Experiential journalist Rak Razam sets out to document the thriving business of 21st-century hallucinogenic shamanism starting with a trip to the annual Amazonian Shaman Conference in Iquitos, Peru, where he meets a motley crew of "spiritual tourists," rogue scientists, black magicians, and indigenous and Western healers and guides, all in town to partake of the ritual--and the medicine--of ayahuasca, "the vine of souls." Combining his personal story with the history of Amazonian shamanism...

A great read for seekers and thrill-seekers interested in ayahuasca tourism, entheogens, and counterculture studies, this companion volume to the author's memoir Aya Awakenings collects in-depth interviews with native Amazonian curanderos (healers) and Western shamans traveling the "gringo trail" in the jungles of Central and South America in search of a direct encounter with ayahuasca's multidimensional reality.In areas of Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru, the traditional herbal...

Key Notes: The history and use of 5 MeoDMT as natural medicine for those afflicted by addiction and its application as a tool to initiate people on a spiritual path. Description: The Toad of Dawn is the dramatic story of how Dr. Octavio Rettig Hinojosa — a Mexican doctor with a crack cocaine addiction — came to heal himself by employing an ancient “treasure” almost forgotten for centuries — Bufo alvarius (the Sonoran Desert toad). Under the auspices of the United Nations Venezuela Associat...