Vine of The Soul
Medicine Men, Their Plants and Rituals in the Colombian Amazonia

by Richard Evans Schultes and Robert Raffauf- preface to the second edition by Wade Davis

Imagine a world where healing with plants takes place daily, and where ritual and magic are as much a part of normal life as sitting down to a meal. This is the enchanting world that we are introduced to in VINE OF THE SOUL: MEDICINE MEN, THEIR PLANTS AND RITUALS IN THE COLOMBIAN AMAZONIA; it is a world which was threatened by extinction back in 1941 when the author, Dr. Richard Evans Schultes, first began his 14-year-long visit, and it is threatened even more today. In fact, its 1941 version could already be said to be extinct.

Because of the importance (from anthropological, botanical, historical and humanistic points of view) of this title, Synergetic Press, which had published a first edition previously, produced the second edition, cited here, with the addition of front and back matter by three of the most attentive conservationists of our time. VINE OF THE SOUL features a preface by National Geographic Society Explorer-in-Residence Wade Davis, a foreword by former director of the Royal Botanical Gardens (at Kew, England) Sir Ghillean Prance, and an epilogue by Director of the Institute of Economic Botany (at the NY Botanical Gardens) Michael Balick.

VINE OF THE SOUL is a collection of essays and photographs (more than 160) depicting life in the Amazon rainforest during the years that Schultes lived there.  While Schultes, who proved to have a great eye for lighting, composition and subject matter, took the photos himself, the essays are co-authored by botanist extraordinaire Robert F. Raffauf. As plants are a priority for the indigenous peoples of the rainforest—just as they are for Schultes and Raffauf—plants and the people who use them (particularly medicine men, or payés) constitute much of the subject matter. Schultes learned a great deal from his indigenous mentors; he collected more than 20,000 specimens, discovered some 300 species new to science, and chronicled more than 2000 medicinal plants which are in use (many of them saving lives) in the pharmaceutical world today.

But he also learned something more. For the indigenous people, plants are not only for healing but also—and perhaps more importantly—for leaving behind the ordinary world and connecting to the spiritual world. “Vine of the Soul,” in fact, is a translation for Ayahuasaca, the preferred sacred plant for most payés and the one most likely to link them to their mystical past. When a payé returns from this kind of excursion, he brings back with him information that is useful for his tribe: everything from plant prescriptions to information on births and deaths to choice building sites, to messages from ancestors. And while the payé is generally the only one to enter the supernatural world at this level, trancelike states induced with less potent plants provide more ordinary folk with spiritual access as well.

In addition to their spellbinding relationship with plants, we learn about the myths, arts, dances, festivals, jewelry, clothing and social habits of the many tribes that Schultes (who had learned seven indigenous languages by the time he left) encountered. The book, which is a companion title to WHERE THE GODS REIGN (also featured here) is destined to be remain the most consequential work on this subject matter.

“Quite simply a masterpiece… VINE OF THE SOUL deserves to be read by everyone interested in rainforests, indigenous peoples, shamanism, hallucinogens, ethnomedicine and conservation.”

Mark Plotkin, President, Amazon Conservation Team

Richard Evans Schultes (1915 – 2001),  the” father of  ethnobotany,” was one of the first authors to advocate preservation of Amazonian rainforest. He served as director of Harvard University Botanical Museum and mentored Tim Leary, Ralph Metzner and Richard Alpert as they set about developing the Harvard Psilocybin Project. Among his students was Dr. Andrew Weil, an authority on healing herbs in holistic medicine. He received numerus awards over the course of his life, including a top honor in botany from the Linnean Society of London

Robert F. Raffauf (1916 – 2001) was professor emeritus of pharmacognosy and medical chemistry at Northeastern University. Over the course of his life, he explored New Guinea, India, the Amazon River Basin, and many parts of Africa for medicinal plants. Following his retirement in 1990, he continued to educate others about medicinal plants and rain forest environments as a member of the Academy of Senior Professionals at Eckerd College. He is the author of eight books.

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ISBN 0 907791 31 X * Paperback * 290 pgs *
Price $29.95

SEE INSIDE

Ayahuasca Reader
Encounters with the Amazon's Sacred Vine

edited by Luis Eduardo Luna and Steven F. White

The AYAHUASCA READER is a four-part celebration of a sacred plant which grows in the Amazon rainforest and which, throughout the rainforest history, has been instrumental in allowing medicine men (and others) to leave their bodies behind and travel with their souls. Their experiences and the invaluable information they return with are so impressive that many anthropologists have felt the inclination to question them about these “trips” and the mythologies of their ancestors regarding them. Hence, part one of the AYAHUASCA READER consists of information divulged in such interviews. Part two consists of essays by (or about) the scientists themselves upon experiencing Ayahuasca in ceremonial settings. Part three discusses the use of Ayahuasca as a present day religious sacrament, and finally, in part four, well known celebrities from the literary world discuss their experience of Ayahuasca.

All of this renders the AYAHUASCA READER the most comprehensive collection ever written on the subject, with essays translated from nearly a dozen languages. The many contributors include Françoise Barbira Freedman, Wade Davis, Philippe Descola, Allen Ginsberg, Jean Langdon, Peter Matthiessen, Dennis McKenna, W.S.Merwin, Richard Spruce, Gerardo Reichel-Dolmatoff, Mario Vargas Llosa, and more. As the myths within confirm, Ayahuasca has been a means “of reconnecting with the invisible layers of the cosmos” for millennia. Not surprisingly, the myths make for very fascinating reading in and of themselves, and certainly no study of world mythology is complete with them. The additional scientific, religious and literary points of view, then, are all wonderful bonuses.

There is a lot at work here: As if the various stories from these disparate groups were not enough, there are depictions of the artwork of the indigenous peoples, photographs of a few of the Ayahuasca practitioners (including Ginsberg), a copy of a Brazilian watercolor depicting Ayahuasca, a copy of an oil painting depicting visions induced by the plant, and much more.  From the religion section there are hymns a plenty, and from the literary section, as much eloquent prose and spirited poetry as a reader is likely to find in any literary anthology.

Only a sacred vine (and perhaps a universal craving for a narcotic that promises “at the end, you see God”) could so beautifully tie all these riches together.

"Obviously the finest collection on the subject and a must-read for anybody interested in ayahuasca."

Jeremy Narby

Luis Eduardo Luna (b. 1947) is an anthropologist and noted ayahuasca researcher.

Steven F. White (b. 1955) has degrees in English and Spanish and has lived and worked in many Latin Americn countries. He is the author of critical studies of poetry and has published poetry books of his own.

Table of Contents

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ISBN 0 907791 32 8 * Paperback * 288 pgs *
PRICE $29.95

Where The Gods Reign
Plants and Peoples of the Colombian Amazon

by Richard Evans Schultes

Foreword by Mark Plotkin, President of the Amazon Conservation Team

While the core of VINE OF THE SOUL (the companion book to WHERE THE GODS REIGN), is the Amazonian plant life and the indigenous people’s uses for it, WHERE THE GODS REIGN focuses primarily on the people themselves—though of course, Schultz (who was dubbed the father of ethnobotany by Prince Philip himself) is first and foremost a botanist and plants do figure into the mix: Schultes describes devil’s gardens—empty patches in the otherwise thick forests where, for no apparent (or scientific) reason, nothing will grow—with the same precision and wonderment with which he discusses the many plants that grow upon other plants in their effort to get their share of the sun…and much more.

But in this fine volume he begins with information about the histories of the various tribes and the lay of the lands on which they live; savannahs, dense forests, quartzite cliffs, sandstone mountains and caves and thunderous waterfalls are all accounted for; and all of his lyrical essays are accompanied by stunning black and white photographs. (There are over 140 photos in the book.) Schultes is often poetic here as well, describing not only the geography but, often, the exquisite emotions one experiences observing it in different seasons or different times of the day. 

Likewise, Schultes describes the people lovingly. He delights in their ability to be happy in spite of poverty, sickness, and, particularly in the case of the women, very hard work. He marvels at their relationships with animals, many of which they tame, so that their homes are surrounded by birds, monkeys, deer, and even boa constrictors (which live in the rafters and keep the mice and rat populations at bay). He marvels that while the children are almost never punished and enjoy a high degree of freedom (especially the boys), they show great respect for their elders as well as a great curiosity and appreciation for their surroundings.

Schultes’ pleasure—in the land and its people—is our pleasure. He is a remarkable scientist and a most eloquent guide. Reading WHERE THE GODS REIGN is probably as close as most of us will ever get to the kind of experience Schultes had staying in Amazon basin and learning about the many very different alternatives to living a life. But one can’t help but long for that experience too. The book threatens to make explorers out of all of us—and a reader can’t help but be disheartened upon remembering that there is not much left to explore. WHERE THE GODS REIGN is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the extraordinary history of the people of the Amazon rainforests.

“[The photos]…would almost stand on their own as a remarkable record of the region, but we are authoritatively treated also to an eloquent and information narrative.”

Steve Bowles, The Geographical Journal (Royal Geographic Society, London)

Richard Evans Schultes (1915 – 2001), the” father of ethnobotany,” was one of the first authors to advocate preservation of Amazonian rainforest. He served as director of Harvard University Botanical Museum and mentored Tim Leary, Ralph Metzner and Richard Alpert as they set about developing the Harvard Psilocybin Project. Among his students was Dr. Andrew Weil, an authority on healing herbs in holistic medicine.

He received numerous awards over the course of his life, including a top honor in botany from the Linnean Society of London.

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ISBN 0 907791 131 * Paperback * 312 pgs *
Price $20.00

White Gold
The Diary of a Rubber Cutter in the Amazon
1906-1916

by John C. Yungjohann,
edited by Sir Ghillean T. Prance, Director, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK

The crisis of the rainforest began a century ago when it was discovered to be a source of rubber. This brought commercial interests into collision with this complex ecology - its plants,its animals and its peoples. At the height of the rubber boom in the early years of this century, a young American, John Yungjohan, struggled for survival as a rubber cutter. The diaries he kept have recently come to light and have been edited by Sir Ghillean Prance of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, England, one of the foremost botanical gardens in the world. Dr. Prance is a leading expert on the rainforest.

The diaries are especially poignant now since the rubber cutters are fighting to preserve something of the original forest against the ravages of the indiscriminate destruction which still ignores the true wealth of the region - its almost incomprehensible variety of species. It is a tale of humanity and the natural order working together in the midst of greed and ignorance. Ghillean Prance enhances the text with his own contemporary photographs and identifies the fungi, plants and animals which are mentioned in the pages of the diaries.

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ISBN 0 907791 166 * Paperback * 104 pgs *
Price $9.95