Présentation de l'éditeur
After 'Hit Man'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.
Extrait
from Chapter 4Birdmen of the Andes
"Faith is like the mortar holding a wall together." Don José's words seemed to take on a renewed vigor with every mile we drove into the dark mountains. "You don't need to believe in my religion to understand this. Rituals mean little, unless they help open the heart. That is important. Open your heart. Listen to it and follow its commands. Have faith in what your heart says. Without the mortar of faith, even the sturdiest wall will collapse."
We had left before dawn, headed for a town more than two hours further into the Andes than Sinincay. I drove a Peace Corps jeep over roads that sometimes were marked only by horse droppings. Hail slashed against the windshield. Occasionally our headlights exposed an Indian hut or a pack of dogs. Don José shared the seat next to me with two children. In the back were his wife and another co-op member, that member's wife, and three children. Few words were spoken, except for exchanges between Don José and me on the subject of faith. He had shrugged off most of my questions relating to how it was possible for men to fly with responses like "You will see soon enough" and "It is faith."
The air was not only cold; it was thin. The altitude was higher than anything I had experienced in recent months. I began to feel lightheaded. "Can the Birdmen fly only in villages this high up?"
Without looking away from the road, I could feel his eyes. "That has nothing to do with it. You really don't understand, do you? Flying is not just physical; it is also spiritual. I can't tell you about it. You have to experience it. Your experience may be different from mine. Remember this as you watch. When the Birdmen fly, it is to seek advice from dead ancestors. These things are not to be understood, only felt. Perhaps you will feel them as we do. Who knows."
When we pulled into the village I could see from my watch that the sun should have risen. Yet the morning was dark. The h
