Reading the first chapter in The Spell of the Sensuous,"The Ecology of Magic" by David Abram inspired me to research more on journeying into other cultures in search of their Shamans.
David speaks of the shaman as a gatekeeper between the human world and his or her village and the non human reality, that is deeply alive and full of consciousness, or spirits.
"The shaman or sorcerer is the exemplary voyager in the intermediate realm between the human and the more-than-human worlds, the primary strategist and negotiator in any dealings with the Others. ...By his constant rituals, trances, ecstasies, and "journeys," he ensures that the relation between human society and the larger society of beings is balanced and reciprocal, and that the village never takes more from the living land than it returns to it-not just materially but with prayers, propitiations, and praise." pg 7.
A simple google search on shamanic journeys brought up a lot of people in our backyard practicing shamanic techniques as alternative therapy, wellness practices, ecopsychology and visual journeys. In the spirit of the reading I dug a bit deeper to look into a different more earth centered culture in the Amazon jungles. I found a great documentary on the Shipibo tribe of Peru and their Shaman who brews a tea, called Ayahuasca, to journey between the worlds.
A few books I found to read more about this topic:
The Cosmic Serpent, DNA and the Origins of Knowledge. by Jeremy Narby
This book is his personal adventure as an anthropologist into the worlds of Ayahauasca
The Way of the Shaman by Michael Harner
The Shaman and the Magician by Nevill Drury
Don Juan, Mescalito and Modern Magic by Nevill Drury
Medicine for the Earth, How to transform personal and environmental toxins by Sandra Ingerman
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