Customer Reviews

Dreamtime and Inner Space: The World of the Shaman

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Kalweit traces in great detail and with admirable sympathy the rich textures of the shamanic tradition, across the globe and throughout recorded ethnological histories. Particularly interesting and useful is the comparsion with contemporary near-death experiences (no doubt due to Kubler-Ross' influence) and more importantly, his development of a new, apolitical, model of human consciousness, within which the ecstatic state is given equal consideration alongside rational, affective, and other socially construed 'normative' states of awareness. In my opinion, Kalweit's work is both more interesting and relevant than Elidae's now outdated period piece, and I can only hope that it will become the new standard in shamanic studies.

I cannot emphasize it enough, this is one of the most definitive books on shamanism available to the public at large. This book goes into extensive details about the practices and rites of Shamanism. The author writes about the indigenous religions of societies from North and South America, Africa, Australia, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Siberia, Polynesia and Nepal. I strongly recommend this book.

Combining the cross-cultural scholarship of Eliade's "Shamanism" and the experiential teachings of Harner's "Way of the Shaman," Kalweit's "Dreamtime and Inner Space" has remained the single most useful work on shamanism in my research library. Fascinating, readable, and accessible, this is a book to refer back to again and again. Kalweit is a believer, but he is an educated believer. He presents the reader with shamanic experiences from a multiplicity of cultures, teaching techniques through the stories of shamans from around the world. If you have any interest at all in this subject, "Dreamtime and Inner Space" is a book you must own.

To my mind, this is still the best book on the topic. I found it much more thorough and much deeper than Harner, and Kalweit makes no pretentions about being able to make YOU a shaman.

This book is filled with wonderful facts and good information. Unfortunately, it's so dryly written you you have to practice focus just to read it. The ideals expressed go right along with basic shamanic principles, but the language is hard to escape without falling into a "dream state" if you know what I mean. So if you have the stamina and don't mind text-book dullness it's a good book for a basic undrestanding.

It is a well researched and comprehensive serious book on shamanism. It's not an easy read, but it is worth it. There are many books that tell amazing true stories of the lives and experiences of shamans and medicine men/women in more of a story form, and they are fun to read. But, this is a book that makes it clear to academics that shamanic experiences are available to everyone to develop. Shamanism is embedded in virtually all cultures and deep within our genetic memory. My only disappointment, and the reason I am here on this page, is that I was hoping he wrote a follow-up, telling us his own experiences.

A bit disappointing, though there is certainly a ton of information in the book. Probably a more suitable beginner's book, and less for someone who has been devouring and researching for years now. I enjoyed his other book more, personally.