Dance of the Four Winds

Preface

Map of Peru

Prologue

1.   South

2.   West

3.   North

4.   East

Villoldo was born in Cuba, where he was exposed to Afro-Indian healing traditions at an early age. While pursuing his doctoral studies in psychology and medical anthoropology, he traveled throughout the South West, the Amazon, and the Andes researching Native America healing methods. He later directed the Biological Self-Regualtion Labortory at San Francisco State University, where he investigated mind-body medicine and the neuro-physiology of healing. He founded and directs the Energy Medicine School at The Four Winds Society, and teaches energy medicine to thousands of nurses, physicians, psychotherapists and lay persons every year. He is an internationally recognized leader in the field of alternative medicine and shamanic studies. Erik Jendresen is a playwright and screenwriter.

"The stuff of anthropological bestsellers . . . a flight of serious fancy, confounding our categories of fiction and nonfiction."

New York Times

"Interspersed with direct journal excerpts, the story is told with a rich mix of narrative, mythic and colloquial images. Given the transitional nature of Villoldo's experience, his is an excellent story to serve as an introduction for the uninitiated to the belief system and cultural traditions of the Quechua masters."

Talking Leaves

ANTHROPOLOGY / SHAMANISM

A deft balance of Western psychology and native wisdom, novelistic drive, and touchingly human characters.
--San Francisco Chronicle

The stuff of anthropological bestsellers. . . . A flight of serious fancy, confounding our categories of fiction and nonfiction.
--New York Times Book Review

A vital, well‑written, and exciting tale of one man’s exploits in the real real world, as he seeks a reunion with Nature, the unconscious, the powers of healing, and the naked facts of life and death.
--San Diego Tribune

Dance of the Four Winds recounts the adventures of the American psychologist Alberto Villoldo as he journeys to Peru to explore the visionary ceremonies of the native shamans. Here Quechua masters use the jungle plant ayahuasca to further their spiritual progress along the four paths of the Medicine Wheel. Entering a magical realm of enigmatic sorcerers and powerful animal totems, Villoldo confronts the hidden powers of his own mind as he unlocks the secrets of the human psyche.

ALBERTO VILLOLDO, Ph.D., is also the author of Island of the Sun, Millennium, Healing States, and Realms of Healing. Erik Jendresen is a playwright and screenwriter.