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Summary: READ THIS BOOK...REGARDLESS OF SKIN COLOR
Review: A previous reviewer called this "a rip-off of Indian culture" after seeing the author in person at a book signing and later "researching" his background. . . . . Please, do not judge a book by its cover or a shaman by his skin. At least read the book's intro by Robert Bly and what he says about "Secrets of the Talking Jaguar."SHAMANS: "The Mayans call shamans "spirit-lawyers," that is, men or women who go to the spirits and try to argue them into giving a benefit of some sort to human beings. Mayan tradition does not teach that the Gods want people to be sinless or perfect, but to believe that the Gods love beauty, eloquence, fine clothes, great music, fine poems, bravery, high animal spirits, and gratitude." TONGUES LIKE PUPPIES: "At conferences I've seen men and women weep when Martin Prechtel talks of the complex and rich village life of the Maya. The listeners realize how much more open their lives in youth would have been if their beauty had been honored as the young ones are honored in Santiago Atitlan, and if they'd had a chance to be kissed by the invisible faces "'with tongues like puppies.'" They also weep when they realize how men and women, though they speak separate languages, can fly together like the two wings of a bird." INDIGENOUS SOUL " . . . If we can be quiet, this book will be a bucket that drops down toward the water of our indigenous soul. All the words that Martin writes here amount to a meditation on this soul as a natural force. Whether we are Swiss or Mayan or American, the indigenous soul, threatened all over the globe, still lives inside each of us. We can rejoice in its abundance, its ingenuity, its determination not only to exist but also to continue giving its gifts, if we will turn and meet it." Bly says it all. You will experience a "Journey to the Heart of the Indigenous Soul" no matter what your ethnic background or skin color. The indigenous soul is within all of us. Read this book and decide for yourself. -- Bill Arena
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Summary: CAPTIVATING AND ENGAGING!
Review: A treasured gift from a culture exploited and destroyed by the Western/Modern world. Martin Prechtel blesses and honors us by telling his story and those of his people. As he writes, "Possibly my own story will give your stories courage enough to blossom". This book reminds us of the importance of retrieving and feeding the indigenous soul that lives within each of us. This is not some fabricated tale or fictionalized story of a spiritual journey. This is an authentic, first-hand account told straight from the author's heart. Those with a true interest in shamanism and spiritual healing will cherish this book. The ancient wisdom contained in its pages are a valuable resource that I will refer to often and share with those around me.
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Summary: I found something here that I needed.
Review: First, I want to honor the thoughts expressed in Betty Ortiz's review. From her Native American perspective, I can feel the necessity for her to expose what she deems to be shortcomings in the book, and possibly even the author. As a white male European American, I feel alienated from the world and the culture that I find myself living in. I believe that there was something decided implicitly in the last hundred years of the industrial revolution that assumed that something great or wonderful could be created not with the hand of man connected to the earth and the spirit, but with the hand of man connected to metal and machinery. And one of the requisite implied, and maybe even unstated prices of membership was the act of cutting off the hand of man from the earth and the spirit. In 1968, I was in Grant Park @ the Democratic National Convention. I was seventeen years old. What I learned there is that there are no real detached observers. I wasn't on this side. I was on that side. The police charge clarified my position. Within two weeks I bought Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited to hear "Ballad of a Thin Man" ..because you know something's happening here / and you don't know what it is / Do you / Mr. Jones. Well that was me. So I started reading. That was thirty years ago. Some things have changed. Some have not. The main thing that has not changed is the yearning within me for that connection with the earth and the spirit that was somehow traded away some number of generations ago by my ancestors for the supposed benefits of the industrial revolution. & we all lost there. Whites and non whites alike. That seems pretty clear. So, one of the people I've had contact with in this search is Martin. In terms of characterizing him, I'll defer to Robert Bly's use of the word "authenticity" in his Forward to this book. I believe in the authenticity of Martin's heart, soul, and stories. That matters to me. And I need that. A lot. Now. So, with the relative paucity of Czechoslovakian shamans in the world today, I find myself open to the message and stories of Mr. Prechtel. Much like Robert Bly's periodic interworkings with Grimms Fairy Tales, quite surprisingly, I find that I'm not even absolutely dependant on the complete accuracy of this work or it's author. The point to me are the truths illustrated, not necessarily as literally presented. This may be a bit of a stretch but Jesus' parables are not true because they actually happened in physical reality, but because they actually happened in spiritual reality. Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, one of the humblest & bigest ideas of this industrialized time, had a spiritual awakening in the thirties at Townes Hospital in NYC that really has changed the lives and usefulness of otherwise discarded people. Bill asked the Doctor if he thought that it had really happened. The doctor told him that it didn't really matter. It was all that he had, so he'd better hang on to it. It is quite important that he did. So, this is an important & necessary book to me to read, and have available to be read. It illustrates a spiritual truth, vision, and connection to the earth and the soirit that would otherwise be inaccessable to me.
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Summary: a wonderfully written work
Review: I'm astonished that this book is not better known. Perhaps it's 'cause the title makes it sound like yet another addition to the awful genre of new-age pop shamanism garbage. But nothing could be further from the case! This is easily the finest work written on Meso-American shamanic practice -- and surely the most significant work on the topic since Mr. Castaneda's earliest books. But The Talking Jaguar is a thousand times more grounded, detailed and genuine than Castaneda's problematic work, since it is written from a position deeply embedded within the particular tradition that it is translating for us. Perhaps most remarkable is the luminous eloquence of Prechtel's language -- the book is written in a style that carries something of the flavor of the indigenous oral tradition, a style worthy of the reverence accorded by most oral peoples to the beauty of living language. That so many experiences and insights rooted in indigenous, participatory, oral modes of awareness managed to be translated onto the written page, without losing their ancestral wildness, is something of a wonder. It's a landmark text, a kind of talisman filled with clues for those working on behalf of the wild, more-than-human earth. Don't miss it.
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Summary: WOW! Seeking Shamanic study? This is for you!
Review: I've been researching Shamanism for some time now, and most of the books I have com across on the subject have been dry, hard to follow, and dull. This is not! The writer is very easy to follow, interesting and informative. If you have been having troubles with finding good shamanic studies, this will help a great deal. He explains rituals, calenders, herbs, concepts, and the mixing of Catholic religion into the shaman's beliefs. The details are colorfully written so it was hard for me to put the book down. I will admit the calender section was a bit hard to follow - but it's such a complicated subject that I think the author did the best anyone could have with explaining it. At least he was able to give the reader a good understanding in the end. When most authors try to tackle the subject they leave us thinking "huh?" but this book gets you to an understanding without getting you lost. The footnotes and reference notes may seem a bit "Report" like, but they are actually quite helpful.
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Summary: Martin's life is of the most extra-ordinary spirited adventu
Review: Martin will be offering a three day retreat entitled One Wing does not fly at the Mineral hill Institute in Las Vegas, New mexico on august 6,7,8- for info call 505-425-5578. email- mcleod@nmhu.campuscwix.net
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Summary: Interesting
Review: Secrets of the Talking Jaguar is the story of the author's physical and spiritual journey from the southwestern US to the highlands of central America. There he becomes apprenticed to a local shaman who teaches Pretchel much about indigenous Mayan life, and about life in general. Pretchel writes that we are all part of our indigenous, pre-industrial, "primitive" past, we only have to search to find our roots, as he has done. The story of his awakening awareness of the natural world around us to me was more interesting. Pretchel points out that something valuable has been lost though our lack of deep cultural and familial ties to the physical world. After reading this book, I am convinced he is right. The book is an easy read, and while a little slow at first, it rapidly becomes more interesting as Pretchel becomes increasingly aware of his ties to the natural world, thanks to the assistance of his Mayan mentor, a shaman. As in life, the joy of this book is not so much in the ending, as in the journey itself.
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Summary: a different view of the Maya
Review: The events in this book take place mostly in Guatemala in the 1970's, where the author lived as part of a "traditional" Maya community. "called" by the local Shaman he was trained in the arts and responsiblities of a shaman, in order that he could save part of the "village Heart" on the old man's death. The author has some valuable insights into values and a way of living that has been lost when modern "culture" over rides traditional indigenous cultures, proclaming all that they have as bad (or non-christian). I think he is right in saying we have all lost something valuable. Ways of living that can probabaly never truly be recaptured. However, having looked up the author on the net, he seems heavily into the "new age" speeking circut today, despite all he was taught when he was younger. I wonder if the written word, despised by the Maya, will be his main legacy. And by his own admission you never get the whole story that way. Certinally, despite the wisdom in this book it is not the be-all answer for all of life's problems.
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Summary: Discover the Mayan culture !
Review: The great journey, and not only the geografical one, of a Mayan Shaman ! Well written, you will see and imagine all the scenarios he tells you. You will have the same sensations, just travel with him and got the great experience of seeing the world as a real Mayan would do !
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Summary: Excellent book, authentic author
Review: This book is a beautiful journey into the indigenous spirit within us all. I have met the author, spent some time with him, and read about (and discussed with him) his background and it is obvious that he is quite authentic. Reviewer B. Ortiz (see below) has formed a very set and narrow opinion of Prechtel based on the most superficial judgements and "research." It is really unfortunate that she didn't take the time to check her "facts" before she attacked Prechtel. I suggest that you read the book, research Prechtel if you want to, go meet him if you can, and be prepared for a potentially life-changing experience.
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