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Amazon Wisdom Keeper: A Psychologist's Memoir of Spiritual Awakening
by
With captivating lyricism, Amazon Wisdom Keeper transports us into the multicultural upbringing and transformation of Loraine Van Tuyl, a graduate psychology student and budding shamanic healer who's blindsided by startling visions, elusive drumming, and her inseverable mystical ties to the Amazon rainforest of her native Suriname.
Is she in the wrong field, or did her ch ...more
Is she in the wrong field, or did her ch ...more
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Paperback
Published
October 24th 2017
by She Writes Press
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Start your review of Amazon Wisdom Keeper: A Psychologist's Memoir of Spiritual Awakening

"Amazon Wisdom Keeper" is both a thoroughly engaging memoir and a timely, illuminating infusion of earth-centered wisdom. Loraine Van Tuyl has interwoven her rich and multilayered experiences and insights with stunning finesse, creating a ripple effect that continues to move deeply within me. I feel at once validated, strengthened, and inspired. ~ Julie Suzanne Brokken, artist, poet, and photographer
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With great honesty, integrity, and thoroughness Loraine takes us on her journey to reclaim herself, her Amazon wisdom, her truth. Along the way we learn about the jungle in Suriname, what it's like to land in America as a refugee from a coup, and that no round peg representing deep intuition will ever fit into the traditional psychology square hole. I honor Loraine for her courage, for her vulnerability and for her wisdom. She has written this book for anyone who has, at one point or another, fe
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***This book was reviewed by independent request and via Netgalley
Amazon Wisdom Keeper is the inspiring story of one woman's life, as she struggles to find her place amidst the turmoil of revolution, culture shock, and family who has a hard time understanding and appreciating her sensitive, empathic nature. As a child, Van Tuyl lived in Suriname, a small country mostly covered by Amazonian rainforest. With her perceptive nature, she was drawn at a young age to the rainforest, with an instinctive ...more
Amazon Wisdom Keeper is the inspiring story of one woman's life, as she struggles to find her place amidst the turmoil of revolution, culture shock, and family who has a hard time understanding and appreciating her sensitive, empathic nature. As a child, Van Tuyl lived in Suriname, a small country mostly covered by Amazonian rainforest. With her perceptive nature, she was drawn at a young age to the rainforest, with an instinctive ...more

I found her life's journey authentic and amazing. What experiences she encountered. As a young child. And the life's experiences travelling. Her book opens your eyes to what is possible opening up your "inner warrior." In a kind, caring and compassionate way of understanding with much love to all of us "Warriors" . You feel her love and caring as she wrote this.
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Fascinating story told by an insightful, intuitive Psychologist, Loraine Van Tuyl that you just won't be able to put down! This book of memoir's captures the reader immediately to explore further into the Spiritual Awakening of the author and her amazing stories growing up in Suriname. A Must Read!
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Sep 29, 2017
A.R. Beckert
rated it
really liked it
Shelves:
17-09,
spiritual,
philosophy,
memoir,
netgalley,
digital,
mental-health,
nonfiction,
supernatural
This book did a lot for me, mainly because Dr. Tuyl is a powerful person. Not everyone will connect with her and her experiences, but after reading her work it would be clear to anyone that this selective appeal is typical of her unique course.
I’d recommend this book for anyone interested in gaining confidence in their own spirituality, or if they’re feeling a pull to trust their own intuition more than they are currently. Her story is inspiring in that respect. Since starting and finishing Ama ...more
I’d recommend this book for anyone interested in gaining confidence in their own spirituality, or if they’re feeling a pull to trust their own intuition more than they are currently. Her story is inspiring in that respect. Since starting and finishing Ama ...more

This is an important book. With honesty and integrity, Dr. Van Tuyl bridges gaps between modern psychology and mystical experiences, which modern American society has often overlooked or devalued. Amazon Wisdom Keeper authenticates some of our deepest experiences: dreams, visions, and meditations, by Van Tuyl's bearing witness to those stories that don't always fit in a cultural box.
I expect her work will continue to awaken its readers, and "hold space" for those of us who seek the absolute tru ...more
I expect her work will continue to awaken its readers, and "hold space" for those of us who seek the absolute tru ...more

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one, but I’m glad I took the chance to read and review it. The spiritual memoir isn’t my usual fare, at least not recently. I read many spiritual awakening memoirs in the 90s, so at least I had those to compare.
I enjoyed very much reading about the author’s childhood on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, in Suriname. The family had to move, and once she was separated from her beloved home, it feels as if she was always trying to get back to what she had lo ...more
I enjoyed very much reading about the author’s childhood on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, in Suriname. The family had to move, and once she was separated from her beloved home, it feels as if she was always trying to get back to what she had lo ...more

I highly recommend reading Loraine's memoir that vividly introduces you to her life in Suriname then to changes in her life at age 13 when her family uprooted to Miami. Her candidness, choice of metaphors and dynamic life written with boldness is a must read. I learned about the Surimase culture, adaptation and what it takes to reach personal goals through trials. If you know of anyone going through transition, Amazon Wisdom Keeper would make a great gift, a dish of inspiring chutzpah.
...more

From the very beginning, Amazon Wisdom Keeper is a feast for your inner child as well as your growing and developing spiritual indweller.
Loraine Van Tuyl draws the reader into a sacred setting that is, for most of us, far away and unknown, yet so richly and succinctly described that the plentiful allegories hang ripe, sweet, and waiting to be plucked and savored.
The journey Van Tuyl reveals in dewy, saturating, and powerful language renders her intensely personal experiences into exotic delicaci ...more
Loraine Van Tuyl draws the reader into a sacred setting that is, for most of us, far away and unknown, yet so richly and succinctly described that the plentiful allegories hang ripe, sweet, and waiting to be plucked and savored.
The journey Van Tuyl reveals in dewy, saturating, and powerful language renders her intensely personal experiences into exotic delicaci ...more

I don't think it's a coincidence that Amazon Wisdom Keeper is being released to the the collective at this moment in history. In an increasingly frenetic, polarized sociopolitical climate, Dr. Van Tuyl's lyrical storytelling invites each of us to consider what it would take (or has taken) to break from narratives and paradigms that do not serve our journey towards integration and sovereignty. Amazon Wisdom Keeper is an ally to those called into the heart and truth of their own intuitive center.
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I loved this book so much. It tells the author's story wonderfully and at the same time is wonderfully relevant to us all. This is a captivating and enlightening memoir.
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Loraine Van Tuyl's memoir vividly places the reader in magical and exotic settings, while at the same time navigating a magical and exotic inner landscape. The narrator is very likeable and relatable, and her fierce energy is enticing. For me, the biggest gift of the book was the camaraderie with a like-minded soul and being with a narrator who not only understood the "reality" of magic and intuition, but stood in its power.
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This memoir kept me interested as I have always had an interest in the different holistic methods of healing.
Loraine, the author born and raised up to the age of 13 in Suriname, South America, until a military coup forced them to leave the country and go to the USA. She had grown up to that point very in tune with her surroundings and the people and animals of the Amazon jungle and following her intuitions.
Once in Miami, their first home and a place where she spent a lot of her formative years f ...more
Loraine, the author born and raised up to the age of 13 in Suriname, South America, until a military coup forced them to leave the country and go to the USA. She had grown up to that point very in tune with her surroundings and the people and animals of the Amazon jungle and following her intuitions.
Once in Miami, their first home and a place where she spent a lot of her formative years f ...more

An amazing story about the journey of finding oneself, and the conflicts that arise when staying true to a felt sense of what is the right path. Beyond this core, important message, the book is filled with vivid and lively stories; I had many "what's going to happen next?" moments as I devoured page after page.
...more

A heartfelt and interesting story by a psychologist with the gift of second sight. She’s a good writer without much experience in storytelling. It seems that someone advised her to put her background biography in it, so one half tells of her childhood, then the second half her psychospiritual experiences. The latter is quite compelling.

A book to read slowly and savor
I confess, I haven't finished this book yet, but it is one of those rare stories that ask to be read slowly and carefully and savored word by word. It is a sweet and fiercely passionate autobiography, unflinchingly honest but self-compassionate. The reader is taken along on the author's path of Becoming, in all its mystery and wonder, and there is the sense of being gifted with the honor of being entrusted with this story.
...more
I confess, I haven't finished this book yet, but it is one of those rare stories that ask to be read slowly and carefully and savored word by word. It is a sweet and fiercely passionate autobiography, unflinchingly honest but self-compassionate. The reader is taken along on the author's path of Becoming, in all its mystery and wonder, and there is the sense of being gifted with the honor of being entrusted with this story.
...more

A beautiful memoir. I loved following this author's story, which is equal parts coming of age, young immigrant story, love story and tale of spiritual awakening.
...more

A book that bursts open conceptual boundaries.
Loraine Y. Van Tuyl's memoir explores the embodiment of "knowing" from various modalities of being--childhood, parenthood, immigration, student life, the "scientific rationality" of academia, psychology, ancestral medicine work, etc.--to show the wisdom of self knowledge, and the development of this knowledge over time and space.
The book unfolds, page by page, like an ever flowing river; each wave and ripple offering reflection and the truth of our ...more
Loraine Y. Van Tuyl's memoir explores the embodiment of "knowing" from various modalities of being--childhood, parenthood, immigration, student life, the "scientific rationality" of academia, psychology, ancestral medicine work, etc.--to show the wisdom of self knowledge, and the development of this knowledge over time and space.
The book unfolds, page by page, like an ever flowing river; each wave and ripple offering reflection and the truth of our ...more
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2017 USA BEST BOOK AWARDS: Amazon Wisdom Keeper became a finalist in the following categories: Psychology/Mental Health, Multicultural Non-Fiction, Non-Fiction Book Cover.
About the author: Born and raised near the edge of the Amazon rainforest in Suriname, Loraine assumed that her deep connection to nature was as commonplace as the ancient mysticism and exotic wildlife around her. Her multiracial ...more
About the author: Born and raised near the edge of the Amazon rainforest in Suriname, Loraine assumed that her deep connection to nature was as commonplace as the ancient mysticism and exotic wildlife around her. Her multiracial ...more
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