Fate, Fortune & Mysticism in the Peruvian Amazon

Dobkin De Rios, Marlene

ISBN 10: 1594773726 / ISBN 13: 9781594773723

Published by Park Street Pr, 2011

About this Item

Seller Inventory # FORT323483

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Fate, Fortune & Mysticism in the Peruvian Amazon
• Publisher: Park Street Pr
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1594773726
• ISBN 13: 9781594773723
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

Explains the fortune-telling naipes cards and how Amazonian shamans use them to diagnose clients ills Looks at the Sacred Mystical Order of Septrionismo and its techniques for managing destiny While studying Amazonian shamans who use ayahuasca and Peruvian coastal healers who use mescaline cactus to treat psychological illness, Marlene Dobkin de Rios learned about the naipes cards fortune-telling cards similar to the tarot used as part of the healers method of diagnosis. Immersing herself in their culture, she began telling for- tunes with the naipes cards and was surprised by the intimacy it induced in the native people she was trying to study as well as the profoundly accurate results she encoun- tered. Finding herself pulled further and further into Peruvian culture, in 1977 Dobkin de Rios was initiated into the sacred mystical order of Septrionismo, which emphasizes specific techniques such as meditation, ritual, and reflection to manage one s future rather than depending solely on fate and fortune. Explaining how to use the naipes cards as well as examining the practices of the Septrionic Order, Dobkin de Rios explores her experiences with both traditions through the lens of her anthropological and psychological training, describing how these diverse encounters opened her mind to the powers of divination as well as taught her the means of directing her own destiny.

About the Author

Marlene Dobkin de Rios, Ph.D., is a medical anthropologist, associate clinical pro- fessor of psychiatry and human behavior at the University of California, Irvine, and professor emerita of anthropology at California State University, Fullerton, where she taught from 1969 2000. A former Fulbright scholar and the author of several hundred professional articles and eight books, including The Psychedelic Journey of Marlene Dobkin de Rios, she lives in Placentia, California.