Circle of Shaman: Healing Through Ecstasy, Rhythm, and Myth

As a student of shamanism with a secret love to dance, I had heard you could combine the two, but I wasn't sure how other than dancing my power animal. I was very excited by the possibilities of this book, that ecstatic dance offers another means to journey and have visionary experiences and I wasn't disappointed! The author's gentle but explicit guidance gave me the confidence and inspiration I needed to explore this technique. I find it works best when I'm seeking guidance for my self, or just getting in touch with the deeper healing rhythms in my body and surroundings, but I'm also beginning to use it in my journeys for others. Thanks for opening up a whole new world for me!!

blessings, thank you for your inspiration gifted to others through your work, journeys and ecstatic love. Your book jumped off a shelf and into my life, having read half of it i embarked on my own shamanic journey and experienced the ecstacy for myself. It had me in tears on many occasions and has helped me to come to terms with my life experiences which i know look upon as lessons. from which i've learnt the skill of healing and now walk between the worlds. karen, may your journeys always be fulfilling and may the goddess always smile upon you. blessed be.

What an amazing book. It deals with subjects that, until now, I had not contemplated contemplating. It was not only informative but a fun book to read. I enjoyed reading it because the stories were real, because they were told in a warm and friendly way and because they opened my eyes to new and profound possibilities.Since reading this book two excellent things have happened to me. I contacted the author and found her to be as genuine and caring as the book implied. Secondly, I have been following its guidance and found it to work.This is an excellent book. It is friendly and educational. It is good to read and it works. What more can one ask for?

Oh so pleasant! Circle of Shaman is like mead wine for the spirit. It drenches the minds eye with sweet images of the mystical experiences found in everyday life. If we only will open to them. Karen Berggren's story is an intoxicating adventure in the borderlands where the mundane and mythic worlds embrace.Books on shamanism run the gamut from one's steeped in academic objectivity to those engulfed in spiritual narcissism and personal grandiosity. Circle of Shaman differentiates itself from these by being a heartfelt personal encounter that connects its knowledge with respected psychological and anthropological treatises. One is not required to accept that these events happened in some distant land the reader will likely never see, nor that the experiences are the result of some special quality possessed by the author. The occurrences remain plausible yet filled with wonder.Berggren has noticed that in a universe whose existence is vibration, new states of being can be accessed by allowing ourselves to resonate with it in non-habitual ways. Knowledge specific to various states of being can thus be captured through entraining (resonating) to new rhythms. Entrainment provides a way to communicate across the thresholds separating the worlds of body, emotion, mind, and spirit. Our language is filled with metaphors for this experience like, "two hearts beating as one," or the Beach Boys "picking up good vibrations." We all know its there. Circle of Shaman is a comfort to anyone struggling through their own "shamanic initiation," or any of the crises related to a spiritual emergence. Besides authenticating the experiences for those who have had them, Circle of Shaman is a delicious invitation for everyone to simply join in the dance.Carlisle BergquistVantage Quest

The author takes you on an intimate and compelling personal journey into the subtle dimensions of spirit and shamanic experience without sacrificing intellectual content. Her theory of the world crisis we find ourselves in acting as a collective shamanic intiation crisis was a major ah ha! for me. The second half of the book focusing on healing through drumming, dance, and ecstasy gave words to some of the ineffable and anomolous experiences I've had at drumming circles. I knew I was experiencing something positive and profound, but could never quite put my finger on what it was. I can now and I'm relieved to know I'm not just crazy. I've been able to use Ms. Berggren's suggestions to cultivate and deepen these experiences in a healing way. I highly recommend this engaging story to anyone interested in shamanism, spirit work, drumming, trance dance, or alternative healing.