Customer Reviews

Shamanic Voices: A Survey of Visionary Narratives (Arkana)

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Books on shamanism tend to be quite a mixed bunch in terms of quality. Shamanic Voices though is one of the best and most authentic (steering well clear of the flakey "new age" type of shamanism). I would also recommend highly Wizard of the Upper Amazon or any book by Jeremy Narby. Joan Halifax has collected a variety of writtings in this book, my favorite of which is the artic shamans and also the slightly sad story of the aboriginal Australian shaman who lost his power. This is one of my favorite books and comes highly recommended!

Joan Halifax has done an great job of taking important clips of information from various interviews done with various shaman from around the world. Such famous shaman as Black Elk (from Black Elk Speaks) are contained in here. She shows the similarity between all shamanic traditions as well as the differences with specific rights. Her selections of what she included were very smart, and also gives you insite as to what future books to buy, and what to avoid. A must read!

It is amazing reading these stories from shamans all over the world. The soties are moving and tie into one another. This book leaves a mark on its reader.

This book is for the serious apprentice, though it's possible casual readers might enjoy the stories as well. Those looking for new age fluff should pass on this text, until they can learn to appreciate hands-on techniques 'solitude & suffering to transcend' and other fun topics like that. I've read many books on shamanism over the years but this one is the one I'd prefer to keep with me in place of all the others. This and perhaps Shapeshifting by John Perkins.

The best thing about this book was the text from shamans themselves. They make this worth reading, even when the rest is occasionally annoying.

When Halifax or other narrative/editorial voices were talking, the honeyed nature of the text aggravated me. I remarked at one point that I wanted to see if she could make it through three paragraphs without the use of the word "profound". (She could, but I think you get the point.) Note that the book was written in 1979 and tastes have changed-- I guess I prefer my anthropology or narration a little less decorated.

Still, if you're interested in shamanism, a really interesting and probably valuable book. Halifax breaks it into 9 sections with different thematic focus-- Vision Quests, Seeing in a Sacred Way, etc. I didn't get a whole lot out of the categories, but probably useful if you are looking for something specific.

The shaman is the medicine man or woman, the visionary healer who is the central figure in many tribal cultures - the repository of the group's rituals, myths, and secret lore. Though these individuals have eluded most Western investigators, noted medical anthropologist Joan Halifax has here collected the words of shamans themselves - some directly from living people, others from hard-to-get primary sources. These eloquent testimonies including harrowing tales of shamanic initiatory experiences; vivid accounts of visionary journeys; and revealing expressions of the shaman's unique position as the link between the people of his or her tribe with the timeless, ineffable cosmos of which each person, and each culture, is a part. For whether the account is by a Mesoamerican Indian or an African !Kung bushman, there is a remarkable unity to these diverse voices. Each of the narratives is preceded by a brief introduction with background information on the shaman, and the book begins with a fascinating essay on shamanism by Dr. Halifax, co-author with Stanislav Grof of 'The Human Encounter with Death.'

Great book I reccomed reading the way of the Shaman first though.