Product Description

From the author of Dreambody – a pioneering method of using crisis as a dynamic opportunity for accessing our inner world, confronting our fears, and catalyzing self–discovery.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60451 in Books
• Published on: 1993-11-30
• Released on: 1993-11-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

From Library Journal
Mindell, the author of Dreambody (1982) and an experienced shaman who has encountered African, Native American, Australian aboriginal, and Indian Hindu healers firsthand, outlines the process of accessing one's "dreambody" and developing a shamanic approach to everyday life. Each chapter wanders freely from modern psychotherapeutic understandings, enriched by Mindell's experiences, to what he learned from traditional cultures; most conclude with exercises to help the reader personally appropriate the teachings. Mindell is especially adept at putting learning from exotic cultures into accessible terms. Recommended for larger public libraries and academic libraries.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Uh-oh!--you're saying--another voguish book on shamanism, one that applies the religion of ecstasy to everything but the breakup of the Soviet Union? What next? The Shaman's Quick Weight-Loss Diet? The Shaman Investor? Total-Quality Shaman? But no, Mindell's is one of the most sober-minded and informed recent books on the subject. He warns us, for instance, that shamanism is not an individualistic search for peak experience but a form of psychic community service. His is an unsentimental, unsensational view of shamanism that emphasizes its challenges rather than its ego-gratifying power. Using the vocabulary of Carlos Castenada's Don Juan books, Mindell discusses shamanism in many aspects of Western life--for instance, in therapy, medicine, and partnering. His strong, mature voice merits wide hearing. Pat Monaghan

About the Author
Arnold Mindell is the author of many books including Working with the Dreamingbody and Dreambody in Relationships. He is a Process-oriented therapist and teacher a the Process Work Center of Portland in Oregon, and lectures internationally on conflict resolution and "process work" psychology.

Customer Reviews

Process oriented book
When came to process oriented psychology, I will recomended this book. This is a good book about above subject.

A good supplement
I liked this book. By itself it is probably not the best book if you want to learn shamanic techniques. But it is a good supplement to any learning and practice of shamanism. It is more philosophy then practice, but there are some concrete ideas of how to develop your shamanic abilities.

Very psychologically based
This is a good book for someone into psychology and who has not read alot about shamanism before. But it is not a work focusing on the mystical or healing side of shamanism. The language is a bit too academic, even clinical, for shamanic work. The author refers to psychological principles and Carl Jung too many times.

If you are interested in Shamanism you should first spend lots of time outdoors connecting with nature. The Book of the Shaman by Nicholas Wood is a great overview if you have not read about shamanism before. If you want more advanced information from books then look to Carlos Castenada or Ted Andrews (Animal-speak, but not the other magical stuff he does). Serge Khali King's Urban Shaman is worth a read as well. Woman Who Glows in the Dark by Elena Avila has some great information.

I can't recommend Ingerman or Harner because they are the same school and are a bit rigid related to technique of drumming and are still learning/changing their minds about technique in soul retrieval. I feel that their techiques are dated and not widely influenced by traditional shamanism. I have not found solid 'advanced' Toltec information yet including Don Miguel Ruiz or Theun Mares.

If you are at all interested in Huna (Hawaiin Mysticism) then Fundamentals of Hawaiian Mysticism by Charlotte Berney is the best overview.