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Shamanic Spirit: A Practical Guide to Personal Fulfillment

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What makes this book interesting is the universal treatment that Meadows gives to shamanism. In this book, you get glimpses to a diversity of concepts and traditions such as Chakras (Buddhism), Earth Medicine Wheel (Native American), Chi (Taoism), and Mana (Kahuna Shamans) among others. These are discussed with a level of detail not found in other books of shamanism.

In the introduction, the author defines Shamanics as "a way to extend your awareness to new and exciting levels of perception and enhance your life in many ways". Shamanics, like core shamanism, attempts to identify the common essence among shamanic traditions, stripping out all religious and philosophical connotations.

Afterwards, the book is divided into twelve chapters.

1. Wonderful You - The Physical Body, The Mind, The Soul and The Spirit.
2. The Energic Body - The Chakras, and Working with the Energic Body.
3. Different Realities - Awareness, and Perception of Reality.
4. The Reality of The Mind - The Mind, The Ego, and The Shaman's Cosmos
5. Your Earth Personality - The Medicine Wheel, and Totems.
6. Cosmic Influences - Self-knowledge through the Medicine Wheel, The Four Directions, Yang and Yin, The Four Elements, and The Five Elements.
7. 'That without which nothing can exist' - Mana, Chi Dynamics, and Shamanic Tools.
8. Working with The Elements - Working with the Medicine Wheel, and Connecting with the Four Elements.
9. The Reality of The Soul - The Soul Body, and Soul Retrieval.
10. The Reality of The Spirit
11. Your Different 'Selves' - The Ego-self, The Hidden Self, The Body Self, and The Greatest Self.
12. The Path of Love and Harmony - The Ego and Conditioning, Dimensions of Existence, and The Way of The Heart.

There are 33 exercises thought the book, converting knowledge into practice. The book even includes a 60-minute Shamanic Drumming CD to help with the shamanic experience. The CD contains two tracks:

1.Explains How To Experience Shamanic Consciousness
2.Provides Shamanic Drumming for 25 Minutes

At times, Shamanics seems akin to Hermetics, but with a focus on the spirit. In all, Shamanic Spirit may be another book that succeeds in reframing shamanism for the modern man.

this book seems to be drawing from many different traditions in something of a surface manner when it comes to energy - the meridians, the chakras, some chi kung, even the taoist inner smile popularized by master mantak chia, runes, the I ching...what else can be thrown in? Seriously speaking, this is a good book. It is just not a very shamanic-focused book. It actually seems to be concerned with presenting some basic chi kung concepts and related practices from around the world, and identifying anything related to these as shamanism. If this is the case, why not try out the root of chinese chi kung by yang jwing-ming, and get the undiluted real deal? Or energetic anatomy by mark rich, or the book of changes and the unchanging truth by hua-ching ni? I have not read the earlier books by meadows, but I bet they are more shamanism than this later book.

As one who has been apprenticed to a shamanic path with heart, I can see in Meadows book, although it is just the beginning of a shamanics education, a depth of understanding that shows true "knowing." This is important stuff for the West.

Unfortunately, there is no bridge to shamanics from the popular teachings of Christianity, or Judaism, or any of the other mainstream spiritual paths. Someone who comes from one of these other spiritual traditions into "shamanics" will have to discover the obstacles to understanding implanted by their conditioned views of Reality and themselves. It would be very helpful to many from these traditions to have an early bridge chapter which prepares a reader for the assumptions and beliefs that he is going to have to challenge as he undertakes the shamanics teachings. That chapter is not here. But this doesn't lessen the excellence of what is here. It just means we've got to be prepared to leap from a high place into a deep pool without knowing how chilled the water or deep the bottom. Such is life! The Unknown is the only place to be to feel alive.

Reflecting on Ken's book, it saddens me what Mankind in the West has already lost in embracing religious traditions which turn away from the Earth and the Sacredness of All That Is for a mechanical and deadened view of Life Itself. It often takes a great deal of courage for someone from those other traditions to take a step into the Unknown of the material in this book. For those who need a challenge, hear mine! This book will open your mind and heart.

Good work, Ken! And thanks for all your other works as well. These works are a real Giveaway of Love by both you and the Medicine to the people of the World.

Namaste

This is an awesome read...well written, easy to learn & understand, sections well laid - very good reading experience...