Awakening to the Spirit World: The Shamanic Path of Direct Revelation [Unabridged] [Paperback]

Sandra Ingerman (Author), Hank Wesselman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2010

Today, practicing shamanism doesn't mean you have to live in a rain forest or a desert. Thanks to a modern renaissance of shamanic spirituality, practitioners from all walks of life now use powerful indigenous techniques for healing, insight, and spiritual growth. With Awakening to the Spirit World, teachers Sandra Ingerman and Hank Wesselman bring together a circle of renowned Western shamanic elders to present a comprehensive manual for making these practices accessible and available in our daily lives, including: How the original practice of shamanism shaped the world's spiritual traditions and why it is still relevant today. The art of the shamanic journey--a time-tested meditative method for experiencing important piritual lessons and truths. Guidance for avoiding common pitfalls of shamanic practice. Instruction for working with your dreams, connecting to your spirit guides, healing yourself and your environment. A CD of drumming to facilitate your hamanic journeys.

Editorial Reviews

Review

This book's two authors are popular lecturers, writers, and practitioners of contemporary shamanism. Sandra Ingerman's previous books include Soul Retrieval, Welcome Home, A Fall to Grace, and Shamanic Journeying. Those by Hank Wesselman include The Journey to the Sacred Garden and the trilogy Spiritwalker, Medicinemaker, and Visionseeker. Both authors see shamanism not as a religion but as a method free of any religious overlay or dogma, as "the path of immediate and direct personal contact with Spirit, deeply meditative, and not subject to definition, censorship, or judgment by others." They stress that the shamanic approach to life is natural and basic to everyone and that human beings everywhere share the same basic traits, abilities, and skills with shamans, who are "visionaries who simply develop these skills to a masterful degree through their initiations and subsequent training."

The book begins by explaining shamanism, the shamanic journey, and the importance of reconnecting with nature. It then covers all aspects of shamanism, including visionary work with weather and environmental changes, the power of ritual and ceremony, dreams, creative art, sound and light, death and dying (both actual and metaphorical), and working with transformational communities. In addition to material from Ingerman and Wasselman, each chapter includes extended commentary by Tom Cowan, Carol Proudfoot-Edgar, Jose Luis Stevens, and Alberto Villoldo.

One objective of the shamanic approach stressed by these authors is for the individual to become liberated and self-realized, able to gain mastery over life. Three necessary tools are gratitude, or the ability to see through the false ego to the heart; seeing, or cutting through falsity to the true nature of Spirit; and blessing, or recognizing the Spirit flowing through one. Shamans are viewed as hollow bones or empty reeds, people who learn "to move ... ego out of the way so that the power of the universe may work through and within them." Each chapter contains step-by-step exercises, many to be undertaken while using the drumming CD included with the book.

One of the optimistic understandings of the shaman is that "since everyone is collectively dreaming, each person can, with awareness and an act of will, change the dream." To this end the authors say that there are spiritual forces surrounding us in many forms, and they hear our call for help. The two authors and the other contributors share the view that "a new dream is possible but requires enough dreamers to wake up from their collective nightmare and choose to transform the dream." The book is highly recommended, especially to newcomers, for its breadth of coverage of modern shamanism and the clarity of its practical usefulness.- Richard D. Wright, Tranquil Things, Derby Line, Vt.

-- New Age Retailer, January 18, 2010

About the Author

Hank Wesselman, PhD, is a paleoanthropologist and shamanic teacher who has worked with noted anthropologists investigating the mysteries of human origins in Africa. His books include Visionseeker (Hay House,2002), Spiritwalker(Bantam, 1996) and Journey to the Sacred Garden(Hay House, 2003). He lives in Hawaii.

Sandra Ingerman is a licensed therapist and shamanic practitioner who teaches workshops on shamanism and reversing environmental pollution. Acclaimed for bringing ancient healing practices into modern culture, her books include Shamanic Journeying (Sounds True, 2008) and Soul Retrieval(HarperOne, 2006). She resides in New Mexico.

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Sounds True, Incorporated; Pap/Com edition (February 28, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591797500
• ISBN-13: 978-1591797500
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Earth-Based Religions > Paganism
  • #17 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Earth-Based Religions > Shamanism

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

77 of 80 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Remember your true origins....... March 4, 2010

By Kiwi VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

This is a lovely book.....inside and out. I particularly love the crow on the cover; I have a murder of crows which live on my land and I just adore their silly-ness and their sense of humor.... But enough about the cover..

Shamanism is an ancient study/awareness of the Universe in my opinion. There are many indigenous peoples who hold these sacred practices from their ancestors, in high esteem. This book helps to allow some of these special ceremonies and magic to surface. It gives us knowledge and ways to communicate with the energy and the spirits who surround us. There is also a drumming CD included, which is a very nice touch.

I was drawn to the chapters on Dreaming and Death because these two subjects are pertinent to me. These are such important topics for healing and for release. I believe humans should be more informed with end of life issues and to embrace this time as a special journey, rather than shunning it, out of fear. Everyone should be allowed the dignity of dying with grace. These chapters help greatly in explaining this powerful rite of passage.

The Dreaming chapter is just as revealing and should be read by everyone. Our dreams are so important to our *knowing.* Our Spirit Guides are here to help with our questions and they love nothing more than to help us. Learning from them and honouring them should be part of our daily thanks. The paranormal is normal, the supernatural is natural. Nature is the way back to ourselves.

I wouldn't call this book a manual, it's more of an eye opener or an overview. But it is a journey worth taking and a way to learn how to relax and spend time with the unknown. Highly recommended and I feel it would make a very thoughtful gift.

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be top of the list for Shamanic Studies March 15, 2010

By Kristi G., mom of Sage VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

Very well written, easy to read book with a lot of thought and insight and research put into it.
I was delighted when I saw it - it is a gorgeous book with a really gorgeous cover - I LOVE that art - but I was pleasantly suprised that it came with Shamanic tracts on a CD. I had not realized the book came with a cd! I had no problem finishing this book. I read it in sections, and looked forward to my time alone with it.
What I liked might be hard to put into words....as one that's been on a Shamanic pagan path for many years, this book coincided very well with my beliefs and the ritual elements that it discussed, they are already my own, and I will vouch for their effectiveness. But it wasn't THAT... There's tidbits in this book, especially some of the words from the shamans interviewed for this book, that sort of flipped some switches I didn't know I had. I gathered some very AHA! insights from this book, which are well worth the cost in time and effort put into reading it. I felt PUSHED along on my current path, perhaps saving me unknown amounts of time and meditation on certain things. It's a bit surreal, it is by it's nature hard to express.
The CD tracks are also very effective - the author(s) have studied beats from many cultures, many Shamans, and have found that they have a lot in common, and that is what the trance drumming is based on.
I do think that Wiccans and Neopagans would enjoy this book as well. Some of the ritual elements certainly overlap.
This book was recently featured on a Coast to Coast radio show. If you read it, and like it, you might catch that on the web or something. One of the authors talked more about his personal journey and the effort of research that went into this. This book was well researched by a well educated scientist.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Exploring the Mystical Life June 6, 2010

By Alejandra Vernon HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

"Awakening to the Spirit World" is an excellent overview that covers a lot of ground, giving us a bit of history of the beginnings of shamanism, the indigenous cultures that have nurtured the teachings, and how their spiritual leaders, whether they be called shamans, medicine men, or something else, have tapped into the supernatural and touched the unknown, become acquainted with their spirit animals, wandered the inner worlds, and received revelation. Sandra Ingerman and Hank Wesselman have brought us other voices to join them in this volume: Tom Cowan, Carol Proudfoot-Edgar, Jose Luis Stevens, and Alberto Villoldo. All of them have their own experience to add to this wide-ranging teaching, and if you read this book with an open mind, I have no doubt that you will get nuggets of pure wisdom from it.

I have some favorite sections: Carol Proudfoot-Edgar on working with our animal companions in Chapter 2, "The Shamanic Journey," a chapter where we learn exercises to prepare and travel on our own personal journey. Chapter 7, "Creative Art as a Bridge," which talks of the power of words, and how we can heal and bless with what we say. Chapter 11, "All Change Involves Death," and the erasing of personal history to remove the emotion out of past events that prevent us from moving forward. Among the things that blessed me most in the book was Hank Wesselman's respectful version of the Lord's Prayer in Chapter 5. Saying it aloud is transformative.

The book includes a CD with 4 pieces of drumming and other instruments, specifically made for journeying, that is most helpful. Total time is 62.21, enough time to journey and to relax (this is especially useful for city-dwellers, to drown out any extraneous noises).