REVIEWS . . . . . . . . . . .

talismen trigger the connections between each pair of cards. And what a fun journey making the collection. It really personalises the deck. Available from www.artshamanic.com

THE AYAHUASCA VISIONS OF PABLO AMERINGO

Howard G Charing, Peter Cloudsley and Pablo Ameringo Inner Traditions HB 175 pp 35.00/$40.00US ISBN 978 1 59477 345 7 Reviewer: Faith Nolton As soon as you open this book a world of colour, sound, scent, mystery unfolds. Through his amazing paintings of his visions the late Pablo Ameringo has recorded with characteristic simplicity and directness the world of spirits and otherworld landscapes he found through taking the hallucinogen ayahuasca in a brilliant rainbow of colour. This was a sacred process, a deeply spiritual life journey which started with his experiences as a shaman in the Peruvian Amazon. Through his eyes we see the weaving of everyday and spirit world dimensions that he experienced like multilayered time lapse images. Starting with an account of his personal history and humble beginnings there are commentaries on his work by some renowned visionaries and teachers such as artist Roberto Venosa, and Stephen V. Beyer, who describes how Pablo would sing to the sacred icaros chants while he worked, to imbue the painting with healing power. For these were live sacred presences to him. And yet he beams out of the photos, a warm and completely unpretentious person for whom the visions were just a natural part of his life. In one of his visions Pablo was directed to use his artwork to speak of the spirit world and the difficult times faced by humanity. So in 1988 he founded the Usko Ayar Amazonian School of Painting in Puccalpa, Peru. This was dedicated to documenting the ways of life in the Amazon and educate local youth in the care and preservation of the Amazonian ecosystem. But the magic of this book for me was the large and beautifully printed full page paintings, which take up the main part of the book, each accompanied by Pablos own commentary, guiding us round the symbolism and the story of each image. Reading these commentaries is a rich feast of folklore and sacred learning and I was transported into the whole sensory presence of the rainforest seeing it, hearing it, smelling it, through this remarkable mans experiences and his vibrant paintings. Available from High Street bookshops and Amazon etc.

mandala artist. His mandalas celebrate life in all its aspects: there are mandalas of bees gathering honey, the rice goddess, tourism, the lotus - even of paintbrushes! These beautiful images pour from his hand and heart in an ebullient, life affirming stream. It is the interface of spirituality, art and culture, drawing us into a perspective where nothing is more or less sacred than anything else and all is connected. In the spiritual tradition of Bali, life and experience has a dual aspect: sekala, reality that is experienced through the senses, and niskala, the intangible aspects of life. Batuans purpose for making and meditating on mandalas is to connect and balance these aspects to attain a sense of the sacred, purity of heart and peace of mind. At the beginning of the book Batuan outlines briefly the Balinese concepts of harmony in his work, and then the work is left to speak for itself - page after page of beautiful paintings to reflect on and explore. They are both images of the outer, exuberant Balinese world that he knows, and mirrors that can reflect our own being. Available from High Street bookshops and Amazon etc.

BARBARIAN RITES
Hans-Peter Hasenfratz Inner Traditions PB 175 pp 14.99/$16.95US ISBN 978 1 59477 421 7 Reviewer: Nicholas Breeze Wood One thing which we can be absolutely certain about is that at one stage in the history of Britain the spiritual traditions of the Vikings and the Germanic peoples of Northern Europe were a major part of the spirituality of these islands. Like all spirituality, they came and went, but while they were here (and they were here for a long time) they were important. And of course they were here not that long ago historically, a mere thousand years - and really in historical times thats nothing. We remember them in odd ways every time we book an appointment on Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday for instance ... Their legacy is often unnoticed and half forgotten but still close to the surface. This book then is a readable introduction to some of these half buried traditions. These ways are no more indigenous British than Christianity is of course, but they too have been important in the shaping of western European culture and through that have influenced that of North America. The book is divided up into chapters dealing with such topics as the nature of the Germanic tribes, the structure of their society, their cosmology, their understanding of magic and the spirit powers and the understanding of sacred time. Its an interesting read, its not a huge book and it does not go into mind-numbing detail. Nor is it a how to guide, it is simply an overview of the spirituality of an invading people who made Britain their home, albeit doing their best to wipe out the old ways they found here - before the Christians came and did likewise. It often seems that history is just wheels turning and turning and never really going anywhere. An interesting read for those who are drawn to the ways of Thor, Odin and all their kin. Available from High Street bookshops and Amazon etc.

MANDALAS OF BALI: OUR PLACE IN THE WORLD

Dewa Nyoman Batuan Michael Wiese Productions PB 150 pp 24.99/$39US ISBN 978 1 932907 65 0 Reviewer: Faith Nolton The book is a soul feast from this internationally renowned

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ISSUE 73 2011