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Lion Eyes
In the American Indian belief, it is said that we never really know who we are until we find our totem, and once we do, then everything falls into place, even in the midst of chaos. Lion Eyes is the exciting true story of Jan Milburn, who came face-to-face with his totem—and was transformed. As a love-deprived young child, he got lost in a snowstorm in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, and a huge mountain lion led him safely home . . . setting him on a course for a miraculous life. Acclaimed best-selling author Victor Villaseñor gives voice to Jan’s thrilling tale, full of danger, clashes between light and darkness, romance, and healing miracles.
Against the backdrop of the ’60s—a time of love and war, a time of turmoil and social upheaval, a time of young people’s exuberant exploration while the establishment tried to hold on to the past—Jan Milburn chose an unusual calling . . . becoming the youngest minister ever ordained by the state of California.
Jan’s spiritual path, incredibly, led him from San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury District of the ’60s to Mexico, and into the darkness of the drug world. Hunted by a notorious assassin, he stared down death and encountered the very depths of depravity and violence—but ultimately awakened to his magical Spirit Guides and the Kingdom of God within each of us that transcends religion and “of-the-body” limitations.
It was at this time that Mireya, a beautiful young Indian girl, saw in Jan the noble heart of a lion and the vision of an eagle. Nothing could get in the way of her love and admiration for this man. It was written in the stars, she said. Eventually, Mireya and Jan married and were instrumental in helping to return more than two million acres of stolen land to the Tarahumara Indians of Chihuahua, Mexico.
Lion Eyes is a mystical, heartfelt, soul-inspiring love story of timeless relevance. It shows us that our global future lies not just in our politics and religious beliefs, but also in our unwavering love and our forgotten native wisdom that once we find our totem, everything falls into place, even amidst chaos . . . illustrated by one man’s incredible life, which can become the norm for all of humanity!
Against the backdrop of the ’60s—a time of love and war, a time of turmoil and social upheaval, a time of young people’s exuberant exploration while the establishment tried to hold on to the past—Jan Milburn chose an unusual calling . . . becoming the youngest minister ever ordained by the state of California.
Jan’s spiritual path, incredibly, led him from San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury District of the ’60s to Mexico, and into the darkness of the drug world. Hunted by a notorious assassin, he stared down death and encountered the very depths of depravity and violence—but ultimately awakened to his magical Spirit Guides and the Kingdom of God within each of us that transcends religion and “of-the-body” limitations.
It was at this time that Mireya, a beautiful young Indian girl, saw in Jan the noble heart of a lion and the vision of an eagle. Nothing could get in the way of her love and admiration for this man. It was written in the stars, she said. Eventually, Mireya and Jan married and were instrumental in helping to return more than two million acres of stolen land to the Tarahumara Indians of Chihuahua, Mexico.
Lion Eyes is a mystical, heartfelt, soul-inspiring love story of timeless relevance. It shows us that our global future lies not just in our politics and religious beliefs, but also in our unwavering love and our forgotten native wisdom that once we find our totem, everything falls into place, even amidst chaos . . . illustrated by one man’s incredible life, which can become the norm for all of humanity!
415 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 21, 2016
Read for book club. Didn't finish. An interesting story but I dislike the way it is written. Sorry.
June 19, 2023
This is not a great book, but it is a good story. It is about a real person, Jan Millburn, who had a life-saving and life-changing experience with a mountain lion in the redwood-forested mountains of Los Gatos. He became a minister at 17, worked successfully with drug-excited and free-love-living youth in San Francisco and the Bay area. He helped many of the “lost” give up drugs and find meaning and joy in their lives through Jesus Christ. When he went to Mexico, he continued this type of ministry there, eventually becoming someone the drug lords wanted gone. After living through horrific “accidents” and torture, he was healed in the Copper Canyon area in the state of Chihuahua. There he met Mireya, an Indian girl with a similar strong spirit who had decided he was her man before she had even met him. The love they shared resulted in marriage, a child, and a long life together.
Multiple times Jan was targeted for death by various forces, multiple times he was badly hurt and miraculously mended; multiple times he married (3); and multiple times he created important, spiritual, wonderful programs such as fundraising-restaurants and more safe houses. An inspired event was creating a camp for hundreds of children to attend and learn about the earth, the animals, and their relationship with God and the land. Ultimately, he and his associates managed to get thousands of acres of land returned to the Tarahumara people, stolen from them by greedy men in government and the Catholic church.
The return of the lands to the indigenous people made Jan famous on a wider scale and eventually it was suggested that Victor Villlasenor, who had already written about the area and knew about the culture, should write their story. This book is the result.
An essential part of the Tarahumara culture and the belief and life of Jan and Mireya involves constant awareness of God. Miracles are expected every day.
Because there are so many alleged miracles, a reader can’t help but develop some skepticism. Maybe some of the local herbs helped with the visions and miracles as well. A point I want to make is the irony of the Tarahumara people, who accepted the Bible and various ministers, but chased them out of the village if they began to preach. In the village of Creel near the canyon’s rim, the sacred lake. and the tropical valley below, that happened several times. It’s ironic to me because in the book, there’s a whole lot of preaching going on in 90% of the chapters. It is repetitious, on going, and page-after-page sameness of preaching and praising, and I dare any reader not to skip through some of it after reaching the half way mark. The book began to resemble cult literature, which is a shame. I was surprised the author told the story in the form he did, with so many identical sentences and paragraphs of preaching or expounding.
I’m happy I read it and that good people exist and do wonderful things.
Multiple times Jan was targeted for death by various forces, multiple times he was badly hurt and miraculously mended; multiple times he married (3); and multiple times he created important, spiritual, wonderful programs such as fundraising-restaurants and more safe houses. An inspired event was creating a camp for hundreds of children to attend and learn about the earth, the animals, and their relationship with God and the land. Ultimately, he and his associates managed to get thousands of acres of land returned to the Tarahumara people, stolen from them by greedy men in government and the Catholic church.
The return of the lands to the indigenous people made Jan famous on a wider scale and eventually it was suggested that Victor Villlasenor, who had already written about the area and knew about the culture, should write their story. This book is the result.
An essential part of the Tarahumara culture and the belief and life of Jan and Mireya involves constant awareness of God. Miracles are expected every day.
Because there are so many alleged miracles, a reader can’t help but develop some skepticism. Maybe some of the local herbs helped with the visions and miracles as well. A point I want to make is the irony of the Tarahumara people, who accepted the Bible and various ministers, but chased them out of the village if they began to preach. In the village of Creel near the canyon’s rim, the sacred lake. and the tropical valley below, that happened several times. It’s ironic to me because in the book, there’s a whole lot of preaching going on in 90% of the chapters. It is repetitious, on going, and page-after-page sameness of preaching and praising, and I dare any reader not to skip through some of it after reaching the half way mark. The book began to resemble cult literature, which is a shame. I was surprised the author told the story in the form he did, with so many identical sentences and paragraphs of preaching or expounding.
I’m happy I read it and that good people exist and do wonderful things.
February 15, 2026
Victor Villasenor is my favorite author and “Rain of Gold” is one of my most favorite books. Reading “Lion Eyes” was an entirely different experience and to be honest I put this book back on my shelf once and considered not finishing it multiple times, thinking it was not for me, but the next day I picked it back up because I did not want to insult this amazing writer by not finishing it. The only reason I am giving it four stars is because of the author and the respect I have for him as a person. For some reason I was not liking and put off by the character Jan Milburn as I found no sympathy in my heart for this man who would leave his children he had with other women behind and told a 15 year old girl, when he was in his 30’s, to come back and see him when she turned 18. It really put me off…were the stories he told Villasenor actually true? It was all hard to believe. For some reason I kept going and I think the part that kept me going was the story of the Tarahumara Indians and wanting to learn more about their beliefs etc. I was so relieved when reading Villasenor’s afterword that I was not supposed to give myself too much of a hard time for questioning this book and the truthfulness of the described events, so after reading that part I felt better about my doubts. In the end I am happy I finished the book. After reading “ Rain of Gold” nothing can really compare. I have read almost all of his books. Thirteen Senses is also so amazing…🥰
November 5, 2019
It was aight. Cool, relevant themes for me: the concept of a totem, death as a continuation of life, and believing in miracles, especially in that place between dreaming and consciousness. Occasionally didactic, repetitive, and sexist in a wannabe progressive way, smh. Still, I feel like it was very timely and important to read. It made me feel things occasionally, including more spiritually in-tune with those 13 senses and nature and miracles.
October 11, 2013
The title of this book refers to the Spirit Guide that, in Indians (indigenous Mexican and native American people) believe all humans have. This guide leads us to our true purpose in life.
The author tells the story of Jan Milborne, and his encounter with his Spirit Guide at the age of 9 years old. His guide is a female mountain lion that lead him home after being lost in the mountains of Los Gatos, California in a snow storm. His encounter was significant since the lion could have attacked him but instead lead him to safety after what he felt was a spiritual calm when he looked into her eyes. His life took on a different meaning, always remembering throughout his life the encounter and the feelings behind it, he set out to make a difference in peoples lives without the use of money but instead using spiritualism.
Jan Milborne was born in the Midwest but moved at an early age to California. His beliefs were very different than that of his upbringing in his strict and devout Christian home. He was a young hippie Christian minister in the ‘60’s and lived in San Francisco. He knew people like Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Jerry Garcia before they became famous and helped open up a coffeehouse on Haight-Ashbury and others in San Jose, California. He offered help to men that came back from the Vietnam war and had problems and drug addicts that sought out help. The book goes on about how his missions, helping people, lead him to Creel in Chihuahua, Mexico where he is met with big challenges. He goes to a town called Las Barrancas de Cobre, beautiful land that is being over taken by logging companies, drug lords, and hotel chains. In his efforts, he got 2 million acres returned to the Tarahumara Indians, making him a local hero. He also meets his future wife there, a native of Creel who had suffered through the greed of the take over and whom accounts for all the suffering, hard work and efforts he made for the people there. Jan suffered through tortures by the drug lords that didn’t want him there, but with the help of the Tarahumara people and their spiritualism he overcomes everything they put him through.
I liked this book, although I agreed with the author when he explains in the preface, how he is first sought out and is being convinced by Jan Milborne’s family to write the book on Jans life, how he was hesitant because this would be a another story about a white guy saving indigenous people, but his accounts aren’t just about him but everyone as a whole coming together with their beliefs in miracles to save what is really sacred... land that represents the good and pureness that all humans possess deep inside.
The author tells the story of Jan Milborne, and his encounter with his Spirit Guide at the age of 9 years old. His guide is a female mountain lion that lead him home after being lost in the mountains of Los Gatos, California in a snow storm. His encounter was significant since the lion could have attacked him but instead lead him to safety after what he felt was a spiritual calm when he looked into her eyes. His life took on a different meaning, always remembering throughout his life the encounter and the feelings behind it, he set out to make a difference in peoples lives without the use of money but instead using spiritualism.
Jan Milborne was born in the Midwest but moved at an early age to California. His beliefs were very different than that of his upbringing in his strict and devout Christian home. He was a young hippie Christian minister in the ‘60’s and lived in San Francisco. He knew people like Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, and Jerry Garcia before they became famous and helped open up a coffeehouse on Haight-Ashbury and others in San Jose, California. He offered help to men that came back from the Vietnam war and had problems and drug addicts that sought out help. The book goes on about how his missions, helping people, lead him to Creel in Chihuahua, Mexico where he is met with big challenges. He goes to a town called Las Barrancas de Cobre, beautiful land that is being over taken by logging companies, drug lords, and hotel chains. In his efforts, he got 2 million acres returned to the Tarahumara Indians, making him a local hero. He also meets his future wife there, a native of Creel who had suffered through the greed of the take over and whom accounts for all the suffering, hard work and efforts he made for the people there. Jan suffered through tortures by the drug lords that didn’t want him there, but with the help of the Tarahumara people and their spiritualism he overcomes everything they put him through.
I liked this book, although I agreed with the author when he explains in the preface, how he is first sought out and is being convinced by Jan Milborne’s family to write the book on Jans life, how he was hesitant because this would be a another story about a white guy saving indigenous people, but his accounts aren’t just about him but everyone as a whole coming together with their beliefs in miracles to save what is really sacred... land that represents the good and pureness that all humans possess deep inside.
April 18, 2014
Those familiar with Victor Villasenor's trilogy of how the families of his father and his mother escaped from the horrors of the Mexican Revolution to finally settle in southern California will understand this is a contemporary story of events described in his novel Rain of Gold. I have read Rain of Gold many times but never heard the story of how it was published. After his father died he had to ask his mother to mortgage her house to buy back the rights from the publisher because they wanted to release the book as fiction. So Lion Eyes is vindication for Villasenor that independently confirms the authenticity of the events described in Rain of Gold. We do not learn this until the epilogue and he is careful not to interject in the story told by the participants of Lion Eyes in their own words. The story brings the events described in Rain of Gold into a contemporary setting and shows that the power exhibited by his family to survive are attainable by anyone even as he says a "white dude". The epilogue is his explanation of this power which derives from learning to use all thirteen of our senses and not just the four senses that are centered in our brain. Thirteen Senses is the title of one of the books in his trilogy but in the epilogue he summarizes the thirteen senses and the three centers that control them. We are culturally limited to using only four senses but there are three additional senses associated with our heart and another six senses associated with our soul. The most important sense is balance which is located in the heart along with feeling and intuition. We need to regain our sense of balance because without balance we cannot find health and well-being. The main sense of the soul is music for the universe is singing and we must learn to listen. The other senses of the soul are time, space, collective consciousness, psychic awareness, and being. The epilogue is a promotion for his book Beyond Rain of Gold which goes into detail on the publishing of Rain of Gold and the discovery of the alternate perspective of reality.
October 28, 2012
With apologies to Senor Villasenor, but I just could not read this book. I have picked it up and put it down twelve times, and that tells me I'm just not going to get through it. Readers of this review should know why, because their mileage may vary. Because this book was published by Hay House, and I have been impressed in the past with some of the books from that press, I persisted with it longer than I normally would have.
First, my experiences growing up with some heavy-handed (and very unJesuslike) Christian evangelists of the Southern Baptist kind make it hard for me to get past the author's frequent use of Christian buzzwords. I was expecting a gentler and more wonder-filled book more closely aligned with Native American perspectives, not the ghost of Cortes breathing down my neck every time I turned around. I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt and say it's more of a heart-on-his-sleeve profession of faith than evangelical coercion, but it goes so totally counter to what I was lead to believe this book would be that I was shocked—then flat-out irritated—by it.
Make no bones about it: This is Christian lit. Or at least it's all dressed up as Christian lit, meaning the only people who are going to want to read it are people who choose to read Christian lit.
I will be generous and say it is passably written, at least those portions I could get through. I might have persisted in trying to get to the heart of the story, but I kept encountering the all-caps type. This, the author tells us up front, is how he has always conveyed intense emotion—as if words themselves are not sufficient. Why his editor at Hay House let him get away with it, I don't know, but it's one of the worst excuses for bad writing that I've ever heard. I know I'm not the only reader whose eyes are put out by all-caps type, and I'm getting a headache right now just thinking about how much of it I encountered in this book.
Maybe I should have given this book one star.
First, my experiences growing up with some heavy-handed (and very unJesuslike) Christian evangelists of the Southern Baptist kind make it hard for me to get past the author's frequent use of Christian buzzwords. I was expecting a gentler and more wonder-filled book more closely aligned with Native American perspectives, not the ghost of Cortes breathing down my neck every time I turned around. I'll give the author the benefit of the doubt and say it's more of a heart-on-his-sleeve profession of faith than evangelical coercion, but it goes so totally counter to what I was lead to believe this book would be that I was shocked—then flat-out irritated—by it.
Make no bones about it: This is Christian lit. Or at least it's all dressed up as Christian lit, meaning the only people who are going to want to read it are people who choose to read Christian lit.
I will be generous and say it is passably written, at least those portions I could get through. I might have persisted in trying to get to the heart of the story, but I kept encountering the all-caps type. This, the author tells us up front, is how he has always conveyed intense emotion—as if words themselves are not sufficient. Why his editor at Hay House let him get away with it, I don't know, but it's one of the worst excuses for bad writing that I've ever heard. I know I'm not the only reader whose eyes are put out by all-caps type, and I'm getting a headache right now just thinking about how much of it I encountered in this book.
Maybe I should have given this book one star.
March 22, 2012
This is the true story of one man's journey through an extraordinary life of service and love. Along the way he discovers the meaning of true love, and that God and Spirit are one.
A journey that takes him from a very young boy, coming face to face with his Totem spirit, and as an older man learning how to truly laugh, the carcajadas.
Here is a man beaten, his limbs twisted and broken; run over by a vehicle; his fingernails pulled from his fingers; his friends and those he taught and loved killed; and yet, somehow, some miraculous way, he never lost his faith. Faith that melded Christianity with Native Indio beliefs.
I found myself captivated with Jan Milburn. Wishing, at times, I could be Jan Milburn! Brave enough to face the demons of the world, and come out victorious on the other side.
I highly recommend this book!
***DISCLOSURE: This book was provided by Amazon Vine in exchange for an independent and non-biased review.
A journey that takes him from a very young boy, coming face to face with his Totem spirit, and as an older man learning how to truly laugh, the carcajadas.
Here is a man beaten, his limbs twisted and broken; run over by a vehicle; his fingernails pulled from his fingers; his friends and those he taught and loved killed; and yet, somehow, some miraculous way, he never lost his faith. Faith that melded Christianity with Native Indio beliefs.
I found myself captivated with Jan Milburn. Wishing, at times, I could be Jan Milburn! Brave enough to face the demons of the world, and come out victorious on the other side.
I highly recommend this book!
***DISCLOSURE: This book was provided by Amazon Vine in exchange for an independent and non-biased review.
July 4, 2012
I think I would have had more problems with this book if I hadn't met the man before I read it. It is what happened to one person, a wonderful story, the finer points of theology are moot.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews