Recommended Readings

The following are books, chapters, and articles that I recommend for a better understanding of Andean mysticism. For many years I was a voracious reader of books on experiential psychology, mysticism, and various expressions of the 'perennial philosophy'. When I approached Andean mysticism, however, I decided that I didn't want to read anything about it. It was important to me that my thoughts about Andean mysticism arise from my experiences, rather than having my experiences be driven by my thoughts, and I particularly did not want my experiences to be influenced by other people's thoughts. I found, in fact, that I couldn't stand to read any of the kinds of books that once held such fascination for me. After many years of following this strategy I suddenly developed an appetite to read what others had to say, to build upon the foundation of experience I had laid, and perhaps because at that point I had developed enough experience to serve as a basis for separating the wheat from the chaff.

Books Specifically about the People of the Andes

1. Masters of the Living Energy: The Mystical World of the Q'ero of Peru. Joan Wilcox. Inner Traditions Press. This is an excellent presentation on the ideology and practices of the Q'ero paqos, written with the carefulness of a scholarly work but without the philosophical blinders usually present in academia. While I learned a great deal of new information that helped me fill out my understanding of Andean mysticism, what I already new fit nicely with what Joan wrote, giving this book credibility to me. But even more important, there are fundamental issues that arise in studying Andean mysticism having to do with integrity, with walking one's talk, and with respect for the context in which the paq'os practices are performed, in these crucial areas Joan's work is--in my opinion--spot on.
2. Rituals of Respect: The Secret of Survival in the High Peruvian Andes. Inge Bolin. University of Texas Press. This is a beautiful book written by an anthropologist who lived for some time with the Chillihuani who live in isolated villages in the high Andes. While Joan's book has much more information about the paq'os, Inge's book gives a much deeper look into the culture and the lives of the people. I have only visited--never really lived with--the people of the Andes. I was delighted when reading this book to not only learn much more about the people and how they live but to also find that with a more prolonged exposure an appreciation of their qualities only increases. The underlying theme of the book, that these people live a life full of rituals which establish the respect they have for each other and for all of Nature, could serve as a guiding principle for how we could all live our lives.
3. The Hold Life Has: Coca and Cultural Identity in an Andean Community (2nd Ed.). Catherine J. Allen. Smithsonian Books. This book, like Inge's, provides a window into the lives of the Andean people. In this case the community is somewhat lower in the mountains and less isolated than the Chillihuani, and to me at least has a little less magic and beauty, but I felt the book helped fill in the corners of my understanding of Andean culture in important ways, particularly in respect to the crucial role of coca in the people's lives.

1. The Ecology of Magic, a chapter by David Abram in the book Ecopsychology (T. Roszak, M. E. Gomes & A. D. Kanner, Eds.), Sierra Club Books. This is a great academic description of the type of shamanism/mysticism I've experienced in the Andes (even though the author is speaking of his experiences in Bali).
2. The Bird and the Machine, a chapter in Loren Eiseley's The Immense Journey : An Imaginative Naturalist Explores the Mysteries of Man and Nature, Vintage Press. This is a beautiful narrative about nature, science, the intellect, and the heart. It is worth tracking down and reading.
3. Nature, Man, and Woman, by Alan Watts. Vintage Press. I recommend the first 70 pages of this book in which he lays forth some important concepts concerning the relationship between Western Science, Western Religion, and our thinking about the nature of Nature.

1. The Peru Reader: History, Culture, and Politics, by Orin Starn, Carlos Ivan Degregori, and Robins Kirk (Eds.). Duke University Press. This book helped to fill in my understanding of the history of Peru. It is a compilation of writings by Peruvians; including diaries, essays, folklore, songs, newspaper articles and other sources spanning the history of Peru.
2. Rolling Thunder, by Doug Boyd, Bantam Press. An account of Rolling Thunder, a Shoshone Medicine Man, who reminds me very much of Americo Yabar. I have had so many of my favorite books about indigenous cultures prove to be overly romanticized accounts that they have all have become somewhat suspect in my mind. I haven't, however, heard anything like that about this book, but I never know.
3. Secret of the Andes, by Ann Nolan Clark, Puffin Press. A Newbery Award children's book that is beautiful and subtle.