Title: The Spirit of Shamanism (reprinted as The World of Shamanism, 2007)
Author: Roger N. Walsh, M.D., Ph.D.
The author Roger Walsh M.D., Ph.D. DHL. graduated from Australia’s Queensland University with degrees in psychology, physiology, neuroscience, and medicine. He is now at the University of California at Irvine where he is professor of psychiatry, philosophy, and anthropology, as well as a professor in the religious studies program.
When I first came across The Spirit of Shamanism, I felt as though science had come to meet me in the Spirit world. Robert Walsh covers such topics as the shaman’s initiation, accessing the spirit world, healing, psychedelic drugs, and New Age adaptations.
He explores such questions as
- whether shamanic initiation and trance states are psychotic or schizophrenic,
- the difference between trance states and mental illness; and
- the effects of music, trickery and the placebo effect on healing.