Shamanism And The Ancient Mind

A study of archaeological evidence for Shamanism in North America and how it links to the archaeology of the mind. Visit our website for sample chapters!

This long awaited book discusses both ancient and modern shamanism, demonstrating its longevity and spatial distribution. The book is divided into eleven thought-provoking chapters that are organised into three sections: mind-body, nature, and culture. It discusses the clear associations with this sometimes little-understood ritualised practice, and asks what shamanism is and if tangible evidence can be extracted from a largely fragmentary archaeological record. The book offers a novel portrayal of the material culture of shamanism by collating carefully selected studies by specialists from three different continents, promoting a series of new perspectives on this idiosyncratic and sometimes intangible phenomenon.

This newly revised edition of the Wall Street Journal bestseller One Spirit Medicine offers an accessible guide to an ancient practice for healing and transformation--including new, cutting-edge science, recipes, and a 7-day Grow a New Body meal plan! Using the principles and practices in this book, you can feel better in a few days, begin to clear your mind and heal your brain in a week, and in six weeks be on your way to growing a new body--one that heals rapidly, retains its youthful vitality, and keeps you connected to Spirit, to the earth, and to a renewed sense of purpose in your life. Our minds, our emotions, our relationships, and our bodies are out of kilter. We know it, but we tend to ignore it until something brings us up short--a worrying diagnosis, a broken relationship, or simply an inability to function harmoniously in everyday life. When things are a little off, we read a self-help book. When they're really bad, we bring in oncologists to address cancer, neurologists to repair the brain, psychologists to help us understand our family of origin. This fragmented approach to health is merely a stopgap. To truly heal, we need to return to the original recipe for wellness discovered by shamans millennia ago. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience as a medical anthropologist--as well as his own journey back from the edge of death--acclaimed shamanic teacher Alberto Villoldo shows you how to detoxify the brain and gut with superfoods; use techniques for working with our luminous energy fields to heal your body; and follow the ancient path of the medicine wheel to shed disempowering stories from the past and pave the way for rebirth.

Fascinating, comprehensive, and eminently readable, this guide explores shamanism—the world's most enduring healing and religious tradition—in the light of modern medicine, psychology, neuroscience, consciousness disciplines, and religious studies. Praise: "As if on cue, just when I am beginning to think that shamanism is the ground from which all religions spring, along comes this book. I cannot imagine a book that would be more helpful to me in thinking through this important subject."—Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions "...Unquestionably the most rounded compact introduction to shamanism, particularly the inner world of shamans, available today. A door-opening book for students of consciousness and spirituality."—Georg Feuerstein, PhD, M.Litt, author of The Yoga Tradition "A splendidly clear and timely survey of shamanism."—Jean Achterberg, PhD, author of Imagery in Healing "Quite simply, this book is a major step forward in understanding the vital phenomenon of shamanism. I recommend it highly."—Charles Tart, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of California at Davis, author of States of Consciousness "...Eminently useful and inspiring. A brilliant integrative work that pushes the frontiers of consciousness in insightful, practical, and powerful ways."—Angeles Arrien, PhD, Cultural Anthropologist, author of The Four-Fold Way and The Second Half of Life"... Unique in bringing together the full range of anthropological, psychological, and psychiatric literature on this vital subject. It does so with admirable scholarship yet still manages to be sensitive and clear."—Christie W. Kiefer, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Anthropology, University of California at San Francisco

A hands-on guide to advanced spiritual transformation through the combined sacred arts of alchemy and shamanism • Recasts the 7 stages of the alchemical “Great Work” as a transformative shamanic journey and initiatic experience • Provides step-by-step instructions for 18 shamanic alchemy practices for inner transformation, including vibrational energy work, consciousness-altering techniques, the creation of mirrors of the mind, and sacred ceremonies tied to the four elements • Explores the alchemical plant-medicine techniques of spagyrics, as well as recipes for basic tinctures and “plant-stones” Offering a unique, hands-on guide to advanced self-transformation, James Endredy shows how traditional shamanic techniques offer a doorway into the sacred art of alchemy, the inner transformation of the soul. Revealing the practical and intuitive connections between shamanism and alchemy, including not only Western alchemy but also alchemical practices from the East, Endredy recasts the 7 stages of the alchemical “Great Work” as a transformative shamanic journey and initiatic experience. He provides step-by-step instructions for 18 shamanic alchemy practices for inner transformation, including vibrational energy work, consciousness-altering techniques, the creation of mirrors of the mind, shamanic viewing, and sacred ceremonies tied to the four elements. Exploring the healing art of spagyrics, the author shows how this alchemical plant-medicine practice is receptive to the energetic work of traditional shamanic techniques. He details formulations for distilling shamanic spagyric remedies, as well as recipes for basic tinctures and “plant-stones.” He also discusses the creation of sacred space, altars, and shamanic distillation lodges. Comparing shamanic and alchemical cosmologies, the author explains how both shamanism and alchemy employ direct experience of the numinous and invisible worlds, also known as gnosis, to impart wisdom, invoke peace of mind, and increase creativity and vitality. Showing how the practical vibrational science of alchemy and the consciousness-transforming techniques of shamanism directly enhance and expand upon each other, Endredy also reveals how they have the same ultimate goals: to allow the practitioner to transmute spiritual lead into gold and to penetrate the deep secrets of life and of nature.

Shamanism, humanity's most ancient spiritual practice, has achieved a dramatic modern resurgence. The foundations and appeal of shamanism are rooted in human nature, the psychobiology of consciousness, and archetypal structures of the brain and mind. The classic shamanic motif of death and rebirth represents the development of self through the symbolic death of the old self to permit the emergence and integration of a higher order self.

In The Origins of Shamanism, Spirit Beliefs, and Religiosity, H. Sidky uses first-hand ethnographic fieldwork and scientific theoretical work in archaeology, psychology, and neurotheology to explore the origins of shamanism, spirit beliefs, the evolution of human consciousness, and the origins of ritual behavior and religiosity.

To learn to think like a shaman is to attune yourself to a magical spectrum of infinite possibilities, unseen truths, alternative realities, and spiritual support. When a shaman likes what’s happening, they know how to make it better, and when they don’t, they know how to change it. The Shaman’s Mind is a book that teaches the reader how to align and transform their own mind into one that sees the world through the lens of the indigenous healers of old. Based on the Omega workshop by the same name.