Earth-Based Religions > Shamanism

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful and enthralling story, July 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Wizard of the Upper Amazon (Paperback)

An authentic account from the early twentieth centry of villiage life in the Amazon jungle. Told in a simple and direct manner, one is captivated by the sophisticated and complete social life of the Indian people. Since it is a first hand account , non-anthropological, one gets a glimpse of a way of life rich in religious, cultural and human acheivement. It offers insights into the way of life of the Huni Kui people, and into the Western way of life, both complete and wonderful in their own right, but utterly seperate. The civilization of the Huni Kui people is hard to relate to the animalistic, instinctual slavery of the greed driven capitalist world, where everything is reduced to its financial worth, as oppossed to its intrinsic value. Although the Huni Kui people are ultimately pragmatic about the world they live in, their intellectual integrity allows for recognition of the interdependence of all life. This is explored in the book through enjoyable tales of hunting trips, religious ceremonies and villiage incidents, revealing a taste of the satisfaction of an integrated way of life, apart from the materialistic fantasies engaged in by the machinistic,beurocratic Western worldview.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Light in a heart of darkness, February 1, 2006

By 

K.S.Ziegler (Seattle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wizard of the Upper Amazon (Paperback)

This is a second hand account that is written with beautiful clarity. The story, which was related by Manuel Cordova to the author, unfolds in an entirely believable way. It tells of Manuel Cordova's kidnapping when he was a teenager working for rubber cutters in the Amazon in the early 1900s. He was forced by a group of Indians to undergo a long march through the jungle, several hundred miles to a very remote, primitive Indian village. These Indians were of a fierce hunting disposition, and had fled into the interior because they refused to give into the slavery imposed on them by rubber barons.

Cordova must learn how to adapt to primitive, tribal conditions where a Chief must control his people's impulses enough to keep the tribe from spinning apart. The Chief must also assure that his people are able to thrive as hunters in a hostile environment, where a dense jungle covers almost everything and dangers lurk. Success as a hunter requires a lot of knowledge, and that knowledge is acquired not only through experience but through ingesting Ayahuasca (See "DMT, the Spirit Molecule" by Strassman). Cordova relates the extraordinary sessions that were very carefully planned and taken very seriously. By the use of chants and cues given by the Chief, the particpants experienced in unison non-ordinary sensual perception that brought them in touch with the life of the forest.

Although I felt some sympathy for these Indians, who had the wits to evade forces greater than themselves, I got the impression that they were basically an unruly, impulsive bunch easily influenced to the point of being motivated above all by vengence. The violence of their hunting lives seemed to supersede in large part a sacred regard for their environment gained from their shamanistic experiences. That was my impression anyway. For his part, Manual Cordova put his shamanistic experiences, his knowledge of native plants, and healing ability that he acquired to good use.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to put this book down!, February 6, 2010

By 

Darshan Baba "AUM" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Wizard of the Upper Amazon (Paperback)

A delightful glance in to a way of living which most of the world has forgotten. An experience of living in a tribe deep within the rain forest, this true story is never dull or slow but continues to keep the reader entranced until the end. One of those books where you feel at least a little sad that the book is over, wanting to keep reading/living this story of life in the rain forest according to the way that people have been living for thousands of years, and to this day still live deep within the refuge of the rain forest.

This book also provides glimpses into the magic or the amazon and her people, with amazing plant medicines, especially but not limited to yage, with her magical visions teaching higher levels of perception, clairvoyance, deeper harmony, and knowledge of the forest and all creatures.

This book is recommended to anyone and everyone who feels the sacred calls of the spirit of the Amazon...