Product Description
Why do Koreans use shamanic ritual even though prejudice against shamanism is universal? Why do so many Koreans employ a practice that is widely stigmatized and despised as superstition? Shamanism has a contradictory position within the Korean cultural system. This has led to the periodical suppression of shamanism and has also, paradoxically, ensured its survival throughout Korean history. This book examines the place of shamans within contemporary society, exploring shamanism as a cultural practice in which people make use of shamanic ritual, and disputing the prevalent view that shamanism is "popular culture", "women's religion" or "performing arts". Chongho Kim also disputes the common view among medical anthropologists that places shamanism firmly within the realm of traditional medicine. Drawing on case studies within Korea, Kim presents a study of indigenous anthropology with ethnographic material drawn from an insider's perspective and offers an understanding of the appeal of this indigenous folk practice in a highly industrial society.Directly confronting the prejudice against shamans and their paradoxical situation in a modern society such as Korea, this book reveals the cultural discrepancy between two worlds in Korean culture, the ordinary world and the shamanic world, and shows that these two worlds cannot be reconciled with each other. Kim explains that it is the difference between them which explains why shamans are necessary but also despised. Focusing on ordinary people who make use of shamans, rather than focusing merely on "the way of the shaman", this study of shamanism offers a significant contribution to the growing field of studies in indigenous anthropology and indigenous religions. ... Read more

Product Description
In this brilliant analysis of ancient and contemporary shamanic practices, which reads like a good story, Noel illuminates: the rising tide of shamanism. The path that will enable Western seekers to become sorcerers. A model for renewed shamanic seeking. How, through dreams and imaginings, can come the spirituality of imaginal healing. A masterful account which tracks the primal practices of the religious life through literary as well as anthropological sources in which Noel manages to extricate the sham from the shamanic while extending our vision of what it is to live in a larger reality. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Towards an "imaginal shamanism" for non-tribal peoples
The late Daniel C. Noel was a colleague of mine in the Mythology Program at Pacifica Graduate Institute near Santa Barbara, CA. As faculty members, we were kept busy preparing eight hour classes and guiding as many as 15-20 doctoral advisees at a time, which means there was rarely time to keep abreast of each other's work. Thus, although I knew Dan had recently published a book on shamanism, I had no idea of its content.

On Friday, 23 August 2002, I was in the middle of interviewing perspective students for the autumn quarter when a staff member interrupted to say that Dan had died suddenly. I was stunned. I just stared in disbelief as tears started running down my face. I knew Dan as a shy, witty, incisive, engagingly quirky man. We had been allies at crucial times in faculty meetings. I had long looked forward to enjoying lengthy conversations with him in some vague future when we would both have more time. But now that future had vanished, "disappearing" Dan along with it. I couldn't stop crying. I delayed the next interview and slowly managed to pull myself together. Then somehow I continued with the rest of the day's appointments.

Afterwards, I went to our campus bookstore and bought Dan's shamanism book. I opened it at random, consciously using it as an oracle, and found myself on p. 117 reading about Jung, art, Merlin's Cry, and the end of Jung's life. I knew Dan well enough to realize that I was also reading about the end of Dan's life:

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...If "modern man," as he [Jung] wrote, was in search of soul, this modern man, a Merlin of sorts, had rediscovered it, if only by recognizing it when he fell into it in a shamanic descent.Jung himself survived his ordeal with the objective psyche to share the healing wisdom with us, but he feared at the end of his life that the psychology he fashioned to do so went unheeded, uncomprehended, like Merlin's cry in the fairy forest. There may have been some petulance in his worry, a bit of bruised ego that wanted wider acceptance for its views. But who can say that postmodern persons are any less bereft of soul than modern men?Jung's Merlin cry does deserve our greater attentiveness.

Just as Jung realized his personal daimons in art, so his psychological legacy must be realized by successors whose words are never far from the arts of imagination, which are Merlin's bardic media today and the channels of our attunement. It is such post-Jungian successors who make Jung's rediscovery, his attentiveness, our resource in the search for an imaginal shamanism....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hadn't known that Dan saw Merlin as the West's key shamanic guide. But after reading that passage, I understood that it was Merlin I should invoke, asking that he accompany Dan on this unexpectedly "expected"journey.

In the years following, I have sometimes skimmed a few pages in the book but it still triggered too much pain to read at any length. Only when I began expanding my Myth*ing Links' Shamanism page a few days ago did I finally return to it. I first read the current six reviews on amazon.com and was surprised by how drastically opposed they were. One found the book worthless; several complained about its academic dryness; yet still others loved it and found it deeply moving. The sincerity of one comment in particular struck me: the writer said he felt uncomfortable following shamanic traditions from non-white cultures because of the West's on-going and brutal oppression of such indigenous cultures -- thus, he greatly appreciated Dan's focus on the West's own Merlin. On the one hand, I resonate with that perspective and suspect Dan would have appreciated it. But as someone who has guided people of all races through pastlife regressions for nearly forty years, I find only a limited value in that viewpoint -- all of us, regardless of the color of our current skins, have lived in countless indigenous cultures. Whether one wishes to use a reincarnational framework or Jung's Collective Unconscious, humanity "owns" the shamanic realm as its birthright. Details, portals, means, and levels of access differ, of course, depending upon cultural and environmental constraints, but if one gravitates to a particular tradition, it is likely that this isn't the first time one has done so.

After reading and pondering the six reviews on amazon, last night (9-10 September 2009) I spent the wee hours reading at random in Dan's book, just following my nose from one of my interests to the next. His basic argument is that our postmodern, non-tribal pathway to shamanic insight now comes through dreams, art, and the other precious gifts flowing from our imaginations. Because of this, he writes frequent, often soaring, paeans to imagination.Further, he sees in the "fictive power" of literature -- e.g., Carlos Castaneda's "fairy tales" -- a valid and significant shamanic catalyst (Dan's description of his experiences with Castaneda is especially compelling: as his colleagues and students were well aware, they left him with a lasting wound).

This is a very personal book. Dan actually knew many of the authors whose work he analyzes so he brings an intriguing autobiographical component to his writing. This is a book that wants to be read "imaginatively" -- not straight through, in other words, but a chapter here, another there, as one feels an impulse to explore a particular theme, author, or idea.

As one who deeply values the mystical, numinous, and shamanic in what I write and what I read, and as a lover of others who do the same, I am naturally drawn to Dan's argument in favor of the arts as the West's path and portal to shamanism. I'm not willing to go as far as Dan, however. As I see it, there is an inevitable difference between what writers and painters do and what a Pablo Amaringo or Jeremy Narby experience. Writing a brilliant, evocative novel about a ballet dancer, for example, cannot really be compared with actually *being* a Nijinsky, Nureyev, or Baryshnikov. To push it still further, even being one of those astonishing dancers would not be enough. Agnes de Mille understood this better than most when she wrote in *Dance to the Piper* (p.171):

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Let us try to do a pueblo corn dance and see how far we get.Most ballet dancers think they can.It demands no muscles they haven't got.But the Indians can make the rains come.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Only a few have that gift, of course. Even among indigenous peoples, shamans are the exceptions. For the rest of us, what Dan lays out so skillfully, from such a wide variety of perspectives and endlessly rich examples, is of great value in luring us more deeply into the nurturing, demanding realms of "an imaginal shamanism."

dry and academic, yes, but ground-breaking ideas presented
The Soul of Shamanism, by the late Dr. Daniel C. Noel, is a stand-alone monograph operating on the thesis that Western society has a true path to shamanic knowledge and power through Jungian imaginal psychology, and that this is imminently preferable to an uneasy adoption of indigenous wisdom.Noel's arguments are convincing, although occasionally difficult to follow; he uses an inter-disciplinary approach that draws from anthropology, literary criticism, Jungian psychology and folk culture.The volume is intended for scholars, storytellers and spiritual seekers, according to Noel; I would add that mental health therapists would also benefit from The Soul of Shamanism.

Dr. Noel's scholarship was in the fields of religion and literature; he was Visiting Professor of Liberal Studies in Religion and Culture, Vermont College of Norwich University, at the time of his death.He was also an Adjunct Faculty Member in Mythological Studies at the Pacifica Graduate Institute (Carpinteria, CA).

Noel's book appears to have been the culmination of his life's work, fundamentally based on an appreciation of the creative, rich role that the human soul occupies in life.His goal is to re-vivify our Western souls through shamanic methods, in an honest fashion that is founded in our own culture and that does not steal from other cultures in any way; to (re)create a genuinely Western shamanism.

Noel begins with an important insight: current Western shamanism (neoshamanism) is based upon the printed word, similar to the way some indigenous shamanisms may be based upon the drum.Noel perceives that literature - fiction, in particular - opens the same doorway to alternate states of consciousness in the Western mind that drumming may open to a person of an indigenous culture.He considers this to be "fictive power" and that it is virtually the sole socially-sanctioned method which allows our Western imaginations to function.The rest of our attention grasps for scientific, literal truth in every arena of our lives, even in religion (i.e: Jehovah's Witnesses).

Fictive power, then, provides Western minds with the possibilities of other states of consciousness.As in the case of "shamanthropologists" Carlos Castaneda or Michael Harner, or "shamanovelists" Mario Vargas Llosa or Ronald Sukenick, it can draw us away from a stifling literalism into consideration of the unknown, and into a consideration of our own capacities in the face of that unknown. We may also encounter the Other in a way that our literal strivings cannot allow us to conceive.Noel contends that Westerners must most urgently encounter the Other that is our own soul, whose absence or illness can be seen in the very ugliness of the society we create.

This urgency comes from Noel's perception that modern Western culture, particularly that of the United States, is suffering from soul loss.Since this is an illness recognized through shamanism, Noel's position is that a particular shamanic practice is the best method for curing the ailment: soul retrieval.While he perceives that the shamanic wisdom of other cultures is very attractive to us, and that we learn to believe in the potential of shamanic practices through books about other cultures, it is only a shamanism based authentically in Western culture that will exactly meet the need for the retrieval of the Western soul.

It is to Dr. Carl Jung's psychological insights that Noel turns for the roots of a genuinely Western shamanism.Jung, posits Noel, reached deeply into himself following his schism with Freud and engaged in the same level of consciousness that a shaman does while shamanizing.The importance and value of dreams to Jungian psychology, and the post-Jungian developments characterized by James Hillman's work, are the elements of Western knowledge that are, according to Dr. Noel, our culture's shamanic practice.In particular, allowing the dream to inform the everyday ego-consciousness is a crucial step in regaining the health of our souls. By giving priority to the dream we are receiving messages from our souls, thereby opening communication with them and healing the schism. This is radically opposite to the Freudian analysis of dreams that puts the soul's communication in service to the more limited ego-consciousness.Noel refers to the practice as imaginal psychology (Hillman's term) or imaginal shamanism.

I found Noel's The Soul of Shamanism to explore a powerful idea:that of an authentic modern Western shamanic practice. There is no reason to accept a belief that modern Western culture is inherently unable to operate shamanically, and every reason to assume the responsibility for our own health on every level, rather than exploiting the spiritual practices of indigenous cultures that are not adequate to heal our ailment precisely anyway.While I was reading the book, I found myself deeply excited about the reasoned proposal Noel was making and seeing many personal possibilities in it.I find myself increasingly reluctant to heal the psychic wounds I have received in this culture by using the methods of people whom we (culturally) are oppressing.This ideas presented by Noel have great potential, on personal and social levels, to bring Westerners back into balance, psychologically and spiritually.

I agree with Noel's proposition that fiction functions to bring Western minds into alternate states of consciousness, as with his perception that the mainstream aspect of our culture does not provide a legitimate place for the qualities of soul that deepen human experience.I had not previously encountered such a detailed assessment of Jungian psychology and I found myself fascinated with it, as well as impressed with Noel's conclusions and insights.The material is presented in a scholarly fashion, with ample evidence supporting each step of Noel's argument.

I found myself disappointed that Noel did not address the spirits that shamans contact and work with; his approach is largely focussed on an internalized, individual experience.This, however, may be a result of the Western cultural emphasis that Noel obviously couldn't escape.

On the whole, I think that The Soul of Shamanism succeeds in what it sets out to do, despite occasional obfuscating prose.I am so personally excited by the thoughts Noel presented that I intend to purchase a copy; I shall purchase a hardcover copy, as the paperback cover is lurid and distracting.

shamanic initiation
Surprised by the negative reviews of this book, I thought I'd add my own, more positive comments. Although I read the book some years ago, I remember it as readable and important.

Noel's insight involves the power of fiction in imaginal initiation. Most of us don't have access to traditional shamanistic culture. We can sign on for an expensive trip to the Amazon, or start taking workshops, but what's likely to first inspire us is books. Noel makes a convincing argument, I think, that the act of reading particular texts is not only preparation: the reading experience fully entered is an initiation into imaginal realities. Thus the importance of Castaneda's (and others') fiction. Visionary fiction draws our attention to the imaginal and structures imaginal experience.

This isn't the book you want if you're looking for exercises or directions. But it's worth reading if you're interested in the imagination, the imaginal, and the neo-shamanism being generating based not only on indigenous training but on a reinterpretation and reimagination of shamanism as it is transmitted through anthropological narratives and fictions.

REDUNDANT, POINTY HEADED DRIVEL
After trudging through 122 pages of this book I finally tossed it. Page after page the author keeps making the same point- OK, ALREADY, MAYBE CASTENEDA'S WORK WAS FICTION- IS THERE A POINT TO ALL THIS? AND IF SO- WILL YOU PLEASE MAKE IT AND MOVE ON? I kept hanging in there hoping he would make a point somewhere along the line, but finally realized that this book was not going anywhere! I was only slightly amused at the author's presumptuous criticism of Mircea Eliade's treatise on shamanism. At least Eliade had something to say. This book is as dry as a bone, and as far as I read has little or no "soul." Why in the world Deloria recommends this blah blah blah is beyond me!

Neoshamanism for the postmodern Euro-American
The Soul of Shamanism is an academic, postmodern examination of New Age attempts at shamanism, in which Noel proposes some alternative paths for the Euro-American seeker.Noel has an interesting style: he "speaks" to the reader in the first person, as though he is telling a story, and yet, much of the book is a review of literature.Noel has written a previous unpublished treatise on Castaneda, and several chapters deal with the Castaneda hoax, as well as the neo-shamanistic workshops of anthropologist Michael Harner.To say the least, Noel is not impressed.

Alternatives are proposed, in particular, from the perspective of James Hillman and Carl Jung.The most interesting chapters at the center of the book deal with dreams and imaginings. He touches briefly on the Merlin myth, arguing that instead of appropriating models of shamanism from other cultures, which he sees as colonialist, Euro-Americans should turn to models from their own culture.Yet not enough is said about Merlin.

One drawback is that this book is addressed to the Euro-American reader.It will not meet the expectations of a reader from another ethic group and is sure to disappoint if not anger.Additionally, the book is dense and academic.Despite my Ph.D. in anthropology and a sympathetic worldview, I found it tedious reading and would not assign it to students.This is not a handbook.Rather, it is a critical reading of the literature and experience of neoshamanism from a postmodern perspective. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Poet-shaman
Steven B. Herrmann, PhD, MFT
Author of "Walt Whitman: Shamanism, Spiritual Democracy, and the World Soul"

The first comprehensive examination of the relationship between Walt Whitman and shamanic Ecstasy was George Hutchinson's wonderful study "The Ecstatic Whitman: Literary Shamanism & the Crisis of the Union," published in 1986.Hutchinson saw correctly that the proper way to approach Whitman is by focusing on his poetry as a technique of ecstatic role-taking, whereby, on behalf of the culture, the poet-shaman undertakes a series of life-threatening dangers that culminate in a transformative experience of Ecstasy for both the poet and the reader.In Hutchinson's view, for the poet-shaman the technique of Ecstasy is not a private affair.It is conducted for purposes of cultural and spiritual transformation (55).The author shows clearly that the transformational process that takes place in Whitman's famous "Song of Myself" is the climactic Ecstasy of the poem that "initiates the poet into his new function into the community and initiates the audience's self-realization" (69).This is a vitally important book because it examines not only the transformative impact of Ecstasy on Whitman's body and psyche, but also the potential impact upon the reader, as one can hear in the following lines: "Extending Whitman's cycle beyond the text, its aim is a much larger convection by which all America, and ultimately the world, moves toward ecstatic triumph, by endless cycles of creation" (73).In his analysis of the 1860 poem "So Long!" moreover, the author asserts that the reader: "is actually the lover whom the poet embraces as his mate; Whitman has become the spiritual spouse" (131)!Hutchinson gets at the very heart of Whitman's vocation, opening the reader up to his new vision of the poet that is mind altering.Whether Hutchinson's claim in the Introduction that Whitman's "revitalization" of religion, through "personalism," would lead to a nation of "prophets and cosmos en mass" where "every man would be his own shaman" can be taken as a literal truth or not, the idea that Whitman is a ground breaker to a new verse-technique in America whereby a writer may at times tap into the transformative energies of the shamanic archetype can indeed be verified empirically through direct personal experience.While this was not the first attempt to examine Whitman's role in the culture as a poet-shaman, it was probably the most comprehensive effort in the 1980's and it had a large impact on Whitman scholarship following its publication.This influence is not always direct and has involved the emergence of a number of interesting synchronicities, following Albert Gelpi's August 10, 1976 Seminar conducted at Stanford University with the poet-shaman William Everson prior to my becoming his TA in his legendary course "Birth of a Poet" at UCSC, between 1980-1981.Although I was not aware of Hutchinson's book until 1998, William Everson was the first to introduce me to this seminal idea in my reading of his interview with Gelpi "The Poet as Prophet" in 1980.My conversations with Eveson in 1992-1993 became the source material for my 2009 book "William Everson: The Shaman's Call."

... Read more

Product Description

This book takes you to the "classical academy of shamanism", Siberian tribal spirituality that gave birth to the expression "shamanism." For the first time, in this volume Znamenski has rendered in readable English more than one hundred books and articles that describe all aspects of Siberian shamanism: ideology, ritual, mythology, spiritual pantheon, and paraphernalia. It will prove valuable to anthropologists, historians of religion, psychologists and practitioners of shamanism.

Product Description
Curandero Conversations offers something for everyone. Following an introduction by renowned Native American healer and author, Jamie Sams, the book examines 190 actual email-based consultations with the curandero, followed by the anthropologist's commentary. The book also offers three major appendices including information for understanding cultural competencies in the delivery of health care, Internet resource links for continued study, and the most complete medicinal plant herbal used by curanderos/as on the U.S.-Mexico border. ... Read more

Product Description
The ancient practice of shamanism touches many cultures and spiritual philosophies. This book offers an in-depth look at the beliefs and practices centered on the shaman, a person believed to have powers to heal and communicate with the spirit world. It explores shamanism and its associated myths, artifacts, and legends as a communally endorsed acknowledgment of the supernatural or spirit world that evolved in the Neolithic Period and continues to appeal today. The work is heavily illustrated, featuring more than 90 of the author's drawings of masks, fetishes, carvings and ongon, and 40 rare photographs of shamans, medicine men and women, and healers. ... Read more

Product Description
Incomparable in its fullness and breadth of perspective, this survey compares the development of the shaman, or medicine man, among tribal societies. A go-between for man and the spirit world, the shaman helps explain and resolve issues surrounding misfortunes, calamities, bodily ailments, and death. In drawing from tribal societies around the world--from Australian Aborigines to Zulus--the author discusses causes (ill winds, evils spirits, taboo infringements) and cures (exorcism, charms, enchanted drinks). Also examined: the social position and functions of the shaman, methodology, and the perils of failure and rewards of success. A classic of the genre, this study will appeal to students of tribal societies, New Age advocates and anyone interested in the practics of shamanism as an alternative spiritual path.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A brief history of Shamanism
This is a brief look into the roots and history of shamanism in many different cultures in the United States and around the world. Though not supporting the supernatural elements of the shaman's healing rituals, Maddox does state that 'Science has come out of superstition' and that 'Medicine had its origin in the ghost theory of disease'. The belief that a sick person had been possessed by a demon or 'evil spirit' was shared by many native healing men and women in various regions.
Maddox also explores the social and economic value of the shamans and how their influence often affected the well-being of the entire social and economic structures of their People. Overall, the research is helpful and enlightening, though it is really only touching the surface of so many theories and facts regarding these early men and women of mystery.
Chrissy K. McVay
author of 'Souls of the North Wind'

well researched
Shamanism started out innocently attempting to help ignorant tribal man explain the world around him, then developed mostly into a scam and ended up having beneficial consequences in laying the foundations for modern medecine and other sciences.

The book is a reprint originally published early in the 20th century and contains many amusing terms and spellings no longer in use. It is refreshingly NOT politically correct and I would put it up there with The Golden Bough as a reliable source of information. ... Read more

Product Description
Shamanism: A beginner's guide ... Read more

Product Description
This text examines shamanism, a visionary tradition and ancient practise of utilizing altered states of consciousness to contact the gods and spirits of the natural world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A good "what is" book
This book, like the others of "The Element" seris, are intended to answer the question of "what is". It is not intended, IMHO, to lead one to total shamanic practices. It give the reader a basic understanding of shamanism and its core beliefs. A great book for reference or for those just starting to look at Shamanism.

disappointing
Mr. Drury lists some of the better known shamans. I agree with him completely in regards to Carlos Castaneda.

Mr. Drury lists some Shamanic principles.

Mr Drury lsts some of the various plants used byShamans.

This book does not provide enough information to assist you inbecoming a shamanic practitioner. Read my other reviews to se the variousShamanic books I recommend. ... Read more

Product Description
A series of psychological and anthropological studies about the oldest and the most fascinating religious tradition of Korea. ... Read more

Product Description
In this ground-breaking book, Lama Somananda Tantrapa shares the ancient wisdom of Tibetan Shamanic Qigong in a simple and practical way. Discovering, testing and applying its principles will remarkably enhance your vitality with greater attentiveness, awareness and presence. It will help you transform and enlighten your life by developing a culture of movement that is naturally graceful and harmonious. It will also provide you with profound psychological and spiritual insights into the true nature of health, relationships and other issues that teach you to approach life challenges as learning opportunities rather than problems. By practicing Qi Dao, you will unify your body, mind and spirit, empowering your whole being to live in harmony with the flow of the entire universe.

This book can be particularly helpful when used with its companion DVD or as a part of the Qi Dao Home Study Course. If you complete this Course, you will most certainly become:
1) More accepting of and attentive to your life s lessons;
2) More present, as opposed to being stuck in the head;
3) More grounded, rooted and centered;
4) More relaxed, natural and spontaneous;
5) More awake in the dream called your daily life;
6) More in the flow, in the right place and at the right time. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Great Qigong Instruction and Complete System For Any Level
Qi Dao, taught by the Qigong Master Lama Tantrapa, is a complete system for a reader (or watcher if you have the DVD) to enhance their energy awareness, kinesthetic awareness, and overall well being.When taken at face value, the physical instruction will strengthen your body, expand your range of motion, increase coordination and uplift your wellbeing. When taken at FULL value, Qi Dao is a system that will increase your vitality and expand awareness both of yourself and of the world around you - forever .

The movements are unique in that they are formless.Constant attention is given to stabilization, alignment, and the holding patterns that can arise if no attention is given to posture.Also, much attention is given to the awareness of energy as it relates to how you hold yourself and the movements that allow you to direct energy in a given direction.

The book is very well written and nicely organized.There are pictures showing the postures and movements (the DVD is a must in order to see the appropriate speed at which to practice and to grasp the finer details that Lama Tantrapa gives throughout his presentation).The metaphysical aspects of Qi Dao are explained in simple language and a reader can start implementing the instruction immediately - such as the differentiation between attention and intention.

Both people of great physical ability, and those with limited abilities will find Qi Dao valuable.The movements are generalized and allow you to focus on movement awareness (kinesthetic), and the increase and flow of energy throughout your body.I, like many others, have a tendency to want to be perfect in my replication of a particular movement or instruction.Qi Dao is unique in it's instruction as it doesn't provoke our inner perfectionist.You'll feel content in focusing on the 'feeling' that the movement gives you instead of whether or not you're moving in exact replication of what is demonstrated - as is many times the case with Tai Chi and other forms of Qigong.


I'm fairly versed in the works of Mantak Chi, BK Frantzis, Janke - and I've read this book many times over, and come back to it for it's nuggets of inspiration and clarity.I highly recommend this read to anyone, at any level of ability.I'm grateful that a 27th generation lineage holder took the time to distill the foundational principals of his art into a delightful read that will give just about anyone a higher level of self actualization, authenticity, and general wellbeing in their lives.

Very Highly Recommended!
The challenge of attempting to teach movement through the pages of a book is one that is familiar to anyone who has ever tried to learn from one! I have done both: trying to impart movement instruction across the printed page as well as trying to learn movement programs from a book.


Given that experience, I can in all honesty say that Lama Tantrapa has done an excellent job with his book, giving complete and comprehensive instruction using both step-motion photographs that show beginning-to-end motion and written step-by-step instruction, teaching the basics for the kinesthetic, energy awareness, and the foundation of the practice of Qi Dao. He also explains the "why" as well as the "how," knowing that spiritual wisdom, being "in the flow," empowers and strengthens the practitioner.


As both a student and teacher of other styles of qigong, I highly recommend both the practice of Qi Dao and Lama Tantrapa's book Qi Dao - Tibetan Shamanic Qigong. I own the Home Study Course which includes the book and work book, DVD, and two CDs which I have found to be of great value to me in my practice.

great with fundamentals
The uniqueness of Lama Tantrapa's book is in its emphasis on the foundational principles of Qigong rather than on the details of a particular form. This book is definitely not another exercise book. It is a deep exploration into the nature of "Being" as revealed through movement and energy awareness. This book will help you focus on the process rather than the end results and build the foundation for understanding the importance of movement in shaping the way you are.

Nothing New Here
The Art of Being in the Flow tries to pass itself off as something secretive and different or better yet Chi Gong. I bought this book and the Dvd with the understanding you would learn a somewhat formless form. Deep spiritual and Physical healings. In other words you would create your own way of moving in the flow by learning these moves.
After completing the book and Dvd I found this to be very misleading. The content is good enough, you can learn about proper alignment. You can learn some descent strikes. But there is nothing new here whatsoever. And it certainly doesn't teach you how to create your own flow. It's okay but not nearly worth the praises it has received. You want proper alignment or flow then read some works by Tai Chi masters Ben Lo , William CC Chen (and his daughter Tiffany) or Cheng Man Ching.

The Way of the Uniting with the Universe's Energy
I thoroughly recommend Lama Tantrapa's book, Qi Dao - Tibetan Shamanic Qigong. It is well written, systematically laid out and enables anyone from absolute beginner to expert to follow the principles of Lama's Qi Dao. One way to explain the meaning of Qi Dao can be The Way of the Uniting with the Universe's Energy.

The benefits of achieving this union are innumerable. Most of us are already much too familiar with the problems associated with remaining cut off from ourselves and the Dao. The path to Enlightenment is not really complicated. It really can't be. Nature is simple. It always does what it needs to do without any thought process. It naturally flows just as it should. In fact, it is the complications we make in our lives that separate us from Qi Dao. The flow of our lives should be as easy as the flow of Nature. We need to wake up!

In my humble opinion, no one system which is capable of being explained to us mortals will have all of the answers. However, some systems will harmonize or resonate with you more than others. Qi Dao follows the Principles which will resonate with many who are looking for a Way to BE more natural. It has something for everyone; and, no one who reads this book will walk away without a new insight into themselves and the workings of the Dao! That alone makes it worth reading. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

One of the few excellent sources for this subject
It is high time (ahem) this collection of writings receive the praise it is due.Offerings on this subject have proliferated in recent decades, but far too many of them have little to offer those seeking genuine knowledge and understanding.Here, packed in one volume, is an assortment of excellent articles exploring various aspects of how hallucinogenic plants and fungi figure in ritual uses across culture.This is a work of anthropology, not lightweight stuff for those who want to beat their own drum playing "New Age shaman" (instead of learn about shamanism as an aspect of other cultures to which such practices actually belong).Later in his career, Harner abandoned this type of scholarly work and went with a more commercialized route that was far less interesting (unless, again, you want to become a Harner Core Method ® Shaman yourself). But this volume amply testifies that in his early career Harner did some excellent work, such as his field studies among the Shuar Indians (popularly known as the Jivaro), whose culture is steeped in shamanism and applications of hallucinogenic plants.(Incidental irony: many of the Shuar shamans state that they took up their practice in order to get rich!)

One of the most fascinating and informative pieces in this book is Harner's article on the use of belladonna and related plants by peasant herbalists accused of witchcraft in mediaeval Europe.The evidence he presents is strong and persuasive, but watch out!It tends to demolish more fashionable and ideologically polarizing interpretations of history, such as (a) there were no "witches," the very idea is preposterous, the whole notion just a paranoid projection from the hysterical imaginations of superstitious people in a pre-scientific age; (b) witches were real, and Evil!, worshippers of Satan, even if they didn't exactly fly on broomsticks; and (c) witches were real and Good!, noble practitioners of an ancient pagan goddess-worship religion.No, its all much more interesting than any of that, turns out.

The selections in this volume are generally well written, although in the scholarly-academic sense, i.e., with the intention of informing, not merely entertaining, the reader.A favorite, unique highlight herein is "The Mushrooms of Language," which astutely interprets Mazatec Indian customs concerning psilocybin mushrooms.The final section of the book raises an interesting question, of the extent to which experiences with hallucinogenic drugs may tap into something beyond cultural soft-wiring of perception, although none of the evidence offered could be described as conclusive, only suggestive.

This book came out in the early 1970's, before the discussion and exploration of this subject got derailed by the "Castaneda effect" and similar "New Agey" influences.It is founded not upon exploitation and sensationalism, but intellectually open-minded curiosity and a desire to explore and learn with feet planted firmly on the ground."Hallucinogens and Shamanism" is baby without dirty bathwater, and as such is highly recommended for those with serious interest.

Good topics, drab writing
Despite the fact that I am absolutly facinated with Shamanism (more so Ethnobotany than the new age stuff) I found this work to be more of a textbook in the school sense and at times really dragged on. I do recommendthis work for the content. Getting through the content can be a littlearduous though

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Healing Thoughts is not only a self-help, personal growth text, but a guide to metaphysicians & psychotherapists as well. The book presents various models of psychotherapy and how they relate to types of Shamanism, specifically Hawaiian Shamanism. Learn to connect with, learn from, and use Spirituality in your daily life using meditation, dream therapy, personal mythology, visualization, positive thought, prayer & internal dialogue. Heal your body, your relationships, yourself! ... Read more

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In this study, Carolyn Brewer explores the cultural clash that ensued when Hispanic Catholicism and Filipino Animism came into contact in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. In so doing, she demonstrates the connections between religion, ideology and power, the evidence mounting with cumulative force to support her argument. Brewer highlights references to women who fleetingly appear in records of Magellan's voyage, and sets the scene for the arrival of Legaspi and the colonial enterprise. She explores the way indigenous women were represented in various early modern sources and delves into the processes by which dichotomous notions of 'good' and 'bad' women were introduced by successive waves of Spanish friars. The focus of the narrative then shifts from women in general to the specific role of female shamans and the manner in which these women were revalued from the prestigious and wealthy baylan to the reviled and banished bruha or witch and their roles eventually usurped by Catholic priests. Brewer also explores the ways in which asog (men who dressed as women) were converted to Catholicism.Finally, using inquisition documents, Brewer presents a case study from the town of Bolinao in Zambales Province. She reconstructs indigenous gender relationships, in the process of being fractured by inquisitorial processes, in which high class Zambal men and boys collaborated with the Spaniards to banish the shaman women and eradicate their influence. A meticulously researched book, Shamanism, Catholicism and Gender Relations constitutes a sustained examination of how contact with Christianity re-shaped gender roles in the early modern Philippines. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Purely Academic, expensive, but a rare find
This is not a book you pick up for casual reading unless you're working on your PhD. I have an undergrad in English and journalism and a Masters degree and I found myself consulting a dictionary every few pages. But for my research into Philippine folklore and culture, (particularly as it relates to my research into aswangs, bruhas, etc.) it is an extremely valuable resource despite the steep price. The only thing better would be to either pour over the same documents as Carolyn Brewer did, or talk to Brewer herself. Both which would be much harder than purchasing this book. Off topic, one of my best friends had Brewer for one of her classes in Australia. Small world. ... Read more

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The interaction of 19th-century Russian missionaries with three indigenous groups, the Chukchi and Altaians in Siberia and the Dena'ina Indians in Alaska, resulted in widely different outcomes. The Chukchi disregarded the missionary message, the Dena'ina embraced Christianity, and the Altaians responded by selectively borrowing from Orthodox religion. Znamenski--in the first work of its kind in English--argues that the relationships between indigenous shamanism and Orthodox missionaries in Siberia and Alaska were essentially a dialogue about spiritual, political, and ideological power, and challenges both the widespread conviction that Christian missionaries always acted as agents of colonial oppression among tribal peoples and the notion that native peoples maintained their "pristine" traditional cultures despite years of interaction with Western society. ... Read more

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""This book is a comprehensive ethnographic survey of the uses of tobacco in nearly three hundred Indian societies in South America...This meticulously written book ...is an awesome piece of scholarship which should be of interest not only to Wilbert's fellow anthropologists but also to scholars in medicine, pharmacology, and history, especially ethnohistory.""-Virgil J. Vogel, Ethnohistory ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Reads like some one's masters thesis
This book is nothing but a survey of previous literature.It's an exhaustive (and I mean EXHAUSTING) list of every mention of tobacco in the notes, logs, and published works of early explorers, scientists, and missionaries in South America.There were a few interesting things - I didn't fall asleep EVERY time I tried to read it, just almost every time.It took me 2 years to get through this book.Don't look here if you want to understand the role of tobacco in South American medicine.

Entheogens: Professional Listing
"Tobacco and Shamanism" has been selected for listing in "Religion and Psychoactive Sacraments: An Entheogen Chrestomathy." http://www.csp.org/chrestomathy ... Read more

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This accessible case-study of Northern European shamanistic practice, or seidr, explores the way in which the ancient Norse belief systems evoked in the Icelandic Sagas and Eddas have been rediscovered and reinvented by groups in Europe and North America. Drawing on ethnography, religious studies, anthropology and sociology, the book examines the phenomenon of altered consciousness and the interactions of seid-workers or shamanic practitioners with their spirit worlds in historical and political contexts.

Written by a follower of seidr, this study not only investigates, but also addresses those new communities involved in a postmodern quest for spiritual meaning. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

a milestone
Jenny Blain is AFAIK the only author who analyzes what is really there AND describes various attempts to reconstruct Seidr today. Off course she disappoints lots of people who like to create a new magical fantasy world or want to live in a New Age world created for them by an author. The less we really know the better for the New Ager.....But she is an Ethnologist, totally commited to truth and a practioner of Seidr herself.
Jenny Blains description of Seidr is a realistic piece of hard research work and I can feel the oblique and powerful craft of our ancestors in her work. It's definetely not a game, it never was and Jenny warns her audience about the consequences throughout the book. That's another aspect New Agers "dislike" because it is not only blond Elbs, funny dwarfs and honest gods you will find in that other world. So better be prepared and protected. There may be bitter consequences if someone is doing just one little mistake during a Seidr trance "The whole luck of a person can change 100% for the rest of her life with one offended spirit in a session." Ooops! But she doesn't hand out "Do it yourself" ritual kits to her readers anyway. Her real Seidr is far too dangerous for that. She is practizing in a well protected group and she reports incidents I don't want to be part of.
Very well done! The only points that turn me off are that postmodern academic phony discussions about i.e "Transgenderism in shamanic blababla...." ;-)))
But you can't have it all....

Oracular Seidhr
I think that the title of her book is misleading, there was very little in the way of 'magic'. Though maybe my definition of magic may be different than some. She barely talks about ecstasy as I understand it as well. Oracular Seidhr as she writes it, to me is basically jumped up 'led meditation'someone leads you there, then you go on your own way. But this may not be her fault, I just wish she'd written more about utiseta which seems to me to be the closest thing to 'shamanism', not seidhr itself, or to be specific, oracular seidhr. It also could be WHEN she wrote the book... every day, there is more information out there and opinions change over night.
Not knowing much about Heathenism, I really liked her book. A good balance of involvement and distance. I think the 'involvement' of both the writer and the heathen population in ergi is humorous, which I think is due to the fact that a LOT of heathens are of the hard mead drinking "let's go bang our swords' type, to whom ergi may be a serious consideration. As some know, a lot of people actually chosen by the spirits to do 'shamanism' have issues with dualism and sexuality and 'being normal'. To some, being normal is more important than anything else in life and to them, ergi would be a big problem. I say let them be afraid of ergi and the rest of us do what we wish, they can discuss it into the ground and they can avoid seidhr. Who cares? Give them a bigger sword and they will feel better.

Intensely Scholarly
Blain does an excellent job of examining the shamanic aspects of Seid.She does seem to come off as mildly apologetic that an academic would be involved in such inquiries.This is most apparent in the intensity with which she qualifies and defines the various concepts addressed in _Nine_Worlds_.

As the subtitle indicates, _Nine_Worlds_ focuses on the shamanic aspect of the Old Germanic Religion.It does so from a distinctly Asatru perspective.I've said many times that the 'Trar can be a bit too serious at times, and Blain is no exception.But in this case, the earnestness can be endearing.One comes away from _Nine_Worlds_ with a great deal of respect, and a bit of compassion, for Blain's intense attitude.

_Nine_Worlds_ is a survey of Seid shamanic practice, and in no way a how-to manual.That being said, it is a must-read for anyone interested in European Shamanism.

Outstanding scholarly work
Ms. Blain does an excellent job of studying seidr not only from a practical stance but a historical and philosophical one as well.She mixes scholarship and historical theory with stories of personal experience and accounts of modern-day practice.It does only cover one way of practicing seidr though, that being the Hrafnar style oracular seidr of Diana Paxson's group.As limited as the scope is however it is still an excellent work.

A good introductory exploration
This was an interesting read...The author explores her own participation in a subculture as well as explaining the historal aspects of the subculture. She does a fairly good job explaining some of the historical roots, and to some degree the present activities of the subculture. She could've touched on the contemporary subculture more though.

A lot of her analysis seemed focused on how she reconciled the differences between herself as a heathen and as an academic. This was particularly interesting, but what stood out to me was that she could never entirely just submit to an experience but was constantly analyzing it...so that for her it seemed the identity of an academic was predominant over that of a heathen. It does lead one to ask whether she really critically engaged the experience in and of itself or used the academic way of thinking as a distancing tool. Nonetheless she does question her own attitudes and this is evident in her work. ... Read more