Aya Awakenings SC (2013 North Atlantic Books) A Shamanic Odyssey comic books 2013-2015
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Published Nov 2013 by North Atlantic Books.$20.00
1st printing. By Rak Razam. Foreword by Dennis J. McKenna. Aya Awakening's strong adventure narrative and the mythic attraction of shamanism will appeal to alternative-minded counterculture seekers hungry for a bold story with a spiritual premise; new age and body, mind, and spirit readers; and global backpackers interested in psychedelics. In areas of Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru, the traditional herbal brew known as ayahuasca or yajé is legally used to heal physical ailments and to cleanse and purify the spirit by connecting it to the web of life; Sting and Tori Amos have admitted sampling it in Latin America, as has Paul Simon, who chronicled the experience in his song "Spirit Voices." In this book, Rak Razam, an Australian journalist, sets out to document the thriving business of 21st-century Amazonian hallucinogenic shamanism. Starting with a trip to the 7th annual Amazonian Shaman Conference in Iquitos, Peru, Razam meets a motley crew of "spiritual tourists," rogue scientists, black magicians, and indigenous and Western shamans, all in search of the experience offered by the ritual--and the medicine--of ayahuasca, "the vine of souls." During his research, Razam finds himself diving deeper into the shamanic lifestyle. Combining his personal story with the history of Amazonian shamanism, Razam takes the reader along on his enlightening adventure. Softcover, 6-in. x 9-in., 512 pages, Text. Cover price $26.95.