From the Forward by Dr. Chris Forester:
This
is a book whose time has come. As
more people turn to shamanic
practices for spiritual meaning, and for
healing, the art of shamanic extraction has never been more sorely
needed. Many
popular books touch on it, but here you will find, I believe, the
first really comprehensive treatment by an expert practitioner of the
art. Any shamanic practitioner or student
of shamanism should read this book.
La curacion
chamanica es siempre un ejercicio humano de la libertad. Este libro
detalla uno
de los hallazgos chamanicos que, por ser
verdadero, trasciende las limitaciones de la memoria porque siempre se
redescubre y se renueva como un amoroso entendimiento de la naturaleza
humana. La profunda verdad de la extraccion cham�nica se comprueba en
la variedad historica de sus expresiones rituales. Por eso, su
antiguedad
es la seoa de su pertinente actualidad.
Ramon Lopez,
Barranquitas, Puerto Rico
This is the first contemporary book about the
ancient and
powerful shamanic healing technique known as extraction. Composed by an
internationally noted shamanic
practitioner,
teacher and author, Spirit Knife describes
extraction techniques in current use. Stories of extractions from
several centuries and many peoples
around
the world provide important background for modern practices. While
reading of powerful healings gained by
removing toxic
crystals, piercing bones, cutting blades, and--perhaps--malevolent
spirits, you can judge whether extraction might aid your own healing.
In Spirit Knife, Soul Bone, sources of
destructive intrusions are
examined at length. The chapter
"Awareness is Half of Prevention" offers detailed guidelines for
avoiding intrusions. Like
all the major shamanic healing techniques, extraction is not and has
never been
self-applied. Still, understanding how extraction works and how
necessary it may be, set against
the complete portrayal of shamanic healing provided by Spirit
Knife, makes the choices for your own healing safer and more
effective.
FROM the Author: Crow Swimsaway, PhD
I have studied and experienced shamanism since my
graduate
study in anthropology at the University of Chicago in
the late 1950s. I am currently writing a series of
books to share with a wider audience the
wonders of a spirituality, mode of healing, and way of life as old and
widespread as humankind.
It
is my profound belief that early shamanic practice was the origin
not only
of spirituality but of the arts both visual and performing and of
"science." That is,
science in the sense of being willing to observe everything that
happens to and
around oneself and being able to learn from those experiences, whatever
framework of understanding one may need to place this knowledge in to
be able to
work with and profit from it. This
is relevant in that I was originally trained as a
scientist by a very serious scientist father. (I learned to identify
red and
white blood cells through the microscope before age 5.) Since then,
major and significant parts of my joy and the
works of my
life have been in the performing and visual arts: everything that
shamanism has
touched, has also touched me. I
believe that almost 70 years of life's experiences along these blessed
pathways
have suited me to this writing and sharing.
Your comments are invited in return.
ABOUT the Illustrator: Denise Mangen
Denise Mangen is more than a
photographer. As Photo Illustrator, she produced the
illustrations for Spirit
Knife, Soul Bone, including the color cover and author's portrait
(excepting the classic drawings of the two famous cave
paintings in Chapter 3). I met Denise when
she was working on a portfolio of color photographs of alternative
healers in Athens County, Ohio, as part of her work at Ohio
University. I was very taken by her professionalism, the quality of
her images and
her eye for capturing the spirit and personality of Athens' healers.
The choice was obvious when I came to choose
who would create the images
for Spirit Knife, Soul Bone.
ABOUT the Designer: Stacy Asher
I
met Stacy Asher by pure happenstance: we both attended the opening of
Denise
Mangen's exhibition of photographs of alternative
healers at Casa
Nueva in Athens, Ohio. Not so much
happenstance, perhaps, since as Assistant Professor of Graphic Design
in the
College of Fine Arts at Ohio University, Stacy worked with Denise
in
designing her book of healers. To my surprise
and deligh, however, Stacy overheard me describe the Spirit
Knife, Soul Bone project and decided she'd like to
design the
book.
We discovered many similarities of
experiences--each of
us learned a great deal in Hong Kong, for example--and taste in book
design. I am very happy that she has taken
on this project and responded so perfectly to the spirit of the work.
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