Lila

“By observing and depicting nature, people become more aware of its beauty and richness, and they learn to respect it.”

Karen Hsiao is a shamanic or magical artist whose work veers between beauty and the grotesque. Primarily a figurative painter in her early years, Hsiao has since explored the body and its space through various mediums, creating pieces that are both tactile and intuitive. We talk to her about her intriguing and disturbing series ‘Transmogrification’.

Pablo Amaringo is one of the world’s greatest visionary artists, and is renowned for his highly complex, colourful and intricate paintings of his visions from drinking the Ayahuasca brew. Howard and Peter met with Pablo at the school which he founded (Usko-Ayar school of painting) in Pucullpa where he lives and paints, and interviewed Pablo about his life as a shaman and artist.

Benny Shanon, a professor of cognitive psychology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, releases a paper outlining a hypothesis that entheogenic plants including ayahuasca analogues formed an integral part of the religious rites of Israelites in biblical times.

By Flore Singer Aaslid
Fragmentation ultimately leads to pathology both individually and collectively, whereas integration promotes health. Fortunately, there is integrative potential in many fields of experience; art, myth, dreams and ritual all have this effect, as do many Eastern introspective techniques.

An interview with Juan Navarro by Howard Charing
Juan is a descendant of a long lineage of healers and shamans working with the magical powers and plants of his bio-region.