The Way of the Shaman: A Guide to Power and Healing is book by anthropologist Michael Harner, originally published in 1980.
This is a highly sought-after book and people often email Alma Healing Center requesting info on where to get a copy (sometimes in different languages!).
Let me start by saying that, if you have the means to, I strongly recommend you buy The Way of the Shaman online to support the work of the author.
That said, if you are unable to purchase it online (e.g. no online means of payment, no Kindle or way to receive a hard copy, issues we sometimes face in Ecuador), I can show you how you can download it for free. Fill the form below and I will get back to you. *Please note that by filling in in your details, you consent to being added to our mailing list.*
Why read The Way Of The Shaman Michael Harner Pdf?
“Anthropologists teach others to try to avoid the pitfalls of ethnocentrism by learning to understand a culture in terms of its own assumptions about reality. Western shamans can do a similar service with regard to cognicentrism. The anthropologists’ lesson is called cultural relativism. What Western shamans can try to create, to some degree, is cognitive relativism.”
Michael Harner, The Way of the Shaman
Read an official review of the Way of the Shaman.
As more people are drawn to the world of shamanism and medicine, many books, documentaries, podcasts are being produced on the topic by anyone and everyone.
The Way Of The Shaman by Michael Harner (Pdf) is, however, considered somewhat…avant-garde for its time.
Written in English, it exposed English-speakers in the US and internationally to the world of South American shamanism, rituals, medicine (including ayahuasca and ayahuasca stories), cosmology and more.
It isn’t just about these topics, it is a legitimate guide to shamanism.
It includes a series of step-by-step practical exercises to help you develop shamanic techniques and to enter the shamanic state of consciousness – directly based on what he learned with the Jivaro, among which are the Shuar, people.
Furthermore, it is written by a trained anthropologist who spent time first with the Shuar, an indigenous tribe east of the the Ecuadorian Andes, and then with the Conibo of the Peruvian Amazon.
While I’m sure critics will find many problematic terms and text in The Way Of The Shaman (Pdf) – I mean, it was written in the 80’s – the quality of it is far superior to much of what you’ll find on YouTube. I can promise you that!
Michael Harner, as an old-school anthropologist, lived with these indigenous tribes day in and day out, FOR YEARS, learning their language, beliefs and rituals. In fact, this book is likely only a fragment of what Harner could have written.
What’s in the book?
In The Way of the Shaman, Harner covers the following topics:
- Discovering the Way – His personal account to encountering his inner shaman and drinking ayahuasca.
- The Shamanic Journey – stories of people reaching the Lowerworld and an exercise to begin your own journey there.
- Shamanism and States of Consciousness – an overview of the topic looking at other indigenous groups and their practices, not just from the Amazon.
- Power Animals – their role and meaning in the spiritual realm and in our lives. Exercises to “call on the beasts” and “dancing your animal”
- The Journey to Restore Power – finding your power song and recovering a power animal through song and drumming. More journeys / personal anecdotes
- Power Practice – consulting a power animal, journey foreseeing, keeping power, nonordinary “big” dreams, power objects, games.
- Extracting Harmful Intrusions – plant helpers, removing intrusions, cleanings, tobacco traps.
- Information on instruments used in rituals, such as rattles, drums and other aids.
Books like The Path Of The Shaman (PDF)
In addition to The Way of the Shaman, Michael Harner has written a number of less popularized books, including:
- Cave and Cosmos: Shamanic Encounters with Another Reality
- Hallucinogens and Shamanism
- The Jivaro: People of the Sacred Waterfalls
- How to Make Drums, Tomtoms and Rattles: Primitive Percussion Instruments for Modern Use by Bernard Mason (this is referred to in the last chapter of the Way of the Shaman PDF).
Again, get in touch more info about PDF versions, if you are unable to purchase online.
