The Way of the Shaman

In this book one gets a series of exercises which guide one to accomplish such tasks as "finding one's power animal", "spirit extraction" and so on. TWS has a lot to recommend it and since the good stuff has been pointed out in other reviews, i myself will ignore it here. Harner has, almost single handedly, ushered in the era of "neo-shamanism". As i understand it, the basic idea behind neoshamism is to find a way to enter the "altered state of consciousness (ASC)" without having to use medicine plants. These plants are illegal, may be diffult to prepare correctly and are altogether too unpleasant to deal with. So, in comes the drum. And the rattle. The premise is that, somehow, using the same utensils as, say, Siberian shamans, one is going to enter the same ASC. Nothing could be further from truth. In the absence of the mythological and spiritual context, the neoshamanic drums and rattles are toys for children.
The "shamanic" methods described in TWS were developed by Harner 30 years ago and have not changed one iota since then. All his imagination, creativity and inspiration seems to have vanished into thin air once he left UC Berkeley and now this guy keeps selling the same old stuff decade after decade. Academically! Seriously! Businesslike! TWS is Harner's Nicean Council - it has frozen his tracks.
The Way of Shaman gives us an aseptic, soul-less and (for me) ultimately boring way into the spirit world. Well, what *is* a shaman anyway? Is the mestizo in Iquitous peddling his ayahuasca a shaman? Is someone who finished her coursework at "The Foundation for Shamanic Studies" a shaman? For me, a shaman is someone whose task is to care for Life and whose role is to connect individual strands of consciousness to the large, universal and delicious Life consciousness. A good shaman is aware of the great Mystery and of the fact, that we are just players in it and why not go for the ride for the beauty of it. The (traditional) shaman is also plugged into the spiritual and mythic universe of his/her society and therefore connected to this mystery. We have lost this connection and are looking for it - (neo)shamanism, if it is to survive, will have to provide it somehow, somewhere. Right now, i think it is failing - one traditional Lakota lodge is worth ten courses taken at the Foundation for Shamanic Studies. In order to find one's power animal in the traditional society one does not just lie on the floo and daydream with the drum. Usually, much legwork is done and a lot of sweat/tears are shed; it can be dangereous and it takes a lot of patience, courage and ingenuity - all qualities necessary for serious work in ASC. One brings in the ancestors and the spirit world with reverence and respect. Harner ignores all this (most important stuff) and this is why this book is ultimately unsatisfying.

Harner's work has been eclipsed by many authentic ethnical and tribal sources. The reading here is very dated. What he presents is a stripped down version (antiseptic) of some techniques for journeying. But Harner's philosophy is pretty locked into what drum-beat rhythms work and this is simply not true, not required to do shamanic journeys. You will get a very slanted almost confined view. And that is the antithesis to shamanism in general.

Shamanism is best accessed, especially for the beginner, within some cultural context and Harner has cleansed his techniques away from their cultures. Even his views (and his disciples Ingerman) on soul retrieval are still changing due to lack of root within cultural context.

If you are new to shamanism then start instead with The Book of the Shaman by Nicholas Wood. If you are into some healing aspects then goto Shaman, Healer, Sage by Villoldo or Woman who glows in the dark by Elena Avila.

There will be people who are thrilled to read this book and other people who will be disappointed that Mr. Harner does not present shamanism is it traditional form and does not expect us to endure the training of traditional shamans. Fair enough. I would just like to point out that teachers of every tradition or lineage that has either come from The East or is trying to be revived in current Western society has had to accomodate itself to the lack of a context that enables people to follow the traditional training. Whether it's Tibetan Buddhism, Zen Buddhism, Hindu, or Sufi lineages, or even Christian monastic practice, all have had to adjust to the fact that our scientific, materialistic rationalism makes it very difficult to
find support for individuals, especially those with families, or who are not independently wealthy to pursue "the Old Ways." I'm just not as fussy as I used to be. That purity business was just my own fantasy. I applaud anyone with the persistence of Michael Harner to keep plugging away and just planting seeds into the minds of people of the reality of other forms of consciousness. Why don't we wait until we grow up as a culture before we insist on "purity" which is too often just another way of saying "my way is the best."

I have read the critiques knocking Harner. Well, I agree that it is not the traditional idea of shamanism, but having said that, I'm glad I read the book years ago and learned how to "journey." Now, I don't believe in spirits or gods, but I suspend my disbelief, you might say, when journeying. I actually think of it as an exploration of my own subconscious mind, and yet I'm fascinated by what I've encountered on my journeys and I'm very grateful to Harner for showing me how to do it. Apparently the problem is that he calls it shamanism, which gets shaman traditionalists in a pique. It is BASED on shamanic techniques, but I wouldn't consider it traditional shamanism either. I have no wish to spend years trying to become a shaman, and it's doubtful that I could, since I'm a skeptic about gods and spirits, but I've derived much benefit from my journeying, no matter what you call it. If, as I suspect, it is all in my mind, then Wow, I'm impressed by what I find in the cellar (or cave), and I'll let it go at that. Thanks again, Dr. Harner, for teaching me the techniques for journeying and meeting my power animal. It's been an instructive and entertaining trip for an atheist who's open to elements of traditional wisdom without swallowing everything I find.

This is the book that started the whole notion of practical application of shamanic-style visionary methods among westerners. Whether or not a western apartment dweller can 'be a shaman', we can certainly apply shamanic methods to our own spiritual work, and this is the book that started it all. Harner begins with a simple discussion of the background ideas of the shamanic worldview, then gives instructions for the basic methods of shamanic trance, gaining a spirit-ally and using the new skills for healing and personal power and growth. Read this and learn the methods before bothering with any later books on the subject.

Ian

One of Harner's early works, "The Way of the Shaman" describes several basic shamanic techniques but is perhaps not as well suited to the beginner as Harner intended. This is definately a book for anyone interested in Shamanism although the beginer should also read Leo Rutherford's "Shamanism." Attend the Foundation for Shamanic Studies Basic Workshop ...)to learn both practical techniques for the Shaman practicing alone, and to practice many of the techniques in this book.

Shamanism is not a religion.

A shamanic journey is something you can do, rather easily, if only you try.

you do not need anything other than this book.

Mr. Harner is not in the business of lying to you. He has no time for telling you "truths."

This is a "For Dummies" guide to shamanic practice.

Do not be afraid. If you are interested, buy the book. Do the excercises. See what happens.

Harner's composition is written with the lay person in mind. The book explains the many colorful aspects of Shamanic cultures in a concise and easy to read text. It is designed to bring the Shamanic experience to the forefront of everyday living, it opens our senses to the world around us, and it provides a world perspective that has been in existence for hundreds if not thousands of years. Harner asks us to stop and consider the existence of an unscene world; one that is within the grasp of anyone wishing to take the journey.

This is very good book for basics of shamanism. A good book and worth it!!

In this book we learn that the word "shaman" is what the Tungus tribe in Siberia call their medicine men, or witchdoctors. It has been adopted by anthropologists worldwide to describe those involved in such practices. Harner, himself a practicing shaman as well as leading anthropologist, mentions six elements that he says have always been at the heart of shamanism, are still common to its practitioners today worldwide, and have been embraced by today`s secular society as part of the New Age Movement.
These six elements of shamanism are at the heart of humanistic and transpersonal psychologies and have also been introduced into "Christian" psychology. Harner describes these ingredients as: visualization, hypnosis, psychotherapy, positive thinking, positive speaking (self-talk), and Eastern meditation techniques. These are occult practices, and its significant that Harner lists visualization first. It is the most powerful occult technique and the fastest and easiest way to get in touch with occult forces.
It is something to be acknowledged as a serious aspect of reality when so many peoples all over the world, primitive or not, have come to the same practises. Another question would be what you make out of this knowledge. More research and proper investigation has to be done. Here the book is falling short.
This book must be a nuisance to atheists.