The Soul of Shamanism: Western Fantasies, Imaginal Realities [Hardcover]

Daniel C. Noel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1997

From the Merlin of Arthurian romances to Mircea Eliade's academic researches, from Carlos Castaneda's Don Juan to the archetypal images of Carl Jung, the figure of the shaman has fascinated Western storytellers, scholars, and seekers.

In the first part of The Soul of Shamanism, Daniel Noel gives a thorough interpretive overview of how the West has imagined this figure of healing wisdom -- starting with Eliade's authoritative work on the topic almost fifty years ago and continuing through to the latest popular books of workshop neoshamanism.

In the second part, Noel draws more directly on the Jungian psychology of imagination informing his critical assessment of authentic shamanic imagining for those on the path of soulful spirituality. With telling anecdotes from over two decades of work with this material, Noel reveals the psychological assumptions and anxieties underlying the Western understanding and emulation of the shaman.

By radically honoring imagination in our own dreaming and waking lives, Noel concludes, we can join in recovering the lost soul of Western consciousness and culture. In doing so, Daniel Noel, like his Jungian colleagues James Hillman and Thomas Moore, argues that we are making possible a true return of the shaman from within the West's native psychocultural resources.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A resurgence in alternative spiritual practices has led to the proliferation of writings; these two examples share a common link to Jungian psychology. Gillette (The Magician Within, Morrow, 1993) explains the ancient Maya view of the world and afterlife. In relating the art and writings of the Maya shamans, Gillette invites readers to use their imagination to journey back to the Maya world and explore Maya practices to affirm life and achieve immortality. Using Jungian tools of interpretation to understand Maya myths, Gillette decodes the Maya belief in finding the divine center of the soul where God and human beings are one. Noel (Paths to the Power of Myth, Crossroad, 1990) refers to the writing of Carlos Castaneda, relating it to Merlin and underscoring it with the Jungian psychology of imagination. Noel provides a model for renewed shamanic seeking. Through dreams and imaginings can come the spirituality of imaginal healing, and the loss of imagination equates to the loss of the soul. He draws from two decades of work with shamanic imagining, relating in anecdotal fashion psychological assumptions of renewed shamanic seeking. Both books are best suited to academic libraries.?L. Kriz, West Des Moines P.L., Ia
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Shamanism appeals to spiritually minded Westerners looking for alternatives to their own tradition, but few recognize the vast divide between genuine indigenous shamanism and New Age fantasies fashioned by such popular writers as Carlos Casteneda and Lynn Andrews. Noel attempts to dispel the haze that surrounds what he calls neoshamanism by asking key questions: Do Casteneda and Andrews write fiction or nonfiction? Are they, as they claim, reporting on actual experiences or relating personal revelations in the form of fictive narratives? And does it matter if their books are based on verifiable fact or "imaginal realities" ? Noel, writing from a personal as well as a scholarly perspective as he follows the course of these thorny but intriguing lines of inquiry, describes his own peculiar dealings with Casteneda and offers unique interpretations of Merlin, the archetypal Western shaman, and Carl Jung, the wellspring of neoshamanism. Ultimately, Noel concludes that the "nonliteral reality" found within the fairy tales created by Casteneda and company can, indeed, contribute to spiritual growth. Donna Seaman

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 252 pages
• Publisher: Continuum Intl Pub Group (February 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826409326
• ISBN-13: 978-0826409324
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,779,692 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Neoshamanism for the postmodern Euro-American, July 7, 2003

By 

Candice "anthropologist" (REDMOND, WA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Soul of Shamanism (Paperback)

The Soul of Shamanism is an academic, postmodern examination of New Age attempts at shamanism, in which Noel proposes some alternative paths for the Euro-American seeker. Noel has an interesting style: he "speaks" to the reader in the first person, as though he is telling a story, and yet, much of the book is a review of literature. Noel has written a previous unpublished treatise on Castaneda, and several chapters deal with the Castaneda hoax, as well as the neo-shamanistic workshops of anthropologist Michael Harner. To say the least, Noel is not impressed.

Alternatives are proposed, in particular, from the perspective of James Hillman and Carl Jung. The most interesting chapters at the center of the book deal with dreams and imaginings. He touches briefly on the Merlin myth, arguing that instead of appropriating models of shamanism from other cultures, which he sees as colonialist, Euro-Americans should turn to models from their own culture. Yet not enough is said about Merlin.

One drawback is that this book is addressed to the Euro-American reader. It will not meet the expectations of a reader from another ethic group and is sure to disappoint if not anger. Additionally, the book is dense and academic. Despite my Ph.D. in anthropology and a sympathetic worldview, I found it tedious reading and would not assign it to students. This is not a handbook. Rather, it is a critical reading of the literature and experience of neoshamanism from a postmodern perspective.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Provides literary overview on topic, but from a closed camp, August 26, 1999

By 

[e-mail] - See all my reviews

This review is from: Soul of Shamanism (Paperback)

I was at first excited to read this book for an objective, comprehensive overview to understanding how some shamanic practices might relate to our modern Western culture. And, at first, Noel seems to deliver, reviewing briefly the writings of first Eliade, and later, Castanada, observing the phenomenon of the latter's widespread influence and the fervor generated by his accounts of mystical encounters. (In fact, Noel's account mentions numerous writings by various authors on soulful topics, and for these references his book is rather valuable.) But by the time I reached the middle of the book, I was already feeling disgruntled by how many pages were devoted to circlularly discussing "fictive power." My disgruntlement turned to suspicion as I entered the second half of the book (which introduces the reader to various post-Jungian philosophers), for here I was, reading a glowing account of Thomas Moore, the same individual whose critical acclaim of the book is printed on the book jacket("Before reading anything else . . . read this book")! Talk about Circular! In fact, all three personal reviews included on the book jacket were written by individuals whose teachings are positively reviewed by Noel in the book itself. So, rather than opening doors to new understanding and broader possibilities, I feel as though the book has tried to lead me into someone else's camp or cloister, one that seems very concerned with self-protection. Is it really from such a position that we should be exploring soulfulness and spirituality?!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Noel addresses the most fundamental issue in shamanism., November 30, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: The Soul of Shamanism: Western Fantasies, Imaginal Realities (Hardcover)

The book is a serious attempt to strengthen the connection between imaginal psychology and shamanism. But if we wish to strengthen the practice of what Noel calls an "authentic western shamanism," he leads us in exactly the opposite direction from which we should go. It is presumptuous of Noel to suggest that Merlin should be some kind of spiritual figure for us. He has missed the whole point of universal, organic shamanism. He claims to teach it. More likely he teaches about it. The best point in the book is Noel's thought that we must stop fantasizing about native shamans.