Native Medicine Ways

cultural wellspring of music, poetry and literature, in dark times the Magdalena also served as the nation’s graveyard. As the country enters a momentous period of revitalization, Wade Davis explores the three major sections of the river, alto, medio, and bajo, evoking each singular landscape and the people he meets there in poetic, nuanced writing, accompanied by his own striking photography.

Magdalena gives us a rare, kaleidoscopic picture of the

past and present of a nation often reduced to unfair clichés of drug cartels and violence. Through many years of uncertainty, the Magdalena never abandoned its people, always returning as a life-giving force, the source of much of Colombia’s wealth—and its dreams.

Weaving together memoir, history, and a remarkable tale of a nation rising to bring about transformational change, Wade Davis tells the story of this magnificent river with passion and love,. “[A] deeply inquisitive, dazzlingly fluent scientific, cultural, and spiritual investigation... This far-reaching, centuries-encompassing river biography is shaped by Davis’ love for Colombia... Always with a discerning eye to the symbolic and metaphorical, Davis tells the river’s saga of fecundity and horror through the lives of remarkable individuals past and present... Throughout Davis emphasizes Colombia’s many Indigenous peoples and their abiding belief that protecting the river is a sacred duty. The story of Magdalena... is that of an epic struggle between the sacred and the profane, between worship and preservation and reckless exploitation and wanton abuse.” —Booklist Among Wade Davis’s many other books are One River and The Wayfinders.

ANCESTRAL HEALING FOR YOUR SPIRITUAL AND GENETIC FAMILIES by Jeanne Ruland & Shantidevi $19.99, paper. Inner Traditions. 109 pages, colour photos

Knowing your ancestral lineage is not only a matter of curiosity, your life path will unfold with much more ease if you are aware and in harmony with your origins. Exploring the heritage of your bloodline as well as the energy of your spiritual family, which we are often less aware of, opens you up to enormous potential for healing and self-development.

This practical guide explains, in a clear and straightforward way, how the

energy field of our ancestors influences our personal lives and how we can draw from their strength as well as lib-

erate ourselves from burdens borne over generations. It helps us to lift the veil of forgetting and allow ourselves to fully shine our light, supported by the souls that came before us, by making peace with past hurts and traumas.

Drawing on the Huna Hawaiian shamanic tradition as

well as other shamanic and energetic practices, the authors show how to connect with our “Aumakua,” our ancestors and higher self, which includes our close relatives, ancestors stretching back thousands of years, and our spiritual ancestors or karmic family. The authors offer practices to

reconcile with our parents and spiritual family, uncover suppressed matters and family secrets, clear and charge our personal energy field and our family energy field, and

awaken the potential of our bloodline. They explain how to perform an ancestor healing circle, carry out an ancestor release ritual, and offer blessings for children and grandchildren as well as providing meditative journeys to meet our ancestors, our spiritual family, and our spiritual roots in other realms. They also provide short case studies to illustrate how the rituals and exercises have worked for other people.

By enacting ancestral healing, we can recognize who we are, where we come from, and truly fulfill our destiny in this life.

Native American Medicine Ways

BECOMING MEDICINE Pathways of Initiation into a Living Spirituality by David Kopacz & Joseph Rael $34.95, paper. Condor & Eagle. 508 pages, b/w illustrations

In a time when many are feeling lost, this collaboration by holistic psychiatrist David Kopacz and Native American visionary Joseph Rael (Beautiful Painted Arrow) offers hope. Becoming Medicine takes us on a journey into the

heart of the medicine wheel where separation and division are replaced by an experience of spiritual democracy and unity with all people, with na-

ture, and with the cosmos. Following the ancient pathways of initiation of mystics, visionaries, and shamans we learn everyone can find a living spirituality—a connection to the source of all religions.

Learning from mystics and visionaries such as Jung, Corbin, Rumi, Whitman, Alice & John Coltrane, and Miles Davis, the book brings together threads of ancient and modern wisdom paths. When we make the secret journey into the heart at the center of the medicine wheel, we are becoming medicine, becoming the healing that our world so desperately needs today.

Initiation is the transformational process through which we can all access direct, personal spiritual experience. The book starts with David and Joseph’s own paths, but then branches off into a variety of lives and stories of

many mystics, visionaries, shamans, artists, scientists, and musicians.

Initiation is a path that begins with separation from ordinary reality, initiation into non-ordinary reality, and then the return back to where one started, however now having been transformed. Visionary and mystical experiences can be healing in and of themselves, but true initiation leads to a new sense of identity and purpose and requires the return to ordinary reality as an agent of transformation.

Seeking leads to finding and receiving, which in turn lead

to an obligation of giving back.

“In this wonderful book, Picuris/Ute medicine man Joseph Rael reveals that each of us is an embodied human being who is in fact a medicine bag, a container in which we carry sacredness. By walking into the center of

ourselves, into the center of our hearts, we cease to be

ourselves and are instead becoming medicine. It is something that is done every moment. Becoming Medicine means that we are becoming capable of being a place for the Breath-Matter-Movement of the vast spirit to manifest and reside for a moment. This is a fabulous book for our times.” —Hank Wesselman, author of The Re-Enchantment:

A Shamanic Path to a Life of Wonder

Wicca & Magick

ANGELS & ARCHANGELS A Magician’s Guide by Damien Echols $32.50, cloth. Sounds True. 267 pp. illus. $38.99, 6 CDs. 6 hours, 19 minutes

Angels and Archangels presents an essential resource for understanding what angels are, how they make themselves

available, and magickal practices to invoke their power to transform your

life.

Angels do not belong to any one single religion, system, or dogma.

They are almost pure energy—the very substance the cosmos is made of. They’re also incredibly willing to

work with us if asked… The ultimate goal of working with angels is to become one ourselves. That’s what people actually are—unconscious angels.

For the magician—or anyone seeking to enlist helping forces on the path of awakening—invoking angels and archangels gives you access to incredible potential for manifestation, healing, and spiritual growth. In this lucid and information-packed guide, Damien shares his unique understanding and experience of magickal practices refined in the crucible of his wrongful death row imprisonment. Here you’ll discover: ♦ A clear presentation of angels and archangels as they have been honored in mystical traditions for thousands of years ♦ The names and qualities of individual angels and archangels, as associated with the elements, the Zodiac, the Tree of Life, and the Tarot ♦ Foundational practices and meditations for building

your skills with magick

♦ How to call on angels for blessing, protection, invocation, the creation of talismans and sigils, and more ♦ Advanced angel magick rituals, including the Rose Cross, the Celestial, and the Shem Operation ♦ The Holy Guardian Angel—the key contact for stepping into your true nature beyond ego consciousness

When working with angels and archangels, I’ve come to realize that they don’t carry out the tasks we charge them with just because we ask them to—they do it because they perceive the divine within us.

Angels and Archangels is an essential resource for every magickal library, an invitation by one of the most exciting modern teachers of the art to discover the enormous potential waiting for your call.

POSITIVE MAGIC A Toolkit for the Modern Witch by Marion Weinstein $27.95, paper. Weiser. 296 pages

Here is a new edition of one of the best-loved introduc-

tions to magic that is still used in metaphysical classes

around the world. The author makes ancient magic techniques accessible, offering them as practical tools for daily life. Addressing the needs of today’s readers—beginners and adepts alike— the author provides well-researched

historical background on astrology, witchcraft, tarot, and the I Ching as well as channeling, spirit contact, and the connections between quantum

physics and traditional magic.

This book is an excellent toolkit for those beginning their explorations of witchcraft as a spiritual path, as well as for those well on their way. I felt very blessed by Marion, as I read this book. May her blessings extend to you. —Judika Illes, from the foreword

“A rare gem. One of the only magical self-help books that is beautiful, moral, and wise. Marion’s methods of working have greatly influenced my life.” —Margot Adler, author of

Drawing Down the Moon

“Written by one of America’s Witch elders, this revised and expanded edition of this beloved classic can enrich the spiritual practice of longtime practitioners as well as those beginning their explorations of magical realms.” Selena Fox, High Priestess, Circle Sanctuary “Well written and fascinating, Positive Magic is a book you must read and keep by your side. Weinstein explains what you need to know and does it in a way that keeps you all the way through. An intelligent approach to using magic in your life.” —Merlin Stone, author of When God Was a

Woman