Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24791 in Books
• Published on: 1996-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 213 pages

From Booklist
"Oh, yeah," you say, "right--I'm gonna drum in the office and go into the underworld on the subway?" No, Cowan responds, shamanism is more than tappings and trances. It is an integrated spiritual view adaptable to contemporary life. He argues that just as Zen Buddhism found a home in America (however different the U.S. variety might seem from its Asian original), so shamanism can, by modifying it but not losing its heart or substance. Drawing on shamanic beliefs and practices found in many cultures (what Cowan calls "core shamanism"), we can employ such devices as power animals, talismans, and journeying as centering devices to help us lead our spirits home. In Cowan's knowledgeable and passionate hands, what could have been a shallow how-to becomes an inspiring spiritual call. Patricia Monaghan

Review
Drawing on shamanic practices from around the world, Shamanism As A Spiritual Practice For Everyday Life addresses the needs of contemporary people who yearn to deepen their own innate mystical sensibilities. This inspirational book shows how to develop a personal spiritual practice by blending elements of shamanism with inherited traditions and current religious commitments. Shamanism As A Spiritual Practice For Everyday Life covers the central role of power animals and spirit teachers; visionary techniques for exploring the extraordinary in everyday life; elements of childhood spirituality including songs, secret hiding places, power spots, and imaginary power figures; and the journey to an ancestral shaman to recover lost knowledge. Engaging, informative reading. -- Midwest Book Review

Customer Reviews

My Personal Favorite Book on Shamanism
I've read dozens of spectacular and not-so-spectacular books on Shamanism. This book is by far my #1 favorite, in terms of depth of coverage, interest, points worth mentioning, etc.

This is a handbook of the Shaman - from solving personal problems in the life of your own, to those of others.

One of the main reasons why I love this book is because of the diverse array of (fascinating) ideas and recommendations for journeying. A book not to be put down! I often re-read it for inspiration and journey ideas.

not working for me
There are some interesting ideas in here for taking inner journeys. They did not engage me. I guess I am needing to be present rather escaping.

cat's cradle
I enjoyed reading this book. As with some of the other books on neo-shamanism, there is a finely-tuned good humour and sensitivity to aspects of nature seen through the windows of the imagination. An open and childlike awe of life is psychologically healthy and it is as it should be. I do find, with regard to New Age shamanistic books, that it helps to use what is said opens ways to expand your mind and perspectives, that the message to take from one's reading is that there are ways to live more fully. To read in such a way is to develop one's understanding of one's own mind and how to develop it more fully. Nonetheless, I would not like to see anyone take as a message from this book that there are actual fairies at the bottom of their gardens.