{"id":20281,"date":"2019-12-01T01:10:02","date_gmt":"2019-12-01T05:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=21609"},"modified":"2019-11-16T18:27:28","modified_gmt":"2019-11-16T22:27:28","slug":"book-review-shamanic-plant-medicine-by-ross-heaven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2019\/12\/01\/book-review-shamanic-plant-medicine-by-ross-heaven\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review \u2013 Shamanic Plant Medicine-San Pedro: The Gateway to Wisdom by Ross Heaven"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Book Review
Shamanic Plant Medicine-San Pedro
<\/b><\/span><\/strong>The Gateway to Wisdom <\/b><\/span>
<\/b><\/span><\/strong>by Ross Heaven<\/b><\/span> <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\r\n

144 Pages<\/b><\/span> <\/b><\/span><\/span><\/h1>\r\n

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San Pedro: The Gateway to Wisdom is one in The Shamanic Plant Medicine series authored by Ross Heaven. Each book introduces a plant medicine teacher and medicine ally. This well-written, accessible book introduces us to the Cactus of Mystery, San Pedro, native to the Andes and used by Andean shamans in healing ceremonies.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Mr. Heaven, who died in 2018, has left us with a practical and nuanced introduction to San Pedro. The book gives us an overview of the plant\u2019s history and the lore relating to its sense of mystery, which certainly drew me in to wanting to know more about it. Here are some of the fascinating bits of lore that Heaven provided: Legend has it that St. Cyprian was instructed by Jesus to hide the keys to Paradise from the Spanish invaders and Inquisition in a cactus under the watchful eye of St. Peter, keeper of the keys to Heaven\u2013 hence this entheogen\u2019s name. It also has many nicknames, one of which is punku \u2013 doorway or gateway \u2013 for its ability to open a doorway beyond the world of illusion, as author Heaven wrote. Its active ingredient is mescaline and its healing and nurturing action has earned it another nickname: Grandfather. As Heaven wrote in a different book: \u201cThere is a sort of mystery surrounding San Pedro and a sense that knowledge of the plant must remain secret or at least be earned through preparation, participation and worthiness of those who drink it.\u201d<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Heaven provided a detailed chapter on why San Pedro\u2019s medicine is sought after and descriptions of various ceremonies and methods of use by San Pedro shamans. Heaven also discussed various modes of preparation, while urging respect, safety and caution working with this teacher plant. While it is not a how-to, step-by-step manual, the book provides excellent guidance on what to look for when seeking someone to conduct and support a ceremony. The personal accounts of people who experienced San Pedro\u2019s healing effects in ceremony with Heaven and other shamans are engaging, encouraging and worth reading.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

The most fascinating and instructive section examines the effects of San Pedro on creativity. There is an overview of the early research with psychedelics in the 1960s, specifically with their effect on artists. Heaven equated the ability of the creative process – to \u201cshift\u201d the brain into perceiving and functioning differently – with the nature of the entheogenic experience. Both processes are \u201cnonrational and nonverbal, the insights coming at an almost cellular level through the remodeling of the self. Trying to capture this experience in words is too limiting for those who have undergone it.\u201d Heaven\u2019s description of these processes is reason alone to read this book! A discussion of shamans as artists as they engage with the creative flow of energy in the healing process is also worth the read. There are also deeply engaging personal accounts of visual and musical artists who described the effects of San Pedro on their work and their search for self-knowledge.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Heaven ended the book with a chapter on working responsibly with San Pedro. There are in-depth recommendations regarding environment, introducing yourself to the plant with respect, what to expect during the work itself and legalities of possession and use of San Pedro.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

If you are interested in working with San Pedro, or simply in learning more about entheogenic plant medicine in general, this book is a great place to start. It is an easy to read, well-researched and information beginning. I will keep it on my bookshelf as a good reference and already plan to read the other books in this excellent series from Moon Books.<\/p>\r\n

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