neo-shamanism seminal list
Discover the seminal neo-shamanism reading list, featuring essential books like Michael Harner's *The Way of the Shaman*, Carlos Castaneda's *The Teachings of Don Juan*, and Jeremy Narby's *The Cosmic Serpent*. Explore curated works on shamanic practice, history, and fiction for a profound understanding of modern shamanism.
Book
Fantasies of the Master Race
by Ward Churchill
Chosen an "Outstanding Book on the Subject of Human Rights in the United States" by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights. In this volume of incisive essays, Ward Churchill looks at representations of American Indians in literature and film, delineating a history of cultural propaganda that has served to support the continued colonization of Native America. During each phase of the genocide of American Indians, the media has played a critical role in creating easily digestible stereotypes of Indians for popular consumption. Literature about Indians was first written and published in order to provoke and sanctify warfare against them. Later, the focus changed to enlisting public support for "civilizing the savages," stripping them of their culture and assimilating them into the dominant society. Now, in the final stages of cultural genocide, it is the appropriation and stereotyping of Native culture that establishes control over knowledge and truth. The primary means by which this is accomplished is through the powerful publishing and film industries. Whether they are the tragically doomed "noble savages" walking into the sunset of Dances With Wolves or Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan, the exotic mythical Indians constitute no threat to the established order. Literature and art crafted by the dominant culture are an insidious political force, disinforming people who might otherwise develop a clearer understanding of indigenous struggles for justice and freedom. This book is offered to counter that deception, and to move people to take action on issues confronting American Indians today.
Book
Flight of the Goose
by Lesley Thomas
"Flight of the Goose" is an award-winning novel set in a remote village of the Alaskan Arctic, in a time of great cultural and ecological change. "The story took my breath away. I wept my way through it, identifying profoundly with both protagonists. (Thomas) has a fine grasp of the complexity of human relations and culture in such a village. She also writes beautifully. A remarkable book altogether." Jean L. Briggs, Professor Emeritus, Department of Anthropology, Memorial University of Newfoundland and author of "Never in Anger" "Memorable...One of the best novels of Alaska that I have read. With the author's unerring knowledge of anthropology and social and environmental issues, it could fit any rural Alaskan village." Dorothy Jean Ray, author of "A Legacy of Arctic Art," and "The Eskimos of Bering Strait 1650-1898" 1971, the Alaskan Arctic. "It was a time when much was hidden, before outsiders came on bended knee to learn from the elders. Outsiders came, but it was not to learn from us; it was to change us. There was a war and a university, an oil company and a small village, all run by men. There was a young man who hunted geese to feed his family and another who studied geese to save them. And there was a young woman who flew into the world of spirits to save herself..." So relates Kayuqtuq Ugungoraseok, "the red fox." An orphan traumatized by her past, she seeks respect in her traditional Inupiat village through the outlawed path of shamanism. Her plan leads to tragedy when she interferes with scientist Leif Trygvesen, who has come to research the effects of oil spills on salt marshes - and evade the draft. Told from both Kayuqtuq's and Leif's perspectives, "Flight of the Goose"is a tale of cultural conflict, spiritual awakening, redemption and love in a time when things were - to use the phrase of an old arctic shaman - "no longer familiar." "Flight of the Goose" is recommended in Cultural Survival Quarterly, Shaman's Drum Journal, First Alaskans Magazine, Tundra Drums, Seattle Post Intelligencer and Sacred Hoop Magazine. It has been studied at North Slope School District, University of Washington, University of Alaska, Boston University, Sterling College, by Sandra Ingerman at Medicine for the Earth - and is read by book clubs worldwide. "Flight of the Goose" won first place in several literary contests. See more at www.lesleythomas.com
Book
The Way of the Shaman
by Michael Harner
This anthology contains writings vital to all the major non-Western religious traditions, arranged thematically. It includes colourful descriptions of deities, creation myths, depictions of death and the afterlife, teachings on the relationship between humanity and the sacred, religious rituals and practices, and prayers and hymns. Mircea Eliade, a recognized pioneer in the systematic study of the history of the world's religions, includes excerpts from the Quran, the Book of the Dead, the Rig Veda, the Bhagavad Gita, the Homeric Hymns, and the Popol Vuh, to name just a few. Oral accounts from Native American, African, Maori, Australian Aborigine, and other people are also included.
Book
The Cosmic Serpent
by Jeremy Narby
Working from the beliefs of Peruvian Indians, the author seeks to prove that DNA can conduct knowledge.
Book
The Quest for Merlin
by Nikolai Tolstoy
Using evidence culled from diverse and rare literary sources, the author concludes that Merlin is an authentic historical figure who, as a druid and a prophet, lived in the lowlands of Scotland during the sixth century
Book
The Teachings of Don Juan
by Carlos Castaneda
"Published by arrangement with the University of California Press."--T.p. verso.
