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The Jaguar that Roams the Mind: An Amazonian Plant Spirit Odyssey
A journey into the deeper workings of indigenous healing in the Amazon
• Explores the three pillars of Amazonian purging, psychoactive plants, and diet
• Shares the experiences of apprenticing with an Ashaninca master shaman
• Reveals the intimate relationship between shamans and plant spirits
The Jaguar that Roams the Mind is a journey into the vanishing world of Amazonian shamanism--an adventure of initiation and return--that explores the unique reality at the heart of the Amazonian healing system. Robert Tindall shares his journeys through the inner and outer landscape of the churches of ayahuasca and with the Kaxinawa Indians in Brazil; his experiences at the pioneering center for the treatment of addiction, Takiwasi, in Peru; and his studies with an Ashaninca master shaman deep in the rainforest jungle.
Moving beyond the scientific approach to medicinal plants, which seeks to reduce them to their chemical constituents, Tindall illustrates the shamans’ intimate relationships with plant spirits. He explores the three pillars of Amazonian purging (drawing disease out of the body), psychoactive plants (including the ritual use of ayahuasca), and diet (communing with the innate intelligence of teacher plants). Through trials and revelations, the subtle inner logic of indigenous healing unfolds for him, including the “miraculous” healing of a woman suffering from a brain tumor. Culminating in a ceremony fraught with terror yet ultimately enlightening, Tindall’s journey reveals the crucial component missing from the metaphysics of the the understanding and appreciation of the sentience of nature itself.
• Explores the three pillars of Amazonian purging, psychoactive plants, and diet
• Shares the experiences of apprenticing with an Ashaninca master shaman
• Reveals the intimate relationship between shamans and plant spirits
The Jaguar that Roams the Mind is a journey into the vanishing world of Amazonian shamanism--an adventure of initiation and return--that explores the unique reality at the heart of the Amazonian healing system. Robert Tindall shares his journeys through the inner and outer landscape of the churches of ayahuasca and with the Kaxinawa Indians in Brazil; his experiences at the pioneering center for the treatment of addiction, Takiwasi, in Peru; and his studies with an Ashaninca master shaman deep in the rainforest jungle.
Moving beyond the scientific approach to medicinal plants, which seeks to reduce them to their chemical constituents, Tindall illustrates the shamans’ intimate relationships with plant spirits. He explores the three pillars of Amazonian purging (drawing disease out of the body), psychoactive plants (including the ritual use of ayahuasca), and diet (communing with the innate intelligence of teacher plants). Through trials and revelations, the subtle inner logic of indigenous healing unfolds for him, including the “miraculous” healing of a woman suffering from a brain tumor. Culminating in a ceremony fraught with terror yet ultimately enlightening, Tindall’s journey reveals the crucial component missing from the metaphysics of the the understanding and appreciation of the sentience of nature itself.
296 pages, Paperback
First published October 15, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 22, 2020
A classical guitarist and former drug addict rebuilds his life through an odyssey into the Brazilian rain forest to investigate indigenous healing traditions.
June 8, 2025
Great book, very informative. Written from a subjective perspective, but I think that comes with the territory.
Good references and good writing, would recommend to someone interested in the topic.
Good references and good writing, would recommend to someone interested in the topic.
July 8, 2015
What an intriguing book!
I was a little worried while I was reading the first chapter because it was about the author's travels in Morocco. He has some interesting insights into Moroccan life but I was anticipating a book on the Amazon. By the end of the chapter, I discovered that his Moroccan experience was the catalyst for his journey into the Amazon.
He first travels to northwestern Brazil around Rio Branco at a place called Takiwasi which is a drug rehabilitation center using the Amazon plants and purging to help the clients there. At the time he wasn't a drug user but had been one as a child growing up. His intent at Takiwasi was to learn how the plants helped the spirit.
He later traveled with Susana, a friend from California who ended up marrying him, to the Amazon jungle basin near Pucullpa, Peru. Here they stayed for 2 years at Mayantuyacu which is led by shaman Juan Flores. Here he learns of the jungle medicinal plants, especially ayahuasca, of purges, and "dieting" which is fasting alone in the jungle for a couple of weeks eating only bananas, rice, and water. During his stay here, he met his demons and "got rid of them". There's a story of a woman who visited Mayantuyacu for a couple of weeks. She had arrived because she had been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor. After her stay in the jungle living off nature, her tumor disappeared.
Some of the stories seem a little too "over the edge". There are multiple stories of people turning into animals. He turned into a jaguar, hence the title of the book. Of course, this is during the ritual of imbibing the ayahuasca plant which is hallucinagenic.
This is a good travel story of a person living off nature and how nature can cures our physical ailments. I noticed on the author's website that he offers tours every year to Mayantuyacu for spiritual cleansing.
I was a little worried while I was reading the first chapter because it was about the author's travels in Morocco. He has some interesting insights into Moroccan life but I was anticipating a book on the Amazon. By the end of the chapter, I discovered that his Moroccan experience was the catalyst for his journey into the Amazon.
He first travels to northwestern Brazil around Rio Branco at a place called Takiwasi which is a drug rehabilitation center using the Amazon plants and purging to help the clients there. At the time he wasn't a drug user but had been one as a child growing up. His intent at Takiwasi was to learn how the plants helped the spirit.
He later traveled with Susana, a friend from California who ended up marrying him, to the Amazon jungle basin near Pucullpa, Peru. Here they stayed for 2 years at Mayantuyacu which is led by shaman Juan Flores. Here he learns of the jungle medicinal plants, especially ayahuasca, of purges, and "dieting" which is fasting alone in the jungle for a couple of weeks eating only bananas, rice, and water. During his stay here, he met his demons and "got rid of them". There's a story of a woman who visited Mayantuyacu for a couple of weeks. She had arrived because she had been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor. After her stay in the jungle living off nature, her tumor disappeared.
Some of the stories seem a little too "over the edge". There are multiple stories of people turning into animals. He turned into a jaguar, hence the title of the book. Of course, this is during the ritual of imbibing the ayahuasca plant which is hallucinagenic.
This is a good travel story of a person living off nature and how nature can cures our physical ailments. I noticed on the author's website that he offers tours every year to Mayantuyacu for spiritual cleansing.
May 15, 2009
A great trip through South America with some incredible plant experiences and revelations. Ending left much to be desired and author has a tendency to revel in his own "troubled" past. Still worth the read if you're interested in the topic.
March 10, 2009
Finally, a well written book about ayahuasca. A personal journey with intricate details of medicinal practices woven together into a story of self discovery and finding love along the way.
May 26, 2011
Very well written and relevant regardless if entheogenic plants play a role in your life or not.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews