Harmonious Emptiness

Books about shamanism

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I'm hoping someone can direct me towards some books or resources about Shamanism and/or Aboriginal traditions, including books on traditional medicine.

 

 

Here are some books I have read and can recommend on the subject. Hopefully some people will share some more.

 

 

Honoring the Medicine by Kenneth Cohen

The Wind is My Mother by Bear Heart

Coyote Medicine by Lewis Mehl Madrona

Seeker of Visions by Lame Deer

The Sacred Ways of a Lakota by Wallace Black Elk

Black Elk Speaks by Black Elk

a few myths and legends compilations

 

Entering the Circle by Olga Khartidi (Siberian Shamanism)

 

The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Internal Medicine

 

In Search of the Medicine Buddha: A Himalayan Journey by David Crow

 

Africa's Ogun: Old World and New (African Systems of Thought) by Sandra T. Barnes

The Healing Drum by Yaya Diallo

 

 

Any recommendations?

 

I'd be happy to receive PMs if anyone prefers.

 

 

thanks!

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hi,

 

i liked the following books/ authors: loren cruden (sorry i don`t know the english title, because i read the german translation); john matthews/ "the celtic shaman" (european tradition); bradford keeney/ "shamanic christianity"; nicki scully/ "the golden cauldron"; felicitas d. goodman (shamanic trance work); rosita arvigo and nadine epstein/"rainforest home remedies".

 

all these books are infinite sources of inspiration and knowledge.

 

blessed be!

 

sirius

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i forgot to mention two more books:

 

jan fries/"the cauldron of the gods" (celtic tradition) and "helrunar" by the same author (ancient german tradition/runes).

 

that`s it for the moment. hope you find something intersting for you!

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If you want to read an insane book about Ayahuasca Shamanism read "Ayahuasca in my blood" by Peter Gorman, although some parts may be hard to believe for some.

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that`s it for the moment. hope you find something intersting for you!

 

Thanks, these look great!

 

 

'Meeting the Medicine Men: An Englishman's Travels Among the Navajo' is excellent.

 

Cool, I like the travel diaries type stories too.. a good dose of adventure at the same time.

 

If you want to read an insane book about Ayahuasca Shamanism read "Ayahuasca in my blood" by Peter Gorman, although some parts may be hard to believe for some.

 

Either way, pretty much anything a traditional shaman decides to share about the world is well worth the read.

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Either way, pretty much anything a traditional shaman decides to share about the world is well worth the read.

 

The book I mentioned is more about the life experiences of an guy who studied Shamanism in Peru so there isn't that much practical info just some crazy experiences. If you want more practical info Sacred Hoop magazine is quite good http://www.sacredhoop.org which has articles from all sorts of traditions, you can get some free sample issues on their site and the guy who makes it has podcasts for free on Itunes.

 

A classic beginner book is "The Way of the Shaman" http://www.amazon.com/The-Way-Shaman-Michael-Harner/dp/0062503731/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334768519&sr=8-1 even though it looks like it is pandering to people who have no clue about this stuff it is pretty decent and has a number of good working techniques in it.

 

A strange book about Bee Shamanism in the UK is "The Shamanic Way of the Bee" http://www.amazon.com/The-Shamanic-Way-Bee-Practices/dp/1594771197/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334768589&sr=1-1 I found it pretty interesting.

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The book I mentioned is more about the life experiences of an guy who studied Shamanism in Peru so there isn't that much practical info just some crazy experiences. If you want more practical info Sacred Hoop magazine is quite good http://www.sacredhoop.org which has articles from all sorts of traditions, you can get some free sample issues on their site and the guy who makes it has podcasts for free on Itunes.

 

A classic beginner book is "The Way of the Shaman" http://www.amazon.com/The-Way-Shaman-Michael-Harner/dp/0062503731/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334768519&sr=8-1 even though it looks like it is pandering to people who have no clue about this stuff it is pretty decent and has a number of good working techniques in it.

 

A strange book about Bee Shamanism in the UK is "The Shamanic Way of the Bee" http://www.amazon.com/The-Shamanic-Way-Bee-Practices/dp/1594771197/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334768589&sr=1-1 I found it pretty interesting.

 

I see Bee Shamanism predated the Chinese with acupuncture. Really?

 

The magazine looks good too, especially to see how people are using these things in day to day life. Naturally there is some fear of modern people mixing up the real traditions, but I don't think it will be much different than with Taoism, ie., the more dabblers learn the more they realize how little they know and hopefully cultivate enough humility to learn some more.

 

 

edit: some good book reviews in Sacred Hoop as well..

Edited by Harmonious Emptiness

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I'm hoping someone can direct me towards some books or resources about Shamanism and/or Aboriginal traditions, including books on traditional medicine.

 

Understanding 'Shamanism'

 

Shamans: Ronald Hutton. A must read for anyone interested in 'Shamanism' IMO. It lays out the actual origins of much of what is thrown around today as 'fact'. Agree or not, it is worth reading.

http://www.amazon.com/Shamans-Siberian-Spirituality-Western-Imagination/dp/1847250270/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334783611&sr=1-1

 

Shamans Through Time. Accounts about and by Shamans covering 500 years!

http://www.amazon.com/Shamans-Through-Time-Jeremy-Narby/dp/1585423629/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334783677&sr=1-1

 

Cultural perspectives

 

Shamanism in Siberia: M Czaplicka. Classic and still worth reading.

http://www.amazon.com/Shamanism-In-Siberia-M-Czaplicka/dp/1162683651/ref=sr_1_35?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334786742&sr=1-35

 

Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas. A beautiful and very very interesting book.

http://www.amazon.com/Shamanism-Tantra-Himalayas-Surendra-Bahadur/dp/0892819138/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334783586&sr=8-1

 

Catalpa Bow: Carmen Blacker. Shugendo and 'shamanism' in Japan

http://www.amazon.com/The-Catalpa-Bow-Shamanistic-Practices/dp/1873410859/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334785677&sr=1-1

 

Shamans & Elders: Humphrey and Onon. Accounts of genuine Mongolian belief and practice

http://www.amazon.com/Shamans-Elders-Experience-Knowledge-Anthropology/dp/0198280688/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334783788&sr=1-1

 

Shamans Healers and Medicine men: Holger Kalweit. Interesting reading.

http://www.amazon.com/Shamans-Healers-Medicine-Holger-Kalweit/dp/1570627126/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334783632&sr=1-2

 

Shamanism: Traditional and Contemporary approaches to mastery of spirits and healing: Merete Jakobsen. Explains the differences between traditional indigenous world-views and practices and those of 'Modern' shamanism. Well worth reading.

http://www.amazon.com/Shamanism-Traditional-Contemporary-Approaches-Mastery/dp/1571811958/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334787067&sr=1-1

 

Nine-Worlds Seid Magic: Jenny Blain. Anthropological investigation into the Northern tradition revival.

http://www.amazon.com/Nine-Worlds-Seid-Magic-Neo-Shamanism-European/dp/0415256518/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334783700&sr=1-1

 

The Nine songs: Arthur Waley. Chinese 'shamanism'

http://www.amazon.com/The-Nine-Songs-Shamanism-Ancient/dp/0872860752/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334787179&sr=1-1

 

Animism: Graham Harvey. The underlying beliefs and worldviews of indigenous peoples

http://www.amazon.com/Animism-Respecting-Living-Graham-Harvey/dp/023113701X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334783723&sr=1-1

 

Shamanism a reader: edited Graham Harvey. Collection of works on shamanism

http://www.amazon.com/Shamanism-A-Reader-Graham-Harvey/dp/0415253292/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334784483&sr=1-8

 

Readings in Indidenous Religions: edited Graham Harvey. Collection of works on Indidenous Religions

http://www.amazon.com/Readings-Indigenous-Religions-Graham-Harvey/dp/0826451012/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334784483&sr=1-10

 

Where Spirits Ride the Wind: Felicitas Goodman. Interesting research indeed

http://www.amazon.com/Where-Spirits-Ride-Wind-Experiences/dp/0253205662/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334783993&sr=1-1

 

I never liked his own 'auto'-biography, but I do like;

 

American Shaman: Two therapists discuss shamanism and the life of Bradford Keeney (actually turns out Keeney doesn't like the term! yet still publishes books using it as a title?.

http://www.amazon.com/American-Shaman-Odyssey-Healing-Traditions/dp/0415948223/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334783923&sr=1-1

 

Slightly "pragmatic" books;

 

Shaking Medicine: Bradford Keeney. Keeney lays out his theories and experiences, debunking previous conceptions (rightly or wrongly) of shamanism.

http://www.amazon.com/Shaking-Medicine-Healing-Ecstatic-Movement/dp/1594771499/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334783890&sr=1-4

 

Energy Break: Brad Keeney. A stripped down non-religeous presentation of Seikijutsu.

http://www.amazon.com/Energy-Break-Recharge-Your-Autokinetics/dp/0307440362/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334784696&sr=1-1

 

Shamanism A piatku guide: Gordon MacLellan. A simple little book, first book I ever read on the subject some 20 years ago. Still love it in its simplicity, could simply be nostalgia ^_^

http://www.amazon.com/Shamanism-Piatkus-Guide-Guides/dp/0749920238/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334786940&sr=1-2

 

Ecstatic Body Postures: Belinda Gore. A practical workbook based out of Goodman's research see above.

http://www.amazon.com/Ecstatic-Body-Postures-Alternate-Workbook/dp/1879181223/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334784683&sr=1-2

 

Riding Windhorses: Sarangerel. Mongolian shamanism tinged with Harnerian shamanism.

http://www.amazon.com/Riding-Windhorses-Journey-Mongolian-Shamanism/dp/0892818085/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334783763&sr=1-1

 

Galdrbok: Robert Wallis and Nathan Johnson. Used to know Nathan knowledgable and lovely chap, practical guide to modern Northen shamanism.

http://www.amazon.com/Galdrbok-Practical-Heathen-Runecraft-Shamanism/dp/0954960904/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334784599&sr=1-1

 

If you have ANY interest in the 'Northern Tradition' of Europe, or simply understanding world-views and culture in relation to practice, then I HIGHLY recommend that you read Bil Linzie's free e-books;

 

http://heathengods.com/library/bil_linzie/

 

Why? Because Bil is a genuine practitioner whose methods more closely resemble indigenous practices than most (who instead tend more towards models of European ceremonial magick), and he has been around since it all began and has watched it evolve and change and shift. Again, agree or not, it is well worth taking the time to read to put things in perspective.

 

There are many opinions, most are bullshit caveat emptor.

 

Beware older 'academic' books which are often still popular there are BIG problems that may be overlooked without thorough reading into the literature (something rarely done unless for academic purposes).

 

Read widely and with discernment.

 

Best,

Edited by snowmonki
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Martin Prechtel writes about his apprenticeship under a Mayan shaman in Long Life, Honey in the Heart. It is a powerful and beautiful book. His other books are good too, all basically about Mayan shamanism

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Martin Prechtel writes about his apprenticeship under a Mayan shaman in Long Life, Honey in the Heart. It is a powerful and beautiful book. His other books are good too, all basically about Mayan shamanism

 

Yeah, I listened to a great interview with him. Thanks for the reminder! Great title.

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A few others I should add to this, for anyone going through these lists:

 

Touch the Earth by TC McLuhan (one of Marshall's daughters), a collection of speeches by First Nations elders made between about 1600 to 1930.

 

of course TTB favourite: Opening Dragon Gate by Wang Liping

 

Another one I am glad I picked up: Encyclopedia of White Magic by Paddy Slade. The author is sort of like a "lineage holder" of Western European traditions and goes through the ceremonies and significances of all the equinox and mid-equinox festivals. Especially enjoyable since my distant roots are from all over the UK, and we still practice many of these things in the West in different ways.

 

 

More and more recommendations more than welcome!

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I liked http://www.amazon.com/The-Ayahuasca-Sessions-Conversations-Curanderos/dp/0980648718

 

Jeremy Narby has some interesting (to me) stuff

 

Wade Davis (both of the latter guys were over at Reality Sandwich teaching I don't know what, but something)

 

Bradford Keeney's stuff

 

Woman who Glows in the Dark

 

I don't make any claims for 'authenticity' nor 'scholarship'.

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Well, that shouldn't be a problem now :lol: . Thanks for the list!

 

Just the tip of the iceberg :lol:

 

What can I say it was "shamanism" that spoke to me most about what I was experiencing, it led to my anthropology training, I've always enjoyed reading, I read a lot before Uni, learned to read much more critically and read LOTS while at Uni.

 

Reading has to be weighed against experience, I spent years looking for a 'shamanic' teacher and turned up none, nothing genuine anyway. It was all drumming and guided meditation :(

 

Figured if it was gonna happen, it would, if not it wouldn't and so left it alone. Good things come to those that wait hehe oh hang on thats the Irish drink?? :blink::lol:

 

Best,

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Figured if it was gonna happen, it would, if not it wouldn't and so left it alone. Good things come to those that wait hehe oh hang on thats the Irish drink?? :blink::lol:

 

 

Yeah, that's mostly been my approach, sort of fashioning a nice cup while keeping it empty.

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Interesting website as well: http://www.shamanelder.com/aboutme.htm

 

Yup, I like her! Although I don't like the way many different things are mixed, like reiki with Castaneda terminology, etc. But I shouldn't judge what she has found works for her from decades of experience.

 

Thinking of taking her course to see if it's for me.

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Harmonious Emptiness,

 

I'm posting this here so it as a resource is together with the books and website links posted by everyone contributing. If however as the OP you feel it is better served elsewhere, just let me know and I'll move it.

 

Joseph Bearwalker passed away 4th August 2004. This is an article I got from one of his websites years ago and can no longer find up on the web. While I do not agree with everything he lays out, I respect the depth of his wisdom and experience, and always liked the heart in his writings and what he had to say. I'm posting it as I cannot simply post a link to it. I hope others will also benefit from reading it. There is also;

 

Part Two: What Is A Shaman?

Part Three: The Call To Become A Shaman

And more...

 

If anyone is interested.

 

Best,

 

“So you wanna be a Shaman?”

 

By Joseph Bearwalker Wilson

 

Part One: Shamanism in Today's Society

 

Since the dawn of man's existence on the planet, there have been cultures all over the world which have the worldview that all life is sacred, that the earth and sky and water and components of nature are worthy of honor and respect and are guides to Spirit. Such cultures have also been referred to as "primitive" or "native" by urban dwellers. Today, many people in so-called civilized cultures are being drawn themselves to such "primitive" worldviews, ones that are more in tune than the modern world usually is with nature and the cycles of nature, ones that reaffirm the sacredness of the Land and the Planet.

 

Such worldviews often honor the Earth Mother and the Sky Father, recognize the life and energy and spirit of all things, and may even become religious paths for city-dwellers whose culture has not heretofore recognized their connection to the land. Much of this trend began along with the beginnings of the Pagan/Wiccan movement, of which I was one of the first resources, in the early 1960's. Since then the popularity of what are often referred to as "earth-based" religions and philosophies among city folks has exploded onto a force that has actually changed the face of the world of religion on the planet.

 

Over the last 30 or more years of my experience in teaching and observing a nature-oriented spirituality for urban dwellers, I have noticed a linguistic phenomenon that universally seems to accompany this quest for spiritual meaning. I have watched people try, then discard, then change, and subsequently again discard, title after name after appellation to describe their new-found walk of spirit. In the early days many such folk proudly wore the sobriquet "Witch" like a banner, reclaiming with force, and sometimes aggressiveness, a word that had been demeaned for centuries by most other "civilized" people.

 

Over the last ten or fifteen years, however, the words "Witch" and "Pagan" have been discarded by many sincere followers of earth-based religions, for several reasons. Many mainstream people still have negative knee-jerk reactions to those words, failing to see past them to the real beliefs or practices so described, so some practitioners have decided that the game is more important than the name. Oftentimes, however, the alternate term adopted when such folks discard the label of "Witch" or "Pagan" is even more misleading and causes them even more difficulty.

 

As a substitute, particularly during the 1980's, the word "Wiccan" was adopted by a wide cross-section of earth-based practitioners. Unfortunately, at this point there were further negative reactions that arose, not only from puzzled 'muggles' (thanks to JK Rowling for a great term!) but from practitioners of most traditional varieties of Wicca. "Wiccan" is not, according to its founders and followers, a generic term for earth-based spiritual practices.

 

Indeed, it is a Mystery Tradition, and those who belong thereto are as angered by its misappropriation by the uninitiated as are Native Elders when white people purport to teach authentic tribal religions. The end result of ten or so years of uninformed and untrained people calling themselves "Wiccan," as a perceived-to-be-safer alternative to "Witch" or "Pagan," is that the world outside the Craft has a much less accurate and much weaker perception of what earth-based spirituality is, and no concept at all of what Wicca actually is.

 

So, another discard, another change. To what?

 

In the 1990's there was a great resurgence of interest in the so-called "holistic" practices of mind-body-spirit interaction in the areas of healing and spirituality, as well as interest in exploration of the inner realms of the psyche by means of meditation, "trance journeying" and other such practices. Due to the widespread misunderstanding (and lack of actual application) of the works of Michael Harner and other writers on techniques and experiences of "core shamanism", this word became, in the mid-1990's, the next new "catch-all" generic term for earth-based spirit practices. Some few of those misapplying this term have actually read, but have misunderstood, the works of Harner, Sun Bear, Eliade and others. The vast majority of such people have never read the works at all, or have merely read critiques or synopses thereof, but are latching on to this next "new-agey" term as the latest in the basket of "things I can call myself that will not absolutely horrify my parents."

 

A good proportion of those people, especially the younger ones, who are currently calling any earth-based religion "shamanism" and every earth-based practitioner a "shaman" are also activated by the childish "Gee, this sounds cool!" attitude. Since very few residents of Caucasian urban cultures have even a vague idea of what a shaman actually is, this term is far less threatening than "Witch" or "Pagan," and has therefore grown exponentially, in both popularity and misapplication, in the last ten years.

 

The very concept of a "religion" that is only practiced in special buildings at certain infrequent intervals, especially the idea of a "religion" that has little or nothing to do with the necessary activities of everyday life, is absolutely alien to the kinds of cultures in which one finds authentic shamans. Most cultures in which shamanism is practiced by a specialist do not even have a "name" for their religion. These cultures live in ways which do not artificially separate them from dependence upon the Earth. They do not see the afterlife as a "better place" than the place they live here, but as an extension of it. People living in these cultures see the shaman as a technical specialist in the kinds of activities they must perform in order to

interact with Deity for the purpose of securing and keeping for themselves the basic

necessities of existence. They do not "go to church" or perform unnecessary and formalistic activities created by a "church."

 

They simply follow the customs of their village, the customs taught to them by their parents, customs followed for decades or even centuries by their aunts and uncles, their grandmothers and grandfathers. There are activities in such cultures which everyday people without special training are simply incapable of doing for themselves, and for these they consult the shaman, the authorized "technician of the sacred." Yet these activities often have little or nothing to do with anything Westerners would recognize or identify as "religion."

 

Despite the fact that there now seems to be a trend to label the common religion of the people in indigenous cultures "shamanism," this is a fallacy that could only be created and believed by people outside such a culture. It ignores the fact that every person in that culture is not a "technician of the sacred" and therefore relegates the role and definition of the shaman to one similar to that of a nondenominational urban lay minister. A similar fallacy is the tendency of Westerners today to project some kind of "aura" around a shaman, assuming that he or she is some embodiment of peace and serenity, living totally in harmony with Spirit, doing good for everyone, (of course, for free), and naturally being a wonderful magical healer. . Nothing could be further from the truth. The promulgation of such beliefs amongst Western cultures, as well as the cultural anthropologists' tendency to assert them as facts, is making many Westerners the laughing stock of real shamanic practitioners throughout the world.

 

In the preface to Shaman : An Illustrated Guide by anthropologist Piers Vitebsky is a quote that I find highly amusing, as well as highly reflective of authentic shamanistic reality. "A shaman from Nepal met a Westerner who remarked how good it must be to live in harmony with the cosmos. The shaman replied, 'The main part of my job is killing witches and sorcerers.'"

 

It is clear from this description, given by an actual shamanic practitioner, that shamanism has little or nothing to do with the aery-faery, "do no harm" New-Ageism of many of the people who are now claiming that title for themselves or bestowing it upon others. So, what exactly is shamanism, and how is it defined and practiced by its actual adherents?

 

Perhaps it would be a good beginning to elucidate what shamanism is NOT. To begin with, one common misconception must be eradicated. There is NO religion called "shamanism", any more than there is a religion called Lawyerism, or Physicianism, or Farmerism. No other vocation is in itself a religion, (with the possible, albeit humorously intended, exceptions of Science -ism and ComputerGeek -ism.) And shamanism is indeed a vocation. The title "shaman" is applied to a "technician of the sacred, " a specialist in shamanic practices who does that job in their own culture for the benefit of those who live within it. Although many of the practices of the shaman intersect with the ideas commonly associated with religion in the Western mind, including such topics as communion with the dead, salvation from various "supernatural" types of "evil" and healings that might be termed "miraculous", shamanism is a Profession, not a Religion.

 

If you feel you are called to a shaman's work, the path will be exceedingly difficult if you are a member of an urban Western culture. Modern Westernized urban society is not set up in such a way that we still have cultures or subcultures in which shamanism is recognized and practiced. To begin with, the shaman works in a homogeneous culture. Western urban culture has become diversified to an extent that most people do not even understand the concept of cultural icons, let alone honor these in their everyday lives. If you are an aspiring shaman, you may find it difficult to discover a culture or subculture in which your skills may flourish or

even be recognized. The shaman's work arises organically from his or her culture, and

American modern culture is, of all things, innately inorganic. Therefore, we must clarify one point at the outset. What we in Toteg Tribe are doing is NOT training shamans. It appears that what we, along with Michael Harner, Sandra Ingerman, and several others (including portions of the general Neo-Pagan movement, I suppose), ARE doing, is preparing society so that in future generations it really can accept certain individuals in the role of a true "shaman."

 

(Post edited for formatting)

Edited by snowmonki

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Harmonious Emptiness,

 

I'm posting this here so it as a resource is together with the books and website links posted by everyone contributing. If however as the OP you feel it is better served elsewhere, just let me know and I'll move it.

 

 

No problem at all. Glad to see it here. I've seen this, buried in another thread somewhere. Bear Heart, too, said something to the effect of "I wouldn't wish being a Shaman even on my worst enemy." The way I see it, there's hardly a neurosurgeon at Harvard with the mental or spiritual fortitude of traditional shamans. Their knowledge and memory of plants alone would put them all to shame, imo.

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There is also;

 

Part Two: What Is A Shaman?

Part Three: The Call To Become A Shaman

 

If anyone is interested.

 

I'm interested in part 2!

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Really interesting, thanks Snomonki!

 

I also have the Maggie Wahls book. I really enjoyed it.

 

There's also a couple by Matthew Wood, which are more about herbalism but which I found treated in a way that revealed the relationships of the healers to the plants.

 

Also interested in the 2 other installments of Joseph Wilson.

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I always Liked Joseph's Heart. I liked his cultural sensitivity and his approach of shamanism being rooted from oneself, YOUR relationship to community, YOUR relationship to nature, YOUR relationship to spirit etc, and not about ideas or concepts appropriated from another culture. I liked his honesty, and his willingness to put people straight.

 

One of the aspects I studied in anthropology was just how different indigenous belief and practice is when compared to how people writing and holding workshops in the West show 'shamanism'. But then the same can be said of Daoism and "neigong" so :D

Part Two: What Is A Shaman?

 

I was beginning this section by discussing the "call" to become a shaman. But I realized as I was doing so that it is vital to identify the MEANING of the word shaman first. It is the misapplication and misidentification of the word "shaman" that has led to much of the current state of confusion. This section of these writings hopes to alleviate some of that confusion.

 

I do want to clarify one thing before we go on. Toteg Tribe uses the words "shaman" and "shamanism" in a classical sense. This is not the "Toteg definition," as it would be if we arbitrarily chose it to be. It is instead, and significantly, the definition accepted by historical and anthropological scientists and academics to identify a particular type of spiritual practitioner found in different cultures all over the world. It has a precise meaning, not one couched in the current collection of vague generalities. There are certain specific characteristics that identify a shaman that other spiritual practitioners do not have. I'll get into those later. This doesn't make a shaman any better or any worse than any of the other spiritual practitioners that exist. It merely classifies him or her.

 

In any indigenous culture, even in modern American culture, there are many different kinds of spiritual vocations. All of them have their own validity and their own honor. Not one of these vocations can be fully understood by persons who neither practice it themselves nor avail themselves of the services of those who do. Even though there are frauds in each one of them, each of the vocations itself is deserving of respect. Each of the practitioners of any of these various areas of spiritual work is just as important in his or her field as is any other practitioner, including the shaman. The various classifications of spiritual workers are many and varied. They include people called to practice such vocations as those of the priest, minister, psychic healer, midwife or doctor, medicine man, diviner, spiritual teacher, visionary, dream interpreter, "psychic", sorcerer, magician, and many another magic worker. You may practice any, or many, of these vocations yourself, and the list above is certainly intended to be neither complete nor exclusionary. But no matter what your particular vocation of spirit may be, and no matter what term you may choose to use to identify yourself, please bear with me and don't use the word "shaman" just yet.

 

Since the mid to late 90s when the word "shaman" became the new catch-all term for spiritual worker, most frequently in the current fad of all things "newage" (rhymes with "sewage") it seems to have no particular definition of its own, or to share indiscriminately in all of them. I've seen it applied in all seriousness, at random if not completely haphazardly, to each one of the practices mentioned in the above paragraph, as well as to countless others not so mentioned. That's really sad, because the result is that the uninformed public has taken a perfectly good word with a precise meaning and broadened its definition so much that in common usage it has become about as useful a term as "nice" or "stuff."' Of course, there is now a raft of publishers of the same kinds of "newage" books, who have recently found in the word "shaman" as "kewl" a buzzword as once was "astral travel" or "past-life regression." In the expected fashion of people in the business of sales, they have discovered that by attaching that word to an otherwise slow-selling book, one finds that its sales suddenly explode, especially if one can also find an unscrupulous author-lecturer who is willing to do the lecture circuit in a thousand dollars worth of beads and animal parts, sharing "awe-thentic shamanic visions". That most certainly has added to the confusion, but that is not the worst of it. It has caused the actual persons who are indeed shamans and have that spiritual skill to offer, to be regarded in nearly all Western cultures with a mix of contempt and condescension, as inaccurate as it is disrespectful.

 

That is significantly unfortunate, as the work of the shaman is a task requiring such dedication and skill that in those cultures where shamanism is an accepted spiritual vocation, the shaman is regarded with an awe and respect bordering on fear. It is not surprising, when one realizes exactly what authentic shamanistic work embraces and requires. A shaman's job is to perform magical acts such as spiritual healing, divination, dream interpretation, and other arcana. The shaman may be skilled at finding lost people or objects, locating animals for the hunt, guiding souls of the dead to their appropriate place in the other worlds, driving away or pacifying evil spirits, increasing the fertility and/or sexual vigor in the herds, community, and individuals, and so forth. At first glance, even these kinds of activities may not convey to Western minds the delicacy and precision with which the shaman’s path must be performed, or the deep respect with which the shamanic practitioner is regarded, After all, many of these are the same things that various other kinds of spiritual people do in the different societies and cultures. There is, however, a big difference in the skills of the shaman, one that makes a shaman different from every other kind of spiritual practitioner.

 

A true "shaman" does at least part of the work required of him or her by entering into a profound trance, known as an "ecstasy", in which the shaman actually ventures to "walk between the worlds", there gaining the knowledge or information that is required to perform the given task. The word "ecstasy" as used in this context is a precise and scientific term, not the synonym for the word used in romance novels, the one that means "joy or happiness" in any sense at all. The word "ecstasy" as applied to shamanic practices is identically defined as was the original Greek word "ekstasis" literally meaning "to stand outside the self." It denotes that state of almost cataleptic entrancement in which the shaman is oblivious to the outside world, leaving his or her body as a spirit, and having direct contact with the spirits that are causing the troubles, or that can aid in solving the problem. This state of ecstasy (not getting stoned on various "power plants") is the one characteristic unique and universal to authentic shamanism. Attaining this state is not done by those who are performing "pseudoism" rather than "shamanism", and without it, there is no shamanism happening at all. It is the single prominent identifying factor of the classical shaman. Now, if that is the experience you have in doing your spiritual work, you may have some justification to go ahead and use the word shaman (after finishing this essay.) If this is not a state with which you are personally familiar, I suggest you;

1) read on, and

2) call yourself something else.

Edited by snowmonki

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