Shamanism Books

Salvia divinorum has been used since ancient times by the Mazatec shamans of Mexico for divination, vision quests, and healing. Known by many names--nearly all associated with the Virgin Mary, who has come to symbolize the spirit of salvia--this plant ally is now regarded as the most powerful natural hallucinogen.

Providing the first practical guide to the shamanic, spiritual, and therapeutic uses of salvia, Ross Heaven shares his in-depth quest to connect with the spirit of this plant teacher. He explores recent clinical research into its many long-term psychological effects, such as increased insight and self-confidence, improved mood and concentration, and feelings of calmness and connection with nature, as well as salvia’s potential for combating diseases like Alzheimer’s, depression, and even cocaine addiction.

Reviewing the traditional Mazatec ceremonies surrounding salvia’s harvest and use, Heaven describes appropriate methods of consumption, typical dosages, and the shamanic diet he used to increase salvia’s effectiveness. Examining firsthand accounts of salvia journeys from around the world, he decodes the meaning of the symbolic images experienced during salvia’s ecstatic embrace and details the interplay between salvia and the lucid dreaming state. Comparing salvia to ayahuasca and the San Pedro cactus, Heaven explains that salvia’s greatest strength as a shamanic plant ally lies in its ability to connect you with your higher purpose and aid you in envisioning your unique path in life.

From the author of The Teachings of don Juan. The legendary Yaqui Indian sorcerer don Juan returns, and through his mesmerizing stories readers learn the vital secrets of belief and self-realization that are transcendental and valid for us all--that wisdom, strength and power lie within ourselves.

Creating an alliance and working partnership with the spirits of weather to restore well-being and harmony to Earth and ourselves. 

With the growing consensus that global warming is a fact comes the realization that the increasingly violent weather we are experiencing is its chief manifestation. Each storm, each flood, each blizzard seems to break 100-year-old records for both intensity and damage. Reducing emissions of greenhouse gases may be too little, too late.

Through a unique blend of anthropological research, shamanic journeys, and personal stories and anecdotes, Moss and Corbin show how humans and weather have always affected each other, and how it is possible to influence the weather. They present teachings directly from the spirits of weather that show how our thoughts and emotions affect weather energetics. They also reveal the ceremonial and therapeutic aspects of “weather dancing,” a practice used to communicate with the weather spirits.

Weather Shamanism is about transformation--of ourselves, and thus our world. It is about how we can develop an expanded worldview that honors spiritual realities in order to create a working partnership with the spirits of weather and thereby help to restore well-being and harmony to Earth.

Robert Moss helps countless people live more enriched lives by working with the energy and insight of their dreams and becoming conscious dream journeyers. One of the greatest dreamers of all time was Harriet Tubman, who personally escorted three hundred slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad. On the eve of the American Civil War, Tubman was guided by specific dreams to safe houses, river crossings, and friendly helpers she had never encountered previously.

As Moss explains, our own dreams run like an Underground Railroad through our lives, offering us paths to creativity, healing, and mutual understanding. He shows us how to dream true the way Harriet Tubman dreamed true: how to dream the future, how to go back inside our dreams to clarify their messages and use the information to make wiser choices, and how to bring through life-helping guidance for others.

Healers and visionaries, food-finders and rainmakers―as intermediaries between the physical and spirit worlds, shamans have served a vital role in indigenous cultures for more than 40,000 years. The timeless wisdom of the shaman also holds relevance for the challenges we face today.

James Endredy explores shamanic paths from around the globe and discusses the tools, rituals, and beliefs that are common to most traditions. You'll discover how shamans are chosen and initiated, and how they establish a relationship with power animals, ancestors, and other inhabitants of the spirit realm. Along with many stories from his own experiences, Endredy shares insights from other scholars in the field, including Mircea Eliade, Michael Harner, and Holger Kalweit, and from indigenous shamans throughout history.

Shamanism for Beginners concludes with a thoughtful, empowering look at how shamanic practices can help restore balance and peace to our lives and the earth.

Respected kamasqa curandero Oscar Miro-Quesada teaches shamanism as a tradition of healing, power, and wisdom that sees all life as interconnected and sacred. Understand the shamanic art of a noble death, becoming a hollow bone, traveling through the three worlds, and how to embrace the imaginal beauty of a living, sentient, and ever-evolving cosmos.

Feel soul-animating moments with Creation itself as don Oscar and our sacred storytellers share their transformative experiences, including those of:

• a woman who meets a sister she never knew-child to child, soul to soul
• a man whose animal ally gives him the gift of unconditional love
• a woman who connects with the Amazigh women who served as oracles long ago
• a granddaughter who conquers her fear and completes her first vision quest
• a woman whose reverence and songs to Gaia bring much needed rain
• a man who is protected from harm by sacred plant allies

You must live the path to understand it. Cultivate spiritual discernment, learn how to consecrate your shamanic ceremonial space, practice an ancient Andean earth walk ritual, internalize the soul-nurturing beauty of Mother Earth with the Pachamama Renewal Process, work with the five principal animal allies of Universal Shamanism, and discover the loving grace that sparked the emergence of shamanism as a universal path of healing service.

SHAMANISM is the medicine our world needs for seven generations and beyond.

Looking Back on the Future takes the reader on a mystical journey into the Andean Cosmo-Vision, the ancient teachings of Andean spirituality, and their relevance for our current world. As a bridge to awakening, and our collective evolution, this body of knowledge is timeless and essential in nature, holding keys to guiding our global family back into Ayni (sacred reciprocity), and harmony with each other, the Earth, Stars, and all Life. In this book you will learn about the 7 Saiwas, Universal Laws that lead to the transformation of consciousness and reconnection with our origins.

Traditionally, these teachings and transmissions are passed down to the initiate and Paqo, (Masters of the Living Energy), during their training, which is how I received them. I've been given permission by my teachers to bring this timeless wisdom forward, and share these gifts with those ready to anchor the Light of the Golden Age here on Earth. It is my prayer that this book assists you and all beings to attain Unity within and without as we pass through this portal and Shift of the Ages.

-Chandra Sun Eagle, Author

Paperback, 184 pages

The practices are paired with illuminating stories from spiritual teachers around the world, plus sidebars with fascinating details on ancient traditions, global mythology, and scientific trivia. Delivered in an enchanting package overflowing with insight and magic, Animal Power is a celebration of the natural world and an inspiring companion for modern mystics, nature and animal lovers, and the spiritually curious.

Hardcover, 304 pages

Spirit Woman, The Teachings of the Shields is book two of the Medicine Woman Series. (Originally published as Flight of the Seventh Moon, © 1984 by Lynn V. Andrews). Bestselling sequel to Medicine Woman in what has been described as 'a library of writing on the personal search for the sacred.' After her dramatic initiation into the Sisterhood of the Shields, Lynn Andrews tells the story of her struggle to understand and embrace the awesome power and wisdom bestowed on her by her Native American teachers, Agnes Whistling Elk and Ruby Plenty Chiefs. Through the creation of her own shield -- a powerful physical and spiritual tool -- Lynn learns the nature of her sacred path and the initiation ritual of a warrior woman. Spirit Woman continues to inspire and captivate a whole new generation of readers.

In this uniquely personal account of the lives and healing arts of female shamans in northern Peru, the author alternates diaristic writings about her own experiences with ethnographic description. Her analytical essays explore the concepts of sorcery, shamanism, and witchcraft, case studies of Peruvian women and their ritual healing techniques, the healers' religious and symbolic space, and the healing attributes unique to women. They alternate with chapters in which Glass-Coffin describes her introduction to Peru as a high school student, the traditional roles she adopted in her host family, the crisis that rocked her identity, her first ritual contact with a female healer, and her own tumultuous but ultimately rewarding healing journey under two female shamans. Male shamans, she concludes, sally forth into the spirit world to do individual combat with the sources of spiritual illness, whereas female shamans try to involve their patients more directly in their own healing.

Having been prepared by two years of astral journeys with an extraterrestrial guide, eight-year-old Tanis asks her parents for a family vacation in Peru's Sacred Valley. As a result, Tanis and her family visit sacred Inca sites and find that ancient wisdom traditions are still being practiced in the Andes. In the context of Andean prophecies and practices, the book suggests how readers both young and adult can cope with our unsettling times. During her family's journey, Tanis comes of age spiritually as she encounters talking stones, shamans, spirit apparitions, spirit guides, ETs, and UFOs. Because of her open heart, curiosity, and generous nature, she is initiated into the wisdom traditions of the Andean people and connects with the mystical essence of Self beyond self, the healing power of Mother Nature, and the truly magical power of love.

Dr. J. E. Williams gives us an unforgettable story of the sacred way of the Q'ero, an indigenous people of the Peruvian Andes. In the highest mountains and heartland of the Q'ero, and at immense personal risk, he is taught a beautiful, inexorable value system that goes back to a time before the Incas. The mystical landscape of the high mountain wilderness fosters personal transformation. As he ascends to the roof of the world, Williams weaves the true secret of the Andes into the archetypal personal spiritual pilgrimage, an authentic journey of the heart, and brings back the message for our times.

The first comprehensive guide to the shamans and tantrikas of Nepal. The Himalayan kingdom of Nepal may be the only culture in the world where both shamanic and tantric techniques are still alive and in full practice today. The result of eighteen years of field research, Shamanism and Tantra in the Himalayas presents for the first time a comprehensive overview of shamanism that is based on the knowledge and experience of the different tribes from that region. Included are original statements from the various ethnic groups and 135 color thangkas, which act as visual guides to the specific practices of the tantric tradition. In addition to the thangkas, the book is lavishly illustrated with numerous photos of different shamanic healing ceremonies, ritual objects, and culturally significant plants that have never been published before.

The book also contains a wealth of original recipes, smoking mixtures, scientific tables, charts, and descriptions of more than 20 plants whose psychoactive properties and uses by shamans have never before been researched or documented. 

• 605 color and black-and-white illustrations, including 135 color thangkas.

• Includes more than 20 psychoactives never before documented.

• The result of 18 years of field research.

Shamanistic practices involve ancient traditions that have been found in similar cultures around the world. The roots of shamanism in practices of healing, prophesy, group leadership, art, and mythology reflect neuropsychological basese that underlie the often surprising effectiveness of its practice.

Tree of Dreams, A Spirit Woman's Vision of Transition and Change, is book twelve of the Medicine Woman Series. Shaman healer Lynn Andrews finds herself at a crossroads in her own life, a time of transition and change when that which once seemed sure begins to unravel. With disarming candor, she reveals her own spiritual questioning and metaphysical battles to her teachers, Agnes Whistling Elk, Ruby Plenty Chiefs and Spider Woman. Their strength, power and wisdom have remained constant and guided her through the many challenges she has experienced in life, and in this book they use their own blend of magic to 'trick' her into learning valuable lessons, even when she is most resistant. It is the wisdom of the elders passed down through an apprentice, timeless teachings of growth, healing and spiritual connection that will last a lifetime.

With their ability to enter trances, to change into the bodies of other creatures and to fly through the northern skies, shamans are the subject of both popular and scholarly fascination. In Shamans Ronald Hutton looks at what is really known about both the Shamans of Siberia and about others spread throughout the world. He traces the growth of knowledge of shamans in Imperial and Stalinist Russia, describes local variations and different types of shamanism and explores more recent western influences on its history and modern practice. This is a challenging book by one of the world's leading authorities on Paganism.