The Legacy Of Archaic Shamanism For Psychical Research By Jackie Jones-hunt Phd.

The subject of archaic shamanism and the vast numbers of historical and contemporary reports of accompanying paranormal shamanic phenomena can be considered to be of great value and interest because our shamanic ancestors probably represent the earliest human expression of psycho-spiritual experiences. Consequently, an improved understanding of shamanic experiences could make a significant contribution to our contemporary understanding of the realms of experience investigated by psychical research and parapsychology.

Archaic shamanism was geographically extensive in the ancient world. Though there were many underlying shared beliefs and practices, regional and idiosyncratic variations and terminologies existed. A separate study of each archaic shamanic tribal culture would be an encyclopaedic work in itself, as would a compiled summary of the whole of archaic shamanism. The following discussion is of necessity restricted by time and space and will therefore introduce and outline some of the more salient, shared features of archaic shamanism. It will include a brief discussion of the role, function, and way of life of these preliterate, primal peoples providing a brief insight into their worldviews.

Shamanic cultures do still exist today but not on the scale they occupied historically. The geographic locations to which this widespread phenomena of ancient times can be particularly associated include North America, Indonesia, Oceania and the expansive wastes of Siberia andCentral Asia. Consequently, of necessity, some of the most fundamental shared beliefs and practices of archaic shamanism will be outlined here in broad terms.

Contemporary scholars from diverse academic disciplines including psychical research, parapsychology and anthropology explore and investigate testimonies of experiences of possible paranormal relevance. Significantly these include a range of modern-day experiences that have significant parallels with those of our shamanic ancestors. Consequently, it is valuable not to view related paranormal, transformative spiritual experiences in isolation from this rich and diverse, religio-historic and geographically extensive shamanic far reaching legacy.

Shamans of antiquity occupied a central role and function within their tribe and they were highly respected individuals. They were perceived to have been born with or to have learned how to cultivate extra ordinary abilities that apparently enabled them to transcend mundane time and space. It was believed that these apparent paranormal abilities empowered them to access knowledge of the past, present, future and of geographically distant locations including the perceived non-physical realms. The tribe followed their guidance which involved leading them to new geographic locations in order to find food and to avoid the dangerous machinations of neighbouring enemies.

Their role included diagnostic and healing abilities, supporting and enabling individuals to make a good death when their physical incarnation on earth was at an end and acting as psychopomp, escorting their souls to safe locations in the other world. Consequently, their regular provision of detailed guidance that drew upon their apparent abilities to access precognitive and retrospective information and knowledge regarding distant locations made them a much-valued member of their community.

In order to provide this diverse range of services to the tribal members, the shamans of antiquity frequently cultivated through years of initiatory training altered states of consciousness that can be understood today, in terms of entrancement. Neophyte shamans were trained by their masters and by spirit beings and spirit animals to become adepts at attaining the shamanic state of consciousness. This alternate state of consciousness facilitated their access and familiarity with the upper, lower and middle regions of the invisible world.

It was in these metageographic realms accessed through their finely trained and attuned psycho-spiritual senses, in which they were tutored through communications with the non-physical inhabitants of these regions. Here in these ideo-plastic, fluid, malleable realms it was believed that they gained much of their knowledge and received empowerment of their psycho-spiritual senses and abilities. Typically, they employed extremely rigorous training processes over many years in order to attain these altered states, which enabled them to soul-journey into the non-physical world of non-linear time and space.

Despite regional and personal idiosyncratic variations in accessing these altered states, an underlying common pattern found amongst archaic shamanism involved the cultivation of sensory overload. The neophyte shaman had to constantly demonstrate both physical and mental strength in order to endure the years of exhaustive and life-threatening initiatory training. Examples of which, include food and water deprivation, physical pain, sleep deprivation, use of excessive heat or cold temperatures, rhythmic and monotonous drumming or other percussion sounds and rhythmic movements such as dancing for an excessively protracted duration, rhythmic chanting, hyperventilation or isolation such as in a closed cave. Psychedellic drugs were used by some shamans, amongst which were psilocybin mushrooms, datura (jimson weed) and peyote. However, the effects of which are not closely controllable and can produce harmful side effects.

When shamanic abilities seemed to appear spontaneously after a life threatening illness or accident the event was viewed as an initiatory illness or initiatory accident. They believed that these various initiatory experiences had taken them to the boundaries or window between the physical life and the non-physical realms. They believed these spheres were accessed through the gateway of the mind and particularly, frequently at closeness to death. The shamans typically believed that their spirit guides had engineered or utilised the effects of the accident or illness in order to return them to the physical plane as renewed, transmuted, transformed individuals with the specific shamanic role to perform.

An example of the archaic shamanic belief in an initiatory illness that facilitated soul-flights from the physical body to the non-physical other world is provided from the writings of the distinguished scholar and religious historian Mircea Eliade: Stricken with smallpox, the future shaman remained unconscious for three days, so nearly dead that on the third day he was almost buried. He saw himself go down to Hell, and after many adventures he was carried to an island, in the middle of which stood a young birch tree, which reached up to Heaven During his adventures in the other world, the future shaman met several semi-divine personages, in human or animal form, each of which instructed him in the secrets of the healing art. When he awoke, in his yurt, among his relatives, he was initiated and could begin to shamanize. 1

Eliade, describes the shamanic process of entering the various regions of the non-physical world as follows: Through his initiation, the shaman learns what he must do when his soul abandons the body and, first of all, how to orient himself in the unknown regions that he enters during his ecstasy. He learns to explore the new planes of existence disclosed by his ecstatic experiences.

He knows the road to the center of the world the hole in the sky through which he can fly up to the highest heaven, or the aperture in the earth through which he can descend to the underworld. In short, he knows the paths that lead to Heaven and Hell. All this he has learned during his training in solitude, or under the guidance of the master shamans. Because of his ability to leave his body with impunity, the shaman can, if he so wishes, act in the manner of a spirit he flies through the air, he becomes invisible, he perceives things at great distances he mounts to heaven or descends to Hell, sees the souls of the dead and can capture them, and is impervious to fire. 2

Further salient shared features of archaic shamanism were themes of death and rebirth, of physical and mental fragmentation and reassembly. The theme of death and rebirth, or in other words, the breaking down of the existing order of the mind and body, in order to have it recreated in a superior fashion, is found both in the mental and physical examples of disintegration. This initiatory process, particularly including the subsequent rebirth and reassembly was believed to facilitate the acquisition or heightening of paranormal powers, knowledge and abilities and spiritual insights and transformations in the individual. After original initiations years of arduous disciplined training usually followed and the shaman frequently evoked altered states of consciousness in order to gain the knowledge and power he/she needed in order to fulfil his/her duties for the tribe. The way of the shaman was/is not for the faint hearted but those who possessed a strong character and resilience.

Despite differences in cultivating extremities of initiatory suffering and on-going training, it is an interesting matter for speculation whether these experiences and practices caused the existing conditioning of the mind to be broken down perhaps in the form of a psychotic experience which extinguishes the rigid ego structures of the personality when it is healed. This new malleability may contribute to the reshaping, integrating and transformation of the personality that is reported after their initial initiatory experiences and when they first began to shamanise. Part of the transformation of personality experienced after initiatory suffering and training, included their access and exploration of non-physical psycho-spiritual realms apparently beyond the scope of mundane space and time and their acquisition of apparently paranormal knowledge and capabilities.

The experience of intense and frequently protracted personal suffering presumably reduced the personal ego and made a considerable contribution towards cultivating the shaman s spontaneous empathy, compassion and respect for all other creatures who share this Planet including the natural world. It is possible that their own experience of suffering heightened their sense of understanding of the needs and feelings of others, thereby contributing to their sense of empathy and wisdom in all their dealings. It is also known of archaic shamanism that it was understood that if they were tempted to use these psycho-spiritual senses and abilities for the wrongful exploitation of other creatures, or for self-aggrandisement and ego, it would bring dreadful consequences upon themselves through the operation of natural law akin to karma.

Holger Kalweit suggests that the experience of physical and mental fragmentation enhances that which might be termed, a person s spiritual nature

__-psychic dismemberment results in a clear mind, enhanced perception, greater capacity for compassion, and true gentleness toward our fellow beings. It would seem that only self-borne suffering will stimulate true tolerance and genuine compassion. 3

It is a valuable contribution to our understanding of shamanism that of necessity, a shaman had to manifest both physical and mental strength and health in order to endure initiations and the many years of arduous physical and mental training that followed. Such experiences would inevitably have caused those individuals of a lesser physical, mental or emotional constitution to perish. Furthermore, in order to perform diligently, the diverse roles that were expected of them and in order to be accepted as leader or guardian of the tribe they had to be considered to be worthy of the great trust and authority that was attributed to them. It is worth remembering that the shaman was entrusted with the safeguarding of their souls to safe-havens in the non-physical world where they believed that they would live on for eternity.

Evidence of initiation maladies such as epileptic seizures, physical and mental crises were perceived to have been instigated and later healed by the shaman and his/her non-corporeal guides as an integral part of his/her training process. It is worthy of note that the body of Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam trembled and shook with ecstasy as he heard the revelatory verses of the Koran being given to him by non-physical celestial messengers. The voices heard by shamans were cultivated by attaining altered states of consciousness and the shaman was very much in control of them whilst others in the vacant vicinity of the shaman are reputed to have also heard them. In contrast, the voices experienced by schizophrenics are not under control, they are thought to be destructive, manipulative and to be manifestations of the non-unified personality of the mentally ill.

Physically and mentally the shaman had to be a robust individual in order to cope with the extremities of years of diverse, physically exhausting initiations, including fetes of suffering and isolation. Jean Houston comments on the legendary respect given to the shaman the way of the shaman calls for initial steps of radical disintegration and dissociation, as well as procedures for consciously entering into chaos. Living at his edges, standing outside and beyond himself, the shaman experiences ecstasy as a condition of his mastery, although the ordeals and voyages into shadow worlds bring with it a harrowing of the soul that few but the shaman could endure. In the shamanic journey, psyche and cosmos gain access to each other the shaman becoming the channel for creatures and spirits, for the animates of nature and the designates of gods. The art and discipline needed for so special a relationship are enormous and do much to explain the reverence in which the shaman has been held for millennia. 4

The following provides a brief discussion regarding the non-physical worlds of which the shamans of antiquity appear to be one of the earliest human explorers. It was believed that the shaman had the psycho-spiritual abilities that facilitated access to diverse regions of non-ordinary objective reality. These geo-psychic realms were believed to lie beyond ordinary linear time and space and belong to the realms of durative, amplified space and time. Shamans believed that through the utilisation of the mind, that might be understood today, in terms of a connecting corridor, door, tunnel (similar to contemporary near death experiencers) they were able to travel between the threshold of the ordinary world of three-dimensional time and space to the non-physical world of sacred time and space.

In order to access these alternate realms, part of the procedure, was the frequent utilisation of visualisation techniques. Our forefathers typically visualised access between these worlds in several similar ways, including symbolically travelling up and down a ladder, tree, mountain or tent pole, this is known today as the axis mundi. They typically travelled up to Heaven, down to Earth and further down to the underworld, commonly known as Hell. Their soul-journeys were not carried out physically in any sense but were believed to occur during their out of body states. Shamanic experiences have many parallels with out of body and near death experiences reported over the centuries by humankind, which have received particular attention in recent decades. The tunnel that apparently connects the world of matter with the invisible worlds, commonly reported by contemporary near death experiencers echoes the features of the axis mundi reported by our shamanic ancestors.

A further shared salient feature of the shamans of antiquity is their legacy for future generations. Eliade states: It is as a further result of his ability to travel in the supernatural worlds and to see the superhuman beings (gods, demons, spirits of the dead, etc) that the shaman has been able to contribute decisively to the knowledge of death. In all probability many features of funerary geography, as well as some themes of the mythology of death, are the result of the ecstatic experiences of shamans. The lands that the shaman sees and the personages that he meets during his ecstatic journeys in the beyond are minutely described by the shaman himself, during or after his trance. The unknown and terrifying world of death assumes form and is organized finally, it displays a structure and, in the course of time, becomes familiar and acceptable. In turn, the supernatural inhabitants of the world of death become visible they show a form, display a personality, even a biography. Little by little the world of the dead becomes knowable, and death itself is evaluated primarily as a rite of passage to a spiritual mode of being. 5

Robert Ellwood describes the shamanic vision regarding the route the soul takes after death shared by the Thompson River Indians from British Columbia: The country of the souls is underneath us, toward the sunset the trail leads through a dim twilight. Tracks of the people who last went over it, and of their dogs, are visible. The path winds along until it meets another road which is a short cut used by the shamans when trying to intercept a departed soul. 6

The following brief discussion of the shamanic worldview as reflected in their attitude and beliefs about healing, provides a brief insight into the profoundly spiritual nature of shamanic worldviews. Shamans have undergone years of intense suffering in order to acquire the transformations required to empower them to become a healer and protector of their tribe. At the very least this requires dedication born of devotion to their tribe, leading to compassion and respect for all humanity, animals and the Planet itself. Robert Ellwood believes that there are parallels with shamanic experiences and those of other compassionate spiritual figures: It is seen as a remaking of the man of power, in a way which recreates him so that he is able to see and to travel between two worlds. The process can be compared to the agony and illumination associated with classic mystical experience, as in the enlightenment of the Buddha, and with the descri ptions of initiations in .. theosophical sources .. 7

Shamans believe in the existence of a non-physical aspect of the constitution of sentient beings which resides within matter for the duration of the physical life. Historically, this non-corporeal component of the constitution has been variously described as the spirit or the soul. It is believed by shamans that this non-physical aspect accesses and interacts with the alternate realities. Shamans become seasoned travellers who accumulate expertise as they access and travel in these non-ordinary worlds. They believe that they gain knowledge from the teachers and guardian beings who inhabitant these planes.

In the words of Holger Kalweit the shaman speaks of the vitality of all that exists and of a global relatedness to all beings and phenomena at every level. To him the universe is pervaded by a creative essence which not only transcends normal existence but lends to inner cohesion. The shaman is thus part of the age-old tradition of the Perennial Philosophy.. the mystical teaching of the unity of all things and all beings. 8

For the shaman, the whole of Creation is interrelated, interdependent and part of the whole, significantly this extends to their understanding of the mind, body and spirit. They do not believe that they travel from the physical mundane realm to the non-physical dimensions because they perceive each of these realms to be an integral component of the single, whole reality.

Despite regional and idiosyncratic variations in shamanic beliefs a pervasive and underlying belief is that they need to build the power within themselves in order to serve others. Douglas Sharon clarifies: Simply stated, this is the notion that underlying all the visible forms in the world, animate and inanimate, there exists a vital essence from which they emerge and by which they are nurtured. Ultimately, everything returns to this ineffable, mysterious, impersonal unknown. The varied religious expressions of humanity are attempts to develop a meaningful and/or practical relationship with this power. 9

Regarding the pervasive belief in power found in archaic shamanism, for the Hawaiian, it is described in terms of mana. The Hawaiians describe four particular core components of the universe, in terms of mana, namely physical, mental, emotional and spiritual they illustrate them in terms of a lightening bolt. Regarding the Hawaiian shamans worldviews and beliefs in mana, Serge King claims the concept is best translated and understood as

.. inner or divine power and energy . In spite of numerous references in modern literature which equate mana with the Chinese ch i, the Japanese ki, the Hindu prana, and Reich s orgone, the fact is that mana is not identical to any of these. It is not just energy in the physical or bioenergetic sense, for which the Hawaiians use the word ki, it is much more. The word power is a better rendering, in the sense of effective energy. everything has mana, but some things have more mana than others, either naturally or because it has been imparted to them during his interactions with spirits, nature and other human beings. 10

Central to the function of the shaman as healer is the cultivation and facilitation of different frameworks of thought in the mind of the patient. Shamans, in brief, utilise the mind as the instrument through which change can be effected on the physical body. In a negative, chaotic or generally disharmonious state, shamans believe the mind creates vulnerability within the body to physical disease. Shamans perceive their task to be that of changing or altering the patient s frameworks of thought, this is described in terms of driving out a malevolent spirit. Due to their belief in the interconnectedness of all reality at all levels, they believe that the interrelatedness of the mental to all other levels enabled the shaman to effect the change and cure in the patient s physical body.

The shaman does not deny the physical nature of disease but draws attention to the fact that not all individuals exposed simultaneously to the same disease would develop it, they explain this in terms of the patient s profoundly deep state of internal harmony or disharmony. This is not viewed simplistically in a psychosomatic approach to illness but they believe that changed attitudes and beliefs can actually effect change in a patient s physical body and life circumstances. It is of interest that there is an innate wisdom inherent in shamanic teachings regarding health, as modern physicians would agree that external bacteria can do the most harm to a person when that individual s internal immune system is low or out of balance.

In summary, simply stated, the shaman believes that illness originates from deep within the patient and they believe that the healing process has a broad and deep fundamentally spiritual, dimension to it. Shamanic healing has a holistic and integrated approach to the patient s whole being. Furthermore, they are not only concerned with promoting longevity and quality of life but as mentioned previously they assume the role of psychopomp. This function is to support and accompany the patient s soul when it might be fearful, insecure and vulnerable when it is believed to make its transition from the physical world of matter and commence its journey to new unfamiliar non-physical domains at death.

Jean Achterberg is known for her contributions, in particular, as a clinical Professor of Psychology and Physical Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Centre, United States of America. Achterberg offers her insights into shamanic worldviews and healing: The function of any society s health system is ultimately tied to the philosophical convictions that the members hold regarding the purpose for life itself. For the shamanic cultures, the purpose is spiritual development. Health is harmony with the worldview. Health is intuitive perception of the universe as all its inhabitants as being of one fabric. Health is maintaining communication among the animals and plants and minerals and the stars. It is knowing death and life and seeing no difference. It is blending and melding, seeking solitude and seeking companionship to understand one s many selves. 11

Shamans evoke diverse methods of healing including the use of ritual, guided imagery, ceremony or visualisation. On the mundane ordinary level, they seek to create a positive response in the subconscious of the patient, which is at a deeper level than the analytical mind with its probable attendant obstructions to the possible and unfamiliar and unconventional healing process. It is worthy of note that visualisation and meditation techniques are becoming more widely practised by contemporary society particularly in the field of cancer treatments.

As a result of Achterberg s research into preverbal imagery and transpersonal methods of healing she believes that the imagination can be and is, utilised by shaman, unconsciously or consciously, to communicate with the most miniscule components of the physical body, including cells, tissues and organs. Achterberg believes this ability and relationship was developed before the use of language.

In order to draw this discussion to a close it is valuable to point out that the question as to whether the other world experiences of the shamans have any degree of objectivity, may remain indefinitely as a matter for personal opinion and conjecture. Furthermore, it was stated early on, that the phenomenon of shamanism is encyclopaedic and enigmatic. However, to help individual s begin to formulate their own opinions regarding these complex phenomena reference is made here to the beliefs and conclusions of a number of scholars from different academic backgrounds regarding the non-physical realms typically described by the shamans of antiquity.

In the writings of the Islamic scholar, Henry Corbin, he distinguished between the concept of the imaginary, unreal world of fantasy and imagination and the

objective imaginal world which he found to be categorised and described, particularly in twelfth century Arabic and Persian Islamic texts. Corbin wrote regarding the descri ptions of experiences in these early texts of non-physical cities, mountains, valleys and deserts, a world inhabited by non-corporeal beings and in which earthly thoughts and desires have taken on form. 12

Eliade corroborates these experience-based beliefs including the belief that the celestial form preceded the terrestrial form, with reference in particular to the Iranian cosmology of the Zarvanitic tradition every terrestrial phenomenon, whether abstract or concrete, corresponds to a celestial, transcendent invisible term, to an idea in the Platonic sense. Eliade continues stating that cities had their prototypes in the non-physical realms and that earthly cities were mere copies, rather than the reverse. 13

It is worthy of note that the Jivaro shamans of South America believe that the earthly material life is a mere illusion and all experiences in the world of matter have their cause and origins in the non-physical realms. Michael Harner is highly respected for his work as Professor and Former Chairman of the Anthropology Department of the Graduate Faculty at the NewSchool for Social Research in New York and as the Founder of the Center for Shamanic Studies in Connecticut. He has conducted extensive research into shamanism. He concludes that it is erroneous and simplistic to view the non-physical realms accessed apparently through the window of the shamans mind, in terms of fantasy or imagination. 14

It is highly significant that the apparent objective reality of the geo-psychic realms apparently accessed by psycho-spiritual senses that may be awakened through the sensitizing process necessary to attain altered states of consciousness, is believed by those individuals who have conducted soul-journeys there, to have as much ontological substance as the world perceived by the empirical senses. The individuals who evidence that related experiences to those of the shaman have been echoed throughout humankind s spiritual history include the related, creative and spiritually illuminating experiences of many of humankind s spiritual figures, including Jewish and Islamic prophets and sufis, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, mystics, Gnostics and Emmanuel Swedenborg the eighteenth century medium, genius and mystic.

Ralph Metzner is known for his work as a psychopharmacologist, a psychotherapist and as a Professor of East-West Psychology in San Francisco. His intriguing opinions regarding methods of understanding the profound and enigmatic soul-flights of the shamans are outlined here

it is the disciplined approach to what has been variously called non-ordinary reality, the sacred, the mystery, the supernatural, the inner world(s), or the other world. Psychologically speaking, one could say these expressions refer to realms of consciousness that lie outside the boundaries of our usual and ordinary perception. The depth psychologies derived from psychoanalysis refer to such normally inaccessible realms as the unconscious, or the collective unconscious. This would, however, be too limiting a definition for shamanism if unconscious is taken to refer to something within the individual, ie., intrapsychic. Shamanic practice involves the exploration not only of unknown aspects of our psyche, but also the unknown aspects of the world around us, the external as well as the internal mysteries. 15

To conclude this brief exploration of archaic shamanism, many individuals in the contemporary, predominantly materialist reductionist, western society do not perceive life in terms of the shamanic model of an integrated body-mind-spirit continuum. They may therefore, find it difficult to comprehend or to share empathy with. This survey closes with the writings of Ralph Metzner who summarises the salient difference in worldviews between those of the shamans and contemporary typically western beliefs and approaches:

Rather these traditional systems operate from an integrated world view in which physical healing, psychological problem solving, and conscious exploration of spiritual or sacred realms of being are all considered as aspects of the way, or work, or practice . The split in Western civilized consciousness between body, mind, and spirit is reflected in a rigid separation of roles between the physician, the therapist and the priest. 16

References:

1. Eliade, Mircea, (edited by) Encyclopedia of Religion, London, Macmillan, , Paper: Shamanism, Eliade, Mircea, P203.

2. Eliade, Mircea, (edited by) Encyclopedia of Religion, London, Macmillan,1987, Paper: Shamanism, Eliade, Mircea, P205.

3. Kalweit, Holger, Dream Time and Inner Space, Shambhala, (translated in)1988, P98.

4. Houston, Jean, Foreword, The Mind and the Soul of the Shaman, (in

Shamanism, ed., Nicholson, S.,) Quest Books, 1987, USA., Pviii.

5. Eliade, Mircea, (edited by) Encyclopedia of Religion, London, Macmillan,

1987, Paper: Shamanism, Eliade, Mircea, P207.

6. Ellwood, Robert, Shamanism and Theosophy, in Shamanism, ed., Nicholson

S.), Quest Books, 1987, P257. H.B. Alexander, North American Mythology,Boston,1916, P147-P149. Reprinted in Mircea Eliade, From Primitives to Zen A Thematic Sourcebook of the History of Religions, NY., Harper and Row, 1967, P366-P367.

7. Ellwood, Robert, Shamanism and Theosophy, (in Shamanism, ed., Nicholson,

S.), Quest Books, 1987 USA., P259-260.

8. Kalweit, Holger, Dream Time and Inner Space, The World of the Shaman,

Shambhala, translated in 1988, Pxii.

9. Sharon, Douglas, Wizard of the Four Winds: A Shaman s Story, New York,

The Free Press, 1978, P49.

10. King, Serge, The Way of the Adventurer, Shamanism, (in Shamanism, ed.,

Nicholson, S.,) Quest Books, 1987, USA., P192-P193.)

11. Achterberg, Jeanne, The Shaman: Master Healer in the Imaginary Realm, (in

Shamanism, ed., Nicholson, S.,) Quest Books, 1987, USA., P107-P108.

12. Corbin, Henri, Mundus Imaginalis: The Imaginary and the Imaginal,

Golgonooza press, Ipswich, UK., 1976. Seminal Paper.

13. Eliade, M., The Myth of the Eternal Return, Routledge and Kegan Paul,

London, 1955, P6-7 (Translated from French by Willard R.Trask.)

14. Foreword and The Ancient Wisdom in Shamanic Cultures an Interview with

Michael Harner conducted by Gary Doore in Shamanism, ed., Nicholson, S.,

Quest Books, 1987 USA., P1-P16.

15. Metzner, R, Transformation Processes, Alchemy, and Yoga: (in Shamanism, ed.,

Nicholson, S.) Quest Books, 1987, USA., P233.

16. Metzner, Ralph, Shamanism and the Perennial Philosophy (in Shamanism, ed., Nicholson, S.), Quest Books, 1987, USA., P235.