(Part 2) Best books about shamanism according to redditors

Sure. :) I was trying not to hijack the thread, but I'll just put the list here and that way anyone can have it. Keep in mind, these aren't all collections of stories, some of them are research topics, but none of them that I've browsed through look like bad reads. The ones I have read I've tried to note.

Iroquois Supernatural: Talking Animals and Medicine People - Michael Bastine, Mason Winfield - most closely related to thread topic

Life After Life - Raymond Moody - Very good intro to Near Death Experience research

Reunions: Visionary Encounters with Departed Loved Ones - Raymond Moody

Journey of Souls - Michael Newton - Read this one, it was great, changed my views on reincarnation

The Day Satan Called - Bill Scott

Hunt for the Skinwalker - Colm Kelleher, George Knapp - read parts of, need to finish

The Vengeful Djinn - Rosemary Ellen Guiley - I've read this one, it's really good too, has a large "slow" section in the middle that quotes the Q'uran a lot, but some good creepy Djinn stories.

The Djinn Connection - Rosemary Ellen Guiley

Ghost Culture: Theories, Context, and Scientific Practice - John Sabol

Zones of Strangeness - Peter A. McCue

Lost Secrets of Maya Technology - James O'Kon

The Mythology of Supernatural - Nathan Robert Brown - this one might sound cheesy, but I've read a book on world mythology by the same author, and apparently the writers of the show did their research

Holy Ghosts: Or How a (Not-So) Good Catholic Boy Became a Believer in Things That Go Bump in the Night - Gary Jansen

Biocentrism?






... maybe even this?. (The Psilocybin Solution: The Role of Sacred Mushrooms in the Quest for Meaning)

Here's my totally not organized, unscientific input.

Dunno about NMDA-R antagonism but your dissociative staples are ketamine (duh), dextromethorphan (that's cough syrup's main ingredient), salvia divinorum, and ibogaine. Salvia and ibogaine are plants; ibogaine's too complicated a molecule to chemically synthesize or something like that.

At least those are the ones I've heard of; I've only played with DXM extensively, and that was over a decade ago.

They're doing research on ibogaine as a potential cure for heroin...or they were.

Why not look up Daniel Pinchbeck's "Breaking Open the Head" book, there might be more stuff in there (or hell, google him, I think his current site has it's own forums). He actually did an iboga initiation as part of the journalistic work on the book.

Also my experience is you might cure the depression temporarily with these things but if you don't change your life patterns and habits you're gonna wind up straight back where you were a little down the road. In addition they don't seem to work unless the patient wants to work with the drug; we're not meat robots, and if you don't want to get better, you don't- you just go on a little euphoric or nightmarish trip and that's that. It's not as simple as throwing a chemical switch in the head.

On the other hand I've always found SSRI's to be worse than nothing. That's not true of everyone, though.

For more in-depth information on how the lower circuits tie in with the upper circuits, read "The Shamanic Path to Quantum Consciousness: The Eight Circuits of Creative Power" by Laurent Huguelit. It is a decent read, and got me into looking at shamanism a little bit as well. http://www.amazon.com/The-Shamanic-Path-Quantum-Consciousness/dp/1591431670

For most Anarchists who struggle with Atheism I'd say Chaos Magick is the way to go. It's very easy to plug and play, fits with what you know, and feels "comfertable." You can still laugh and say it's amplified psi. Sigils are very easy to use for any manner of purposes.

If you want to get into more evolved magic I suggest starting out with candles. Very, very simple: get a candle, rub in ingredients, light, and pray. Think of it as the original sigil. Good Hoodoo books on that are the following:

https://www.amazon.com/Master-Candle-Burning-Henry-Gamache/dp/0942272064

https://www.amazon.com/Hoodoo-Rootwork-Conjure-Spiritual-Services/dp/0983648360/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=TZQ589F19CF519ZH86T6

Now both those are trying to sell you other items, oils and the like. That's why you'd do well to grab a good herbal. Get a book that tells you what plants DO so you can figure out how to use them.

If you want to get a more primal magic outside of the chaos strain, buy this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Folder-Personal-Communications-Mastery/dp/0983648379/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1499561050&sr=1-1&keywords=the+black+folder

^Practically a beginners course.

For better getting in touch with your spiritual body and getting to understand spirits:

https://www.amazon.com/Stone-Age-Wisdom-Principles-Shamanism/dp/1592330142/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1499561108&sr=1-1&keywords=stone+age+shamanism

^Currently $3.99. Buy it tonight.

One of the better books to start with (barring finding actual living, breathing practitioners in your area) is Mama Lola by Karen Brown.

You might also get something from reading the introductory material to Kenaz Filan's The Haitian Voudou Handbook. (Note: Kenaz isn't Haitian.)

And there's always Stephen Grasso's Clean Living in Difficult Circumstances, and moreso his Smoke and Mirrors series, which is a British-American Voodoo perspective on urban life and music, and a history of the city of London.

I will start by suggesting:
Silver Wheel: The Lost Teachings of the Deerskin Book

I have read half of it and taken a break. It was my type of book for a moment, but now I am in a different phase (I change quickly). But still it is a very unique and interesting book to me.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00C7TCYOW/ref=nav_timeline_asin?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

This one's from the context of Native wisdom, and specifically for tracking and learning the language of nature as a path.

This is an underrated area, imo. You can follow this kind of way of knowing very, very deep if you work with it.

It's marketed as a tool for tracking animals on the surface, but if you read it, it is really an introduction to a deep way of practicing and altering one's perception and way of being in the world.

Yes. Here are my favorites:

1 - Thus Spoke The Plant

2 - Sacred Plant Medicine

3 - Plant Spirit Healing

4 - Plant Spirit Shamanism

5 - The Plant Spirit Familiar

The whole dialogue between humans and plants is always taking place. The trick is to learn the language.

I've read at least 7 or so books related to ayahuasca and The Shaman and Ayahuasca: Journeys to Sacred Realms by Don Jose Campos is one of my favorites. Don Jose Campos is an active ayahuascero and this book is an English transcription/translation of oral interviews where he talks all about his craft. It is fascinating and inspirational. I hope you have a great visit to Peru.

A wonderful book about the history of DMT is called "mystery school in hyperspace." It is full of knowledge about my favorite molecule.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00U4W2CYG/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

Thanks for the link and the offer to ask you questions.
I just did another search and used google book search. I discovered this book about San Pedro: http://www.amazon.com/Cactus-Mystery-Shamanic-Powers-Peruvian-ebook/dp/B00A8JP4NQ

It seems to have also almost infos from contemporary etc. but maybe I can find some infos in it.

Here are all the local Amazon links I could find:


amazon.co.uk

amazon.ca

amazon.com.au

amazon.in

amazon.com.mx

amazon.de

amazon.it

amazon.es

amazon.com.br

Beep bloop. I'm a bot to convert Amazon ebook links to local Amazon sites.
I currently look here: amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, amazon.ca, amazon.com.au, amazon.in, amazon.com.mx, amazon.de, amazon.it, amazon.es, amazon.com.br, if you would like your local version of Amazon adding please contact my creator.

my bookclub book that was suggested by me but i have not started or bought yet. it will be made into a movie!

Happy Birthday & Merry XMas /u/caraeeezy

ebook that i want to suggest to everyone

I'd recommend this

https://www.amazon.com/Women-Wolves-Clarissa-Pinkola-Estés/dp/0345409876

https://www.amazon.com/Warrior-Goddess-Training-Become-Woman/dp/1938289366/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=6KXSPH22AMR3QDFWJRMP

There's nothing odd about having multiple power animals.

If you're interested in learning more, I would recommend books by the late great Ted Andrews.

Animal-Speak: https://www.amazon.com/Animal-Speak-Spiritual-Magical-Powers-Creatures/dp/0875420281

Animal-Wise: https://www.amazon.com/Animal-wise-Understanding-Messengers-Companions-Anniversary/dp/1888767634

Sucking bad spirits into a stone is actually a shamanistic practice in some cultures, I'm not sure if it's a south american thing, or a siberian thing. I took an intrest in shamanism years ago, but I'm more of a lurker here. That being said there is some not so good info out there on the subject, and if you are going to pursue it you should be careful about where you get your influences. I really liked this books approach to the subject

All that aside, if you are really struggling, than I suggest that you make use of your creative mind and apply it to ritual. What I am suggesting is that, in your own life you have had some pretty positive influences, and positive energy radiates. If there is some action, or thought that you can have that will center you in your most positive self then you should do that. Maybe you have a memory of your dad when you were both happy doing something, and now would be a good time to do that again. He is survived by you, and if you survive, I imagine you will want the best parts of you to survive, and the rest to.. well not.

The ayahuasca sequence from the film Blueberry does a better job than any attempt I've seen.

The director has also co-wrote a book on the ayahuasca experience which I've flipped through at the bookstore, and strikes me as quite legit but mostly anecdotal. It's called The Psychotropic Mind

This is a great book. Has techniques, concepts, cultural info, and ethics. There are a lot of ethical considerations to this work. It's basically shamanism 101.

Awakening to the Spirit World: The Shamanic Path of Direct Revelation https://www.amazon.com/dp/1591797500/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_10V5CbC4Q9MAQ