Healing Of The Soul: Shamanism And Psyche

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Summary: Healing of the Soul: Shamanism & Psyche
Review: A fascinating read, insightful, thought-provoking. This was one I couldn't put down. I was carried along with the author's adventures encountering shamanism in Matu, Borneo (Malaysia), where she and her husband were stationed in the Peace Corps in 1967. There she met the Bomoh (Islamic Unani Shaman). The author has studied with other contemporary shamanic teachers, including Tenzin Wangyal Rimpoche, Sandy Ingerman, Michael Harner, and Robert Bosnak.
In this book, Ann Drake seamlessly mixes personal experience, theory, and case studies; these aspects enhance each other. The author recounts in detail many of her own spiritural journeys, meetings with and assistance by various spirit guides, shamanic retrievals of lost soul parts of clients. Many of the clients in these case studies had horrific backgrounds and problems, yet were helped by shamanic work.
Part I of this book is largely autobiographical, but explains much about traditional and contemporary shamanistic practices. Part II is about the integration of Shamanism and Psychotherapy, and includes a discussion of energy exchange, the chakras and energy cords, and the dreambody. Part III continues the discussion of traditional vs. modern cultural differences, soul loss and psychological disorders, psychosis, and the violence inherent in American Culture. Part IV begins with a chapter on "Thought Forms and the Creation of Reality" and concludes with a discussion of energetic imprinting.