The spirit of shamanism

Includes index.. Bibliography: p. 272-280.. Responsibility Roger N. Walsh.

Part 1 - What and why is shamanism?. 1 Why shamanism and why now?. 2 What is a shaman?. Part 2 The life of the shaman. 3 The hero's journey. 4 The intial call and initiation crisis. 5 A life of learning: shamanic training and discipline. 6 The culmination of the quest: light and death-rebirth. 7 Primitive madman or mystic in the making? conventional views. 8 Psychotic emergency or spiritual emergence? recent views. 9 Shamanic trickery. Part 3 - The shaman's universe. 10 Many worlds and many spirits. Part 4 - Shamanic techniques. 11 Cosmic traveling: the shamanic journey. 12 The technology of transcendence: inducing altered states. 13 Divination and diagnosis. 14 How do they heal? The psychological principles of shamanic healing. 15 How do they heal? Beyond psychology. 16 How do they heal themselves?. Part 5 - Shamanic states of mind. 17 Mapping shamaniic states. 18 Comparing states: shamanism, schizophrenia, Buddhism, and yoga. 19 Mapping levels of consciousness. 20 The evolution of consciousness. Part 6 - Ancient rradition in a modern world. 21 Shamanism in a world at risk. 22 Shamanism today and tomorrow. Epilogue: Further explorations

'In this highly praised account of the most ancient of religious practices,...Walsh...vividly evokes the training, techniques, experiences, states of mind, and healing practices of the tribal shaman. He also shows how some shamanic practices are found to foreshadow contemporary medical and psychological techniques.'

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