Specifically:
Shapeshifting: Shamanic Techniques for Global and Personal Transformation or his "Economic Hit Man" titles?
Are they worth the investment?
Thanks,
rose
I like John; what I've seen of him, at least. With that said, however, any white individual who calls themselves a shaman, is simply opening themselves up for a tidal wave of abuse, whether their intentions are positive or not. From what I've seen, there is nothing that Native Americans are more rabid about, than that. They absolutely hate it.
John and others like him, should realise that white society has a magickal tradition of its' own...many of them, in fact. We don't need to associate ourselves with anything indigenous; because apart from anything else, doing so simply makes indigenous people upset.
Thanks, Petrus. The original shamans were Mongolian, but the word usage has since been expanded to include the NA Medicine Men/Medicine Woman/Brujeros/Brujeras. But none of the tribal folks I know who do any sort of intercessions on behalf of others would call themselves a shaman, and I hope John doesn't make that claim for himself.
Native Amerian teachers of the Sioux, Cherokee and Abasinabe traditons tell me that what they dislike are the white folks who gain a smidge of knowledge and then sell (a big no-no in their eyes, when offering spiritual knowledge) what they present as authentic NA ceremonies....$500 and a weekend in a sweat lodge will get you a junior Medicine Man certificate. (Or dead, as in the case of those who lost their lives in such a circle in Sedona) But unfortunately, there are almost no full bloods left among the tribes and their Elders are often more interested in investments to improve life on the Rez than in maintaining the old ways.
This is a situation that my friends say was foretold in their prophecies along with the corollary prediction that those of the white race who were able to listen with their hearts would be the ones to keep the knowledge of the red road alive and bring it back to the tribes when the time was right. So perhaps John is playing a small part in keeping the way open for that return.
Of course I've read the reviews of his books on Amazon, and they are generally positive. But I have great respect for the intellect here on TLM and would be more inclined to order a couple of them if they came with a strong thumbs up. Your post sounds like maybe a quarter thumb. :)
rose