Huston Smith
This invaluable book offers an alternative interpretation on what it means to be human. Jay Fikes unites his experiences as an aspiring shaman with his dedication to scholarly accuracy; he presents the Huichol religion from a perspective unfettered by modern, Western, science-vectored assumptions. His book integrates sympathetic and discerning interpretation of nuances in Huichol shamanic initiation, myth, ritual, and pilgrimage, creating an insightful portrait of a people whose annual cycle of rituals and pilgrimages have, until recently, sustained their harmonious relation with nature and with their divine ancestors. Fikes's book will become a landmark in comparative religion.--(Huston Smith, professor emeritus, Syracuse University; author, The World's Religions )
Servando Z. Hinojosa
Unknown Huichol is imbued with the message that we must be attentive to our consciousness - even if this puts us at odds with establishment thinking and anthropological precepts about the cognitive, experiential distance between 'informants' and researchers. Jay Fikes has shown that there is a lot we have yet to learn about the Huichol; he has made major strides toward filling our gaps of knowledge. --(Servando Z. Hinojosa, University of Texas-Pan American )
Conrad P. Kottak
An important new study in comparative religion and philosophy, this fascinating and dramatic account is based on Jay Fikes's in-depth research, spanning more than three decades, on Huichol ceremonial life and worldview. Many of its unique insights reflect the author's personal knowledge of the shamanic experience. Fikes also reveals and clarifies fundamental long-term themes in Mesoamerican religion and worldview. Unknown Huichol contributes to symbolic anthropology, the anthropology of religion and of art, and to broader anthropological theory.--(Conrad P. Kottak, University of Michigan )
