The Way of Abundance and Joy: The Shamanic Teachings of Don Alberto Taxo

Shares the ancient Andean wisdom and practices of Sumak Kausay, the way of Abundant Life, as taught by master shaman don Alberto Taxo

- Shows how to relate to and receive help from the elements, reconnect with nature to access abundance and joy, connect with plants, animals, water, air, and fire

- Explores don Alberto’s upbringing in a family of yachaks, his initiation, and his personal work to fulfill the Andean prophecy of the Eagle and the Condor

- Includes reflections and essays from several of don Alberto’s students and others who have worked with him, including Itzhak Beery and John Perkins

Recognized as a master yachak, don Alberto Taxo was a celebrated spiritual elder, shaman, and healer of the pre-Inca Atik (Kichwa) people from the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. He shared ancient Andean shamanic wisdom and practices in the United States for more than 20 years--his personal quest to fulfill the Andean prophecy that the Eagle and the Condor will fly together in the same sky in harmony.

Written with don Alberto’s permission and as further fulfillment of the Eagle-Condor prophecy, this book shares don Alberto’s teachings and his simple approaches for building a reciprocal relationship with nature, centered on Sumak Kausay, the way of joy and abundance. As a yachak, a shaman of the elements, don Alberto showed how to relate to and receive help from nature. When we are connected with nature on an emotional and spiritual level it creates joy that is deeply healing and can be accessed during life’s difficulties. The book discusses traditional Ecuadorian shamanic beliefs and practices, including Andean Inca cosmology; how to connect with plants, animals, air, fire, and water in sacred springs, the ocean, or your shower; and Inca concepts like Pacha, the space-time era in which we live that is now transitioning to a new one of connection and love after 500 years.

The book explores don Alberto’s upbringing in a family of yachaks, his initiation, and his assumption of the role of shaman for his community. It also includes reflections and essays from don Alberto’s students and others who have worked with him, including shamanic teachers Itzhak Beery and John Perkins, showing how he influenced their lives and awakened them to the path of Sumak Kausay, Abundant Life.

Shirley Blancke is an archaeologist and anthropologist, who has worked with Native Americans in Massachusetts, learned traditional sacred dance from Hawaiian kahunas, and hosted ceremonies for an Oglala Lakota medicine man. She studied shamanic traditions with Hank Wesselman for 10 years and has worked with Ecuadorian yachak don Alberto Taxo for seven years. She lives in Concord, Massachusetts.