Song of Shamanism

Stephen Beyer has travelled many strange and interesting paths in his life, but none have been stranger or more life-changing than his journey with ayahuasca.

Coming from a wide-ranging academic background that includes stints as a lawyer, professor, and Buddhist monk, Beyer seeks to chronicle his experience with the spirit vine in his new book Singing to the Plants: A Guide to Mestizo Shamansim in the Upper Amazon.

Though the book takes place through Beyer's eyes, as he is initiated into the world of ayahuasca as an apprentice shaman, the real stars of the book are the Amazonian mestizos, descendents from the original indigenous peoples of the Amazon and the Spanish who colonized them.

True to Beyer's multi-disciplinary background, the book expertly combines anthropology, religion, history and ethnobotany with a hearty helping of first person action. It comes out in bookstores this October but you can pre-order it now.