Indigenous Cultures - South American

In this third installment in the Ancient Technology series, join David Hatcher Childress in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Mexico as he searches for evidence of high technology in the ancient past. Going to ancient cities and megalithic sites, David and friends examine evidence of ancient technology that is simply mind-blowing! David and his team check out the giant stone balls in Costa Rica, and move on to examine the mysterious megalithic statues on a remote island in Nicaragua. Then they continue to the colossal basalt heads of the Olmecs in Mexico. Did the Olmecs have power tools? Extra features.
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In this second documentary in our Ancient Technology series, David Hatcher Childress flies to Peru with British engineer Christopher Dunn. Together they journey to Cuzco in the Andes Mountains to examine evidence for the possible use of advanced rock-machining techniques. Going to ancient cities and megalithic quarries, they again examine saw marks, advanced lifting and moving techniques, as well as evidence of Pre-Incan megalith builders at Machu Picchu and Ollantaytambo. They continue on to Lake Titicaca where they investigate the strange megalithic towers and a stargate cut into solid rock. Finally they examine the huge granite megaliths at Tiwanaku and Puma Punku for signs of the use of power tools and other advanced, ancient technology. Blows the lid off South American archeology with evidence of advanced ancient technology thousands of years old! Extra features.
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Initiated into the Santeria priesthood at the age of seven, Raul Canizares unveils in Cuban Santeriathe secret and seductive world of this rapidly growing, yet largely misunderstood, Afro-Cuban religion. With the knowledge of an insider and the insight of a scholar, Canizares astutely examines the practice of Santeria, revealing many of its hidden dimensions while simultaneously providing a fascinating account of its unique textured mix of African, Cuban, and Catholic traditions.

The Cuban-born author describes the practices and rituals of the followers of Santeria--from magical herbal prescription and healing to spiritism and animal sacrifice--and explains how for many years the religion has been maintained under the guise of Catholicism to avoid religious persecution. Most initiates are sworn to a code of silence, but Canizares believes that the time has come to move Santeria, a religion of beauty and resilience, out of the darkness and into the light so that a more accurate picture of this rich tradition can emerge.

Quetzalcoatl Ce Acatl (born in A.D. 947) - whose stature has been compared to that of Christ Buddha and Krishna - was the key figure in the development of the spiritual culture of the Toltecs. In THE GOSPEL OF THE TOLTECS the author has gathered Nahua and Maya codexes Spanish chronicles of conquest and native oral tradition to recount the life of Quetzalcoatl: his temptation and fall; his initiation with sacred mushrooms; his long journey in search of spiritual enlightenment; his triumphant return to the Toltec land; and his subsequent teaching self-immolation ascension and promise of return. Quetzalcoatl's teachings make up the Toltecayotl or Toltequity - the art of intentional doing - which provides an initiatic guide for the transformation of individuals and society while his personal history is a guide for the development of Nahualli the magical side of human awareness. For all those who wish to deepen their knowledge of the roots of Toltec spirituality or who wish to grow from the teachings of one of the world's great spiritual leaders THE GOSPEL OF THE TOLTECS offers a unique and authentic access to the life and ministry of one of the most important figures in the ancient world. · A compilation of the teachings of Quetzalcoatl avatar of the Toltecs reconstructed from original source texts and the legends told at his birthplace in Amatlan Morelos Mexico. · Includes 86 chronological teaching stories accompanied by 27 codex illustrations.

Until recently the Haitian practice of Vodou was often identified with devil worship dark curses and superstition. Some saw the saint images and the Catholic influences and wrote Vodou off as a Christian aberration. Others were appalled by the animal sacrifices and the fact that the Houngans and Mambos charge money for their services. Those who sought Vodou because they believed it could harness evil forces were disappointed when their efforts to gain fame fortune or endless romance failed and so abandoned their voodoo fetishes. Those who managed to get the attention of the lwa the spirits honoured in Haitian Vodou often received cosmic retaliation for treating the lwa as attack dogs or genies which only further cemented Vodou's stereotype as dangerous. In THE HAITIAN VODOU HANDBOOK Kevin Filan a Vodou priest explains how to build respectful relationships with the lwa of the Vodou pantheon and how to transform the fear that often surrounds the Vodou religion. He offers extensive background information on the lwa and instructions on how to honour and interact fruitfully with those that make themselves accessible emphasising the importance of having a quickened mind that can read the lwa's desires intuitively in order to avoid establishing dogma-based relationships. He also discusses the role of Vodou in Haitian culture and explores the symbiotic relationship Vodou has maintained with Catholicism through the connections between the lwa and the Christian saints.

The Huichol Indians live in the remote regions of the Sierra Madre Mountains of western Mexico where geographic isolation has allowed them to retain their culture and spiritual traditions in the face of colonisation. Their nature-based way of life makes no distinction between the sacred and the secular and they express their reverence for the powers of the earth by regarding all elements in nature as family. THE JOURNEY OF TUNURI AND THE BLUE DEER is a modern adaptation of a traditional Huichol story depicting a young child finding his (or her) personal task in life by connecting with the powers of nature. The story is told through the experiences of young Tunuri who becomes lost in the woods. He meets the magical Blue Deer--a messenger between the worlds of mortals and deities--who introduces Tunuri to Father Sun Mother Earth and others in the natural world while leading him back to his human family. Through this lovely tale and the vivid illustrations done in the medium of traditional Huichol yarn drawings children can learn about their place in the sacred web of life. ¨ Shares the hidden treasures of a nature-based indigenous culture ¨ A teaching tool for multicultural studies for children ages 6 to 9 ¨ Explains who the Huichol people are and the symbolism of the images used by the artists

In a small canyon in the White Mountains of Arizona a young girl sits and listens to her grandfather's stories. They tell of a people known as the Tlish Diyan or Snake Clan and how they came to be. She learns the story of her parents and grandparents uncles and aunts and an entire lineage that weaves between four legged two legged spirits ancestors ritual adventure and the creation of the world by Changing Mother and the Giver of All Life. In this way she comes to know and find her place in All Our Relations. This child is Maria Yracébûrû granddaughter of Apache holy man Ten Bears and the hereditary recipient of his philosophy legends prophecy and knowledge. In the traditional storytelling ways of her ancestors Maria Yracébûrû respectfully weaves her contemporary experience into the tapestry of tales passed down from generations. The legends of the Tlish Diyan she presents in LEGENDS AND PROPHECIES OF THE QUERO APACHE relay how sacred universal laws govern our relationship to the natural world our interaction with nature and our respect for each other. · Includes 13 stories of the Tlish Diyan (Apache Snake Clan). · Provides contemporary insights into these legends to make them relevant to the modern reader.

The New York Times bestseller Confessions of an Economic Hit Man documents John Perkins’ extraordinary career as a globe-trotting economic hit man. Perkins’ insider’s view leads him to crisis of conscience--to the realization that he must devote himself to work which will foster a world-wide awareness of the sanctity of indigenous peoples, their cultures, and their environments. Perkins’ books demonstrate how the age-old shamanic techniques of some of the world’s most primitive peoples have sparked a revolution in modern concepts about healing, the subconscious, and the powers each of us has to alter individual and communal reality. This groundbreaking book is John Perkins’s firsthand account of his experiences with the shamanic technique of psychonavigation--a method of traveling outside the body by means of visions and dream wanderings--and his encounters with the Shuar of the Amazon, the Quechua of the Andes, and the Bugis of Indonesia. Shuar shamans psychonavigate for the purposes of hunting and healing, while the Bugis, among the most renowned sailors of the world, use these techniques to navigate without the aid of charts and compasses. Perkins explains how these techniques work and how the people of these indigenous cultures psychonavigate to both distant physical destinations and sources of inner wisdom. Throughout history, psychonavigation has been practiced by highly creative minds such as Beethoven, Jung, and Einstein. Perkins’s riveting narrative takes us on a journey of personal discovery as he learns the great value of these techniques and their relevance not only to individual well-being, but to the health of the environment and of the world at large. He reveals how by attuning to the positive forces in nature and communicating with our inner guides we all can become psychonavigators, finding our way to wise decisions and developing innovative approaches to the challenges we face as individuals and a world community.

Bradford Keeney details his initiation into the shamanic tradition of the Kalahari Bushmen regarded by some scholars as the oldest living culture on earth. Keeney sought out the Bushmen whilst in South Africa as a visiting professor of psychotherapy. He had known of the Kalahari trance dance wherein the dancers' bodies shake uncontrollably as part of the healing ceremony. Keeney was drawn to this tradition in the hope it may explain and provide a forum for his own ecstatic shaking which he had first experienced at the age of 19 and had tried to suppress throughout his adult life. For more than a dozen years Keeney danced with Bushmen shamans in communities throughout Botswana and Namibia until finally becoming fully initiated into their doctoring and spiritual ways. He offers readers accounts of his shamanic world travels and the secrets of the soul he learned along the way. He also reveals his work with shamans from Japan Tibet Bali Thailand Australia and North and South America which he integrates into a sacred circle of one truth encompassing all of these traditions.