El bejuco del alma: Los médicos tradicionales de la amazonia colombiana, sus plantas y sus rituales

by Richard Evans Schultes, Robert F. Raffauf, Alberto Uribe Tobón (Translator)

This companion volume to Schultes' previous work is a superb collection of photos taken during 20 years of research in the Colombian Amazon. Thematically organized around the 'visionary vines' (banisteriopsis, ayahuasca), hallucinogenic plants and snuffs among native peoples, volume ranges widely over ethnobotany, shamanism, art, ritual, and natural phenomena in western Amazonia. Minimal text is accompanied by citations from other ethnographies

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Anthropology, Spirituality

284 pages, Unknown Binding

First published August 1, 1992

About the author

Richard Evans Schultes (SHULL-tees) (January 12, 1915 – April 10, 2001) may be considered the father of modern ethnobotany, for his studies of indigenous peoples' (especially the indigenous peoples of the Americas) uses of plants, including especially entheogenic or hallucinogenic plants (particularly in Mexico and the Amazon), for his lifelong collaborations with chemists, and for his charismatic influence as an educator at Harvard University on a number of students and colleagues who went on to write popular books and assume influential positions in museums, botanical gardens, and popular culture.

His book The Plants of the Gods: Their Sacred, Healing, and Hallucinogenic Powers (1979), co-authored with chemist Albert Hofmann, the discoverer of LSD, is considered his greatest popular work: it has never been out of print and was revised into an expanded second edition, based on a German translation by Christian Rätsch (1998), in 2001.[1]

Reviews

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

ⓒ1992 Fascinating book about the native culture of this region and the ritual use of plants in spirituality, healing, hunting, fishing – almost every aspect of life. Excellent photos show what life was like before the coming of Europeans and their descendants.

[Kuinoso · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un interesante ensayo fotográfico que explora las costumbres, especies y demás información relacionada al uso de plantas como medicina física, mental y espiritual en el Amazonas colombiano. Sus bellas fotografías capturan una realidad muy diferente de estas comunidades en la primera mitad del siglo XX.
Es una lectura interesante incluso si su desarrollo textual, en búsqueda de alcanzar a la población general, es en ocasiones bastante superficial.

[Ieben Broeckhoven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting combination of ethnobotany and pharmacology! The book focuses on the use of plants, but more context would have been welcome.

[Clivemichael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant objective summary of an expanding phenomenon.