Reddit reviews The Way of the Shaman

There are a few parallels here to what I refer to as astral parasites, and Robert Bruce calls Negs, Castaneda referred to as Flyers, and the Gnostics termed Archons. While I recognize that the universe does indeed have a 'circle of life' pattern to it with everything feeding on everything else at lower levels of reality (at higher levels, one thing becomes every other thing and it's all Oneness anyway), I don't believe that I SHOULD be contributing to particular entities which have become (or have chosen to become) disconnected from the Light/Source etc. (This guy has an interesting take on the nature and motives of such entities. Just found it tonight while looking for a link discussing Castaneda's Flyers.)

Personally, I would not invite such beings into your area or have further dealings with them. In any shamanic studies I've undertaken, insects that feed on me have always been bad things to avoid or stamp out (often being the astral form of a physical disease/virus). The part of your description that sent off 'alarm bells' for me was how you described it as a "robot with no mind, just a job to feed". That's EXACTLY how all astral parasites I've encountered have been. They're like insects - they feel nothing, care nothing, only feed. If they do communicate, they'll say whatever it takes to get you to feel bad and submit so they can feed off your guilt, depression, anger, fear etc. They will laugh and tell you how weak and pathetic you are in an attempt to dominate and cause submission. You have to ignore that, remain calm, and continue to fight back without allowing emotions to distract or sabotage your efforts. It may be a shark's nature to feed on meat, but I will NOT be on the menu today, thanks.

Prior to engaging in hallucinogenic activities, you should probably be using a banishing ritual/ceremony or similar to ensure that unwanted outside influences are cleared away and kept out, and your preferred focus and direction for the trip are maintained. Because I began my training in a ceremonial style, I use the Lesser Ritual of the Pentagram as my default method for beginning and ending every working unless the symbolism/energies raised by it aren't as compatible with the working at hand, in which case I'll switch to a different symbol set and use a variation of the Hammer Rite (Runes) or similar (this is basically just a modified LBRP anyway - same format).

I encourage you to read Robert Bruce's material regarding how Negs operate and how to get rid of them. Then compare with Castaneda's works (which are very entertaining reads and provide food for thought, even if they aren't 'authentic Mexican sorcery' as advertised - many of the methods still work pretty well).

Edit: This excerpt from Mike Harner's The Way of the Shaman might also interest you.

Indeed, Taoism has shamanic roots. But keep in mind that Taoism is much broader and more complicated than most people realize. I recommend reading Taoism: An Essential Guide by Eva Wong for a better understanding of how it evolved from shamanism.

https://www.amazon.com/Taoism-Essential-Guide-Eva-Wong-ebook/dp/B00ATMWJZ8

As for books on shamanism, Michael Harner’s “The Way of the Shaman” is considered classic.

https://www.amazon.com/Way-Shaman-Michael-Harner/dp/0062503731

Edited: grammar, additional book link

Sacred Therapies has Kundalini Meditation protocols for both bipolar & schizophrenia. The treatment protocols for PTSD & OCD I can personally say work.

However, for your friend who is diagnosed with schizophrenia, I would think shamanic meditation would be the most natural. Learning to control the psychosis, instead of the psychosis controlling him.... sort of "the hair of the dog". The Way of the Shaman is a easy, quick read for someone with a perhaps limited attention span.

It was probably similar to this guy's experience. Very interesting book, read it in a graduate philosophy course a year or 2 back. http://www.amazon.com/Way-Shaman-Michael-Harner/dp/0062503731

Edit: Anthropologist (has some serious academic credentials) goes down to South America to study Shamanism, takes some serious shit, and has a spiritual awakening. Comes back to America, and is/was one of the founders of the spiritualist movement in the U.S.

To ease the struggle, release all expectations of hops that it be this or that animal, bird, insect, or fish. Also, no need to compare with the friend who's got the wolf.

Once started and gone through some levels... (that's a part of it), ask or openly invite what animal might assist you best at this time.

Foundation for Shamanic Studies FSS offers some courses.

Pick up The Way of the Shaman by Michael Harner. It's a basic starting place.

You'll also want to deepen your understanding of whomever appears.

There are essentially two ways. 1) do some soul searching and journeys yourself, or 2) have a shaman do a power animal retrieval for you.

If you're interested in doing it for yourself, I recommend reading this book by Michael Harner:

The Way of the Shaman

I mainly work with what we call "journeying" via a state of consciousness during drum-induced trance. If you are curious about the methodology, I recommend Harner's The Way of the Shaman. His organization has collected reports of experiences and his new book Cave and Cosmos cites many from that repository.

Welcome. Have you been to shamanism.org and/or read Michael Harner's book, Way of the Shaman? Harner is an 80-something year old anthropologist who studied with indigenous shamans in the Amazon in the 1960s and, as a result, quit academia and became a shamanic practitioner and teacher full-time. Shamanism.org is his site (or rather the site of the nonprofit shamanic studies foundation he founded). They teach classes in shamanism, publish a magazine on indigenous and non-indigenous shamans, and periodically run fundraisers to help indigenous shamans (some hurricane in Central America wrecks a shaman's home, they raise money to help him or her build a new one). I've taken one of the classes and use their drumming CDs (or rather MP3's) for most of my journeys. Good stuff.

Here's a link to that book: https://www.amazon.com/Way-Shaman-Michael-Harner/dp/0062503731