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Shaman|
Shaman's
Aloha
by
Judy
Winters
For
over
three
years
Peruvian
shamanism
has
been
my
forte,
with
some
Native
American
traditions
tossed
in
from
time
to
time.
In
the
last
couple
of
months,
however,
I've
been
asked
several
times
what
I
know
of
shamanism
Hawaiian
style,
and
about
the
same
time
these
questions
were
posed,
three
books
on
the
subject
found
their
way
into
my
hands.
I
know
that
when
this
kind
of
thing
happens,
I'm
supposed
to
learn
something
from
it,
so
here
are
my
observations:
Visionseeker:
Shared
Wisdom
from
the
Place
of
Refuge
by
Hank
Wesselman,
Ph.D.
(Hay
House,
Inc.,
2001,
hardcover,
$23.95;
also
available
abridged
on
audiotape
for
$25).
The
author
is
a
respected
anthropologist,
who
in
the
early
1980s
while
living
on
the
island
of
Hawaii,
had
a
series
of
unsolicited
visionary
encounters
with
Nainoa,
a
kahuna
(shamanic)
initiate,
which
resulted
in
his
first
and
second
books,
Spiritwalker
and
Medicinemaker.
What's
especially
fascinating
about
the
identity
of
Nainoa,
is
that
he
is
Wesselman's
descendent
5000
years
in
the
future,
living
on
the
coast
of
California
because
the
Islands
are
no
more,
due
to
humanity's
abuse
of
the
environment.
Most
of
the
book
is
taken
up
with
the
narration
of
Wesselman
and
Nainoa's
adventures
as
they
move
in
and
out
of
each
other's
consciousness,
but
along
the
way
the
reader
gets
to
meet
some
of
the
spirits
specific
to
the
Islands,
including
the
fiery,
yet
dark
Pele,
goddess
of
the
volcano.
One
of
Wesselman's
most
intriguing
visions
involves
a
young
woman,
Tehura:
“...turning
I
saw
a
woman
standing
backlit
in
the
doorway
behind
me.
She
was
holding
a
large,
flat
wooden
bowl
or
tray
filled
with
what
appeared
to
be
fresh
lychees.”
In
their
ensuing
conversation,
Wesselman
learns
the
woman
can
speak
English
because
“I
had
a
lover,
an
American
sailor
who
came
to
my
island
(Tahiti).“
Several
years
later,
when
viewing
Paul
Gauguin's
painting
of
“The
Two
Tahitian
Women”
at
New
York's
Metropolitan
Museum
of
Art,
he
is
startled
by
the
resemblance
of
one
of
the
women
to
Tehura.
She
is
holding
a
tray
of
lychees
and
the
label
on
the
wall
identifies
her
as
Gauguin's
mistress,
“Pahura.”
Visionseeker
is
more
than
just
a
well-told
story
with
a
magnificent
setting
as
backdrop.
The
scientist-turned-mystic
author
has
a
message
he
wants
his
readers
to
hear:
the
shamanic
state
of
consciousness
is
a
state
accessible
to
everyone.
Not
only
that,
but
it
is
imperative
that
we
make
the
evolutionary
leap
from
our
materialistic
ways
into
that
more
fluid
state
because
therein
lies
the
ultimate
salvation
of
our
species.
Shaman
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