For generation after generation, Toltec shamans have passed down their wisdom through teaching stories. The purpose of these stories is to implant a seed of knowledge in the mind of the listener, where it can ultimately sprout and blossom into a new and better way of life. In The Wisdom of the Shamans: What the Ancient Masters Can Teach Us About Love and Life, Toltec shaman and master storyteller don Jose Ruiz shares some of the most popular stories from his family's oral tradition and offers corresponding lessons that illustrate the larger ideas within each story. Ruiz begins by explaining that contrary to the stereotypical image of "witch doctor," the ancient shamans were men and women who fulfilled several roles within their communities: philosopher, spiritual guide, medical doctor, psychologist, and friend. According to Ruiz, their teachings are not primitive or reserved for a chosen few initiates but are instead a powerful series of lessons on love and life that are available to us all. To that aim, he has included exercises, meditations, and shamanic rituals to help you experience the personal transformation these stories offer. The shamans taught that the truth you seek is inside of you. Let these stories, lessons, and tools be your guide to finding the innate wisdom that lives within.

More and more Ayahuasca has come to the attention of the Western media. Used by the shamans of Peru, the rituals and practices around this psychoactive plant-based brew date back 50-70,000 years as evidenced by rock and cave paintings found the world over. Through their use of Ayahuasca, Shamans establish contact with the spirit world which they call upon to aid them in their healing practices, understanding of the cosmos, and how to live well in the world. In "The Shaman & Ayahuasca," internationally respected Peruvian shaman Don Jose Campos illuminates the practices and benefits of Ayahuasca with grace and gentleness, while expressing respect and gratitude for the gifts Ayahuasca has bestowed on him throughout the 25 years he has been a practicing shaman. He takes the reader on a journey through his own discovery of other worlds, other dimensions, alien entities and plant teachers. "The Shaman & Ayahuasca" gives an overview of an entire cosmology with the potential to benefit all of mankind. It is the perfect book to introduce readers to the profound experiences of Ayahuasca."

In 1941 the Japanese invaded the Philippines with overwhelming force and forced the surrender of American troops at Bataan and Corregidor. Prisoners of war were subjected to brutal captivity and thousands did not survive. This is the story of an American soldier who survived and became a hero. When American troops liberated the Niigata POW camp after the Japanese surrender, Corporal Joseph O. Quintero greeted them with a homemade American flag that had been sewn together in secrecy. The son of Mexican immigrants, Joseph Quintero grew up in a converted railroad caboose in Fort Worth, Texas, and joined the Army to get $21 a month and three meals a day. He manned a machine gun in the defense of Corregidor before his unit was captured by the Japanese. When prisoners of war were transported to Japan, Joseph survived a razor-blade appendectomy on the "hell ship" voyage. In the prison camp he cared for his fellow prisoners as a medic and came to be known as Don Jose. Joseph's narrative is an enlisted man's view of the war with first-hand descriptions of conditions in the POW camps and personal glimpses of what he and his buddies did, endured and talked about. The authors have drawn on other histories and official documents to put his story into perspective and focus on a little-known chapter of World War II.

One of the main tenets of shamanism is a belief in the power of rituals and ceremonies to manifest change in the physical world. Every shamanic school on the planet uses rituals and ceremonies as tools for personal transformation. In this book, shaman and New York Times bestselling author don Jose Ruiz explains many of the most popular rituals and ceremonies used in shamanism and instructs readers how to perform these rites on their own. This book is a how-to guide for creating power objects and animal totems and learning how to do soul retrieval, recapitulation, dream training, and more. The son of don Miguel Ruiz, the author of the world-renowned Four Agreements, don Jose Ruiz is a shaman in the Native American Toltec tradition.

In The Four Agreements, a New York Times bestseller for over 7 years, Ruiz revealed how the process of our education, or “domestication,” can make us forget the wisdom we were born with. Throughout our lives, we make many agreements that go against ourselves and create needless suffering. The Four Agreements help us to break these self-limiting agreements and replace them with agreements that bring us personal freedom, happiness, and love. In The Fifth Agreement, don Miguel Ruiz joins his son don Jose Ruiz to offer a fresh perspective on The Four Agreements, and a powerful new agreement for transforming our lives into our personal heaven. The Fifth Agreement takes us to a deeper level of awareness of the power of the Self, and returns us to the authenticity we were born with. In this compelling sequel to the book that has changed the lives of millions of people around the world, we are reminded of the greatest gift we can give ourselves: the freedom to be who we really are.

Few understand the difficult work of overcoming trauma, abuse, and addiction better than don Jose Ruiz. In My Good Friend the Rattlesnake, Ruiz, now a bestselling author and spiritual teacher, reveals the dramatic twists and turns he experienced on his own path to personal freedom and inner transformation. Through this series of deeply intimate stories, Ruiz explains how he overcame his addiction to suffering and embraced a life of love, clarity, and self-awareness. In one example, he recounts his unexpected journey with temporary blindness, which paradoxically allowed him to see what truly mattered. In another, he celebrates individuality in spiritual practice, challenging the idea that it must look or sound a particular way to be authentic. Throughout, Ruiz incorporates the teachings of his father, don Miguel Ruiz (author of The Four Agreements). The lessons he shares are practical, profound, and accessible, making this book an essential companion for anyone seeking spiritual growth and emotional healing. Honest, vulnerable, and rich with exercises and meditations, My Good Friend the Rattlesnake redefines what it means to heal, grow, and live authentically.

Four hundred years ago, the pioneer men and women who first came to New Mexico were forced to make their life compatible with the earth and with their isolation. The beauty that surrounded them did not sustain them, but out of reverence for the land, there appeared the chosen ones--the "curanderos" who understood the medicinal uses of herbs; the "veijitos," the old men who made folklore, history and tradition and recounted it to the younger generations. And from this same tradition came the Patrón, a man who had the ability to channel ambition and determination, and to make the land and its people yield to the law of common interest. He was a protector, a watcher of signs; he was a code maker, a fashioner of a way of life that is sadly missing in today's world. He was called the Patrón by those whom he loved and who returned that love with work, faith and personal devotion. They called him the Patrón, but they might just as well have called him the Godfather. José Ortiz y Pino has portrayed New Mexico, its characters and traditions with a sagacious wit and poignant keenness that could only have emanated from one who grew up in its midst. And he has narrated for us the story of a man whose visions had no limits, a man whose dedication to his goal was matched only by his sense of justice and compassion for all men--Don José Ortiz, The Last Patrón.

When Lois Tarrant, who worked as a model for a London designer, flew to Madrid to deliver an item to a Spanish bride, her trip turned out to be much longer than anticipated. The postponement of the wedding meant that suddenly Lois was traveling to Andalusia and facing new adventures with the bride. It was not at all a bad way to spend her days, if only it weren’t for the girl’s terribly arrogant guardian Don José Farrara de Martinez y Arova, although there was also something intriguing about him... The 20th-century story by Rose Burghley, a pseudonym of the romance writer Ida Pollock, offers a memorable love tale set in romantic Spain. A must-read for fans of literary romance and surprising twists of fate. Rose Burghley is a pseudonym of Ida Pollock (1908 – 2013), a highly successful British writer of over 125 romance novels translated into numerous languages and published across the world. Ida Pollock has sold millions of copies over her 90-year career. Pollock began writing when she was 10 years old. Ida has travelled widely, living in several different countries. She continues to be popular amongst both her devoted fan base and new readers alike. Pollock has been referred to as the "world's oldest novelist" who was still active at 105 and continued writing until her death. On the occasion of her 105th birthday, Pollock was appointed honorary vice-president of the Romantic Novelists' Association, having been one of its founding members. Ida Pollock wrote in a wide variety of pseudonyms: Joan M. Allen, Susan Barrie, Pamela Kent, Averil Ives, Anita Charles, Barbara Rowan, Jane Beaufort, Rose Burghley, Mary Whistler and Marguerite Bell.

“Olivarez steps into the ‘inbetween’ standing between Mexico and America in these compelling, emotional poems. Written with humor and sincerity” (Newsweek). Named a Best Book of the Year by Newsweek and NPR. In this “devastating debut” (Publishers Weekly), poet José Olivarez explores the stories, contradictions, joys, and sorrows that embody life in the spaces between Mexico and America. He paints vivid portraits of good kids, bad kids, families clinging to hope, life after the steel mills, gentrifying barrios, and everything in between. Drawing on the rich traditions of Latinx and Chicago writers like Sandra Cisneros and Gwendolyn Brooks, Olivarez creates a home out of life in the in-between. Combining wry humor with potent emotional force, Olivarez takes on complex issues of race, ethnicity, gender, class, and immigration using an everyday language that invites the reader in, with a unique voice that makes him a poet to watch. “The son of Mexican immigrants, Olivarez celebrates his Mexican-American identity and examines how those two sides conflict in a striking collection of poems.” —USA Today