View from the Other Side of My Head
View from the Other Side of My Head

View from the Other Side of My Head


     0     
5
4
3
2
1



Out of Stock


Notify me when this book is in stock
About the Book

The View From the Other Side of My Head chronicles the first few years of my education in shamanic trance. Beginning with a co-worker's request that I help her with a rather unusual homework assignment, my deepening exploration of the dreamworld, accompanied by various Spirits and informed by anthropological scholarship, modern shamanistic literature, and recent neurological studies, leads me to a new understanding of ancestral and personal traumas, intimacy with a tree, the bowels of a Phoenix, several moments of satori, and a wilder and wider sense of the human mind's workings, capabilities, and place in the world. This memoir of a modern American's inadvertent introduction to and fascination with the dreamworld presents an unusual perspective on shamanic trance. It is unlike the vast bulk of literature on the subject in several ways. Although it is informed by Polynesian shamanic tradition, it is neither an anthropological study nor a contribution to the history of religion, nor does it purport to convey ancient Indigenous wisdom. (Pace, Carlos Castaneda!) It is not an account of drug-induced mental states (no drugs were abused in the making of these trances). It is not a how-to manual. It does not attempt to express a philosophy, ideology, or theology of shamanism. It does not proceed from a stance of authority, rather, it is an "Alice's-eye" view of the plunge into Wonderland: a step by step account of a modern, agnostic/atheist American, educated to view the world through the lenses of verbal fluency, Aristotelian logic, and Western science, suddenly discovering that within him and biologically integral to him resides a consciousness additional to the one apparent to daily awareness; a consciousness that operates, as do the many biological organs and processes that work autonomously within us, to maintain, inform, and mediate our relations with the world and within ourselves. The book describes the profound disorientation, confusion, and socially isolating impact of the experience, and the author's adjustment to it. It contains numerous descriptions of shamanic trance states. Within the limits of verbal language's ability to do so, the author attempts to convey as faithfully as he could what he saw, felt, heard, and did. In this, too, the book is unusual, being the rough testimony of a novice's stumbling progress into the dreamworld, rather than the polished reports of " journeying" by experts and adepts in which an interpretive coherency constructed after-the-fact may obscure what it actually was like to be there. As such, the book is particularly directed towards people who are curious about the experiential aspects of shamanic trance, and people who are in the initial stages of exploring trance for themselves and want the support, validation, and sense of community that comes from comparing experiences. It meets needs beyond those addressed by the "how-to-be-a-shaman" literature and largely ignored by scholarship. The book's organization is unusual. It combines poetry and prose to depict the story holistically and in keeping with the interface between the sensual, imagistic, allusive language of trance and the more purely verbal focus of our ordinary means of discourse. I wanted to give the reader a more accurate taste of shamanic trance than can be achieved by prose alone. I have worked hard to avoid the main pitfall of such hybrid writing, which is to impair accessibility and clarity.


Best Sellers



Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9798991413404
  • Publisher: Green Writers Press
  • Binding: Paperback
  • No of Pages: 252
  • Sub Title: My Education in Shamanic Trance
  • ISBN-10: 8991413404
  • Publisher Date: 20 Mar 2025
  • Language: English
  • Returnable: Y


Add Photo
Add Photo

Customer Reviews

REVIEWS      0     
Click Here To Be The First to Review this Product
View from the Other Side of My Head
Green Writers Press -
View from the Other Side of My Head
Writing guidlines
We want to publish your review, so please:
  • keep your review on the product. Review's that defame author's character will be rejected.
  • Keep your review focused on the product.
  • Avoid writing about customer service. contact us instead if you have issue requiring immediate attention.
  • Refrain from mentioning competitors or the specific price you paid for the product.
  • Do not include any personally identifiable information, such as full names.

View from the Other Side of My Head

Required fields are marked with *

Review Title*
Review
    Add Photo Add up to 6 photos
    Would you recommend this product to a friend?
    Tag this Book Read more
    Does your review contain spoilers?
    What type of reader best describes you?
    I agree to the terms & conditions
    You may receive emails regarding this submission. Any emails will include the ability to opt-out of future communications.

    CUSTOMER RATINGS AND REVIEWS AND QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TERMS OF USE

    These Terms of Use govern your conduct associated with the Customer Ratings and Reviews and/or Questions and Answers service offered by Bookswagon (the "CRR Service").


    By submitting any content to Bookswagon, you guarantee that:
    • You are the sole author and owner of the intellectual property rights in the content;
    • All "moral rights" that you may have in such content have been voluntarily waived by you;
    • All content that you post is accurate;
    • You are at least 13 years old;
    • Use of the content you supply does not violate these Terms of Use and will not cause injury to any person or entity.
    You further agree that you may not submit any content:
    • That is known by you to be false, inaccurate or misleading;
    • That infringes any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy;
    • That violates any law, statute, ordinance or regulation (including, but not limited to, those governing, consumer protection, unfair competition, anti-discrimination or false advertising);
    • That is, or may reasonably be considered to be, defamatory, libelous, hateful, racially or religiously biased or offensive, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing to any individual, partnership or corporation;
    • For which you were compensated or granted any consideration by any unapproved third party;
    • That includes any information that references other websites, addresses, email addresses, contact information or phone numbers;
    • That contains any computer viruses, worms or other potentially damaging computer programs or files.
    You agree to indemnify and hold Bookswagon (and its officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures, employees and third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.), harmless from all claims, demands, and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of a breach of your representations and warranties set forth above, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.


    For any content that you submit, you grant Bookswagon a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable right and license to use, copy, modify, delete in its entirety, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from and/or sell, transfer, and/or distribute such content and/or incorporate such content into any form, medium or technology throughout the world without compensation to you. Additionally,  Bookswagon may transfer or share any personal information that you submit with its third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc. in accordance with  Privacy Policy


    All content that you submit may be used at Bookswagon's sole discretion. Bookswagon reserves the right to change, condense, withhold publication, remove or delete any content on Bookswagon's website that Bookswagon deems, in its sole discretion, to violate the content guidelines or any other provision of these Terms of Use.  Bookswagon does not guarantee that you will have any recourse through Bookswagon to edit or delete any content you have submitted. Ratings and written comments are generally posted within two to four business days. However, Bookswagon reserves the right to remove or to refuse to post any submission to the extent authorized by law. You acknowledge that you, not Bookswagon, are responsible for the contents of your submission. None of the content that you submit shall be subject to any obligation of confidence on the part of Bookswagon, its agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners or third party service providers (including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.)and their respective directors, officers and employees.

    Accept

    New Arrivals



    Inspired by your browsing history


    Your review has been submitted!

    You've already reviewed this product!