<div>Twenty-five years ago, a young musician and painter named <b>Martin Prechtel</b> wandered through the brilliant landscapes of Mexico and Guatemala. Arriving at Santiago Atitlan, a Tzutujil Mayan village on the breathtaking shores of Lake Atitlan, <b>Prechtel</b> met Nicolas Chiviliu Tacaxoy--perhaps the most famous shaman in Tzutujil history--who believed <b>Prechtel</b> was the new student he had asked the gods to provide. For the next thirteen years, <b>Prechtel</b> studied the ancient Tzutujil culture and became a village chief and a famous shaman in his own right. In <b>Secrets of the Talking Jaguar</b>, <b>Prechtel</b> brings to vivid life the sights, sounds, scents, and colors of Santiago Atitlan: its magical personalities, its beauty, its material poverty and spiritual richness, its eight-hundred-year-old rituals juxtaposed with quintessential small-town gossip. The story of his education is a tale filled with enchantment, danger, passion, and hope.</div>