Many people feel a disconnect with the world as revealed by science. They feel that there is something more and in shamanism
they hope to find a path that can help them to realize that feeling. This is not, however, a how-to book but rather a look at the history and practice of shamanism, its many varieties and the ideas that underlie it while writing in a manner that anyone can understand. The author combines anthropology, psychology, and psychiatry to lead you through such subjects as vision quests, journeys to other worlds, altered states of
consciousness, spirit helpers and beliefs.
Yet for all of this he manages a fluidity of thought and breath of view that will make many scientists uncomfortable. Walsh has the insight to realize that science is not the only game in town. In shamanism we have an alternate way of looking at the world, one far older than the scientific view. In his discussions of the nature of consciousness, altered states of being and the world as the shaman sees it he does a valuable service by pointing out areas of thought that gets dismiss too easily.