Ayahuasca
Top 30 Ayahuasca Books to Guide You on Your Journey
Since Western interest shifted to the mysterious ayahuasca, tourists, explorers, scientists, and ethnobotanist researchers have trooped to the Amazon rainforest to understand it.
They’ve uncovered its spiritual history, scientific make-up, and therapeutic benefits. Users of this mystic brew have written books to share the inspiration that led to their journey and the outcome of their experiences.
Many authors note that the trip(s) has changed their outlook on the universe and improved their physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being.
These books explore different subjects concerning the plant, which will help you understand and prepare your mind for your journey to spiritual freedom.
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Contents
- 1 1. Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind
- 2 2. Sacred Vine of Spirits: Ayahuasca
- 3 3. The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge
- 4 4. Listening to Ayahuasca: New Hope for Depression, Addiction, PTSD, and Anxiety
- 5 5. Ayahuasca in My Blood: 25 Years of Medicine Dreaming
- 6 6. Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman
- 7 7. The Fellowship of the River: A Medical Doctor’s Exploration into Traditional Amazonian Plant Medicine
- 8 8. Ayahuasca Reader: Encounters with the Amazon’s Sacred Vine
- 9 9. One River: Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rainforest
- 10 10. Singing to the Plants: A Guide to Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon
- 11 11. Psychedelia – An Ancient Culture, A Modern Lifestyle
- 12 12. The Shaman and Ayahuasca: Journeys to Sacred Realms
- 13 13. Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond (Oxford Ritual Studies)
- 14 14. The World Ayahuasca Diaspora: Reinventions and Controversies (Vitality of Indigenous Religions)
- 15 15. The Ayahuasca Sessions: Conversations with Amazonian Curanderos and Western Shamans
- 16 16. The Yage Letters Redux
- 17 17. Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey Into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism
- 18 18. The Antipodes of the Mind: Charting the Phenomenology of the Ayahuasca Experience
- 19 19. Yajé: The New Purgatory
- 20 20. Visionary Vine: Hallucinogenic Healing in the Peruvian Amazon
- 21 21. The Ayahuasca Test Pilots Handbook: The Essential Guide to Ayahuasca Journeying
- 22 22. The Gift of Shamanism: Visionary Power, Ayahuasca Dreams, and Journeys to Other Realms
- 23 23. Inner Paths to Outer Space: Journeys to Alien Worlds Through Psychedelics And Other Spiritual Technologies
- 24 24. Ayahuasca: Soul Medicine of the Amazon Jungle, A Comprehensive and Practical Guide
- 25 25. Intelligence in Nature: An Inquiry Into Knowledge
- 26 26. Shamans and Healers: The Untold Ayahuasca Story From a Shaman’s Apprentice
- 27 27. Shedding the Layers: How Ayahuasca Saved More Than My Skin
- 28 28. Fishers of Men: The Gospel of an Ayahuasca Vision Quest
- 29 29. Rainforest Medicine: Preserving Indigenous Science and Biodiversity in the Upper Amazon
- 30 30. The Ayahuasca Visions of Pablo Amaringo
- 31 Final Thoughts
1. Supernatural: Meetings with the Ancient Teachers of Mankind
Graham explores the depth of human consciousness through his first-hand experience using ayahuasca and other hallucinogenic plants to interact with the otherworlds.
He investigates controversial topics like aliens, ancient cave art, and religion, and how the mind perceives them under the influence of these hallucinogens.
He also discusses human DNA and critiques David Lewis Williams’s neuropsychological model. He gives a differing view that the realms ancient shamans entered were natural, supporting this idea with a plethora of materials.
This book prepares you for your journey into the realm of inner space and is popular among readers.
2. Sacred Vine of Spirits: Ayahuasca
This two-part book contains essays written by several psychoactive research experts and the individual life-changing experiences of over 21 Westerners who have used ayahuasca.
The essays explore the history, as well as the biological and chemical dimensions of ayahuasca on the brain and body. They also include its application in psychology and medicine while comparing the philosophy of ayahuasca visions with Western cultures.
This book gives you basic information on the use of ayahuasca in modern society. You’ll gain insights from the testimonies of individuals who have undergone the healing process of the plant mix.
Readers find the book a bit boring until they get to the testimonial part, which is not restricted to only the author’s experience but gives you several accounts of people’s ayahuasca journey.
3. The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge
Anthropologist Jeremy Narby investigates the claims of Shamans that they gain their wealth of knowledge on plants and biochemistry while under the influence of entheogens.
He explores thought-provoking subjects like ancient mythology, shamanism, and molecular biology, concluding that medicinal knowledge can be transferred through DNA.
As the book recounts the author’s Amazon experience in a first-person narrative, it teaches you to open your mind to the discipline and significance of your spiritual exercise.
Some readers appreciate the book for challenging the limitations of the scientific process. But others dismiss Narby’s theory of DNA spirituality as vague.
4. Listening to Ayahuasca: New Hope for Depression, Addiction, PTSD, and Anxiety
With the rising popularity of psychedelic therapy, psychotherapist Rachel Harris examines the impact of using ayahuasca to cure psychological problems. Depression, addiction, PTSD, traumas, and anxiety are included.
From her experiences, she explains the benefits and risks of the brew. She also documents testimonies of other individuals who claim that the potent brew transformed their life for the better, unlike western medicine.
Listening to Ayahuasca will help clarify your objectives toward partaking in a ceremony. It will also benefit anyone going through a great deal of negative emotions and trauma.
People laud the book for its detailed information on using psychedelics for therapeutic purposes.
5. Ayahuasca in My Blood: 25 Years of Medicine Dreaming
Enjoy the intriguing tale of an adventurer as he journeys into the deep of the Amazon basin. For 25 years, Gorman meets and interacts with Shamans untainted by modern civilization.
He gives a vivid description of his expedition, and it will have you feeling a wild mix of joy, horror, fear, and inspiration.
Unlike most authors, he is an ethnobotanist with a one-on-one experience of visionary medicine, and his book details the process of getting entwined with the vine.
Many readers assert that this book was beneficial in their search for ayahuasca therapy and shamanism.
6. Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman
Although this book is filled with textual information, the artistic illustrations of ayahuasca will capture you the most.
The collaboration between Amaringo (an indigenous ayahuasca artist and shaman) and Luis Eduardo Luna (an anthropologist) produces a work that portrays visual images of the mystical world of shamanism. Get immersed in music, chants, and folktales of magic, mermaids, aliens, serpents, angels, and many more.
This book engages you in the wonders of Peruvian shamanism and integrates you into the ayahuasca tradition through beautiful imagery and words.
Fans of this book endorse it as a must-read for ayahuasca enthusiasts because the author is of Peruvian cultural heritage.
7. The Fellowship of the River: A Medical Doctor’s Exploration into Traditional Amazonian Plant Medicine
Traditional medicine meets Western medicine in this impeccable read. With the limitation of pharmaceuticals in relieving some medical conditions, Dr. Tafur trains as a shaman to understand the psychoactive effect of traditional plants in healing.
He discovers that psychedelic plants can alter consciousness and penetrate the emotional body to heal the mind, which in turn heals the body. Through personal and third-party experiences, the book relays ayahuasca’s physical and spiritual healing potential.
If you want to experience the healing power of the plant, you should add this book to your library.
8. Ayahuasca Reader: Encounters with the Amazon’s Sacred Vine
Add this comprehensive and enticing compilation of texts, translated from several languages on the ayahuasca experience, to your reading list.
The book contains myths, religious hymns, and tales from western visitors, writers, and scientists on their unique interactions with ayahuasca on different occasions. Essays from authors in the psychedelic field and ayahuasca art occupy two sections in this writing.
It covers all integral parts of the psychoactive plant and will be a reference book as you widen your knowledge of the medicinal plant.
Bookworms call Ayahuasca Reader a dictionary of ayahuasca knowledge containing facts, experience, and art from verified authorities.
9. One River: Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rainforest
The lives of three characters are interwoven in this book as they uncover the rich secrets of the Amazons and the decline in indigenous cultures.
This book spins a tale of discovery, destruction, adventure, and betrayal as it explores the visionary world of shamans. Through these ethnobotanists, you’ll learn about rare plants, their hallucinogenic properties, and the culture of the Indian tribes.
This tome will reveal intriguing details about the impact these rare plants have on the planet and the existence of tribal communities.
Most readers enjoyed the book’s wealth of knowledge on the Amazon tradition.
10. Singing to the Plants: A Guide to Mestizo Shamanism in the Upper Amazon
This one explores the basic concept of mestizo shamanism and the experience of an apprentice shaman in the upper Amazon.
Beyer gives you an insight into the lifestyle of shamans, how they use the sacred plants for healing, the history and context of the ayahuasca plant, and what goes on in a healing ceremony. Beyer’s book will provide an integrated knowledge of plant spirituality and an objective view of shamanism.
The book appealed to readers who have been searching for materials on shamanism, although some readers wished the author included more of his personal experiences.
11. Psychedelia – An Ancient Culture, A Modern Lifestyle
Psychedelia is the result of a 20-year research that examines the interaction between psychedelics and Western pop culture. Lundborg discusses the history of psychedelics, how they influenced the musicians of the 1960s, plus the differences between LSD, DMT, psilocybin, and more.
He posits that psychedelia isn’t merely a branch of psychology but a subtle force in the history of humanity.
Psychedelia will open your mind to another dimension of psychedelic consciousness. And although the tome is bulky, most readers say it was worth their time.
The author’s credibility lies in his research and first-hand use of psychoactive compounds.
12. The Shaman and Ayahuasca: Journeys to Sacred Realms
Learn about the practices and benefits of ayahuasca through the journey of Don José Campos as a practicing shaman for two and a half decades.
He illustrates his discovery of the otherworlds, plant teachers, and aliens, alongside his difficulties grasping some ideas taught by his plant teachers.
This first-person narrative is conversational and will educate you on ayahuasca shamanism from an indigenous viewpoint. Readers love the short and straightforward style, recommending it as a supplement to other ayahuasca-related books.
13. Ayahuasca Shamanism in the Amazon and Beyond (Oxford Ritual Studies)
This academic volume comprises essays that analyze the proliferation of Amazonian shamanic rituals from the indigenous tribes to western society. It also looks into how the indigenous, mestizo, and modern cultures have merged and altered the forest traditions.
This comprehensive book will educate you on the cultural and social context of ayahuasca and shamanism in mediating the contact between indigenous traditions and modern civilization.
The writings are from diverse authors noting their distinct experiences of ayahuasca shamanism. Like most readers, you will find the book comprehensive and informative.
14. The World Ayahuasca Diaspora: Reinventions and Controversies (Vitality of Indigenous Religions)
Key anthropology, religion, and law scholars elucidate their studies on ayahuasca’s impact on indigenous society, recreational drugs, new urban religiosities, ritualistic healing, and plenty more.
You’ll gain insight into the influence of ayahuasca in social science and humanities, finding in-depth answers to questions on issues concerning the substance.
The book is purely academic, based on research and writers’ experiences in ayahuasca and Amazonian communities. Some readers find it difficult to read. However, if you don’t mind reading scholarly work, don’t hesitate to add it to your library.
15. The Ayahuasca Sessions: Conversations with Amazonian Curanderos and Western Shamans
This text contains the author’s interviews with indigenous Amazonian healers and Western shamans on their experience with ayahuasca’s multidimensional existence.
It explores the boom of 21st-century Amazonian hallucinogenic shamanism from numerous standpoints, evaluating the similarities and differences between indigenous and foreign approaches.
16. The Yage Letters Redux
The Yage Letters Redux is an edited version of the Yage Letters, an epistolary novel about William Boroughs’ expedition to Peru and Columbia in search of the legendary Yagé vine.
This edition includes original manuscripts and unpublished materials from Burroughs and Ginsberg. The editor, Oliver Harris, writes an introduction on the cultural importance of the text and portrays it in a new light.
This book will help you understand the early Western experiences with ayahuasca.
17. Breaking Open the Head: A Psychedelic Journey Into the Heart of Contemporary Shamanism
In this autobiography, Pinchbeck, a New York journalist, investigates the Western consciousness of traditional psychedelics from a participatory viewpoint.
His transformation from a cynical atheist to an entheogenic psychonaut will inspire you as he explores issues affecting contemporary society.
This fantastic piece will stimulate your hunger for shamanism and ayahuasca adventure. You’ll enjoy the writing style, description of events, and issues explored, just like many readers have.
18. The Antipodes of the Mind: Charting the Phenomenology of the Ayahuasca Experience
This book studies ayahuasca and the state of mind that it induces from a cognitive psychology perspective. It draws its analysis from the author’s ayahuasca trips and the experiences of other partakers of the ancient brew.
The text is rich in ayahuasca studies, but it can be boring to the average reader. Regardless, get this book if you are interested in the cognitive psychological survey of spiritual consciousness.
19. Yajé: The New Purgatory
Jimmy shares his relationship with the vine as a Shaman apprentice in Columbia. He provides the historical and cultural background of Yajé and the physical and emotional effects of using the brew.
Also, he explains that not everyone is blessed with the healing powers of the vine. This book extensively discusses everything about ayahuasca and will act as a guide, as you take a path toward plant spirituality.
Those privileged to read it say it is worth a place on their shelves.
20. Visionary Vine: Hallucinogenic Healing in the Peruvian Amazon
This revolutionary book is an early study of ayahuasca in the Peruvian Amazon. It sensitizes readers to see ayahuasca not as merely hallucinogenic but as an integral part of the culture, spirituality, and existence of the native tribes.
The author spent several years with vegetalismo ayahuasca healers and documents everything about traditional healing, herbalism, and native medicine.
Her writings will help you strengthen your convictions on psychoactive plants as an alternative form of healing, far from the Western misconceptions of it. It is a crucial read among readers interested in psychedelics.
21. The Ayahuasca Test Pilots Handbook: The Essential Guide to Ayahuasca Journeying
This simple instructor book details how to make the best and safest decisions on your ayahuasca journey. It guides you on the places to go, who to drink with, and what you should expect.
The author has spent two decades working with all sorts of South American shamans and participating in ayahuasca ceremonies. His knowledge helps individuals have a great experience on their ayahuasca trip.
This book is necessary if you intend to join an ayahuasca ceremony now or anytime soon. It has proven to be an excellent manual for everyone who has read it.
22. The Gift of Shamanism: Visionary Power, Ayahuasca Dreams, and Journeys to Other Realms
From a business executive experiencing a mid-life crisis to a shamanic healer, this book illustrates the personal journey of former atheist Itzhak Beery toward discovering shamanism.
The book centers on the different elements of Shamanism and Shamanic healing. The author uses his experience and people’s testimonials to prove the transformative power of this religious practice.
Get ready to improve your knowledge of shamanic mysticism and to heal through this gripping book. It is a popular read among individuals interested in the healing nature of ayahuasca and shamanism.
23. Inner Paths to Outer Space: Journeys to Alien Worlds Through Psychedelics And Other Spiritual Technologies
Scholars researched how psychoactive substances can alter human consciousness toward communicating with other worlds and multidimensional realms.
These worlds are not fictional but a reality that eludes our 5 senses. It is a text for open-minded folks as it inquires about the nature of reality, mysticism, spirituality, and more.
This book is for readers who have experienced contact with the otherworlds in a psychedelic-induced state. Some readers find the text boring, bizarre, or engaging, depending on their outlook on multidimensional existence.
24. Ayahuasca: Soul Medicine of the Amazon Jungle, A Comprehensive and Practical Guide
This crucial guide provides background information on the physical, psychological, and metaphysical nature of ayahuasca. It contains the writer’s intimate knowledge and experience with the powerful entheogen, plus insights on attaining the height of spiritual ecstasy on your trip.
The book appeals to anyone who wants to face their fears, discover a new vision, and heal through the powers of the highly-sought plant.
The positive testimonies from reviewers make this book a vital point in your rediscovery quest.
25. Intelligence in Nature: An Inquiry Into Knowledge
Intelligence in Nature veers from the typical shamanism themes to explore intelligence in organisms other than humans.
The book posits that independent intelligence is not only reserved for humans, as plants, animals, and other nonhuman organisms display signs of intelligence through their patterns and actions.
This book is purely anthropological and may require concentration and knowledge of anthropology to understand it.
Most readers find the author’s perception absurd and unrelatable. However, this book is for you if you love complex and abstract ideas.
26. Shamans and Healers: The Untold Ayahuasca Story From a Shaman’s Apprentice
Like many other shamanism travelogs, this is Andrew Osta’s 8 months’ experience in Peru as a shaman apprentice. It differs from the usual academic pattern as it addresses real-life subjects like spirituality, money, morality, relationships, freedom, and ethics.
Shaman and Healers give you an undiluted truth about the author’s feelings after his shamanistic experience. The book prepares you to understand that shamans are not above human flaws, and you should be careful who presides over your ceremony.
Overall, the book is average and gets a range of diversified impressions from readers.
27. Shedding the Layers: How Ayahuasca Saved More Than My Skin
This inspiring memoir describes finding purpose amid the gloom. Mark Flaherty recounts how an incurable disease led him to the Amazonian forest to seek healing.
There, he finds healing and the ability to expel negativity and find joy in the universe. His healing process involves courage, agony, faith, and determination.
This book will benefit those finding healing through ayahuasca or other psychedelics. Many readers found the book exceptional and authentic.
28. Fishers of Men: The Gospel of an Ayahuasca Vision Quest
Fishers of Men tells of the redemption of a lost soul from depression and suicidal thoughts to self-worth, thanks to the help of this vine.
The author centers on his traumatic childhood, rebellious living, and conflicting relationship with his father. His life changed when he discovered psychedelics; he traveled to Peru and got involved in multiple ayahuasca retreats.
This memoir will help you understand and relate the writer’s experience with your struggles and how ayahuasca can help you. It is a great piece recommended by many beginners and experts.
29. Rainforest Medicine: Preserving Indigenous Science and Biodiversity in the Upper Amazon
The author shares his experience living with indigenous tribes for over 20 years. He gives deep insight into the lifestyle of the tribal nations, their medicine, and their biodiversity.
He also discusses his encounters with the physical and supernatural realms through plants and nature, and the need to preserve the forest.
This book will reveal the traditional uses of ayahuasca and other medicinal plants. It is every reader’s choice on the mystery of ayahuasca and the Amazon.
30. The Ayahuasca Visions of Pablo Amaringo
This colorful book contains unpublished paintings of world-renown artist Pablo Amaringo with contributions from notable anthropology scholars. The text captures the Amazonian people and their traditions through beautiful art and powerful words.
It contains images that some readers have attested to seeing in their visions. So, be ready to experience different emotions that will connect you to your inner mind as you explore this visionary book. It is a treasure trove you cannot afford to pass over.
Final Thoughts
These top 30 ayahuasca books are from individuals who had one-on-one encounters with the entheogenic plant.
They are rich with information that will increase your knowledge of ayahuasca, including in-depth insights into the uses, effects, risks, dosage, and many more.
Add one or more of these books to your shelf today, and enjoy an educating and entertaining time as you start or strengthen your ayahuasca journey.