Dance of the Four Winds: Secrets of the Inca Medicine Wheel »

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.

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 Quecha masters use the jungle plant ayahuasca to further their spiritual progress along the four paths of the Medecine 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.

New York Times

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

Preface

Map of Peru

Prologue

1. South

2. West

3. North

4. East