Awakening to the Spirit World: The Shamanic Path of Direct Revelation

A wonderful compilation of several Shamanic healers in the modern tradition. Their clear viewpoints, though at times divergent, do help diversify the fact the Shamanism has many faces in the modern world and comes from many cultural traditions. It is important for people of European descent to be able to claim that we too have had a lineage of Healers in Europe and the Americas, that were persecuted (burned at the stake as Witches), and that all cultures do have as Hank Wesselman states a "Birthright" to claim Shamanism as part of every culture. This book fleshes out the Spirit Medicine Book nicely (which gives the nuts & bolts/basic structure according to Hank W. of Modern Shamanism). It has excellent journeying exercises to further your practice; because a lot of becoming a Shaman in the modern world is about walking your own path after learning the structures of "the way" and discovering your own path through many, many journeys, journaling and learning about what your symbols mean. It's a self guided tour, really, and the more deft you get at dropping into the relaxed trance state where you can connect with Spirit, the clearer and quicker the communications become, and the stronger the medicine can become.

I read this book cover to cover. I tend to buy books I want to read and it takes a while to get to it. The Universe told me when it was time to start reading it and once I began I couldn't stop. It is filled with information and I love how there were many contributors giving their insight and understanding to the different topics. I appreciated the exercises that were included to help guide you through the ceremony, practices and rituals discussed. I especially like how everything was addressed even how art is incorporated. I just began my shamanic path after an intense calling to it, reading the book helped me understand that I was always being called upon I was too fractured, un-healthy and unaware to really see and feel it. It also help me be less afraid and intimidated by my journeying which gave more control over unintentional journeying. I even began sleeping better after having a better understanding of the connection to my sleep and wake states of consciousness. This coupled with learning more about astral projection taught me the skills to control the vibrational pull I would feel when I would lay down to rest.

Love love love Sandra Ingerman. Highly recommend!!

This is a well planned and well written book. Those contributing , unknown to me, present as competent and experienced practitioners of contemporary shamanism. I have learned a good deal of information from reading this book, but, two things fall short : 1) In several places the authors say that a drumming CD is included with the book and they explain how to use it. Such drumming is necessary to achieve a spirit journey evidently. But, there was NO CD included with my copy. And, I don't know how to get one. 2) I went to Youtube and found a shaman drumming video to listen to while following the authors instructions. As best I can tell, I did everything as instructed, but I could not achieve a journey. I've tried several times without success. Perhaps it is not as easy as they make it sound? They do make it sound very easy for anyone to do. Not for me anyway. Because it is a well executed book I gave it four stars. Because of the two serious, crucial even, shortcomings I withheld the fifth. I will continue to try but I'm not encouraged.

love the book also in better shape then i expected.

I have been practicing shamanism for 10+ years and have also read many books on this topic. This book affirmed and validated many of my very personal experiences. It helped lay out a structure for areas where I had been moving only instinctively. It also reviewed concepts that I had little knowledge of. it is very readable. I appreciated the way they drew on examples of shamanism from many other cultures. Reading the book has been a bit like being on a journey itself in which I have a strong, pleasant, gut knowing that I am part of a greater whole and that I am very intimately supported by every aspect of existence. I recommend this book to everyone.

I like the he-said she-said format of the book where the 2 authors each have a say on different subjects. Some of the reading can get a bit heavy and there were parts I skipped but would come back to when my concentration was more intact. This book will be something I come back to and reference to keep on my personal path. I like the authors' analysis of how meditation works based on theta waves. The included CD of meditative drumming is based on the theta-wave principal,however when I tried using it for meditation I just fell asleep instead of journeying..maybe someone else will have better luck than I. You won't become a spiritual shaman overnight after reading this book...but the basics are there for you to take your own path.

I appreciate Sandra Ingerman's style of writing. This book provides a great deal of information on the topic of shaminism. I have been looking at several authors' point of view regarding the Shamanic path. Everyone I have read have interesting aspects of "the journey" to talk about. But Sandra's perspective is always gentle. She presents shamism in a beautiful way through her writing style. There is a lot of information available regarding this subject and many books duplicate the topic of "the journey," with a slight variation here and there. I have purchased the audio meditation variation of this book and I listen to it often. The audio version does not duplicate the contents of this book, but enhances it. It takes you on "the journey" step by step and each time I listen to it, I gleen something new from the journey. I plan on purchasing more books by this author.

What an excellent resource, magnificently compiled. Really appreciate the included audio cd, the suggested practices, and most importantly - you can tell it was all written with alot of thought and sincerity.Very happy to have found this... If it's in alignment with your life you'll most likely feel similarly, otherwise don't bother.

I really enjoyed this book. I have listened to it a couple of times. Very interesting.

Nada que ver con los libros de Mircea Eliade o Michael Harner.Este libro forma parte de esa cantidad ingente de publicaciones que siguen la estela de los dos autores mencionados más arriba, pero que no se pueden comparar, ni en calidad ni en autenticidad.Me sentí estafada y me supo mal haber gastado mi dinero en este libro.

A beautiful and inspired guide into the mysteries hidden behind the every day life veil.I felt it was the right book for me at this time in my life

A well written and well structured book. To make it clear: when I say "well written", I mean: Easy to understand for a normal language level (even for me as non-native English speaker), vocabulary is not over the top, no "worm sentences", therefore easy to read and concentrate on the content instead of sentence structure.Also, I like how the book is structured, it follows a thread and a logic, with interesting insight from different specialists in Shamanism, inserted in a way that makes sense in the overall structure.The subject itself is, IMHO, nicely covered and for me, who is an interested beginner in the subject, quite insightful.