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Ayahuasca: Soul Medicine of the Amazon Jungle: A Comprehensive and Practical Guide
"More and more people from all walks of life and spiritual and religious backgrounds feel drawn to ayahuasca in often surprising ways. In Soul Medicine of the Amazon Jungle, author Javier Regueiro offers a guide for those new to the use of this powerful medicine that originates in the Amazon rainforest.
Javier Regueiro not only provides general information about ayahuasca, but he bridges the cultural gap between the native and the current use of ayahuasca by Westerners. This guide offers background about the plant medicine, its history, and how to engage with and learn through its use. It includes stories of Javier’s personal experience of transformation, as well as stories from those he’s guided in ceremonies
Addressed to the ever-increasing number of people who approach this medicine for their own personal healing and development, this guidebook provides clear and practical advice on how to use this therapeutic modality in a fashion that is meaningful to modern people for a maximum of benefit."
Javier Regueiro not only provides general information about ayahuasca, but he bridges the cultural gap between the native and the current use of ayahuasca by Westerners. This guide offers background about the plant medicine, its history, and how to engage with and learn through its use. It includes stories of Javier’s personal experience of transformation, as well as stories from those he’s guided in ceremonies
Addressed to the ever-increasing number of people who approach this medicine for their own personal healing and development, this guidebook provides clear and practical advice on how to use this therapeutic modality in a fashion that is meaningful to modern people for a maximum of benefit."
209 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 31, 2014
67 people are currently reading
277 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 25, 2021
While you're tripping on Ayahuasca, you’re ushered you into a cosmic dance away from Planet Earth and into infinity. The awe-inspiring visual delight that infuses your being can be so overpowering and cathartic, that it can crack the surface of even the hardest of egos. Yet, it can be challenging to integrate the experience into your daily life.
As of writing this, it's now been four years since my Ayahuasca retreat in 2017. And even with all that time gone, I haven't yet fully embodied the lessons of the experience in my life. This book was the starting point into my journey into understanding that taking this trip would be worth it. Below, you’ll find all the passages I highlighted before my retreat. Reading this book gave me the confidence to go-ahead and bite the bullet.
Highlights:
"We have acted for centuries believing in wars that create winners and losers, but in reality everybody suffers equally because of conflict. The ultimate unity and identity of all human beings, beyond their gender, sexual orientation, race, culture, or creed, is a reality that needs to be honored and taken into consideration now more than ever."
"Planet Earth is not a perfect place, but it is definitely the best place for us to learn the lessons we have come here for as incarnated beings. Clearly we are here in order to learn and remember the truths we have somehow forgotten."
"The reason the human race has been exploring countless ways of attaining altered states of consciousness, from meditation to trance-inducing rituals, is not because we are trying to escape reality, but to access with our conscious awareness the totality of who we are."
"Perfect peace is a difficult state to maintain on this planet but also no longer an absolute priority now that I have tasted it and know that peace to be my natural state and birth right beyond the illusions of this world."
"There are so many individuals and ethnic groups claiming their victim title that we are running out of people who can actually help these victims since everyone else is a victim too."
"I now feel that if we approach this medicine with a pure intention, we can trust that whatever happens during any ceremony is somehow in alignment with our intentions."
"Whereas traditional psychology attributes the reason for our neuroses to childhood traumas, other schools of thought claim that we all come into this life already carrying certain wounds and that our main purpose for incarnating is precisely the healing of such wounds. We therefore seem to pick the most ideal family environment to reactivate these wounds, often choosing parents or ancestral lines that cannily resonate with the issues we came to heal."
"As sources of light are often a distraction, people are asked to keep the use of artificial lights such as flashlights to a minimum. The mindful use of flashlights and lighters can easily make the difference between a smooth and a chaotic ceremony."
"No matter how painful the experience may seem to the untrained eye. Rather than trying to end their suffering altogether, I remind them that they are safe and encourage them to embrace whatever they are experiencing."
"One of the clearest and most useful lessons I have received from this medicine is to align all thoughts and actions when pursuing anything. The application of this very simple and logical idea has proven to be highly effective and beneficial in my life."
"If, for whatever reason, someone is unable or unwilling to vomit, they should let the ceremony leader know because this means in many cases that the person will remain under the effects of the medicine much longer than usual."
"As the subtlest of our senses of perception, hearing is the one that most directly affects our spirit, a fact that has not escaped the pioneers of consciousness exploration."
"The entire collective and the whole planet benefit from the work we do in consciousness as individuals."
"In such cases, simply tell yourself, the medicine, and whatever spiritual guide you may invoke when in need: “I am willing”."
"It is really quite irrelevant how much one has to drink provided that one has had enough and not too much, and you will be glad you did."
"For some people the initial experience with ayahuasca is simply a cleansing that is felt on the physical plane and nothing else.”
"I usually advise people who are stuck in their usual thought patterns to put their hands on their bellies and breathe deeply, feeling their hands rise and fall with their breath. If familiar thoughts (those famous “old records”) persist, one can ask oneself what he or she is afraid of experiencing and feeling: the mind is usually the best refuge one can find to run away from fully experiencing something."
"The best attitude is not to react against these visions but, if anything, try to understand where they come from and what lessons they may have for us that we have until now failed to learn."
"It is only when the most physical layers are cleansed that the medicine can start affecting the psyche with insights and sometimes visions. To those truly interested in an in-depth work with this medicine, I always recommend an initial series of at least three ceremonies so that they can benefit from this medicine on all levels."
"Deciding to be of service to this medicine rather than pursuing my own goals was revolutionary for me, even more so was the discovery a year after this decision that, as a result of this selfless decision, I was receiving from the universe more than I had ever received or thought possible before while I was busy pursuing my own egoic goals."
"I was the sole responsible person for how I was feeling in that moment and that no amount of blaming others or the world was going to get me out of it. The shift from victimhood to accepting responsibility without judgment had me reach for the nearest bucket as I violently purged this old pattern out of my body and soul, and I spent the rest of the night feeling the expandedness and freedom of my being without the constraint of this mental and psychic cage of victimization I had been living in for most of my life."
"The demise of the ego is what really allows us to get in touch with our emotions, our hearts, and our souls."
"Change implies questioning and challenging one’s own viewpoints and often allowing them to be replaced by new ways of seeing. This process entails the exercise of sincere and deep forgiveness, which is the only way of substantially shifting out of the blaming paradigm that often paralyzes us in our evolution. If someone is unwilling to let go and forgive oneself and others, then chances of real change become fairly diminished. In my own experience, forgiveness is the sweetest and most powerful of medicines."
"Inputs from the outside, such as foods, tastes, colors, shapes, music, and noises, keep our attention constantly projected onto the outside and saturate our perception with sensory stimuli to the point of clogging our ability to see and feel the more subtle aspects of life. By reducing these inputs the “dietero” can create a space where these energies can be experienced and their messages heard."
"Yes, ayahuasca can be a vehicle of rapid transformation but it is not a quick fix that frees us from all responsibilities, on the contrary it forces us to take all the necessary steps, in thought and action, towards the full manifestation of the visions and insights we have received.
As of writing this, it's now been four years since my Ayahuasca retreat in 2017. And even with all that time gone, I haven't yet fully embodied the lessons of the experience in my life. This book was the starting point into my journey into understanding that taking this trip would be worth it. Below, you’ll find all the passages I highlighted before my retreat. Reading this book gave me the confidence to go-ahead and bite the bullet.
Highlights:
"We have acted for centuries believing in wars that create winners and losers, but in reality everybody suffers equally because of conflict. The ultimate unity and identity of all human beings, beyond their gender, sexual orientation, race, culture, or creed, is a reality that needs to be honored and taken into consideration now more than ever."
"Planet Earth is not a perfect place, but it is definitely the best place for us to learn the lessons we have come here for as incarnated beings. Clearly we are here in order to learn and remember the truths we have somehow forgotten."
"The reason the human race has been exploring countless ways of attaining altered states of consciousness, from meditation to trance-inducing rituals, is not because we are trying to escape reality, but to access with our conscious awareness the totality of who we are."
"Perfect peace is a difficult state to maintain on this planet but also no longer an absolute priority now that I have tasted it and know that peace to be my natural state and birth right beyond the illusions of this world."
"There are so many individuals and ethnic groups claiming their victim title that we are running out of people who can actually help these victims since everyone else is a victim too."
"I now feel that if we approach this medicine with a pure intention, we can trust that whatever happens during any ceremony is somehow in alignment with our intentions."
"Whereas traditional psychology attributes the reason for our neuroses to childhood traumas, other schools of thought claim that we all come into this life already carrying certain wounds and that our main purpose for incarnating is precisely the healing of such wounds. We therefore seem to pick the most ideal family environment to reactivate these wounds, often choosing parents or ancestral lines that cannily resonate with the issues we came to heal."
"As sources of light are often a distraction, people are asked to keep the use of artificial lights such as flashlights to a minimum. The mindful use of flashlights and lighters can easily make the difference between a smooth and a chaotic ceremony."
"No matter how painful the experience may seem to the untrained eye. Rather than trying to end their suffering altogether, I remind them that they are safe and encourage them to embrace whatever they are experiencing."
"One of the clearest and most useful lessons I have received from this medicine is to align all thoughts and actions when pursuing anything. The application of this very simple and logical idea has proven to be highly effective and beneficial in my life."
"If, for whatever reason, someone is unable or unwilling to vomit, they should let the ceremony leader know because this means in many cases that the person will remain under the effects of the medicine much longer than usual."
"As the subtlest of our senses of perception, hearing is the one that most directly affects our spirit, a fact that has not escaped the pioneers of consciousness exploration."
"The entire collective and the whole planet benefit from the work we do in consciousness as individuals."
"In such cases, simply tell yourself, the medicine, and whatever spiritual guide you may invoke when in need: “I am willing”."
"It is really quite irrelevant how much one has to drink provided that one has had enough and not too much, and you will be glad you did."
"For some people the initial experience with ayahuasca is simply a cleansing that is felt on the physical plane and nothing else.”
"I usually advise people who are stuck in their usual thought patterns to put their hands on their bellies and breathe deeply, feeling their hands rise and fall with their breath. If familiar thoughts (those famous “old records”) persist, one can ask oneself what he or she is afraid of experiencing and feeling: the mind is usually the best refuge one can find to run away from fully experiencing something."
"The best attitude is not to react against these visions but, if anything, try to understand where they come from and what lessons they may have for us that we have until now failed to learn."
"It is only when the most physical layers are cleansed that the medicine can start affecting the psyche with insights and sometimes visions. To those truly interested in an in-depth work with this medicine, I always recommend an initial series of at least three ceremonies so that they can benefit from this medicine on all levels."
"Deciding to be of service to this medicine rather than pursuing my own goals was revolutionary for me, even more so was the discovery a year after this decision that, as a result of this selfless decision, I was receiving from the universe more than I had ever received or thought possible before while I was busy pursuing my own egoic goals."
"I was the sole responsible person for how I was feeling in that moment and that no amount of blaming others or the world was going to get me out of it. The shift from victimhood to accepting responsibility without judgment had me reach for the nearest bucket as I violently purged this old pattern out of my body and soul, and I spent the rest of the night feeling the expandedness and freedom of my being without the constraint of this mental and psychic cage of victimization I had been living in for most of my life."
"The demise of the ego is what really allows us to get in touch with our emotions, our hearts, and our souls."
"Change implies questioning and challenging one’s own viewpoints and often allowing them to be replaced by new ways of seeing. This process entails the exercise of sincere and deep forgiveness, which is the only way of substantially shifting out of the blaming paradigm that often paralyzes us in our evolution. If someone is unwilling to let go and forgive oneself and others, then chances of real change become fairly diminished. In my own experience, forgiveness is the sweetest and most powerful of medicines."
"Inputs from the outside, such as foods, tastes, colors, shapes, music, and noises, keep our attention constantly projected onto the outside and saturate our perception with sensory stimuli to the point of clogging our ability to see and feel the more subtle aspects of life. By reducing these inputs the “dietero” can create a space where these energies can be experienced and their messages heard."
"Yes, ayahuasca can be a vehicle of rapid transformation but it is not a quick fix that frees us from all responsibilities, on the contrary it forces us to take all the necessary steps, in thought and action, towards the full manifestation of the visions and insights we have received.
March 25, 2023
One of the best books on this topic that I’ve read. Highly recommend it to anyone curious about ayahuasca for a balanced yet insightful deep dive.
November 7, 2018
I had the pleasure of meeting Javier Regueiro last year in a Manhattan bookstore where he signed my copy of his book and then delivered the most fascinating and mesmerizing lecture/discussion I have ever witnessed by an author. He was so clear and so present and non-judgmental and good-humored.
His book is beautifully written and highly informative. Unfortunately (and this seems almost petty to bring up) there are several spelling, grammatical and typographical errors, none of which, happily, detract from the otherwise excellent writing.
By the way, the cover art by Harry Chavez cannot help but catch your eye, as will the photograph on the back of the author beaming a radiant and welcoming smile.
His book is beautifully written and highly informative. Unfortunately (and this seems almost petty to bring up) there are several spelling, grammatical and typographical errors, none of which, happily, detract from the otherwise excellent writing.
By the way, the cover art by Harry Chavez cannot help but catch your eye, as will the photograph on the back of the author beaming a radiant and welcoming smile.
January 10, 2024
This book, which I read most of during one long evening, provided a thoughtful array of all aspects of the preparation, supervision, ingestion, reaction, and reflection necessary to understand this potent portal that may open the body to healing and the soul to integrating itself with one's self-understanding. The author, as a Swiss-Spaniard who emigrated to Peru to become a plant healer under initation by indigenous healers, possesses a sensible blend of Western habits of thought, action, and reaction with Amazonian traditions of using the vine and the root for detoxifying the body, and cleansing the mirror of the spirit. He likens the process to staring out a window at sunset, until one can only discern one's own face, superimposed on darkness. In its combination of guidance, caution, demythification, inspiration, and practicality, it'd serve as a wise guide to precede as well as accompany a newcomer wishing to examine the encounter ahead with necessary insight and self-analysis. Shorn of New Age folderol (which I feared might be the worldview within), noble-savage guff, and heedless pursuits of folly, It's recommended.
April 3, 2019
An interesting book, about the jungle and jungle plant food/medicine. I think there is something in it in part and was thought provoked, but in others I found it opinionated and outlandish. Worth reading if you're interested in the jungles of South America!
November 22, 2018
Nothing new.
It's yet another story book.
It's yet another story book.
March 31, 2023
nice listen - good reminders on letting go
July 17, 2025
A great introduction if you’re curious about Ayahuasca.
April 27, 2024
This was a very nice introductory book on the topic of psychedelics and shamanism in Peru, though it was clearly written from a shamanist's perspective and not from a scientist's perspective. In the Chemistry section, I was expecting actual brain chemistry to be discussed, but it was more about feelings and state of mind. This is also very important, but that's mainly what you get from the book. Still recommended if someone is into this topic.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews