Amazon Healer: The Life and Times of an Urban Shaman (Paperback)

~ Marlene Dobkin De Rios (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Medical anthropologist de Rios profiles the life and work of Don Hilde, a traditional folk healer who practices in the city of Pucallpa, Peru. Don Hilde's philosophy of healing and diagnostic and therapeutic techniques are examined in detail, and the broader context of the society in which Don Hilde works is explored. The stresses that result from rural to urban migration, poverty, and family disharmony often lead individuals in urban contexts to consult traditional healers. Don Hilde provides a striking example of the evident phenomenon in Latin America. The fact that the main part of de Rios's research was conducted in 1979 and is only now being published makes one wonder whether the conditions described persist today. The book has a scholarly slant, offering frequent citations, but it is clearly written and accessible to the lay reader as well as the anthropologist. Recommended for academic libraries.
- Elizabeth Salt, Otterbein Coll. Lib., Westerville, Ohio
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description

The work of Amazon folk healer don Hilde incorporates a modern spiritualistic perspective into the traditional healing arts of the region. Medical anthropologist Marlene Dobkin De Rios examines don Hilde's methods in relation to folk tradition and modern research on the immune system. She finds that many traditional techniques stimulate the production of endorphins-natural painkillers that stimulate the body's own healing powers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 180 pages
• Publisher: Prism Press (August 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853270768
• ISBN-13: 978-1853270765
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,434,314 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars no title, November 11, 2005

By	C. L Wilson (Elmhurst, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Slim volume (164 pp.) about a healer in Pucallpa, Peru. Actually he is her father-in-law. Not terrific, since she reports on all this psychic healing at face value, without really tieing it to any substantive facts. These people all believe in witches and evil causing them bodily harm as a way of pushing off the problem to somebody else, much as we are so prone to lawsuits. I do think there is a definite connection between mental soundness and physical well-being. These Peruvians seem to view the world they live in as full of evil witches and people who wish them harm. Does jungle living make people so paranoid? There probably is something in psychic energy being able to heal, and people's auras telling of their illnesses; but this author does not really have enough empirical data.