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Avg. Rating: 3.5
Some Reviewers Too Harsh - Here's Why
I think many of the negative reviewers of this book are too harsh and I want to address their comments. Amber Wolfe admits that she has pulled from many different traditions to assist anyone wanting to pursue a "Nature Path." I understand the purists, of any tradition, won't like this book and it will actually make some angry, but there is another side to be considered which I will go into. But first ...
I recommend this book because the basics are solid and Amber has explained a few things in a straight forward manner that I have no seen elsewhere. She cleared up some disconnects so that the information could come together for me in a more enlightened way. Her anticdotes are interesting because they give some insight into the author and her perspective, plus I identified with some of them in a way that reinforced my own experiences. Now for the negative reviewers and purists ...
I follow a Nature Path, but I have not had the opportunity to receive much useful or well-intended instruction from anyone - I have a blending of Celtic and Native American Blood, but no tribal family nor Scottish Clan to call upon. My Native Blood calls to me and that actually means absolutely nothing without the opportunity to participate in the oral tradition. I am a "blending" of cultures and traditions by my very nature, existance, and upbringing in America. I have no choice but to learn whatever I can from whatever sources are available to me and to follow a nature path from my own wit, wisdom, faith, and trust. This is what Amber is supporting.
A nature path is about what we all have in common ... can't we leave the dogma fighting to the organized religions of the world? I had a nice Christian woman ring my doorbell this very morning wanting to save my soul ... how nice for her. I believe the native culture is safe ... yes, it has been scavaged, but it has survived and will survive. Amber is writing a book to help those of us stuck in the melding pot. I have no idea what she does with her money, who she supports or not, but I know this book can't make up for the atrocities that have happened to the Native American tribes, nor is it meant to. To the negative reviewers that don't like her Native American references I will pose these questions ... "I am Celtic blood (caucasion) and I am Native Blood ... which side of me am I supposed to hate? Which side of me am I supposed to ignore?" At this point, no one can make up for the attempted genocide of the Native Americans, but we can respect and support the revival of the cultures.
Truth is truth regardless of what tradition it comes from. Joseph Campbell said something to the effect that ... the mind of all humans are similar and it is no wonder that disparate tribal groups came to the same understanding of the creator ... that the myths are all so similar.
But, I am here to tell you ... that unless you were born to be a Shaman you will not become one regardless of what you do. Plastic Shamans abound and it's sad. This does not mean, however, that we can't find and use some of the techniques for personal growth and healing. This book is about a nature path for those of us who do not believe in the personification of Spirit, the need to access Spirit through someone else, or that anyone needs to be saved to be accepted and loved by Spirit. As humans we have a need to express ourselves, to be creative, and to connect to Spirit and to one another, and Amber has provided a well organized set of tools to assist us in that purpose. She should be applauded for doing such a good job of organizing and relating such complex material.
(BTW, some of my comments here are directed at the reviewer who commented "Thoroughly Repulsive" and "Garbage")
Garbage.
The author divides the books into sections by elements--good enough for organization of material. She provides lists of correspondences. Fine, could be useful.
What it does not do is provide any real information. We get a lot of watered-down fantasy novel-style "vision quests" or "seekings," encounters the author alleges to have experienced. These "experiences" form the bulk (and I do mean bulk) of the book. Apparently, one is supposed to envision one's self in the author's role.
There is no explanation given for the structure of these pathworkings (the kindest thing I can call them), which are interspersed with commentary about the author's "Native American family." (She claims to have been adopted into a Native American clan.)
She makes many references to possible Native American teachings, but offers no source material, how to seek out further information about topics she urges readers to explore more fully. The terminology she uses is just authentic-enough to sound legitimate, but so vague they reveal nothing. (An example: the examination of a crystal the author has on a staff. A tribal elder who is apparently one of her teachers examines it and gravely announces it used to be a Grandfather crystal. So what, exactly, is a Grandfather crystal, and why is it mounted in a Wiccan-style staff? With runes, no less.)
Even more suspiciously, many of her "Native American teachings" sound like something out of a Hollywood script than anything one might imagine being part of an actual oral tribal tradition, passed down from shaman to student.
Lastly, there are pages and pages of meaningless diagrams and a list of colored "rays" that will bring all kinds of good things into one's life if one meditates on them.
The entire book reads like a Wiccan primer with a glaze of pseudo-Native American spirituality as seen by Caucasians. I have read other books on shamanism, and many stress their adoptive connections to the parent culture. (A good experience for them if it actually happened, but one can hardly expect readersto stampede over and demand adoption.) And yet this information, supposedly kept within these families and tribes for centuries, is now being set out in print for the mass consumption of the reading public. Well, what was the point of being 'adopted'? If these 'adoptive families' wanted this information public, wouldn't they have written a book themselves?
Some of the more honest books on shamanism admit they are witholding certain information because some knowledge *should* be kept 'in the family'. They openly say they are creating something for use by people living in the modern age.
Wolfe has done none of this. Waste of time to read. Waste of space on my bookshelf. Waste of trees to print it. Waste of *plastic* for the bag I carried it home in. I'd be embarrassed to even turn this thing to a used bookstore for credit.
Excellent!
I find this book a very good book on general Shamanism. The book takes quite a bit from Native American Seneca tradition and offers Celtic, Wiccan, and Aquarian information as well. It is easy to read and understand and could be very useful as an instructional tool or for personal expansion. Recommended!
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