Amazon Wisdom Keeper

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one, but I’m glad I took the chance to read and review it. The spiritual memoir isn’t my usual fare, at least not recently. I read many spiritual awakening memoirs in the 90s, so at least I had those to compare.

I enjoyed very much reading about the author’s childhood on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, in Suriname. The family had to move, and once she was separated from her beloved home, it feels as if she was always trying to get back to what she had lost.

I don’t truly feel the author had anything new to say, though her experience is unique and a compelling story. I loved the part of her trying to develop a multicultural dynamic to aid her thoroughly western education in psychology and psychotherapy; her dedication, despite a growing sense of isolation, is impressive.

I think the big lesson for me was a reminder, as a creative person, of the need to not only trust intuition and deeper feelings, but to continue to develop them until we can rely on them, until they’re second nature, to trust that the intuitions and dreams aren’t just a symptom or sign of a delusional psychosis. As a psychologist, though, the author had to struggle with the fear of hurting someone inadvertently, as illustrated by her interactions with Paloma.

There are gems of insight in the author’s prose, though I don’t think she meant this memoir as a “teaching” guide or system of belief, as she studied many of them in her quest to integrate native wisdom with psychology. I recommend this if you like spiritual memoirs.

This memoir kept me interested as I have always had an interest in the different holistic methods of healing.
Loraine, the author born and raised up to the age of 13 in Suriname, South America, until a military coup forced them to leave the country and go to the USA. She had grown up to that point very in tune with her surroundings and the people and animals of the Amazon jungle and following her intuitions.
Once in Miami, their first home and a place where she spent a lot of her formative years feeling different and isolated from her peers, and where not until she realized what she had lost from her childhood in Suriname, did she begin to change.
The family moved to California, where her father found a job and Loraine got into The University of California, Davis and began a career in Clinical Psychology as she found that, that was an area where she could help people face-to-face. What she really wanted was to take a more holistic approach to psychology and that is what the second part of her book delves into. She takes many workshops and connects with people that have that kind of background, and her same belief systems, and they really helped her get in touch with her own gifts. It was fascinating to read about all of the different paths she was exploring and how they helped her find her true self. From indigo children, to Lakota Indian wisdom, to the rainbow path and much,much more. This book for me was very educational.
I love the cover of this book!
I would like to thank NetGalley and She Writes Press for the ARC of this book.

***This book was reviewed by independent request and via Netgalley

Amazon Wisdom Keeper is the inspiring story of one woman's life, as she struggles to find her place amidst the turmoil of revolution, culture shock, and family who has a hard time understanding and appreciating her sensitive, empathic nature. As a child, Van Tuyl lived in Suriname, a small country mostly covered by Amazonian rainforest. With her perceptive nature, she was drawn at a young age to the rainforest, with an instinctive knowledge of the rich wisdom it contained, of harmony and balance and the living spirits that exist everywhere. She also learned at a young age to not let people see how sensitive she was to things. By sensitive, I mean empathic, but those born this way get overwhelmed easy by emotion, their own as well as others.

All too soon, revolution overcame the country, driving her family away to Florida, for fear of being killed by government brutes. This move meant safety for her family, but it also meant leaving the cradle of the rainforest behind, with so many lessons yet unlearned, and it meant facing a new culture where she didn't speak the language as well. Tumultuous times in Miami were followed by a move to California where Van Tuyl began to blossom again. College led to the discovery of the field of psychology, eventually leading to another soul crisis as she struggled to reconcile the (white) Western-dominated theories with the rich inner knowing she had cultivated, and the lack of multicultural perspectives within psychology. Thankfully, she had met a wonderful man who was supportive of her work. Van Tuyl eventually returned to Suriname, to conduct a research project focused in the values she held most dear. She would continue to make strides in this arena, teaching others how to open to intuitive wisdom, and the beautiful lessons of nature.

I cannot even imagine living in a country where there are people 'disappeared’ by their own government, and where flight to a new country is necessary. Van Tuyl’s abrupt relocation to Miami, with its patently Western culture, sent her into a tailspin. It took several years to accept, and work out the damage. I loved the shy reunion with her inner child. It was a touching reminder that we all have inner children that keep a part of our intuitive wisdom. Indeed, children themselves have less prejudices, and can see with clearer eyes.

Her da's views on religion, how there is no 'absolute’ that is the only right view resonated with me on a deep level. There are many perspectives. If one insists they are the only true thing, FLEE! Van Tuyl’s reasons for studying psychology echo why I chose to study anthropology- to understand and continue to integrate the wisdom first cultivated in me by my grandmother. My grandmother raised me with respect for the Great Spirit, and a love of Earth Wisdom. Her grandmother was Cherokee, and passed many lessons to her. She was able to do as Van Tuyl, synthesizing a harmony between Western thought, and Indigenous American beliefs. Those lessons she passed to me, and I continue that synthesis. Van Tuyl seems to have had another turning point when she learned of the Lakota medicine wheel. This became encouragement to continue following along path misunderstood or openly ridiculed.

📚📚📚📚📚 Highly recommended. For any with a love of or interest in Earth Wisdom, memoirs, or psychology.