Review: Shamanism for Beginners

by by James Endredy
Reviewed by SteelWitch

Shamanism for Beginners is a new book by well-traveled shaman James Endredy which starts with a misleading title and never really gets off the ground. I picked this book up out of a desire to learn more about the practical aspects of shamanism—there is a huge amount of overlap between shamanic practices and witchcraft, after all. While it is full of interesting shamanic anecdotes from the author's own life as well as the lives of other shamans across the globe, it doesn't ever get around to the practical business of teaching. It's a hard book to review because of this. How do you score a book which, while interesting, isn't what it says it is on the cover?

The introduction is a story about a pair of young Huichol Indian women, one who denied her shamanic calling and one who accepted it, which sets the tone for the rest of the book. A large part of the book that follows is personal anecdotes and stories about indigenous shamans. James will speak briefly on a topic, outline its principles, then follow up with a story. He seems to want to avoid speaking too in-depth about cross-cultural shamanistic trends for fear of misrepresenting the various cultures. That's noble, but not helpful. The broad information isn't enough to learn practically from. The anecdotes appear to counteract this by offering specific examples of shamanism, but they are more wondrous than instructive. James doesn't tell you how the shamans in his stories do what they do, and I came away with the feeling that shamanism isn't something I can learn--it's something you have to be an old native guy living in the desert to practice. I feel like I could take the broad examples he gives, mix them in with inspiration from his anecdotes, and combine with a liberal helping of my own learning in spirituality and the occult to come up with an ad-hoc shamanic system, but that is a bit too much to require from a book for beginners. To make matters worse, when it seems like a real practical example is required the author will not give it but instead refer you back to his previous book, Ecoshamanism.

Ultimately, what we have is a book that sells itself as a text on basic shamanism that is instead a combination of cultural study/memoir with broad cross-cultural trends appended to the front of each subject. Was it an interesting read? Definitely, and it was interesting enough that I have already ordered a $0.75 copy of Ecoshamanism from Half.com. Was it the book I wanted when I ordered it? Unfortunately not. The information is good and helpful but there just isn't enough of it.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
 
(Note: I have started reading my copy of Ecoshamanism and I am happy to report that it is a good, enjoyable read with solid advice and information so far. If you are looking for a book on shamanism I would definitely recommend Ecoshamanism first.)