The Way Of The Shaman Chapter Summary

“The way of the Shaman: a guide to power and healing”
In The Way of the Shaman, Michael Harner tells his story of his experiences while he searches to understand the philosophy of shamanism. His story is presented in his book in which he shares his interactions with indigenous people from the upper Amazon forest of South America as well as to western North America and Mexico. Harner takes the reader along on his shamanic journey of enlightenment. This section contains a summary of The way of the Shaman. Harner begins his book with an introduction that gives a noteworthy definition of what a shaman is. He says that the ubiquitous nature of shamanism, an account of the universal qualities of shamanism throughout time regardless of the geographical …show more content…
He also taught anthropology in the Graduate Faculty of the New School for social Research in New York, was the Cochairman of the Anthropology section of the New York Academy of Sciences, was a visiting professor at Columbia, Yale and the University of California, Berkeley, and received his PH.D. He also served as assistant director of the Lowie Museum of Anthropology. In addition to this Harner is the author of several books and is currently acting as the director of the Center for Shamanic Studies, which he founded. Harner also continues to do research to further develop the principles and practices of core shamanism and is actively involved in teaching Westerners how to live and practice as shamanic healers throughout the world. …show more content…
It was during this fieldwork that Harner says that he catalytic experiences that led to his discovering the way of the shaman. He notes that the Conibo and Jivoro people that he was living with were very friendly but did not talk freely about the supernatural. Harner bartered a rifle and bullets as a form of payment in order to acquire knowledge about shamanism. Nonetheless, he was later told by Tomás elder of the village that if he really wished to learn, He “must take the shaman’s sacred drink made of ayahuasca, the soul vine.” It should be noted that ayahuasca is a tropical vine native to the Amazon region, noted for its hallucinogenic properties. Harner accepted the challenge. Later that night the people and the animals of the village were quieted and Harner partook of the shamanic potion. Harner described the effect of the ayahuasca as creating feeling of moving numbness. As my eyes seemed to adjust to the gloom, the moving scene resolved itself into something resembling a huge fun house, a supernatural carnival of demons. In the center, presiding over the activities and looking directly at me, was a gigantic, grinning crocodilian head, from whose cavernous jaws gushed a torrential flood of