Resources

Links

www.shamanism.org  The Foundation for Shamanic Studies has beginning and intermediate classes, and a three-year training program in "core" shamanism. Teaches throughout the Americas and Europe.

 www.beardrum.com Shamanic Art, high quality ceremonial drums and rattles, by my colleague and friend Steven Kauder. Has a large variety. Also has drum-making kits and is a shamanic practitioner in the Wichita, KS, area.

www.shamanicvisions.com/ingerman.html  Home page for Sandra Ingerman, teacher and shaman, and author of Medicine for the Earth, among others.

www.writerspc.com  Website for Bonnie Simrell, editorial coach, graphic designer, computer tutor, mentor, website creator—and talented creator of this web site.

www.creatormundi.com  Website for the Creator Mundi gallery in Denver, CO, which carries some of my jewelry.

www.shamaniccircles.org  Check out "Global Shamanic Circles" for list of many resources including groups of shamanic practice circles. 

www.shamansociety.org  The Society for Shamanic Practitioners is an organization of outstanding, highly trained shamanic practitioners from the United States and throughout the world. It has a directory of practitioners and another directory of workshops and classes. While many practitioners are trained in Michael Harner's "core shamanism" others are indigenous shamans. Most of the members have had more than one shamanic mentor. I am honored to be a founding member of  the Society.

Books

Shamanism, Shamanic Journeying, and Related Subjects

This annotated list is far from exhaustive but will give you a good start.  Also try the library at the nearest university. Only the larger public libraries have much. 

Achterberg, Jeanne. Imagery in Healing: Shamanism & Modern Medicine. Boston: Shambhala’s New Science Library, 1985. Essential reading to get an idea of the interface of shamanism and western medicine. 

Bentov, Itzak.  Stalking the Wild Pendulum: On the Mechanisms of Consciousness.  NY: Bantam Books, 1977. On altered states, for the philosophically minded.

Brown, Joseph.  The Sacred Pipe: Seven Rites of the Oglalla Sioux.  Norman OK:  University of Oklahoma Press, 1953. Excellent account of how a culture lives the sacred, shamanic and otherwise.

Campbell, Joseph.  The Masks of God. (4 vol. set) NY: Penguin, 1976. The premiere work on understanding mythological thinking and shamanism's place in the mythological world. 

Campbell, Joseph. The Way of the Animal Powers: Vol. 1, Historical Atlas of World Mythology.  London, Summerfield Press, 1983. Excellent historical and anthropological accounts about shamanism, including speculations about its origins. 

Campbell, Joseph.  The Flight of the Wild Gander.  South Bend IN: Gateway Editions, 1969. More wonderful work by Campbell.  The wild gander in the title is the shaman on his/her journey. 

Cowan, Tom.  Fire in the Head: Shamanism and the Celtic Spirit.  San Francisco:  HarperSanFrancisco, 1993.  A good basic introduction to Celtic Shamanism, without romanticizing and sentimentalizing. 

Cowan, Tom.  Shamanism as a Spiritual Practice for Everyday Life.  Freedom Press, Crossing, California, 1966. Excellent reference on living your practice. 

Eliade, Mircea.  Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy.  Princeton, NY: Princeton University Press, Bollingen, #76, 1964. The Classic in the field.  First work to establish the universality of shamanism.  A must read for the serious student.  For others, a bit long in the middle.  

Eliade, Mircea.  The Sacred and the Profane: The Nature of Religion: The Significance of Religious Myth, Symbolism, and Ritual within Life and Culture. NY: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1957. The clearest writing I know of on differentiating the nature of the sacred from the profane.  Not specifically shamanistic but still essential. 

Elkin, A.P. Aboriginal Men of High Degree:  Initiation and Sorcery in the World's Oldest Tradition. Rochester, VT: Inner Traditions, 1994. First Edition, 1971. One of the classics, old enough that he doesn't even use the word "shamanism", but it’s there in a 40,000 year unbroken tradition. 

Evans-Wentz, ed.  The Tibetan Book of the Dead or The After-Death Experiences on the Bardo Plane, according to Lama Kazi Dawa-Samdup's English Rendering. NY: Oxford University Press, 1960. One culture's account of the topography and experience of the Land of the Departed. 

Halifax, Joan.  Shaman: The Wounded Healer. NY: Crossroad, 1982. Lots of good pictures of shamans in action with clear explanations. 

Harner, Michael J.  The Way of the Shaman: A Guide to Power and Healing.  San Francisco: Harper San Francisco, 1991. (3rd Ed.) Also a classic, called "One of the Ten Most Important Books of Its Decade." Still the only clear, authentic book available on how to undertake a shamanic journey! 

Hultkrantz, Ake. Shamanic Healing and Ritual Drama:  Health and Medicine in Native North American Religious Traditions. NY: Crossroad, 1992. Discusses shamanism in 33 (!) North American Groups.  Gripping accounts of shamans in action. 

Ingerman, Sandra.  Soul Retrieval: Mending the Fragmented Self.  San Francisco: Harper SanFrancisco, 1991.  A must for understanding shamanism in a non-tribal context and at its most caring. 

Ingerman, Sandra. Welcome Home: Life after Healing, Following Your Soul's Journey Home. San Francisco: Harper SanFrancisco, 1993.  Life after soul retrieval or life after psychotherapy for that matter.  Clear, insightful and caring.  Good brief introduction for those unfamiliar with shamanism.

Kalweit, Holger.  Dreamtime & Inner Space:  The World of the Shaman.  Boston: Shambahla, 1988. Another solid review of shamanism. 

Lame Deer, John (Fire) and Erdoes, R.  Lame Deer: Seeker of Visions.  NY: Washington Square Press, 1972. The story of a man who was the real McCoy—so of course he doesn't say much about shamanism. 

Lyon, William S. Encyclopedia of Native American Shamanism: Sacred Ceremonies of North America. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 1998.  Arranged by terms, such as Yuwipi or Crazy Horse. Extensive, interesting and sometimes fragmented. 

Reed, Anderson.  Shouting at the Wolf:  A Guide to Identifying and Warding off Evil in Everyday Life. NY: Citadel Press, 1990. Not specifically shamanistic, but very useful. 

Shaman's Drum: A Journal of Experiential Shamanism.  Timothy White, Editor-in-Chief, P.O. Box 97, Ashland, OR 97520. Presents shamanism mostly from an anthropological standpoint, doesn't much acknowledge that White Anglo Saxons—its principle readership, no doubt—shamanize too, but useful, with lots of pictures and addresses of places to send for "stuff."

Tart, Charles T. Altered States of Consciousness: A Book of Readings. NY: Doubleday, 1972. A basic reference in the field of altered states. 

Tart, Charles T.  States of Consciousness. N.Y.: E.P. Dutton, 1975. Another basic reference in the field of altered states . 

Taylor, Rogan. The Death and Resurrection Show: From Shaman to Superstar. London: Anthony Blond, 1985. A wonderful thesis, which he justifies well: All of Showbiz originates in shamanism—and how some of the superstars of Rock Music unknowingly grabbed this tiger by the tail and died from it. A classic but hard to find. 

Vitebsky, Piers. The Shaman: Voyages of the soul, trance, ecstasy, and healing from Siberia to the Amazon.  Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1995.  A very interesting review with great illustrations. Highly recommended.

Walker, Deward E. Jr., Ed.  Witchcraft and Sorcery in Native American Peoples.  Moscow ID: University of Idaho Press, 1989.  The dark side of shamanism and a good cure for your positive projection onto Native Americans.

The World Wide Web: Enter Shamanism into your favorite search engine.  Some wonderful things here but 95% is sophomoric and naïve. On the various search engines there are anywhere from 0 to 7000+ references. At its best when you ask for Saami Shamanism, Siberian Shamanism or others by culture.  But tell me, what is “technoshamanism” and “cybershamanism”?

Drum and Rattles

Hart, Mickey and Frederick Lieberman.  Planet Drum: A Celebration of Percussion and Rhythm. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1991. Ethnomusicology of the drum, rattle and other percussion instruments.  Shows a number of shamanic instruments, some of them in use. 

Howard, Joseph H. Drums in the Americas: The History and Development of Drums in the New World from the Pre-Columbian Era to Modern Times.  NY: Oak Publications, 1967.  Not a "how-to" book, but has a fascinating text and lots of pictures of drums, etc. Hard to find, but worth it.

Mason, Bernard S.  How to Make Drums, Tom-toms & Rattles: Primitive Percussion Instruments for Modern Use. NY: Dover Publications, 1974 (1938). The best book in this area and on sale through Shamanic Arts Studio Gallery.