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Dance of the Four Winds: Secrets of the Inca Medicine Wheel
Dance of the Four Winds recounts the adventures of the American psychologist Alberto Villoldo as he journeys to Peru to explore the visionary ceremonies of the native shamans. Here Quecha masters use the jungle plant ayahuasca to further their spiritual progress along the four paths of the Medicine Wheel. Entering a magical realm of enigmatic sorcerers and powerful animal totems, Villoldo confronts the hidden powers of his own mind as he unlocks the secrets of the human psyche.
288 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1994
17 people are currently reading
348 people want to read
About the author
Alberto Villoldo
71 books354 followersBy his mid-20s Alberto Villoldo was the youngest clinical professor at San Francisco State University. He was directing his own laboratory, the Biological Self-Regulation Lab, investigating how energy medicine and visualization could change the chemistry of the brain.
One day in his biology laboratory, Alberto realized that his investigation had to get bigger instead of smaller; Alberto needed to find a system larger than the neural networks of the brain. The microscope was the wrong instrument to answer the questions he was asking. Many others were already studying the hardware – Alberto Villoldo wanted to learn to re-program the SYSTEM. Anthropological stories hinted that there were people around the globe who claimed to know such things, including the Inka in Peru, the few remaining “shamans” in today’s modern civilization.
As he did initial research into the Inka, Alberto decided that he needed to personally investigate the roots of the Inka civilization itself to collect the vestiges of a 5,000-year-old energy medicine known for healing through Spirit and light.
A few weeks later, knowing this investigation was not going to be a “part time” pastime or a brief sabbatical for a few weeks’ time, Alberto Villoldo resigned his post at the university.
University colleagues thought Alberto Villoldo was absolutely mad.
Not to be dissuaded, Alberto Villoldo traded his laboratory for a pair of hiking boots and a ticket to the Amazon. He was determined to learn from researchers whose vision had not been confined to the lens of a microscope, from people whose body of knowledge encompassed more than the measurable, material world that Alberto had been taught was the ONLY reality. He wanted to meet the people who sensed the spaces between things and perceived the luminous strands that animate all life.
Scattered throughout the remnants of this ancient Amazonian empire were a number of sages or “Earth Keepers” who remembered the ancient ways. Alberto traveled through countless villages and hamlets and met with scores of medicine men and women. The lack of a written body of knowledge meant that every village had brought its own flavor and style to the healing practices that still survived.
For more than 10 years, Alberto Villoldo trained with the jungle medicine people. Along the way, he discovered that his journey into shamanism had actually been guided by his personal desire to become whole.
In healing his own soul wounds, Alberto Villoldo walked the path of the wounded healer and learned to transform old pain, grief, anger and shame to sources of strength and compassion.
From the Amazon, Alberto Villoldo trekked the coast of Peru, from Nazca, the site of gigantic markings on the desert floor that depict power animals and geometric figures, to the fabled Shimbe lagoons in the north, home to the country’s most renowned sorcerers. Then, in Lake Titicaca – the Sea on Top of the World – Alberto Villoldo collected the stories and healing practices of the people from which, the legends say, the Inka were born.
Through it all, Alberto Villoldo discovered a set of sacred technologies that transform the body, heal the soul, and can change the way we live and the way we die.
These ancient teachings and understandings explain that a Luminous Energy Field (LEF), whose source is located in infinity, surrounds us. The LEF acts as a matrix that maintains the health and vibrancy of the physical body.
Today, Alberto Villoldo is a best-selling author and founder in the world-renowned Institute of Energy Medicine, The Four Winds Society. In all of his teachings and writings, Alberto shares the experience of infinity’s easy ability to heal and transform us, to free us from the temporal chains that keep us fettered to illness, old age and disease.
Over the course of two decades with the shamans in the jungles and high mountains of the Andes, Alberto Villoldo would discover that we are more than flesh and bone, that we are a
One day in his biology laboratory, Alberto realized that his investigation had to get bigger instead of smaller; Alberto needed to find a system larger than the neural networks of the brain. The microscope was the wrong instrument to answer the questions he was asking. Many others were already studying the hardware – Alberto Villoldo wanted to learn to re-program the SYSTEM. Anthropological stories hinted that there were people around the globe who claimed to know such things, including the Inka in Peru, the few remaining “shamans” in today’s modern civilization.
As he did initial research into the Inka, Alberto decided that he needed to personally investigate the roots of the Inka civilization itself to collect the vestiges of a 5,000-year-old energy medicine known for healing through Spirit and light.
A few weeks later, knowing this investigation was not going to be a “part time” pastime or a brief sabbatical for a few weeks’ time, Alberto Villoldo resigned his post at the university.
University colleagues thought Alberto Villoldo was absolutely mad.
Not to be dissuaded, Alberto Villoldo traded his laboratory for a pair of hiking boots and a ticket to the Amazon. He was determined to learn from researchers whose vision had not been confined to the lens of a microscope, from people whose body of knowledge encompassed more than the measurable, material world that Alberto had been taught was the ONLY reality. He wanted to meet the people who sensed the spaces between things and perceived the luminous strands that animate all life.
Scattered throughout the remnants of this ancient Amazonian empire were a number of sages or “Earth Keepers” who remembered the ancient ways. Alberto traveled through countless villages and hamlets and met with scores of medicine men and women. The lack of a written body of knowledge meant that every village had brought its own flavor and style to the healing practices that still survived.
For more than 10 years, Alberto Villoldo trained with the jungle medicine people. Along the way, he discovered that his journey into shamanism had actually been guided by his personal desire to become whole.
In healing his own soul wounds, Alberto Villoldo walked the path of the wounded healer and learned to transform old pain, grief, anger and shame to sources of strength and compassion.
From the Amazon, Alberto Villoldo trekked the coast of Peru, from Nazca, the site of gigantic markings on the desert floor that depict power animals and geometric figures, to the fabled Shimbe lagoons in the north, home to the country’s most renowned sorcerers. Then, in Lake Titicaca – the Sea on Top of the World – Alberto Villoldo collected the stories and healing practices of the people from which, the legends say, the Inka were born.
Through it all, Alberto Villoldo discovered a set of sacred technologies that transform the body, heal the soul, and can change the way we live and the way we die.
These ancient teachings and understandings explain that a Luminous Energy Field (LEF), whose source is located in infinity, surrounds us. The LEF acts as a matrix that maintains the health and vibrancy of the physical body.
Today, Alberto Villoldo is a best-selling author and founder in the world-renowned Institute of Energy Medicine, The Four Winds Society. In all of his teachings and writings, Alberto shares the experience of infinity’s easy ability to heal and transform us, to free us from the temporal chains that keep us fettered to illness, old age and disease.
Over the course of two decades with the shamans in the jungles and high mountains of the Andes, Alberto Villoldo would discover that we are more than flesh and bone, that we are a
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 13 reviews
August 10, 2024
A young man’s journey into the deepest reaches of Peru in search of native Shamans - men of nature, soothsayers and philosophers. A journal of discovery of mindfulness and of himself. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it. “Shamanism is not a religion, it’s an attitude, a discipline, a state of mind.”
August 7, 2012
I first read this book in my twenties, when it was one of the first on shamanism that I read. I was very impressed by this account of an American psychologist who went to Peru to experience ayahuasca, the South American Vine of the Dead. After so many other books on the subject, and twenty years later, it's still an interesting book and definitely well-written, but much of the impact it had at the time is gone. It's entertaining and somewhat interesting, but no classic in its genre as I once thought. And how much of this presumably authentic account is fiction we'll probably never know, but that doesn't necessarily take away from the amusement. It was fun to read again after such a long time, but that's about it.
January 8, 2026
I did not know what to expect from this book, but it was one of three that was available in English in the bookstore I visited in Peru, so I thought it would give me some insight into the culture of the country I now found myself in. It did take a new approach to this country by exploring the aspects of shamanism that is always on the fringes of the country but nobody ever talks about. I learned a lot about the philosophical aspects of this lifestyle by reading this book, and I liked the way that it clashed this philosophy with the scientific approach to psychology that contradicts a lot of the beliefs presented in this ancient religion. The book also provided insight to some of Peru's greatest landmarks, most specifically Machu Picchu, and what it means to the people who live there. Reading the book while visiting these sights added a lot to the experience of going out there, and made the experience come to life even more. The book started off really good, but by the third and fourth part of it, the book started to wavers and the ideas explored in these sections of the book did not go into as much detail as the first two parts did. Despite this fact, it was still a good read.
August 25, 2020
A wonderful introduction to a journey into shamanism in Peru and sacred initiations. I read it before going to Peru and having my own profound experiences. I have last week re-read this story and enjoyed its nuances once morel.
January 7, 2023
For the heart! 🥰 Absolutely loved this book.
July 21, 2009
I have wanted to know more about the 4 sacred directions in Native religions and I got the whole shooting match with this book. The author is a psychology Ph.D candidate looking for wisdom form native healers to complete his dissertation. He goes to Peru and meets up with various shamans who take him through the four directions over the space of 20 years. Either you love this stuff or you hate it. If you pick and choose, there is some wisdom there.
September 6, 2007
This was the first spiritually-oriented book that I have ever read. It changed the way that I thought about myself and the world. It inspired me to learn more about healing on all levels: spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically.
In short, it changed my life.
I was so taken by this book that I immediately read the sequel.
In short, it changed my life.
I was so taken by this book that I immediately read the sequel.
August 4, 2008
An entertaining book of a man's quest to find Shamans in Peru. I highly recommend reading it with an open mind...
January 20, 2013
My introduction to South American shamanism
January 9, 2015
Very interesting! I've read it twice.
January 25, 2017
Very good non-fiction read. Written to engage the reader, while staying true to the story and memories.
April 16, 2017
While undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer-- in the spaces between surgery, radioactive iodine, and external beam radiation-- I walked an unfamiliar path through a narrative of conscious healing and self-discovery with Alberto Villoldo. With a rich, descriptive retelling of his journeys through the Peruvian cultural landscape and his exploration of the relationship between shamanism and everything that holds the power to heal: Alberto helped me bring my transformation into being.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 13 reviews