Psychomagic: The Transformative Power of Shamanic Psychotherapy Paperback – June 18, 2010

I have always had interest into Parasicology. I have read and traveled to several countries, always looking into this topic.What is psychomagic? Healing psychological wounds suffered in the early stages of life. This therapy is based on the belief that the performance of certain outside acts can directly act upon the unconscious mind, releasing it from a series of traumas, some of which are passed down from generation to generation. These acts are prescribed by the therapist after having studied the patient's personality and family tree. This therapy is just in diapers and barely know in the USA , its more common in Europe. This is the reason I decided to share my review.This therapy was born when the author of the book worked with a Mexican healer, Pachita, int he 70,s. He treated the patients as children and would operate on them curing many illnesses. He would treat both mind and body diseases. As an example of the mind disease , a person that had very weak character was told : steal a piece of meat at the butchers once a weak for 3 months. By doing so this person been so weak of Character would have to plane how to do it, and be strong to perform as indicated. Needless to say that after the 3 months this person war cured, realizing that he could do all that.While the new therapist learn this new aproach , you could act as your self healer ( just as in Auto hypnosis you would need to do it yourself ) .You need to remember , when you were a child ,and how your parents treated you when you were sick.Find those words, treat yourself as if you were 5 or 6 years old, which according to this author your unconscious is. Find those words that you need to heal. Give yourself through your unconscious the orders to change. By finding the tacks , the symbols, the chorus, the words that you think might work with you ,you would and will heal. Remeber you would do this with the mind of a 5 to 6 year old, not a rational mind. Try to remember those words or activities your mother or father would have told you, to act in the way they wanted, as childish as this may sound.I have tried this and it is helping me. I know the things I am doing work just for me and since they are personal I won't go into detail. But the minute I read that book I knew I needed to share it with all. I hope this helps.

You need to open your mind when you pick up this book - this is not Jodo the filmmaker, but Jodo the sorcerer, dreamer, and healer - don't buy this if you are looking for that version of Jodo. Jodorowsky has lived many lives in one, and it would be easy to dismiss this book as nonsense if you take a base view. Jodorowsky has studied with Pachita and has met Dali and Castaneda, and pronounces all three mad fraudulent genii. This may seem an odd stance until you realize that reality and dreams, and the perception of these are of equal importance. Does it matter if something is not "real"? Do you dream and then wake, or wake then dream? We do not truly know. Only that of consequence is important. Unless you want to grow, learn, and develop as a spiritual entity there is no point in picking up this book. But if you are ready to be thrown into a realm that expands you, delve in. I found the book instantly effective on my life and dreams, just by reading it. But I am ready to change. If you want instant gratification for no effort, see the fabled story of the American woman who comes to Mexico wanting to be cured of her deathly influence contained within. This book will cause one of two reactions: fear and rejection, or a course of knowledge likely to send you through the Jodorowsky library and beyond.

Some of the stories told in this book seem to be absolutely insane or unbelievable but right there on the edge of "this could actually happen". I am not a huge fan of Jodorowsky's films - mainly because I haven't seen them except for one (Santa Sangre) - so this review is not coming from a film fan of his. I am merely a magical worker interested in different approaches and this surely fit the bill! Now, if you are wanting a step-by-step guide of how to do psychomagic, you are not going t get it here. Not in plain print, anyways. Instead, Jodorowsky details how he came about with this method through many years of artistic, magical and practice with the psyche. The next section of the book he tells stories of psychomagic works he has prescribed and the resulting letters from those who came to him for help. Through these tellings, you can figure out on your own if this is something you believe you could add to your practice and even glean how to do so. But he doesn't explicitly give detailed instructions. In fact, he does say that psychomagic is not a practice just anyone can do. It is an entertaining and interesting read regardless.

This is a gem of a book, and one of the strangest I have ever read. I felt compelled to write a short review.Psychomagic introduces us to Alejandro Jodorowsky, a modern day shapeshifting trickster-wizard-healer. He is an outrageous human character. He draws on a variety of useful--and truly amazing-- experiences throughout his life to present his thoughts and advice on healing what ails us and growing towards greater integration of our conscious and unconscious lives. He advocates working with art, performance, poetry, tarot, archetypes, dreams, guided intoxication, meditation, genealogy and various other mediums, all of which he elaborates on and has implemented in helping himself and countless others.The book is presented in an easy-to-read and fairly intimate Q&A, conversational format. The creation of Psychomagic actually served a sort of dual purpose: for one it was a kind of therapy exercise for the interviewer Gilles Forcet who compiled, edited, and organized all of the material from their talks, and for two, it delivers Jodorowsky's potent crazy wisdom to a wider audeience.I highly recommend Psychomagic to anyone looking for something out-of-the-ordinary--or inspiring.