Title: Thanks, Michael--Not.
Product review: Here it is, the little book that started the big (and profitable) idea that "shamanism" is an open-to-all, homogenous "religion" you can join just as you might join a Christian church. It isn't, and you can't. To belong to the modern, majority US/Western culture and claim to be a "shaman" is as ridiculous as claiming to be a 21st century knight. If lying on your bed listening to a drumming tape or shelling out several hundred bucks to attend a workshop makes you a shaman, then watching Yentl makes you a rabbi. Believe what you want to believe, but sue me if I don't come to any of your healing ceremonies (or brises). Anyone who really wants to study Native ways out of admiration for them will research what Native people the world over have to say about "shamanism" (and I mean the majority, not just the ones who want your money). If you really have any respect, doing this research will make you change your mind.
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