World Shaman: Encountering Ancient Himalayan Spirits in Our Time

by Ellen Winner, Mohan Rai

Supporting three wives, twelve children, and assorted relatives, Mohan Rai is a thoroughly modern man, convinced he's escaped an outmoded duty to follow his father as shaman to his Bhutanese village. But the gods and spirits, ancient protectors of the tribe, have other ideas. Dishonored and vengeful, they enter his dreams and haunt his days, destroying his business, his health, his sanity, and finally, his freedom. Based on Mohan's letters from prison, this true account by his first Western initiate will transform your worldview. "Ellen's retelling of Mohan Rai's first-hand account of his shamanic apprenticeship in Bhutan is a valuable contribution to the preservation of this ancient knowledge." -- Michael Harner, Ph.D., author, The Way of the Shaman, and Founder, Foundation for Shamanic Studies. "I was fascinated. Like Autobiography of a Yogi, Mohan Rai's story shares much wisdom. Portraying his training from childhood in the ancient, mystical traditions of the shaman, this book brings a hopeful vision I will carry into my everyday life forever...a reminder of the mysteries that sustain our lives and how little we know." -- Hal Zina Bennett, Ph.D., author, Spirit Animals and the Wheel of Life; Earth-Centered Practices for Everyday Living. Ellen Winner is an initiate into the Himalayan Rai and Tamang shamanic traditions, a Foundation for Shamanic Studies Three-year graduate, and a Harner Method certified shamanic counselor. At her day job she is a patent attorney. She lives with her husband, Joe O'Laughlin, in Boulder, Colorado.

258 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

About the author

Ellen Winner is a psychologist and a professor at Boston College. She specializes in psychology of art.

Winner graduated from the Putney School in 1965 and received a PhD in developmental psychology from Harvard University in 1978. She collaborated on Project Zero to conduct studies about the way people experience and perceive art. Winner noted how psychological explorations beginning in the realm of philosophy pertained to art.

From 1995 to 96, Winner served as president of the American Psychological Association Division 10. In 2000, Winner was awarded the Rudolf Arnheim Award for Outstanding Achievement in Psychology and the Arts.

Reviews

[Peggy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the biography of Mohan Rai, who was called to shamanism as a young boy living in rural Bhutan. His father, Dil Bahadur, was a well-respected village shaman whose profession left the family poor and diverted much of his father's time and energy. Still, local spirits chose to reveal themselves to Mohan, and he showed evidence of becoming even more powerful than his father. The book is based on Rai's prison writings. His life story is compelling. It's impossible not to feel compassion for him as he maneuvers between his various businesses and shirks his responsibilities to his ancestors and the spirits who depend upon him to keep the Rai way of life strong.

[Putukas · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing journey!