The Way of the Shaman – Michael Harner

September 24, 2007 at 10:14 am (Animal Magic, Healing, Native American cultures, Paleopagan Cultures, Shamanism)

The Way of the Shaman
Michael Harner
HarperSanFrancisco, 1990
172 pages

This is the fourth time in the past decade I’ve read this book cover to cover (as opposed to looking up specific factoid and techniques) and I’m finding that this time through, I’m not so fond of it. It’s not that it’s horrible; it’s just not as impressive to me these days, now that I know more than I used to.

Harner’s book is pretty much a classic on NEOshamanism; it forms the foundation of core shamanism, a shamanic practice that is (mostly) devoid of specific cultural trappings. His background in anthropology, as well as experience training as a shaman in the Jivaro and Conibo tribes, make this a well-researched and well-informed book. There are plenty of endnotes, and a good bibliography, so it’s easy to trace where he got his information from.

The problem is the presentation of the practical material. First off, my main complaint is that his selection of techniques seems incredibly arbitrary. He draws on the tobacco ties of certain Native American traditions, Jivaro-flavered sucking shamanism, and the spiritual canoe from a particular Northwest Native tribe. And he seems to ignore a number of shamanic practices that may not be necessarily appealing to the New Age crowd, such as spiritual dismemberment and reassembly.

Also, he fails to mention that even within a specific culture there are several types of shamanism. He should have, IMO, either billed this as a form of healing shamanism, or stuck to one of the cultures he trained in, rather than adding in elements of numerous cultures. He doesn’t quite draw shamanism far enough away from its cultural roots to make it fit together well; rather than doing as Peter J. Carroll did with Chaos magic, and making a system that is not at all culturally specific (and so can be plugged into any culture), Harner attempts to make (certain) cultural artifacts relevant for people outside that culture, while also trying to make it relevant to modern mainstream American (and other postindustrial) culture. Unfortunately, the end result still retains enough of the original cultural material (such as biases against certain animals like snakes and insects) without explaining the contextual relevance of such elements.

Finally, he waters down certain pieces of information. “The SSC [Shamanic State of Consciousness], it can be said, is safer than dreaming,” he says (xxii). Yet shamanism, even in modern practice, is NOT safe. He doesn’t talk about spiritual defense, other than talking about how one’s power animal and other guardians are supposed to protect you. He barely brings up any dangers, other than seeing animals with bared fangs. Nor does he talk about how close to the edge shamanism can bring a practitioner (or the skills needed to maintain a proper balance).

In short, this is shamanism for the living room. The techniques itself are solid, despite the contextual issues, and can be easily used by most people who pick up this book. If presented as a book on shamanic techniques, I give it a four. However, as a book on *shamanism*, I give it a two. This balances out to….

Three pawprints out of five.

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The Shaman – Piers Vitebsky

September 18, 2007 at 1:29 pm (Academic/Journalistic Approaches, Animal Magic, Mythology, Native American cultures, Paleopagan Cultures, Shamanism)

The Shaman
Piers Vitebsky
Little, Brown and Company, 1995
184 pages

This is one of my favorite books on basic shamanism from an anthropological perspective. I’ve read it before, but this is the first time I’ve read it since I started this review blog. I think it’s well worth talking about, though, so here’s my official review 🙂

The author, an anthropologist, has spent several decades studying shamanism within the context of a number of cultures. He presents a nice collection of facts and anecdotes about the shamanic experiences of people in these cultures. From the altered states of consciousness to the spirits encountered along the way, from healing to showmanship, from the political status of shamans to neoshamanism today, Vitebsky offers one of the best introductions to the concept of shamanism and what it is the shaman does. This concise book is quite thorough, and while the material is densely packed it’s written in a manner that even a rank beginner can understand. You won’t find a bunch of how-to instructions, but what you will get is solid research to get a good understanding of the context of shamanism.

Unlike earlier anthropologists, Vitebsky’s viewpoint is quite enlightened. He points out the shortcomings of his predecessors, who characterized shamans as everything from archaic leftovers to mentally disturbed outcasts. He also cautions against trying to boil shamanism down to a particular facet, such as trance, while tossing out other important aspects, like community and culture. He is not overly critical of neoshamanism, though he only devotes a very small portion of the book to it and explains how it differs from traditional shamanism. He clearly shows his research, and is not afraid to critique other scholars; for example, he challenges Mircea Eliade’s assertion that shamanism has “an apparently timeless quality…[and] appears to stand outside political history” (p. 116). To back up this criticism Vitebsky goes into great detail how shamanism has interacted, both positively and negatively, with both political and religious bodies in various cultures, and how it has sometimes come into great conflict with various powers thereof. (I should also add that I have no opinion myself on Eliade yet, though his work is on my reading pile.)

This contributes to a very down to Earth look at shamanism worldwide, though it does NOT purport to be the do-all and end-all resource; nor does it try to claim that all shamanisms are one shamanism. Rather, as I said, it’s an excellent introductory book, mixing text and illustrations to create a good resource for anyone interested in traditional shamanism from a theoretical point of view (as opposed to a hands-on workbook).

Five pawprints out of five.

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Totems – Brad Steiger

September 5, 2007 at 3:30 pm (Animal Magic)

Totems: The Transformative Power of Your Personal Animal Totem
Brad Steiger
HarperSanFrancisco, 1997
218 pages

I’ve actually had this book for years and never got around to reviewing, though I’ve read it a few times and I use it in my totem animal workshop that I present as an example of a book resource.

I like it for the most part. Steiger has done a good job of covering the basics of animal totems, from how to find one to how they can influence us on a daily basis. While the book does have a totem animal dictionary (something that, if you’ve read my reviews, you’ll know I’m not crazy about), it’s a decent one, with a nice selection of animals and good information contained in it. And there’s enough solid material besides the dictionary to make this a good 101 book on totemism.

My main complaint is that due to the large amount of “Indian-centric” terminology in the book, people might think it’s 100% genuine “Native American totemism”. It’s actually a New Age interpretation thereof, and so while it may be inspired by various indigenous cultures, it’s not the same thing as what those cultures are doing. Just take it with the usual grain of salt and you should be fine. Additionally, the author does include a really thorough bibliography, and while there are no internal citations to tell where specific bits of information came from, it’s good to at least get an idea of his sources.

Overall, this is a good starter’s guide to totemism. While it’s not without its flaws, you could definitely do much worse.

Four pawprints out of five.

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Animal Energies – Buffalo Horn Man and Firedancer

August 8, 2007 at 8:21 am (Animal Magic)

Animal Energies
Gary Buffalo Horn Man and Sherry Firedancer
Dancing Otter Publishing, 1997
40 pages

This was a tough book to find outside the internet, despite the authors’ claims of selling over 100,000 copies since 1992. It’s a slim little self-published volume that is primarily a totem animal dictionary. So how did it fare?

It’s actually pretty decent as far as dictionaries go, especially for its size. The entry for each animal starts with a bit of natural history, followed by the authors’ interpretations of the totemic qualities. Occasionally they throw in a bit of Native American lore (without citing their sources). While they do focus on Big, Impressive North American Animals, they do sometimes have a few oddities–for instance, the jellyfish is characterized particularly by the fact that it must rely on the waves to move from place to place (which isn’t entirely true–they can move with a belling motion). There are a few other details that they throw in that are questionable; for example, I could find nothing to substantiate the claim that a fox with fleas will hold a stick in its mouth and slowly immerse itself in water until the fleas are on the stick–then let the stick go. Still, for a dictionary this isn’t a bad starting place.

There are no rituals or tips on how to work with the animals–this is only a dictionary. It’s the kind of thing that would appeal to people who may not necessarily be heavily into totemism and related practices. I do cringe a bit when the authors toss around words like “Great Mystery” and “medicine” when they don’t give any tribal information about themselves other than saying they learned from a Native American teacher a couple of decades ago.

Still, cultural appropriation aside, this is a neat little booklet. It’s well-written, and a good resource if you like to have a variety of totem animal dictionaries.

Four pawprints out of five.

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Animal Messages – Susie Green

July 25, 2007 at 9:03 am (Animal Magic, Divination)

Animal Messages
Susie Green
Cico Books, 2005
64 pages + 52 cards

If I didn’t already have a good relationship with my Animal Wise deck, I think Animal Messages would be my top choice for a totem deck. This lesser-known deck is pretty much the best one I’ve seen besides Animal Wise. It’s an almost flawless tool, as far as I’m concerned.

One of the things I love about Green’s work with totems is that she’s incredibly environmentally aware. Some writers, particularly in the New Age, get so wrapped up in “higher planes of existence” and “travelling to the Underworld to meet your power animal” that they forget to connect with this reality. Not Susie Green, though–she takes the spiritual and applies it directly to the worldl around and within us. She has an acute understanding of how the animals themselves see the world, and how we can interact with them on their level of understanding, more instinctual but no less important or powerful.

For being such a small thing, the accompanying booklet has a lot of info in it. Rather than pontificating on what Native people supposedly do (with no research from actual tribes), Green packs a lot of thought about the human-animal connection, different spreads that she finds work well and why, and streamlined suggestions for figuring out what each card represents. Granted, there’s always room for more information on that last, but Green gives good starting points for people to work with–she’s excellent at making every word count, and again she focuses on an animal-centric point of view.

The artwork on these cards is absolutely astounding. Csaba Pasztors’s paintings of the animals are vividly colored and realistic. They’re an absolute joy to look at, and I can safely say this is the most visually attractive deck I’ve ever seen.

Overall, an excellent totem animal deck, limited only by the usual parameters of such things–there are never enough cards for all the animals, and there’s never really enough room for all the information on each one. An excellent tool alone, or as a companion to Green’s first book, Animal Wisdom.

Five pawprints out of five.

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My Familiar – Jenine Wilson

July 24, 2007 at 9:55 am (Animal Magic, Fiction)

My Familiar
Jenine Wilson
Jensonbooks, 2007
201 pages

I first encountered this book after the author contacted me about using a quote from my own Fang and Fur, Blood and Bone: A Primal Guide to Animal magic at the start of the book. She was kind enough to supply me with a copy, which arrived yesterday–and conveniently I was in need of something to read.

My Familiar is a lovely work of young adult fiction. Nikki, the main character, is a high school student who, upon turning 16, finds that she can no longer touch any member of the opposite sex without getting violently ill–except for her best friend, Robert. In the early chapters of the book we get to see a slice out of Nikki’s life as she goes through the last few days of the school year, deals with the gossip that flies after she has a fight with Robert, and later heads to a party hosted by one of the most popular girls in school.

Simple high school drama, right? Not quite. Remember that whole unable-to-touch-guys thing? Keep an eye on the guys in this story, as they’ve got quite a tale to tell about just why that is. I won’t give away the details (you’ll just have to read for yourself) but Wilson has woven an engaging story that leads up to a great ending. Her characters are interesting people to observe, and the story has some neat little twists in it.

I think my only complaint about the book is that the dialogue is sometimes a bit rough around the edges, and doesn’t sound quite the way someone might talk. However, overall Wilson is a great writer, and she does an excellent job of creating a setting, placing interesting characters in it, and telling the story of what they go through in a way that’s neither too brief nor too wordy. A touch of extra editing would probably help clean the dialogue up, and all told it’s a good effort. It makes me want to at some point pick up Wilson’s first book, The Shadow Within, just for the fun of it.

This would be an excellent book for kids about 4th grade and up into the early teens, especially if the younger ones are precocious readers (though be aware that there is a bit of not too incredibly graphic violence in it). Pagan parents should especially be interested, especially if their kidlets are curious about magic–while as with any fantasy-tinged work the magic isn’t exactly realistic, the mention of familiars can spark more serious conversations. However, the story will appeal to kids from any background–the magic is less pagan and more urban fantasy.

And, for the record, it’s got one of the cutest covers I’ve ever seen 🙂

Four and a half pawprints out of five.

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Spells for Cats – Daisy Pepper

July 16, 2007 at 9:32 pm (Animal Magic)

Spells for Cats
Daisy Pepper
Gibbs-Smith Publisher, 2002
96 pages

This is one of those cute little hardcover gift books you find at the chain stores. When I first got it from Amazon, I wasn’t sure what the premise would be–would it be yet another “Here are some cat deities, and how about reading your cat’s astrological chart?” book in the vein of Enchanted Cat and Your Magickal Cat. Or would it be something entirely different?

Well, it’s definitely a book of spells, and cats are involved. They range from spells to keep cats safe to sabbat celebrations that are centered on the feline who owns you. Creative ideas include a spell to be sure the cat only kills vermin, and one that blesses an herb garden planted especially for an older cat. There’s even a touching ritual for marking the passing of a kitty friend. The spells are simple and sweet, nothing too incredibly complicated; this book is meant for a broader audience than just the pagan community.

That also means it’s not a particularly theory-heavy book; it’s mainly just the spells. This is a light-hearted gift book, not a serious treatise on feline familiars. Still, the material is quite practical to the average witch or pagan who might like to involve hir cat a bit more in hir magical work. There are occasional historical inaccuracies or oddities, and the information is pretty simplified, but no huge glaring errors. My only real problem is that for all the spells that are meant to protect the cat, the author advocates letting cats roam unattended outdoors, where they’re more at risk for getting injured or killed by dogs, cars, or pedestrians. Cats can’t be contained in the safety of a yard like a dog, and so IMO need to be kept indoors.

Still, it’s a cute little book and would make a nice gift for a pagan–or for a pagan-friendly acquaintance (and hir cat(s)) who might get a kick out of it. The whimsical drawings of cats accentuate the text, and it’s a very aesthetically pleasing work. It doesn’t pretend to be anything more than what it is, and for that I like it.

Four kittyprints out of five.

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Sea, Land, Sky: A Dragon Magick Grimoire – Parker J. Torrence

July 10, 2007 at 8:07 am (Animal Magic, Otherkin, Wicca and Witchcraft)

Sea, Land, Sky: A Dragon Magick Grimoire
Parker J. Torrence
Three Moons Media, 2002
160 pages

I think one of the biggest questions on the mind of those who pick up this book is, “Is it better than Dancing With Dragons by D.J. Conway?” I’ll admit it was one of the reasons I picked it up in a recent Amazon order. So, having read it on the train this morning (it was a quick read, and I have a long commute), what did I think of it?

Well, it’s definitely an improvement in some ways. Torrence has created a magical system based on multi-layered symbolism. His concept of dragons seems to be rather elemental in nature, though not in the same quasi-D&D manner of Conway’s work. He introduces the concepts of the three realms of sea, land and sky, and adds in some of the areas of correspondence. For example, he equates them, respectively, with the past, present and future, as well as various magical acts. He also creates an interesting meditation with the seven primary chakras, visualizing them as small dragons that hatch from eggs as each one is worked with, then returning to their eggs when the meditation is done. I also liked some of his rituals, particularly the simple guided meditation entitled “To Touch a Dragon”.

The main issue I have with this book is that it reads more like a draft rather than a finished manuscript. It’s obvious this is a self-published work (Three Moons Media is a printing company similar to Booklocker or Lulu). There are a number of incomplete sentences, typos, and weird punctuation throughout the book. It doesn’t make it unreadable, but I did notice it as I read. Additionally, the content has a lot of room for development. Torrence offers a lot of “whats” and “hows”, but not as many “whys”. Why, for example, should a beginner to tarot use only the Major Arcana (p. 26)? Why does he toss in a handful of Enochian for no apparent reason (p. 59-63)? What’s with the random inclusions of Celtic deities? Instead of offering more detailed explanations of things like this, he instead stuffs the book with a bunch of Wicca 101 information (some of it just a little dragon-tinged), and almost 60 blank-lined pages (I don’t think a 160 page book needs quite that much room for notes).

This book does have a lot of potential. If I were editing the book, I would suggest the author answer the following questions throughout:

–How did you get into dragon magick specifically? What are some anecdotes of your own experience with working with dragons?
–Given that the mythology around dragons (particularly those in the West) shows them as fierce beasts, how does a magician safely work with dragon spirits? (This is particularly in light of the fact that a couple of the rituals call on Tiamat).
–How does the Celtic pantheon work into this, particularly the sea, land and sky trilogy?
–Can you go into more detail as far as the relationship between sea, land, sky; past, present, future; and subconscious, conscious and superconscious mind?
–In regards to the various rituals in the second part of the book, how did you develop them? What sorts of results have you gotten from them?
–What are some of the basic principles of working with dragons in ritual, so that readers can then take those principles and apply them to rituals they create themselves?

Those are just some of the points that came to my mind as I read through the book; there’s plenty more room for expansion. I give it extra points because it does have some good potential. And even as it is now, it’s a better alternative to dragon-flavored Wicca than Dancing with Dragons. I think if the author were to get it contracted with an actual publisher, or at least hire an editor to help him expand on his ideas and clean up the text, this could easily be a five-pawprint book. As it is, I’m giving it three pawprints and hoping for a second edition.

Three pawprints out of five.

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The Way of the Animal Powers (Part 1) – Joseph Campbell

June 14, 2007 at 5:47 pm (Animal Magic, Anthropology, History, Mythology, Paleopagan Cultures, Shamanism)

Historical Atlas of World Mythology Volume 1: The Way of the Animal Powers, Part 1: Primitive Hunters and Gatherers
Joseph Campbell
Harper & Row, 1988
125 pages (large coffee table book)

I was thrilled when I found this book and its companion volume (which will be reviewed at a later date). I love Joseph Campbell’s work, and particularly enjoyed his Primitive Mythology. The Way of the Animal Powers ties nicely into that volume. This book is also one of a large set of books, the Historical Atlas of World Mythology. It’s a decent-sized coffee table-style book, so don’t let the page count fool you!

The content isn’t strictly animal-related. Along with evidence of cave paintings, ritual spaces and other sacred items in the theoretical religious practices of paleolithic cultures, Campbell gives a decent amount of background on the evolution of humanity and its mythology. This is a fascinating read, with numerous threads weaving together telling the story of our ancestors’ beliefs, at least as far as we can surmise. The text is punctuated with a variety of illustrations showing specific examples; the combination is well balanced and informative.

There are those who take issue with some of Campbell’s material, particularly his attempts to globalize mythological concepts. While he does discuss archetypes and motifs, and demonstrates how different cultures (sometimes very far away from each other) may have affected each others’ myths, one should not take this as evidence of a monolithic mythology or that “All Gods are one God”. Still, if supplemented with other resources, this is an excellent read for the neopagan interested in the roots of pagan beliefs.

Five pawprints out of five.

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Dancing With Dragons – D.J. Conway – May BBBR

May 13, 2007 at 2:55 pm (Animal Magic, Bargain Bin Book Reviews, Books I Didn't Care Much For, Mythology, Otherkin, Wicca and Witchcraft)

Dancing With Dragons
D.J. Conway
Llewellyn, 2003
296 pages

I finally got around to reading this one, which just happened to be on the clearance rack. I knew it was pretty popular, though I didn’t realize it was in its thirteenth printing by 2003. I’d imagine there’ve been more since then.

I can see why the book has been so popular–for one thing, it was pretty much the first of its kind. Many pagans think dragons are the best thing since sliced bread, and so a book on dragon magic would have a pretty wide appeal. I’ve only seen one other book of its type, Torrence’s Sea, Land Sky: A Dragon Magick Grimoire which is on my wish list which I have reviewed as of 10 July, 2007.

So what was the first book on dragon magic like? Rather disappointing. I’ve generally disliked Conway’s works because she has a tendency to recycle the basic Wicca 101 material and plug in different cultural trappings; for example, her “Celtic Magic” and “Norse Magic” were practically the same book, only with different sets of deities and spirits. This book isn’t much different.

There’s a bunch of information on the history and mythology of dragons (without any sort of internal citations to show where she got specific bits of information). It seems pretty solid, and she has a good variety of cultures. However, it’s nothing you couldn’t find in any basic book of dragon mythology, such as The Book of the Dragon by Allen and Griffiths. Conway also indulges in a little more “Christians are evil!!!” sentiment than I’m comfortable with (as if no other group or religion had dragons as a symbol for dangerous things).

As for the magic itself, it’s basically Wicca 101 mixed with draconic imagery and a lot of Conway’s own UPG about her own dragon spirits. There are also pages upon pages of correspondences, information on basic Wiccan altar tools,and other 101 information that you could find in any book about Wicca, which makes me think that there was a serious need of filler. I really question the wisdom of some of her own material about dragons; for example, in the basic dragon ritual (p. 118 et. al) she instructs the reader to invoke Fafnir as the dragon of the south. I can’t find any evidence for the other three directional dragons, names Grael, Sairys and Naelyan. Is this UPG? She also talks about dragons as if anyone could work with them, and it’s just a matter of being polite to them.

The chapters on the different types of dragon read somewhat like a D&D manual, and she classifies dragons by their elemental properties regardless of what culture they come from. This just continues a neopagan trend that really annoys me, trying to wrap the entire world up in a neat elemental package. IMO, if you’re going to work with dragons deal with them as individuals according to the culture they come from, not whatever element they remind you of.

Basically, if you’re new to Wicca and you like dragons, you’ll probably like this book. Just don’t make it the do-all and end-all of your research on either topic. As per usual, there’s a lot of questionable material. Unfortunately, from what I’ve seen on the internet most of the material available on dragon magic stems from this book. Here’s hoping that Torrence’s work or future books of dragon magic will be improvements over this one.

One and a half pawprints out of five.

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