Jaguar Woman and the Wisdom of the Butterfly Tree

Medicine Woman #3

by Lynn V. Andrews

An account of the ongoing quest for inner knowledge and the power of women as expressed in Native American cultures

Genres: Spirituality, Fiction, Fantasy, New Age, Native American, Indigenous, Mysticism

194 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1985

About the author

Lynn Andrews is the author of the Medicine Woman Series, which chronicles her three decades of study and work with shaman healers on four continents.

Reviews

[Rosemary Bloom]

I was given this book by a friend whom I share spirituality with. I started reading it and thought to myself... what? Is this really true? Look up on the Internet, and lo and behold, we have ourselves a Castaneda-type - only this one's worse. This is a white lady from Beverly Hills purporting to say that she has been an apprentice to Native American shamans, and has been the first and only white person ever let into their secret global Sisterhood of the Shields.

There are many things wrong with this book. One, WHY are all of these native Mayan women conducting their ceremonies in English. I am sure some speak English, but if you go to the jungles of the Yucatan, people there are going to speak Mayan (which is actually not one language, but many!) and/or Spanish. All of their ceremonies seem to be centered around her, around teaching her this ancient wisdom, and all while receiving this knowledge she's actually kind of a brat. She says that she can't handle any more ceremonies, she's tired, she doesn't know. They impart this knowledge on her because she is 'chosen' or something, but she never really offers any wisdom herself, nor shows any promise that I would think shamans would look in an apprentice. She is simply eager to learn.

The ceremonies described here are like a supernatural sorority hazing gone wrong. She is attacked by women in scary costumes, one screaming to her - "Cut off your hand. Cut off your foot. Tie you to the floor. Stake you to the tree. You will never leave me." while brandishing a skull in one hand and a black stone knife in the other. Did I mention she arrived at this ritual blindfolded? Um, hello? Afterwards, she runs for her life and comes to her teachers, who say she passed the test. Really? You passed a shaman's test by running for your life after an indigenous Mayan woman screamed at you and threatened you in English?

Lynn Andrews is an embarrassment to Native culture and spirituality. She has written works of fiction and profited off their being true stories, and thus spends her time 'writing, lecturing and teaching on the Medicine Way' (read: charging $400 for seminars and doing autograph signings); cashing in on traditions of an oppressed people, traditions she has distorted and stretched to make for good reading.

Not to trash on Lynn as a person, but she also has definitely gotten some major plastic surgery. I just simply cannot believe that a woman who was the apprentice of Goddess worship, women's spirituality, women's mysteries and honoring of women would deform herself in her old age. What do her 'teachers' think of her plastic surgery? What would Itzpopolotl (a Goddess she is given a figurine of) think? A woman has cycles in life, and a true spiritual women would honor those instead of paying thousands of dollars to halt them.

That being said, if you read this as a work of fiction, it is a wonderful book. Well written, gripping, and a real page-turner. If I come across them at used book stores or in a library, I would probably read her other books, not to gain knowledge or insight (all of the wisdom imparted in these books can be found in any basic text on Buddhism, Goddess worship, and/or from a REAL Native American shaman), but to read a suspenseful story. As fiction, I give this 3.5 stars. As 'nonfiction,' I would give it zero if I could.

[dianne b.]

A completely silly story which we learn flys wildly out of her previous books which I assume have the same plot. Apparently every frigging thing that happens to this woman is an acid trip. She can step into Safeway to buy a bag of Fritos and be swept into a magical swirling cart carried by butterfly unicorn hamsters who are really rainbow warriors made up of ancestor goddesses and suddenly be aware that they represent a challenge to the higher (or lower?) best (or worst?) past (or future?) Lynn; and that she must face (or overcome, or mutate, or castrate, or retroflect, or maybe bathe in warm water) or perhaps an old medicine woman will appear from another dimension to lead her to the Truth of just this microsecond, as another Astounding Insightful Whirlwind is about to occur.
Why, then, when I go to the grocery store, are there just the damned groceries, you ask? Should I avoid Fritos? Maybe you’d find out if you wasted your time reading past page 50, but I doubt it. I can’t help you because I didn’t.
Hold on to your ovaries, sentences like this abound:
“You must realize la Ultimate Madre, realize who you are, and become who you are.”
In psychiatry we called that word salad.

[etherealfire]

"Words are a sacred tool and must be honored as such. When used carefully, words have magical healing properties. When used to judge, to hate, or to separate, words are deadly. The words you will be using in this workbook are your basic tools for healing on this journey. Treat them with respect. Honor your words." ~ Lynn V. Andrews

Books completed:

--- Medicine Woman, 1981
--- Jaguar Woman and the Wisdom of the Butterfly Tree, 1985
--- Star Woman, 1986
--- Crystal Woman, 1987
--- Windhorse Woman, 1989
--- The Woman of Wyrrd, 1990
--- Shakkai, 1992
--- Woman at the Edge of Two Worlds, 1993

Loved the books - every one of them. Treat them as mythology or as absolute truth. It makes no difference, the larger truth is as real to me as the Cosmic Christ. And to me, that is real! Beautifully written, loved her relationships with her spiritual teachers. For me, these books were real medicine, true spiritual healing.

[Deena]

I'm really embarressed that I read this. I think it's really brave of me to admit it publicly.

[Sophia]

The stories were definitely entertaining, but a lot of it seemed self-centered and hard to believe. It hard to imagine a Mayan shamaness would give a random white woman a so-called ancient and powerful Mayan medicine mask. When you take her self importance with a grain of salt, the lessons and stories told in this book are certainly helpful to digest on one's own spiritual journey. However, I would warn readers to not take her point of view as fact, as it has been known that indigenous communities are quite unhappy with her portrayal of various cultural practices in this book and her others.

[Baroness]

I’m currently on my shaman journey, although I appreciate the author sharing her story, this is not what I’m searching for.

[P N]

If you treat this as a novel it is an entertaining read. But anyone who has seriously studied Shamanism and various native cultures will quickly see through the author's claims about her "true" experiences. I won't waste my time reading any more of her books.

[Catherine]

For a book that is sold as a true story, it just doesn't fly with me. I don't buy it. The good news is that I can cull her other books from my to read shelf.

[Aida]

Ok... so it’s a pretty good book. I kind of regret ordering more of her books now though because, well... I believe in magic and I do believe that these things can happen and do happen a lot... but some of the vagueness of the happenings, the generalization of a Mayan language, and other things I can’t recall at the moment... I mean, what counts are the takeaways for me and I did get some good stuff from the storytelling so I rated based on that.

[J Oga]

I’ve seen some mean reviews about this book questioning the color and status of the author. To me doesn’t really matter if is a fiction or true history, but the metaphorical lessons about recognizing your inner strength. Love it!

[Eli]

Unless you're gullible and/or into the false historicity of the goddess-worship model, don't waste your time on this book. I felt cheated and I had gotten it for free. The author is controversial and has been accused of fabrication on multiple occasions.

[Jewels]

Recommended by a friend, I struggled at first to catch on, but loved the storytelling. At some point, I switched to the audio version via my library and breezed through, returning back to the text when I wanted to re-read segments to really let them sink in.

[Shanda]

Weird and a bit slow going.

[Irene Vincent]

I enjoyed her whole series of books and couldn't wait for them to be published.

[Shaktima Michele Brien]

All Lynn V. Andrews's books are fantastic.

[Eve]

Another book I enjoyed back in the 90s.

[Sara]

great perspective!

[Elysha Rea]

This book and The Women of Wyrrd were my favourite books in this series.

[Libby]

Hmmm maybe don’t read everything you find in the lending library on your street ? Bc I judged a book by its (awesome) cover and title and well … :/ #culturalappropriation ?

[Renea Yslas]

Exquisite

[Betsey]

I read this book during college as part of a seminar, "creating otherness: the making of cultural anti-selves." snooty title, but fascinating. I discovered that every.single.one of Lynn Andrews' books are about her divorce - boys drool, girls rule. Hilarious, if it didn't sell so well to 50 year old divorcee's in Santa Barbara...

[Revy]

I read about a third of this and then it was due at the library and I didn't pick it up again until months later. I've missed how much of a journey this woman's writing is. The whole book feels like a trip, and it teaches so much through Lynn's lessons with her teachers. It's also jus really beautifully written, well-structured, and entertaining. My third book by Lynn Andrews.

[Rachael]

Cool book about a shaman and a shaman in training. Most characters in these books are women. Need to read Medicine woman next although it came first in the trilogy. Still need to find out what the third book is called.

[Weam Namou]

What I loved the most about this book is learning about the different energies that people have: Rainbow Mother Energy and Great Nurturing Mother Energy. The wisdom that Lynn's Native American teachers pass on is invaluable.

[Bekah]

my fave:)

[Gervaze]

Of the ilk of Carlos Castaneda's works. An intriguing read, especially as drawn from the great perceptions of a woman.

[jacqs]

Besides being a fascinating series of adventures, it ends with some illuminating comments on timelessness and ego.

[Michelle]

Great! You have to read the whole series!

[David Richardson]

Not bad, suppose to be a true story but it sounds a little far out to me. Mabey I can't open my eyes wide enough to see.

[Sara]

I read it as fiction, totally unaware of the controversy about this author.