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The Way of the Shaman Paperback – January 1, 1990
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This classic on shamanism pioneered the modern shamanic renaissance. It is the foremost resource and reference on shamanism. Now, with a new introduction and a guide to current resources, anthropologist Michael Harner provides the definitive handbook on practical shamanism – what it is, where it came from, how you can participate.
"Wonderful, fascinating… Harner really knows what he's talking about."
CARLOS CASTANEDA
"An intimate and practical guide to the art of shamanic healing and the technology of the sacred. Michael Harner is not just an anthropologist who has studied shamanism; he is an authentic white shaman."
STANILAV GROF, author of 'The Adventure Of Self Discovery'
"Harner has impeccable credentials, both as an academic and as a practising shaman. Without doubt (since the recent death of Mircea Eliade) the world's leading authority on shamanism."
NEVILL DRURY, author of 'The Elements of Shamanism'
Michael Harner, Ph.D., has practised shamanism and shamanic healing for more than a quarter of a century. He is the founder and director of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies in Norwalk, Connecticut.
- Print length208 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHarperOne
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 1990
- Dimensions6.12 x 0.64 x 9.25 inches
- ISBN-109780062503732
- ISBN-13978-0062503732
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Wonderful, fascinating...Harner really knows what he’s talking about.” — Carlos Castaneda
“An intimate and practical guide to the art of shamanic healing and the technology of the sacred. Michael Harner is not just an anthropologist who has studied shamanism; he is an authentic white shaman.” — Stanislav Grof, author of The Adventure of Self-Discovery
“Harner has impeccable credentials, both as an academic and as a practicing shaman. Without doubt (since the death of Mircea Eliade) the world’s leading authority on shamanism.” — Nevill Drury, author of The Elements of Shamanism
What Yogananda did for Hinduism and D.T. Suzuki did for Zen, Michael harner has done for shamanism. — Roger Walsh and Charles S. Grob, authors of Higher Wisdom
About the Author
Michael Harner, Ph.D., has taught anthropology at various institutions, including the University of California at Berkeley, Columbia University, Yale University, and the New School in New York, and has practiced shamanism and shamanic healing since 1961 when he was initiated into Upper Amazonian shamanism. He is the founder of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies in Mill Valley, California.
Product details
- ASIN : 0062503731
- Publisher : HarperOne; Anniversary edition (January 1, 1990)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 208 pages
- ISBN-10 : 9780062503732
- ISBN-13 : 978-0062503732
- Item Weight : 8.5 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.12 x 0.64 x 9.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #50,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #27 in Shamanism (Books)
- #146 in Cultural Anthropology (Books)
- #236 in Mental & Spiritual Healing
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

"What Yogananda did for Hinduism and D.T. Suzuki did for Zen, Michael Harner has done for shamanism, namely bring the tradition and its richness to Western awareness. Michael Harner is widely acknowledged as the world's foremost authority on shamanism and has had an enormous influence on both the academic and lay worlds," say Roger Walsh and Charles S. Grob, in their book "Higher Wisdom."
See complete bio on shamanism.org
The founder of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, Dr. Michael Harner (Michael J. Harner) pioneered the introduction of shamanism and the shamanic drum journey to contemporary life and is recognized as the world leader in this movement. In 1980 the publication of his classic book "The Way of the Shaman" launched the worldwide shamanic renaissance.
The internationally eminent Swedish anthropologist Åke Hultkrantz wrote that Mircea Eliade and Michael Harner were the two great authors on shamanism. Eliade himself wrote that Michael Harner's works were stimulating and original.
In his half century of anthropological fieldwork, cross-cultural studies, experimental research, and firsthand experience, Michael Harner arrived at the core methods of shamans worldwide. The applicability of this core shamanism to contemporary Westerners has been substantiated by the experiences of his thousands of students. The experiential methods are simple, safe, and have been used successfully by them with positive life-changing results.
Honoring the oral tradition of indigenous shamans, for the last quarter of a century Dr. Harner has conveyed his shamanic knowledge first-hand through teaching and experiential work rather than through writing. Today he and his staff annually teach thousands of students internationally who, in turn, introduce thousands more to shamanism.
Michael Harner is not just an anthropologist who has studied shamanism; he is an authentic white shaman, observes the distinguished transpersonal psychologist Stanislav Grof. Dr. Harner began learning about shamanism in 1956-57 while studying with the Shuar (Jívaro) tribe of the Ecuadorian Amazon, and started practicing shamanism during his 1960-61 stay with the Conibo people of the Peruvian Amazon. He subsequently returned to the Shuar for additional practical training in shamanism. He became recognized as a shaman by the indigenous shamans with whom he worked, including ones belonging to the following peoples: the Conibo and Shuar (formerly Jívaro) in South America; the Coast Salish, Pomo, and Northern Paiute in western North America; the Inland Inuit and the Sami (formerly Lapps) in the Arctic; and the Tuvans of central Asia.
In Russia, assembled Siberian shamans of the Buriat people publicly declared Michael Harner a great shaman upon witnessing his shamanic healings in 1998 (the word, shaman, comes from Siberia). They also said he proved that one could do both science and shamanism.
Perhaps Dr. Harner's greatest contribution has been his pivotal role in bridging the worlds of indigenous shamanism and the contemporary West through his fieldwork and research, experimentation, writings, and original development of the core methods of shamanism. By introducing these methods to the West, he started the movement that is returning shamanism and shamanic healing to the spiritual life of peoples throughout the planet.
Michael Harner received his anthropology Ph.D. in 1963 from the University of California, Berkeley, and has taught at various institutions, including UC Berkeley, Columbia University, Yale University, and the Graduate Faculty of the New School in New York, where he was chair of the anthropology department. He also served as co-chair of the anthropology section of the New York Academy of Sciences. He left academia in 1987 in order to devote himself fulltime to shamanism. In 2003 he received an honorary doctorate in recognition of his achievements in shamanic studies. In 2009, he was honored by California Pacific Medical Center's Institute for Health & Healing with the "Pioneers in Integrative Medicine Award." He also received special academic recognition through the presentation of sessions dedicated to him at the 2009 annual meeting of the American Anthropological Association in Philadelphia. Three organizations of the AAA joined together to recognize him for his "pioneering work" in shamanism "as an academic and advocate" and for his role during the last forty years in the "exponential growth in anthropological studies of the importance and significance" of shamanism.
Complete bio for Michael Harner, plus links to articles and videos, can be found at shamanism.org, the website of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies.
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The past centuries of deterministic Newtonian viewpoints have ironically caused a resurgence in spiritual interests. Harner argues that advances in the medical field have spurred near-death experiences which provide a window into another reality. I would add that Albert Hoffman's synthesis of lysergic acid diethylamide in the late 1930s sparked an interest in other worlds, the notorious chemical had been used for thousands of years in visionary ceremonies of indigenous tribes (usually in the form of lysergic acid amine, present in morning glory seeds) but was re-introduced by science. Shamanic work is attractive to moderns because these practices can be carried out in spite of our busy lives. Additionally, shamanic work provides an ecological framework in the time of a renewed distress over our disconnection from nature, a shaman does not distinguish between the environment and family.
The most important aspects of this book are the discussions of cognicentrism, how the people most prejudiced against a concept of non-ordinary reality are those who have never experienced it, a point I can confirm with gusto. Distinguishing between the shamanic states of consciousness (SSC) and the ordinary states of consciousness (OSC) provides a framework that can allow even the most skeptical western minds to accept shamanism as a reality for many people, even if it doesn't apply to his or her own experiences. Interpretations of ethnographic studies have been muddled because of misunderstanding these two states of experience. When a shaman speaks of talking with animals and healing ceremonies to retrieve souls, we know those things can't happen in ordinary reality so we dismiss them immediately. But the developed indigenous mind has a built-in understanding of the difference between the two types of experience and needs no preface to extraordinary claims, something our society lacks and the key component that leads to cognicentrism. Native peoples are sharp and accomplished hunters who have tremendous knowledge of their local environments so they are far from being naive or stupid.
Harner defines a shaman as, "a man or woman who enters an altered state of consciousness at will to contact and utilize an ordinarily hidden reality in order to acquire knowledge, power and to help other persons" and the Way of The Shaman provides a solid introduction to the concepts and practices of a shaman that are nearly universal, taking special care to demonstrate how they can fit into the modern lifestyle. Harner's approach to drumming induced trance states is particularly acceptable to the suburban white spiritual seeker, shying away from entheogenic substances. However, I could easily see how a practicing shaman would have problems with the methods or suggestions in this book. The specifics about what to expect in the lower world or other details could easily condition someone away from trusting direct experience. Additionally, the focus on healing shamanism is an appropriate topic but neglects to fully recognize the prevalence of shamanic wars which are outside of the noble savage archetype that Harner bolsters.
Yet despite these shortcomings, Harner's approach to shamanic work is particularly resonant for the archetypes and minds of our modern society. I would suggest The Way of the Shaman as a guidebook to gain an initial understanding of other realities and as a spark to begin a few initial adventures into them through the drumming practices detailed within. After a read through this book I'm interested in exploring details behind Harner's earlier work with the Jîvaro tribes.
Life in an indigenous society is painted as quite idyllic in The Way of the Shaman, for example the Macaebos drank guayasa instead of coffee all day. The tea creates a perception of euphoria and builds a happy community. Sounds like a great society. But I don't think I can conclude anything about the noble savage as perception vs. reality and their shamanic practices until reading Eliade's Shamanism.
After participating in a sweat lodge ceremony and receiving powerful visions, I'm completely sold on the idea that there is a non-ordinary reality. I'm just not entirely confident of the framework that Harner provides. I can understand why the Hopi consider that all life is one. The Hopi believe that all life, animals birds, insects, trees an plants appear only in masquerade during ordinary experience, that they surely have a human-like experience in another world. Perhaps this perception sounds a little too non-rational for most people but after a shamanic experience these truisms become more and more real. In a time where we face unprecedented shifts in our way of life, a new respect for our surroundings are far from an unwelcome suggestion.
There are seven chapters. The first couple of chapters both set up the book and hook the reader with a detailed discussion of Harner’s Ayuhuasca -- and other mind / mood altering substance – experience. It should be pointed out that not all Shaman use psychedelics and Harner describes in detail alternative approaches to achieve altered states of conscious that involve a combination of drumming and meditative practices.
Chapter three discusses altered states of consciousness, and what Harner calls the “Shamanic State of Consciousness” (SSC) which is the altered state that is pursued by medicine men in their practice. Chapter four describes the concept of power animals and the role that they have in health and illness. (i.e. from the Shaman’s view, an illness might be seen as the result of lacking such a “spirit animal.”) The final three chapters discuss practices such as how the Shaman can acquire a power animal for the patient or how he / she might extract a malevolent influence.
I found an interesting corner being turned in this book. In the opening chapters it reads much like an anthropologist’s scholarly account. Even talking about tripping on psychedelic substances, it’s all with the grounded feel of a scientific mind. However, in the latter half of the book, it reads as though Harner truly believes that the altered state of consciousness is actually a sort of parallel dimension with an intrinsic reality unto itself. I don’t know whether this is a tactic to feather it in for skeptical readers or if it reflects Harner’s own internal journey. (It’s definitely a hard line to walk when writing a book that one hopes to be read by both scientific rational skeptics and religious true believers.) At any rate, the book gets a bit wilder as it goes along. In the beginning, the reader might think the book a discussion of how a powerful placebo effect is achieved, but by the latter chapters it seems one is considering how malevolent spirits can be trapped or extracted from a patient.
As for ancillary material, there are line drawn illustrations, annotations, a bibliography, and two appendices. The first appendix is about drumming and gives details about what kind of drums and rattles the would-be Shaman should seek. (Drumming plays a major role in achieving the proper state of mind.) The second is a detailed description of a game played by the Flathead Indians. I should note that I read the 3rd edition of this book. The original was published in 1980.
I found the book intriguing as one interested in how people of various cultures achieve altered states of consciousness, how they experience such states, and why they pursue them in the first place. I’d recommend it for a reader who is curious about Shamanic practices – even one who, like me, is a complete neophyte to the subject.
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