ON THIS BOOK For millennia the shaman has been recognized as “one who knows”. For the shaman, work with the spirits and another reality was not a matter of faith, but of knowledge, a kind of “science of spirits”. Through countless curing “experiments” leading to success in healing the sick, as well as in divining answers to questions of vital importance to the tribe, the shaman came to know with certainty of the spirits’ existence and nature. Thanks to Michael Harner – who pioneered the experiential investigation of shamanism with The Way of the Shaman in 1980 – the contemporary world is awakening to the power and effectiveness of shamanic methods. A new generation of contemporary shamanic healers has arisen. Once again the drums are sounding as these practitioners offer healing and divinatory services in local communities. Serious researchers have taken note. They have begun to investigate shamanism, applying the rigor of the scientific method to examine what happens to humans in a shamanic state of consciousness. A multi-disciplinary approach is needed. This book is an important step in that direction – following the work of shamans of ages past and based not on faith, but as revealed by research and experimentation.
SUSAN MOKELKE President The Foundation for Shamanic Studies, USA
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