Singing the Soul Back Home: Shamanic Wisdom for Every Day [Paperback]

Caitlin Matthews (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2003

Since first publication in 1995, Caitlin Matthews's primer on practical, everyday spirituality as practised through shamanism, has become a sought-after classic. For those trapped in a material society, shamanic wisdom offers new purpose and vitality in life, and a re-connection to the natural world. Caitlin Matthews shows how you can harness your creative imagination and innate healing powers as you explore your inner space, and journey between the everyday world and the spiritual realm of the shaman.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Caitlin Matthews runs a shamanic practice in Oxford and is well known for her research into ancient Celtic wisdom and related areas. She is author of many successful books, including The Elements of Celtic Tradition, Celtic Wisdom Sticks and The Celtic Book of the Dead.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Connections Book Publishing; Revised edition (January 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859061036
• ISBN-13: 978-1859061039
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,256 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Personal Health > Stress > Mind-Body Connection
  • #42 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Earth-Based Religions > Shamanism

More About the Author

Hello! I'm Caitlin Matthews. I live in Oxford, England with my partner, John Matthews and two warring white cats who, despite our best efforts, can't abide each other and live on different floors of our small house.

I'm primarily known for being the author of many books including Singing the Soul Back Home, Mabon and the Guardians of Celtic Britain, Psychic Shield, and Sophia, Goddess of Wisdom. I write in the fields of metaphysical non-fiction, poetry, fiction, folkstory and myth, as well as writing books for children. I'm known for my research into the Celtic and ancestral traditions, and the ways in which I provoke exploration of the creative metaphysical field, and how we can apply it to our spiritual path.

With John Matthews, I've written the Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom, the Arthurian Tarot and Walkers Between the Worlds. Our latest collaboration is the StoryWorld series of cards and books for storytellers of all ages, which started coming out in 2009 - many more titles to come in 2010.

Although I'm the author of over sixty books, most of my work is oral rather than written. As a teacher of ancestral, shamanic and metaphysical traditions, I go all over the world, working with communities and spiritual institutions. With John Matthews, and my dear colleague Felicity Wombwell, I co-founded The Foundation for Inspirational and Oracular Studies, which is dedicated to the mythic, oracular and sacred arts. Our FiOS shamanic training programme teaches students the ancestral wisdom and healing arts as living sacred traditions in which we still engage.

As a singer, I play Celtic & medieval harps, sruti and psaltery. My CDs include Deep Well in the Wild Wood: Songs from the Place Beyond and the latest, Earth's Own Heart: Songs from the Faery Hills appears in 2010. I was the Pictish language originator and song-writer of Song of the Exile for the 2004 Jerry Bruckheimer film King Arthur and I appear frequently on international radio and television.

For the last 20 years, I've had a shamanic practice in Oxford dedicated to healing soul sickness and ancestral fragmentation. I use my voice to help open the way between the worlds, to sing the soul's essential nature, tracking it through the client's story and bringing it homeward, with the help of spirit allies who have chosen to work with me.

I'm currently working on Rekindling Ancestral Hearths: a book to help us come into good relationship with our ancestors. I believe that being in commuinion with our ancestors and gifting spirits is essential for the wellbeing of our world, and lies at the root of war and peace.

If you want to know more about my courses, events and forthcoming books, you are cordially invited to visit www.hallowquest.org.uk.

For new readers of my work, there is no 'one book' that conveys all that I teach, but the following practical books may be a helpful guide for you to begin somewhere:

Walkers Between Worlds - for a grounding in where our spiritual traditions arose.
Singing the Soul Back Home - for a guide on how we come into come relationship with our gifting spirits
Celtic Devotional - for a post-denominational way of spiritually acknowledging each day and season
Psychic Shield - for those who need a friendly guide to how the universe and ourselves rub off each other and how we can do it more harmoniously

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Walking Between the Worlds, November 7, 2008

By 

Brian Covert - See all my reviews

This review is from: Singing the Soul Back Home: Shamanic Wisdom for Every Day (Paperback)

There are many books out there nowadays about the concept and practice of what we call "shamanism" and how to integrate into it our daily lives. Sometimes it can be difficult trying to figure out who's real and and who's not in the world of shamanic practice.

Author Caitlin Matthews is indeed the real thing and "Singing the Soul Back Home" is one marvelous book. Written for laypersons in the field of shamanism, this beautifully designed book aims to help the reader become a "walker between the worlds" in a very genuine, substantive way.

The many exercises in the book help the reader in understanding what shamanism is (and what it is not), what making a shamanic journey encompasses, and what to expect when journeying to the traditional three worlds (under, middle, upper) of core shamanism. Although Matthews specializes in Celtic shamanism, this book touches on the very basic shamanic wisdom that is shared culturally all over the world.

I had to put this book down many times during reading, just to pause and reflect on the very deep concepts it was introducing. I took my time reading this book and tried to absorb every idea that the author presented. Even now, having long finished reading it, I still find myself coming back again and again to this book to re-read and re-absorb the wondrous truths it shares with the reader. This book truly is a gem.

I encourage anyone with an interest in spiritual matters and how we can "walk between the worlds" in our own lives to pick up this book, along with "Psychic Shield," also by Caitlin Matthews. For me personally, these two books are the most valuable books in my whole personal library. They will stay with me for a long, long time -- and that is the best criterion I know for judging a book about shamanism and matters of the Spirit.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Flawless and Insightful, January 14, 2009

By 

Morgaine Bergman "Three First Parts to Unders... (Virginia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Singing the Soul Back Home: Shamanic Wisdom for Every Day (Paperback)

For those who yearn to learn how the soul was perceived by our far ancestors, and how traditional healers approach it, this book is for you! The author provides simple, accessible explanations of complex and sensitive material without "dumbing it down", and manages to evoke the world of the ancestors in the process. This is not a complete course in soul retrieval (some things do require face-to-face training!), but it does provide a real basis for beginning this work that will take you far if pursued diligently and regularly. In intelligent, authentic, effective and wise book for the serious traditional healer and spiritual practitioner.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Singing the soul back home, November 2, 2009

By 

Bruce Robert Plenner "May Brother Eagle send ... (IL) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Singing the Soul Back Home: Shamanic Wisdom for Every Day (Paperback)

For the last ten years I have been studying and teaching Native American Spirituality. A year ago I took Reiki and Chakra training. When meditating with my Spirit Guides I was told to start learning Shamanism.

I have started taking classes with a shaman in IL and this book has been part of our reading, for the class. If you are just starting out on Shamanism this book is great. It will help you meditate and journey better. If offers many practices.

Also you will have an understanding of the three worlds, as well as how to find your power animal and spirit guides/helpers. The only problem I had is the author follows Celtic ways and witchcraft, and I was looking for something to go deeper into Native American Shamanism. But she does references some tribes. Also with the way she writes you can take this into any belief system. I'm going to be teaching Native American Spirituality and Shamanism and I will be using a lot of ideas from this book.