Review: 'Aya - A Shamanic Odyssey' by Rak Razam

Originally published in 2009 'Aya: A Shamanic Odyssey' by Rak Razam is a fine addition to the burgeoning genre of ayahuasca literature. Rak Razam is a journalist and editor of 'The Journeybook: Travels on the Frontiers of Consciousness'. This book charts the author's own journey in South America and the Amazon, as he has a series of intense encounters with ayahuasca, against the backdrop of a rapidly changing cultural landscape.

The book opens with Razam, a self-styled Gonzo journalist, waiting for a connection at Lima airport, Peru. He is on his way to Iquitos, in order to attend the second Amazonian Shaman Conference, to write an article for Australian Playboy. An experienced tripper, he has nevertheless had three failed ayahuasca sessions (with an analogue known as "pharmauasca") in his native home of Australia. Therefore, on arrival, the brew, along with the new surroundings of South America, are a mystery to him. The book is his revelation of culture and experience, an unfolding of many interconnected threads that make up the booming industry of ayahuasca tourism; the text is enriched by the sights, sounds and smells of the brew and, of course, the world's largest rainforest, the Amazon. The result is an engaging textual playing field for ideas and beliefs.