Aya: a shamanic odyssey

Aya: a shamanic odyssey by Rak Razam 1. Ayahuasca 2. Shamanism 3. Counterculture 4. Memoir 'The vine has spread her tendrils across the world and a genuine archaic revival was underway. My bags were packed, South America beckoned and the ancient mysteries of the rainforest awaited. I wanted in on it...' When "experiential journalist" Rak Razam sets out to document the booming business of Amazonian shamanism in the 21st century, he quickly finds himself caught up in a culture clash between the old world and the new. Braving a gringo trail of the soul, he discovers a movement of seekers coming from the West to experience the multi-dimensional reality shamanism connects one to. Central to this is ayahuasca-the "vine of souls"-a South American hallucinogenic plant that has been used by Amazonian people for millennia to heal, cleanse and purify the spirit, connecting it to the web of life. As Razam trains with indigenous curanderos he lyrically documents his experiences and burgeoning relationship with the plant world. And the more he drinks this potent jungle medicine the deeper it leads him, from the wet jungles where the ayahuasca vine grows, to the middle of the Amazon and on into the raging heart of consciousness itself... Razam has a hip, breakneck style of reporting delicately threaded with deep insights and understandings of the indigenous view of reality. His journalistic eye for detail captures a unique spiritual adventure that echoes the archetypal Western quest, propelling you on a cosmological travel memoir that is at turns beautiful, terrifying, mind-blowing and ultimately, cathartic. Part journalistic account, part adventure, Aya is ultimately a love song to something intimately familiar to the human spirit. 'As Razam so aptly demonstrates, a new kind of traveler is emerging-one that embarks into the mysterious and uncharted domain within, where they aim to conquer their own heart. Written in the tradition of a great adventure narrative, AYA is a timely story for a new emerging era.' - Yossi Ghinsberg, author of Lost in the Jungle www.ayathebook.com