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The Shaman in Stilettos
Reviewed by Sudhirendar Sharma
30 Jun 2012Shaman in the making
Mystics they are, the shamans are known to heal emotional distress, physical
challenges and mental chatter using hallucinogens. Ayahuasca, one of the
most potent hallucinogen, has helped people find themselves and, in doing so, to
find peace. Like most ancient cultures, the dancing snakes that pop up (in the
mind) during ayahuasca ceremony have helped shamans visualize, amongst
other things, the structure of DNA several centuries before Watson and Crick
could actually discover it. Making patients see with their heart and feel with
their eyes, the shamans have been able to manipulate the energy blocks in human
body, which are the cause of many health issues, such that the energy flows
freely again. That the shamans are charismatic is known but that one of them
could be disarmingly seductive is what celebrated journalist Anna Hunt came to
realize from her adventure into the wilderness of the Amazon jungle.
As a real page turner, The Shaman in Stilettos is a story about raging
passion, mysterious obsession, compelling ritual and abject surrender. How a
29-year-old compromises her love for stilettos, chocolate, cars and a fast-paced
job to the slow-paced rhythm of life in the unglamorous jungles of Peru makes
for exhilarating reading. In the backdrop of her passionate affair with a
charming shaman, the story of Anna Hunt is packed with nuggets of extraordinary
wisdom. That anger and tears are just perspectives; neither of them is right nor
wrong, is one of the several nuggets. Much of human weakness emerges from the
innate fears we all carry within - the fear of the unknown, fear of not being in
control, and fear of facing yourself as you really are.
The shamans neither fear nor are they frightened of dying. They know that
they go to the light – to the next level. Through a gripping narrative laced
with romantic interludes, Anna unfolds the secret and complex world of the
shamans and their mystics. For the shamans, the snake holds the key to the
knowledge of the universe. Snake is best expressed in Spanish word ‘serpiente’,
‘Ser’ means ‘human’; ‘pi’ is the basic building block of ‘life’;
and ‘ente’ means ‘universe’. No wonder, every shaman has to learn to work
with the snake. This and much more, The Shaman in Stilettos is
entertaining, engrossing and enlightening story about the ‘making of a shaman in
stilettos’.
The Shaman in Stilettos
by Anna Hunt
Penguin Books, UK
454 pages, £ 8.99
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