Shamanic Creativity

• Explains how creativity--or creative energy--is a life-giving force that frees the imagination, supports innovation, and awakens unique ways of thinking and feeling that can transform your life • Explores how to use spirit journeying and ceremony alongside experiential shamanic exercises to release creativity-blocking patterns, reprogram the subconscious, engage the “right brain,” boost imagination, and overcome anxiety and other destructive emotions • Provides suggestions for when your creative energy is at a low tide In this step-by-step practical guide to enhancing creative energy, Evelyn Rysdyk explains, from the shamanic perspective, how creativity--or creative energy--is a life-giving force that frees the imagination, supports innovation, and awakens unique ways of thinking and feeling that can transform your life. She explores how to use the shamanic technologies of spirit journeying and ceremony alongside experiential shamanic exercises to release creativity-blocking patterns, reprogram the subconscious, engage the “right brain,” boost imagination, overcome anxiety and destructive emotions, and become much more creative in daily life. Examining creative energy as a natural phenomenon similar to the tides, the author provides suggestions for when your creative energy is at a low tide as well as offering shamanic techniques for dealing with insecurities related to your creative pursuits and overcoming dysfunctional subconscious perceptions. Presenting a wealth of experiential exercises, rituals, and shamanic principles, this guide gives you the keys to unlock your own creative birthright.

Connect to Spirit & Find Your Way to Wholeness, Balance & Harmony This comprehensive guide takes you into the highly experiential world of shamanism. You'll learn a variety of foundational topics, including how to take shamanic journeys and perform rituals such as divination and healing, as well as intermediate skills such as longdistance healing and dream work. Mark Nelson shares transversal beliefs and practices not connected to a specific culture or religion, making this book accessible to everyone. Explore nature and its spirits, perform shadow work and ancestral healing, and harness the power of psychopomp and soul retrieval. You'll discover how to reach altered states, connect with diverse types of spirits, and study the history and customs of shamanism. Extensive and easy to follow, Shamanism provides all you need to begin or enhance your practice.

This groundbreaking book offers a complete "healer's toolkit" for shamanic practitioners. Along with an in-depth discussion of the theories, practices, and ethics of shamanic healing work, this guide gives you first-hand accounts of healing experiences from the author's practice, exercises to help you develop your skills and abilities, and ceremonies to use in your own practice. The Book of Shamanic Healing covers all aspects of shamanic healing in a practical manner, with instructions on how to: Create sacred space and healing ceremonies Partner with your drum to create healing Develop your shamanic and psychic abilities Free your voice and seek your power song Communicate quickly and easily with spirit guides Explore your shadow side Perform soul retrievals and extractions safely Use dreams, stones, crystals, and colors in healing work Connect to the healing universe and live in balance

Based on extensive field-work and including folktales, legends, and shamanic poems that elucidate spiritual traditions as well as descriptions of local rituals, this book guides readers through the often confusing phenomena of the shamanic revival, both in Russia and abroad. It is a travel narrative, history, and an ethnology.

A journey through the three pathways of time--present, past, and future--to open yourself to shamanic visions • Presents shamanic tools to help you prepare to receive visions, release the burdens of the past, and bring clarity to your visions of the future • Shares Earth Whispering practices to expand the senses, set intentions, and connect deeply with intuition and spirit helpers • Offers advice on working with guides and soul protectors as well as the different realms a guide might emerge from Visionaries dream the future into life, and throughout the ages shamans have served this role within their communities. Yet, how does one as an individual open to visions and allow the messages we need to hear to come through? Enter the stage of Shamanic Dreaming for a playful, evocative rendezvous with circle consciousness. In this shamanic guide, visionary Carol Day shows how to access our creative potential to shape a strong vision for ourselves and others, connecting intimately to the world around with the support of seen and unseen realms. Earth whispering practices prepare for shamanic visioning by expanding the senses; we open up to different dimensions and initiate a conscious relationship with nature, myth, and archetype through the creativity wheel. A time travel adventure through present, past, and future lands connects us with the ancestors and the future ones. Working with nature portals on the land and attuning with nature and animal guides, we visit the past to heal our ancestral lines. Visiting the future ones, we understand the importance of what we hold today in creating the environments and conditions of the future. Closing the circle to the present, our longing finds us ready to bring clarity to our own visions. Ingeniously crafted, Shamanic Dreaming provides us with all the practical skills needed for insightful visionary questing.

How to work with the chakra centers to heal unresolved psychic wounds • Reveals how psychic injuries become lodged within the energy body • Links one major developmental stage with each major chakra • Provides a detailed guide to healing and clearing the tensions each chakra holds The chakra system identifies eight centers in the psycho-anatomy of humans, each one associated with a different part of the physical or energy body. Susan J. Wright, a practicing shaman and Gestalt psychotherapist, uses her own life journey to show that each chakra also is linked to a different stage of emotional and spiritual development. In The Chakras in Shamanic Practice, she identifies eight key developmental stages of life, from birth to old age/death. Each of these life stages has various developmental challenges and potential traumatic events that will likely occur and affect the health and well-being of the individual. Wright explains that life traumas experienced in particular developmental stages become lodged within the energy body as they cling to their corresponding chakra. By identifying and working with the chakra involved, a doorway can be opened to a world of transformative images, allowing powerful shamanic techniques to heal these psychic wounds. Providing both physical exercises and guided meditations that utilize the techniques of soul retrieval, working with power animals, and transcending trauma, Wright offers practitioners a way to gather and nurture the fragmented parts of their energy body and lead themselves to physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being.

"Awakening the Shaman Within: Unveiling the Mysteries of Ancient Wisdom" takes readers on a captivating odyssey into the heart of shamanism—an ancient and revered tradition that has traversed the annals of human history. Through the pages of this transformative book, readers are invited to explore the rich tapestry of shamanic practices, unveiling the hidden wisdom and sacred mysteries that lie within. Chapter by chapter, the book delves into the various facets of shamanism, offering profound insights into its origins, rituals, and significance in modern society. From the ancient practices that were steeped in reverence for the natural world to their adaptation in the context of contemporary living, "Awakening the Shaman Within" offers a comprehensive understanding of this time-honored tradition. In the initial chapters, readers are introduced to the calling of the shaman—the mystical bridge between the human realm and the spirit world. Delving into the depths of consciousness, they learn the art of navigating the shamanic worlds—the Lower, Middle, and Upper—wherein reside the keys to healing, wisdom, and transformation. The book further illuminates the significance of the medicine wheel—a sacred symbol that embodies the cyclical nature of existence and serves as a profound tool for personal growth and healing. Readers will uncover the symbolic meanings of the Four Directions and harness the transformative power of the medicine wheel for their spiritual journey. Guardians of the Spirit Realm—power animals and spirit guides—are introduced as essential allies on the shamanic path. With reverence for nature's wisdom and an understanding of the interconnectedness of all living beings, readers forge nurturing relationships with these spiritual allies to receive guidance and insight. The journey continues as readers embrace the shamanic arts of meditation, dream interpretation, and divination, delving into the depths of their subconscious and receiving guidance from the spirit realm. By embarking on shamanic journeys and interacting with celestial beings, they open themselves to cosmic wisdom and unveil the profound truths that lie beyond ordinary reality. As the book progresses, readers learn the sacred practices and rituals of shamanism, from connecting with ancestral wisdom to embracing the balance of masculine and feminine energies. They discover the healing potential of elemental connection and past-life integration, transcending time and space to gain insights from parallel realities. "Awakening the Shaman Within" unveils the shaman's vital role in the community, emphasizing collective healing, shamanic leadership, and ethical practice. Recognizing the symbiotic relationship with Earth, readers are empowered to become guardians of Gaia, fostering ecological activism and sustainability. In the concluding chapters, the book beckons readers to integrate shamanic wisdom into everyday life, becoming luminous warriors who embody spiritual illumination and serve humanity with love and compassion. By embracing the call of the sacred and the extraordinary, readers awaken the dormant shamanic essence within, stepping into a profound journey of awakening, healing, and self-discovery. As you embark on this transformative voyage, "Awakening the Shaman Within" invites you to unveil the mysteries of ancient wisdom and embrace the profound interconnectedness of all life. Prepare to awaken the shaman within you and traverse the realms of spirit, consciousness, and nature, where healing and spiritual evolution await.

The new and updated edition of The Archaeology of Religion explores how archaeology interprets past religions, offering insights into how archaeologists seek out the religious, ritual, and symbolic meaning behind what they discover in their research. The book includes case studies from around the world, from the study of Upper Palaeolithic and hunter-gatherer religions to religious structures and practices in complex societies of the Americas, Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China. Steadman also includes chapters on the origins and development of key contemporary religions—Judaism, Christianity, Islam, among others—to provide an historical and comparative context. Three main themes are threaded throughout the book. These main themes involve the intersection between cultural and religious structures (“religion reflects culture”), including the importance of environment in shaping a culture’s religion, the role religion can sometimes play as a method of social control, and the role religion can sometimes play as a key component in revitalizing a culture. Updated with new discoveries and theories and with two new chapters (Hunter-Gatherer Religions; and Cultures in East Asia) and with new sections on Neolithic Western Asia, the book remains an ideal introduction for courses that include a significant component on past cultures and their religions.