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Visionary Ayahuasca : a manual for therapeutic and spiritual journeys PDF

278 Pages·2015·5.33 MB·English
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Spirituality/EnthEogEnS $18.95 U.S. K $22.95 Can. O U “This is the first book that anyone thinking about taking ayahuasca, or taking it again, N must own.” E N JamES Fadiman, ph.d., author of The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide Since 1999 Jan Kounen has traveled regularly to the Peruvian Amazon to participate in ayahuasca ceremonies. At first only a curious filmmaker, over multiple trips he transformed from explorer to apprentice to ayahuasquero and often found himself surrounded by other foreigners coming to the jungle for their first taste of ayahuasca V medicine. Knowing how little guidance is available on how to prepare or what to expect, he naturally offered them advice. I S Part visionary ayahuasca memoir and part practical guide, this book contains the same step-by-step advice that Kounen provides first-time ayahuasca users in the I O jungle. He describes how to prepare for the first ceremony and what to do in the days afterward. He explores how to deal with the nausea and details the special prepara- N tory diets an ayahuasca shaman will put you on, often lasting for months but neces- sary for life-transforming results and teachings from the plant spirits. He also explains A how it is far easier to maintain these restrictions in the jungle than in the city. Detailing his own ayahuasca experiences over hundreds of sessions, including a R trip in 2009 when he underwent 17 ceremonies in 25 days, Kounen describes how Y ayahuasca transformed him. He tells of his meetings with Shipibo healers, including Kestenbetsa, who opened the doors of this world for him and is the shaman to whom Kounen became an apprentice. He details the many other plants and foods that are A part of the ayahuasca healer’s medicine cabinet, such as toé and tobacco, as well as Y their icaros, or healing songs. A veritable “what to expect” guide, this book should A be your first step prior to committing to ayahuasca. H JAN KOUNEN is a filmmaker who has created a number of films and documentaries, including 99 Francs, Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky, and the celebrated Blueberry. U His interest in Shipibo culture and shamanism developed during his trips to Peru to A shoot music videos, leading to his apprenticeship to an ayahuasca shaman. He lives in France. S C PARK STREET PRESS A ROCHESTER, VERMONT www.ParkStPress.com Cover design by Peri Swan Cover image courtesy of IngImage This book supports the www.HaciendaRioCote.com Reforestation Project SFI-00000 Text stock is SFI certified This page intentionally left blank. Visionary ayahuasca “This is the first book that anyone thinking about taking aya- huasca, or taking it again, must own. The manual section is hon- est, revealing, invaluable, and packed with everything, including how to find a safe and sane teacher, how to sit during ceremony, what kinds of clothes to bring, and why dietas are necessary for real healing. Jan’s own journal of his progress is unusually candid in disclosing the obstacles and difficulties that arise even as your commitment to this path deepens.” James Fadiman Ph.D., author of The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide: Safe Therapeutic and Spiritual Journeys “This is a great book for anyone who is planning to attend an aya- huasca ceremony. It is packed with useful information, observa- tions, and relevant facts providing a valuable guide to what you can really expect from the vine of souls.” Ross Heaven, author of Plant Spirit Shamanism: Traditional Techniques for Healing the Soul “A rich, honest, informative testimony based on numerous coura- geous acts, this book is both extremist and full of good sense—out- landish and matter of fact. A filmmaker’s guide to the cinematic world of ayahuasca.” Jeremy Narby, anthropologist and author of The Cosmic Serpent and Intelligence in Nature VisAya.indd 1 11/20/14 10:02 AM “Jan Kounen’s descriptions of his experiences with ayahuasca are informed, poetic, and at times authentically visceral. This book provides excellent insights into the discipline and the rigors of the traditional plant diet as well as the underlying relationship between human and plant consciousness. This is definitely a book for both the person considering working with ayahuasca and for those with significant experience with the plant. It was a pleasure to read this book.” Howard G. Charing, coauthor of Plant Spirit Shamanism and The Ayahuasca Visions of Pablo Amaringo “In Vistionary Ayahuasca, 10 years of experience with ayahuasca medicina is laid out beautifully. It has lots of information for any- one considering going down the ayahuasca trail. Don’t leave home without it!” Alan Shoemaker, author of Ayahuasca Medicine VisAya.indd 2 11/20/14 10:02 AM Visionary ayahuasca A Manual for Therapeutic and Spiritual Journeys JAn Kounen Translated by Jack Cain Park Street Press Rochester, Vermont • Toronto, Canada VisAya.indd 3 11/20/14 10:02 AM Park Street Press One Park Street Rochester, Vermont 05767 www.ParkStPress.com Park Street Press is a division of Inner Traditions International Copyright © 2011 by Mama Editions English translation © 2015 by Inner Traditions International Originally published in French under the title Carnets de voyages intérieurs: Ayahuasca medicina, un manuel by Mama Editions, Paris, France First U.S. edition published in 2015 by Park Street Press All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kounen, Jan, 1964– [Carnets de voyages intérieurs: ayahuasca medicina, un manuel] Visionary Ayahuasca : a manual for therapeutic and spiritual journeys / Jan Kounen ; translated by Jack Cain ; foreword by Alejandro Jodorowsky. — First U.S. edition. pages cm ISBN 978-1-62055-345-9 (paperback) — ISBN 978-1-62055-346-6 (e-book) 1. Kounen, Jan, 1964– 2. Motion picture producers and directors—France— Biography. 3. Ayahuasca—Psychotropic effects. 4. Shamanism—Amazon River Region. I. Cain, Jack, 1940– translator. II. Title. PN1998.3.K679A3 2014 615.3'2379—dc23 2014015973 Text design by Virginia Scott Bowman and layout by Priscilla Baker This book was typeset in Garamond Premier Pro with Myriad Pro and Biondi Sans used as display typefaces Drawings on pages 84, 123, and 194 from Jan Kounen’s comic strip Doctor Ayahuasca, Editions du Lombard VisAya.indd 4 11/20/14 10:02 AM This book is dedicated to my brother Kestenbetsa, to the Shipibo people, and to madre ayahuasca. VisAya.indd 5 11/20/14 10:02 AM I dream that this book, yellowed with time, might one day be read by an unknown man or woman, having been found perhaps in a bookstore, in a library, or buried under a pile at the bottom of a crate . . . VisAya.indd 6 11/20/14 10:02 AM If you write your name in above, you can more readily lend this book. If you lend this book to ten people, nothing special is going to happen to you. It’s not going to change your life. But you will be circulating this text, and that is going to make me really happy. VisAya.indd 7 11/20/14 10:02 AM This page intentionally left blank.

Description:
A “what to expect” guide for first-time ayahuasca users paired with accounts from the author’s extensive shamanic experiences in the Amazon • Describes how to prepare for the first ceremony, what to do in the days afterward, and how to maintain a shamanic healing diet • Details some of the
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