Josh’s Reviews > One River: Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rain Forest > Status Update
Josh
is on page 157 of 544
The jaguar was sent to the world as a test of the will and integrity of the first humans. Like people, it is both good and evil. It can create and it can destroy. The jaguar is the force the shaman must confront.. If the shaman can tame the jaguar, the energy may be directed for the good. But if the dark aspect of the wild overcomes, the jaguar is transformed into a devouring monster, the image of our darkest selves.
— May 13, 2017 08:08PM
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Josh
is on page 480 of 544
"For the Yukuna, the dances of the Kai-ya-ree tell the story of life, expressing all that they believe about the origins and evolution of the natural world. In taking on the images of supernatural beings and wild creatures, in balancing the forces of good and evil, the dancers ensure the health and fertility not only of their people but of the earth itself."
— Jun 03, 2017 07:42AM
Josh
is on page 432 of 544
"on a special day in August, [the llama's] owners join them in their corrals to drink and chew coca together. The llamas are decorated with bright tassels and given a special concoction of barley mash, chicha, medicinal herbs, and cane alcohol... By the end of the day both man and beast are completely drunk, and together they stagger out of the corral, following their other companions, laughing, singing, dancing."
— May 31, 2017 08:01AM
Josh
is on page 410 of 544
"I have felt it in the deep shadows of the Amazonian forests and in the blinding brightness of the Amazonian waters; I have felt it in herbaria; ... I knew it to be true: Richard Spruce still lives, and will live on to fire the heart and shape the thoughts of many a plant explorer as yet unborn, who will tread Spruce's trail to carry forward his great, unfinished work."
— May 29, 2017 07:53AM
Josh
is on page 249 of 544
"I have felt it in the deep shadows of the Amazonian forests and in the blinding brightness of the Amazonian waters; I have felt it in herbaria; I have felt it while standing before Spruce's humble cottage in the hamlet of Coneysthorpe;
— May 29, 2017 07:51AM
Josh
is on page 249 of 544
Leaving Quito by road, Tim and I traveled east, climbing through driving rains and violent winds, past beautiful elfin groves of polylepus trees hung with fuchsia, to a 13,400-foot-high pass that looked out over sparse fields dusted with snow. Across the divide the road fell away and began a long descent into the cloud forests of the Río Papallacta...
— May 19, 2017 08:23AM
Josh
is on page 197 of 544
"The Sionas once ruled the spirits. When your professor was here, the shaman was the central authority. Through the plant he influenced every aspect of life. But since 1950 only a handful of Siona have tried to become shamans, and not one has achieved full mastery. In the thirties and forties there were still many. The Siona blame their demise on the sorcery they worked on one another. I blame Texaco."
— May 16, 2017 07:08AM
Josh
is on page 168 of 544
He knelt, placed the lilies on the dirt, whispered a prayer, and then crossed himself. When he was finished, I asked him if it was true that he had once wanted to be a priest.
"Yes. I was a believer," he answered. As we walked out of the cemetery, he hesitated for a moment at the gate. "What the padres don't realize," he said, " is that we have many lives, only one of which may be claimed by death."
— May 14, 2017 08:57AM
"Yes. I was a believer," he answered. As we walked out of the cemetery, he hesitated for a moment at the gate. "What the padres don't realize," he said, " is that we have many lives, only one of which may be claimed by death."
Josh
is on page 158 of 544
"I think that what's Burroughs came looking for; that's what he wanted to find. Conviction. But he thought it would be somehow pleasant, like another kick."
"You mean taking yagé."
"Yeah. Yagé is many things, but pleasant isn't one of them."
— May 13, 2017 08:09PM
"You mean taking yagé."
"Yeah. Yagé is many things, but pleasant isn't one of them."
Josh
is on page 147 of 544
"They believe that ordinary life is an illusion: everything you see—that mountain, this truck, your own body. The true determinants of life and death are invisible forces that can be perceived only with the aid of hallucinogenic plants. When a boy is six he must obtain an external soul, one that will protect him and allow him to communicate with his ancestors."
— May 13, 2017 07:32PM
Josh
is on page 146 of 544
"The main drug is scopolamine, a tropane alkaloid, same as in belladonna. If you take a big whack, it brings on a wild, crazed state, total disorientation, delirium, foaming at the mouth, a wicked thirst, terrifying visions that fuse into a dreamless sleep, followed by complete amnesia. You don't remember anything. The drug used to be injected into women during childbirth. They called it 'twilight sleep.'
— May 13, 2017 07:28PM
