Books

Inspiring accounts from renowned contemporary working shamans about their first moments of spiritual epiphany.

• With contributions by Sandra Ingerman, Hank Wesselman, John Perkins, Alberto Villoldo, Lewis Mehl-Madrona, Tom Cowan, Lynn Andrews, Linda Star Wolf, and others

• Also includes shamanic awakening experiences from those with unique shamanic paths--teachers, mothers, social workers, academics, and even rappers.

How does one receive the "call" to enter onto the shamanic path? What causes some people to change their safe, uneventful, and ordinary lives and start on a spiritual search? For many it is a singular instant, a flash when the mystical reveals itself and the person is drawn into the world of shamanic power. For a few, it is a more gradual awakening, filled with numinous events that build upon one another until the calling of the shamanic path can no longer be ignored.

~

In this book of remarkable stories, we learn firsthand about the many different forms of the "aha" moment of shamanic awakening, whether they arise from ceremony, near-death experiences, dream messages, or entheogenic substances. We travel alongside Sandra Ingerman, Hank Wesselman, John Perkins, Alberto Villoldo, Lewis Mehl-Madrona, Tom Cowan, Lynn Andrews, Linda Star Wolf, and other well-known shamanic practitioners as they begin their transformations into the prominent shamans we know them as. We experience the real-life shamanic epiphanies of those with unique shamanic paths--teachers, mothers, social workers, academics, healers, and even rappers who have all experienced a moment in time in which they were awakened and the shamanic path showed itself to them.

As each of these unique and beautiful stories of unexpected realization, insight, and inspiration unfolds, we see how these single moments--usually entirely unexpected--are able to transform the individual's life, clearing their vision and allowing a new consciousness to emerge. As a whole, this collection paints a breathtaking portrait of the intricacies of the shamanic path and the paradigm shift of which we all are part.

Shamanic journeying is the inner art of traveling to the "invisible worlds" beyond ordinary reality to retrieve information for change in any area of our lives--from spirituality and health to work and relationships. On "The Beginner's Guide to Shamanic Journeying, Sandra Ingerman shares the core teachings of this transformative practice, including the original role of the shaman in indigenous societies, how to meet and work with your "power animal" and other spirit guides, and the keys to successful journeying in our modern culture. Complete with CD of authentic Siberian drumming and guidance for three shamanic journeys.

Our insect brothers and sisters are some of the most ancient beings and teachers on planet Earth. Their powerful skills of adaptation and their plight, such as the widespread colony collapse facing honeybees, have brought them to the forefront of collective consciousness, as every being on Earth faces a time of incredible transformation. The archetypal energies of these sacred Wisdom keepers can guide us through this evolutionary time with new pathways of shamanic healing and transformation to realize the highest potential of humanity

- Reveals the sacred wisdom inherent in Honeybee's pollinating, Butterfly's transformation, Spider's weaving, and Earthworm's recycling

- Provides experiential practices, such as Shamanic Breathwork journeys, to connect with insect teachers and harness their consciousness-activating patterns

- Shows how Dragonfly, Cicada, and Cricket connect us with the Great Star Nations, the depths of Mother Earth, and the music of life

- Includes Cricket Chorus meditation CD.

A guide to shamanic practices for those seeking to develop psychic powers. Teaches how to access the collective soul, discover the aura, develop shamanic breath, discover relationships with power animals, and engage in a vision quest. These lessons culminate with a trance-state journey induced by the rhythmic drumming session on the accompanying CD.

With warmth and compassion, Sandra Ingerman describes the dramatic results of combining soul retrieval with contemporary psychological concepts in this visionary work that revives the ancient shamanic tradition of soul retrieval for healing emotional and physical illness. This revised and updated edition includes a new afterword by the author.

A comprehensive guide to the safe and ethical application of expanded states of consciousness for therapists, healing practitioners, and sincere explorers.
 
Psychedelic medicines also known as entheogens are entering the mainstream. And it’s no wonder: despite having access to the latest wellness trends and advances in technology, we’re no healthier, happier, or more meaningfully connected. Psilocybin mushrooms, ayahuasca, and LSD—as well as other time-tested techniques with the power to shift consciousness such as drumming, meditation, and vision quests—are now being recognized as potent catalysts for change and healing. But how do we ensure that we’re approaching them effectively?
 
Françoise Bourzat—a counselor and experienced guide with sanctioned training in the Mazatec and other indigenous traditions—and healer Kristina Hunter introduce a holistic model focusing on the threefold process of preparation, journey, and integration. Drawing from more than thirty years of experience, Bourzat’s skillful and heartfelt approach presents the therapeutic application of expanded states, without divorcing them from their traditional contexts. Consciousness Medicine delivers a coherent map for navigating non-ordinary states of consciousness, offering an invaluable contribution to the field of healing and transformation.

Learn to prepare yourself for healing work, communicate with spirit guides, free your voice and seek your power song, safely explore your shadow side, and partner with your drum to create healing. The author also covers practical ethical matters such as taking payment and working with friends.

Of Choctaw descent, David Carson has absorbed and sought out Native American spiritual knowledge since growing up in Oklahoma Indian country. He distilled some of that knowledge in his Medicine Cards, the hugely successful divination system based on traditional animal medicine that became a New Age best-seller in the 1990s. In Crossing into Medicine Country, he tells the story of his initiation as a conjure man—a ceremonial healer—with the Choctaw medicine woman Mary Gardener. For three years, he studied the art of power plants and medicine animals, how to manipulate the layers of energy surrounding human beings, and how to use sacred tobacco in ritual, curing, and divination.

Through Mary Gardener's teachings, often conveyed through folktales of the primordial healer Yellow Tobacco Boy, and through his own, sometimes mind-bending experiences, Carson gives us a glimpse into an alternative reality, in which health and illness express the balance between man and nature, and Western notions of physics do not operate. A fascinating narrative of self-discovery, here is a work rich in spirit and Native American lore that will appeal to anyone interested in alternative beliefs.

Our homes are mirrors of ourselves. Through them we can interface with the universe. Everything in the universe is composed of constantly changing energy, including your home and its contents. This energy can profoundly influence your ability to be healthy, loving, creative and abundant. By clearing and enhancing this energy you can transform your home into a sanctuary which radiates positive energy in ever-expanding circles.

In this fascinating and unusual book, Denise Linn shows you how you can dramatically change your life by changing the environment in your home or office. She combines information from her own Native American heritage with material she has personally collected from native traditions around the world to bring you practical, easy-to-use exercises for balancing the physical, emotional and spiritual energies in your home,

One of the most astonishing and intimate accounts of spiritual transformation ever written, this is the true story of an African's shaman's initiation--a remarkable sharing of living African traditions, offered with compassion for those struggling with our contemporary crisis of spirit.

In the rush of modern life, we tend to lose touch with the peace that is available in each moment.

World-renowned Zen master, spiritual leader, and author Thich Nhat Hanh shows us how to make positive use of the very situations that usually pressure and antagonize us. For him a ringing telephone can be a signal to call us back to our true selves. Dirty dishes, red lights, and traffic jams are spiritual friends on the path to “mindfulness”—the process of keeping our consciousness alive to our present experience and reality. The most profound satisfactions, the deepest feelings of joy and completeness lie as close at hand as our next aware breath and the smile we can form right now.

Lucidly and beautifully written, Peace Is Every Step contains commentaries and meditations, personal anecdotes and stories from Nhat Hanh’s experiences as a peace activist, teacher, and community leader. It begins where the reader already is—in the kitchen, office, driving a car, walking a part—and shows how deep meditative presence is available now. Nhat Hanh provides exercises to increase our awareness of our own body and mind through conscious breathing, which can bring immediate joy and peace. Nhat Hanh also shows how to be aware of relationships with others and of the world around us, its beauty and also its pollution and injustices. The deceptively simple practices of Peace Is Every Step encourage the reader to work for peace in the world as he or she continues to work on sustaining inner peace by turning the “mindless” into the mindFUL.

How To Practice is a major inspirational work, by one of the world's greatest spiritual teachers. It is broken down into the basic steps to enlightenment: how to practice morality, how to practice meditation, and how to practice wisdom, whilst simultaneously delving deeper into His Holiness' more general teachings, his spirit, wisdom and sense of humor. The book, meant to be used as part of daily practice, is easy to understand and filled with anecdotes. It includes guidance on peace of mind, generosity, compassion, and much more besides. Beautifully packaged, this is the ultimate gift from the Dalai Lama, and a wonderful gift to give to anyone interested in having a richer, more fulfilled life.