Product Description

"I am about to tell you a most unusual story, a chronicle of something that happened to me while I was living on the flank of an active volcano on the island of Hawai'i. I'm a scientist. I mention this because I do not feel that I was in any way predisposed for what was about to occur. In fact, my scientific training would seem to have preprogrammed me against such an experience." -- From Spiritwalker

The astonishing true story of an anthropologist's quest into a spiritual world of magic, mysticism, and meaning.

Not since Castaneda's tutelage under the Yacqui Indian guide Don Juan has there been a spiritual autobiography quite like Spiritwalker.

Hank Wesselman's incredible story of a series of encounters that would forever change his life began with what he at first tried to explain away as particularly vivid dreams, but which grew increasingly intense and insistent, ultimately propelling him on twelve fantastic journeys across time and space. Over the next three years, his journeys proved to be far more important than mere reason could explain. Eventually, Dr. Wesselman became convinced that he'd been granted a visionary encounter with what tribal people from millennia past have called the "spirit world."

During his epic travels, Dr. Wesselman met shape-shifting entities, spirit helpers, and guardians, and found himself traversing a mental, physical, and
spiritual landscape on a path intersecting that of a fellow traveler, a Hawai'ian kahuna mystic named Nainoa. Five thousand years into the future, Nainoa had been sent by his Chief on a journey into what used to be America, a once-powerful land of machines and magic, from which no previous voyagers had ever returned. What did Nainoa seek from Dr. Wesselman? What did the anthropologist have to learn about his own world from this exotic traveler from another time and place? Together, scientist and mystic are initiated into knowledge of non-ordinary levels of reality and given foreshadowings of imminent environmental, political, and spiritual challenges to their civilization. Without abandoning his scientific objectivity, Dr. Wesselman abandoned himself to the mystical, sometimes frightening, yet always luminous experiences that brought him beyond the boundaries of ordinary consciousness. The result is a fascinating and suspenseful adventure, an exciting and important archeological discovery, and the story of how a hard-headed scientific-realist stumbled on an important piece of the puzzle of human evolution.

Socially urgent and disturbingly prophetic, Spiritwalker has a universal mythic resonance and an undeniable relevance for today as it challenges our
perceptions of our world, our reality, and our future.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #75662 in Books
• Published on: 1996-07-01
• Released on: 1996-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780553378375
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
While living on the flank of an active Hawaiian volcano between 1985 and 1989, anthropologist Wesselman reports, he had a series of visionary experiences. Projected 5000 years into the future, into the consciousness of a Hawaiian kahuna, or shamanic healer, named Nainoa, Wesselman presumably learned firsthand that Western civilization had been destroyed by a sudden rise in the ocean level. Through his paranormal interactions with Nainoa across the millennia, Wesselman has adventures in the spirit world and also watches as a band of Hawaiian natives who survived the cataclysm sail to the former California coast to rediscover the lost, devastated continent of North America. Fans of Carlos Castaneda's books may relate to these detailed premonitory visions, fleshed out with observations of Hawaiian shamanism. Wesselman lectures on shamanism and witchcraft at Sierra College in California. QPB main selection.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
Hank Wesselman's incredible true story begins with a series of vivid dreams he had while living on the flank of an active volcano in Hawaii. Eventually Wesselman became convinced that what he'd experienced were not merely dreams, but a vision encounter with what shamans have long called the "spirit world". In this world Wesselman met a fellow traveler, a Hawaiian Kahuna mystic named Nainoa. What did Nainoa seek from Wesselman? What did the anthropologist have to learn from this exotic traveler from another time and place? Maintaining his scientific objectivity, Wesselman embarked on a mystical journey beyond the boundaries of ordinary consciousness. The result is a fascinating adventure, an exciting discovery, and the story of how a hardheaded scientific realist may have stumbled on an important piece in the puzzle of human evolution. Spiritwalker is an engaging, fascinating work that is on par with the writings of Carols Castaneda. Spiritwalker is highly recommended for the non-specialist general reader, and "must" reading for any serious student of contemporary metaphysics. -- Midwest Book Review

From the Publisher
"What a fabulous, stunning, inspiring account!"
--Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Healing Words and Recovering the Soul

"Dr. Wesselman has begun to penetrate the shamanic realms of nonordinary reality and revelation. His dramatic accounts are well within the range of experiences regularly achieved by contemporary students of shamanism and shamanic journeying."
--Michael Harner, author of The Way of the Shaman

"Hank Wesselman tells a fascinating tale about the shaman's journey outside of time."
--Sandra Ingerman, author of Soul Retrieval and Welcome Home

"What a fabulous, stunning, inspiring account!"
--Larry Dossey, M.D., author of Healing Words and Recovering the Soul

Customer Reviews

Nonfiction or imagination - still a great read!
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I read this volume after hearing an interview Hank had given.

Although many of the individuals providing a review of this are Shamans or Shaman-apprentices, I am not. I have the amount of experience that Hank had at the mid point of his story. I am gathering from this story that it might be that neither Nainoa or Hank were in control of the experiences.

I truly valued the mystical aspect of the story in which Pele, the Leopardman, and the guardians provide lessons and assistance. The interactions between the various spirits and Hank or Nainoa is enlightening. Hawaii is truly a place which inspires the mystical experience.

I truly enjoyed the story. I am not here to debate the actual reality of this story. Regardless of the classification of fiction or non-fiction, this book is extremely entertaining and is a very good read. My only complaint is that the version I read was published in 8 pt font so it was straining to read such tiny print. If the print of this volume is as depicted in the Amazon preview, then it is a different edition that the edition that I read. Amazon's version appears to have at least a 10 pt font.

On a personal note, I enjoyed it since I have had random occurrences such as visions of the Leopardman (and of a stern owl), the pulsing when transitioning, the buzzing, the paralysis, some of the geometric visions, etc. I have never tried to control or expand on these. This story comforted me in that I know that I do not have an illness or disorder. It was very enlightening to know that this is a common spiritual occurrence that has been happening throughout the millenia.

I highly recommend this book and I must say that it has inspired me to read additional books written by Hank Wesselman.

Absolutely Fascinating!
If you are looking for a real page turner, and are interested in various metaphysical phenomena, then I would highly recommend this book for you.

Spiritwalker is about the true story of a series of visions the author, Hank Wesselman, experienced while living in a home on the edge of an active volcano in Hawaii. Through these visions, Mr. Wesselman realizes that the young man he is seeing is actually himself - 5,000 years into the future!

This book takes you a journey with the author...a journey to find himself, by himself. This is truly a fascinating journey, and it's written in such a way as to pull the reader in every step of the way.

Overall, I found this book to be quite thought provoking, and to be perfectly honest, I literally could not put it down! I definately give this book a 2 thumbs up!

Spiritwalker Participant-Observer
Hank's first book was a journey that perked my interest (in 1996) when his experiences mirrored puzzling sensations of sleep states I was experiencing (minus the sex). If you are open to the messages you can see and experience the wisdom as it unfolds. Reading this book I had a familiarity with a lot of the information he was processing. This book may not be for everyone, or I should say, it is not for the closed mind or "quick to judge", if you refuse to put aside layers of societal brainwashing and criticize at every step, you will not be ready to receive the gift of shared wisdom. I speak from growing up with traditional teachings of a Mohawk Nation, and often times, my formal anthropological education clashed with my cultural beliefs. Spiritwalker allowed me to fill in the gaps that a formal education often tries to dispel over traditional teachings. Thank you Hank for the wisdom shared and gratitude to the Hawaiian Elders and the Ancestors for their validation, also the Descendants who helped the process, and the Divine Spirit who guided.

Not forgetting to mention, in the book the perceptions of "human nature" people experience, often makes people question their own survival in the Human Race. So some people choose therapy, and/or any array of other vices to dull their senses. I like how the "shared wisdom" sheds light on topics such as addictions and other human nature fallacies. In Spiritwalker, I found affirmation in the shared wisdom ... the answers that are attainable if we re-learn "living" without the fear-based mentality and destruction we "pre-set" for ourselves.

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