An introduction to the ritual tools and practices found in the Druid tradition. Held deeply within Celtic mythology, the crane bag is both a symbol of sovereignty, as well as an item containing the ritual tools of the Druid. With the proper use, it can further the Druid in working with the tides of nature, finding his or her own place in the environment, living in balance, harmony and peace. In ritual, these tools and practices can guide one to deeper levels of meaning and understanding within the tradition, helping the Druid on his or her journey through life and towards integration with the natural world.

Aleister Crowley, Frieda, Lady Harris and Betty May were no strangers to bohemian life; they embraced escapism, freedom and remained true to their indomitable spirits rebelling against the backdrop into which they were born. Through the art of natal astrology, we can see what their motivations were including their potential strengths and challenges. New research; some rarely seen photographs and some new biographical information, coupled with an astrological narrative lay at the heart of this book. Artists and astrologers; bohemians, ceremonial magicians and Thelemites, occultists, philosophers, Tarot historians and writers... welcome to Crowley, Harris and May.

The Golden Builders is divided into three parts:
- Part 1 presents a broad survey of the Hermetic current and its transmissions from Hellenistic Alexandria to the time of Paracelsus.
- Part 2 focuses on the Rosicrucian movement as a vehicle of the Hermetic current, drawing on state-of-the-art research, such as the works of Spanish scholar Carlos Gilly.
- Part 3 concentrates mainly on one man, the English polymath, antiquarian, collector, alchemist, astrologer, and early Freemason, Elias Ashmole, after whom the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is named, and one of many Renaissance figures who carried the Hermetic current forward.
- Unlocks the secret to Hiram's Key.
- A crucial pre-history of modern Freemasonry from its Alchemical and Hermetic origins in ancient Alexandria through the Rosicrucian Order of the 18th century.

Today, practicing shamanism doesn't mean you have to live in a rain forest or a desert. Thanks to a modern renaissance of shamanic spirituality, practitioners from all walks of life now use powerful indigenous techniques for healing, insight, and spiritual growth. With Awakening to the Spirit World, teachers Sandra Ingerman and Hank Wesselman bring together a circle of renowned Western shamanic elders to present a comprehensive manual for making these practices accessible and available in our daily lives, including:
How the original practice of shamanism shaped the world's spiritual traditions and why it is still relevant today
The art of the shamanic journey--a time-tested meditative method for experiencing important spiritual lessons and truths
Guidance for avoiding common pitfalls of shamanic practice
Instruction for working with your dreams, connecting to your spirit guides, healing yourself and your environment

The core of shamanism is the experience of direct revelation-- to communicate firsthand with your spiritual allies and discover your own power. Awakening to the Spirit World takes you through each step of developing a personal connection with your helping spirits to receive wisdom, insight, and healing energy. From an overview of shamanism, to your first journeys and encounters with your power animals, to expanding your skills and insight through long-term practice, here is an in-depth resource for the shamanic arts that includes:

Creating rituals and ceremonies for healing and transformation
Reconnecting with nature to heal ourselves and the planet
Working with your dreams, songs, and artistic vision to strengthen your practice
Traditional wisdom for children-- healthy rites of passage for each phase of a child's journey to adulthood
Honoring the cycle of life and death-- shamanic practices to prepare for and celebrate our final transition in this life

Table of Contents

1 What is Shamanism?
2 The Shamanic Journey
3 Reconnecting with Nature
4 Visionary Work with Weather and Environmental Changes
5 The Power of Ceremony and Ritual
6 Dreams
7 Creative Art as a Bridge
8 Working with Sound and Light
9 Death As a Rite of Passage
10 Experiential Work with Death and Dying
11 All Changes Involve Death
12 Our Children Are Our Future
13 Working in Community
14 The Transformational Community
15 The Return of the Shaman

Excerpt

Shamanism is the most ancient spiritual practice known to humankind and is the ancestor of all our modern religions. As a method, it is a form of meditation combined with a focused intention to accomplish various things, as well become apparent in this book. As a spiritual practice, shamanism can become a way of life that may utterly transform the one who practices it.

The word shaman comes from the language of the Evenki peoples, a Tungusic tribe in Siberia. This is a word whose meaning has to do with esoteric knowledge and extraordinary spiritual abilities and as such a shaman is often defined as an intermediary between the human and spirit worlds. In shamanic cultures, the word shaman has come to mean the one who sees in the dark or the one who knows.

There are certain commonalities in a shaman s worldview and practice across the world that allow us to make certain broad generalizations about shamanism. In the majority of indigenous cultures, the universe is viewed as being made up of two distinct realms: a world of things seen and a world of things hidden, yet that these two worlds present themselves together as two halves of a whole. The shaman is the inspired visionary, a man or a woman who learns through practice how to enter into this world of things hidden, and once there, he or she typically encounters extra-mundane personalities or archetypal forces that the indigenous peoples refer to as spirits, ancestors, or even gods.

Increasing numbers of professionals in the fields of psychology and therapy are seeking to incorporate elements of spirituality into their therapeutic oeuvre, addressing not only mental and emotional issues, but also the soul. This book discloses how indigenous traditions can be adapted to offer practitioners a highly effective repertoire of insights, psycho-spiritual approaches and therapeutic tools. The underlying concepts and world-views of indigenous and contemporary shamanism are explained and tied in with current developments in psychology and science. After clarifying altered states of perception, concepts of integrative wholeness of mind, body, soul and spirit and transformative shamanic 'healing' approaches, the book goes on to outline concrete contemporary tools and techniques that can be applied directly to work with clients. It presents research, examples and case studies throughout. This will be enlightening and compelling reading for psychologists, therapists, counsellors and coaches looking for profound insights and innovative methods of practice that cater for the whole human psyche, reaching beyond contemporary Western mind and body approaches.