Entering the Circle: The Secrets of Ancient Siberian Wisdom Discovered by a Russian Psychiatrist

by Olga Kharitidi Yahontova

Already generating a movie and major foreign rights sales, Olga Kharitidi's riveting account of her soul-altering journey into the mysterious realm of Siberian shamanism opens a treasure chest of spiritual wisdom and offers readers an ancient tradition's riches--powerful teachings on consciousness, life and death, and the true potential of the human mind. 20 drawings.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Russia, Memoir, Autobiography, Psychology, Religion

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

Olga Yahontova (aka - Olga Kharitidi) was born in Siberia, in the former Soviet Union. She has traveled extensively throughout Siberia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, following the ancient wisdom that spread from Siberia to Central Asia, Tibet, and the Himalayas. She is now in the United States, conveying her knowledge of Siberian wisdom and continuing her path of exploration and discovery.

Reviews

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow...this book is a true hidden gem! I hadn’t even heard of it until it was recommended by a friend. If you are drawn towards spiritual type genre books – then I beg you to read this! It’s a truly gripping spiritual adventure – set in a Siberian Mental Institution - are you intrigued now? I love the conflict the writer goes through, as she is constantly wrestling with her medical trained - left brain perspective Vs the mystery and truth of Atai Shamanism. JUST READ IT OK! ;)

[Ruby Hollyberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

This takes its place among the assorted books I have that depict a Western rationalist's encounters and conversion to the sacred through contact with indigenous shamanic people. It is a subgenre by itself, there are many such books in the New Age section. The great majority of them take place in the Southwest, Mexico, Central or South America, places which hold little allure for me. This one, however, is set in Siberia, a green, snowy place of great beauty, and therefore right up my alley from the first.

Some of these books are quite convincing, that they might be close to the actual events they purport to describe. Others (like The Shamanic Way of the Bee: Ancient Wisdom and Healing Practices of the Bee Masters, for instance) are really hard to stomach and perhaps best used for entertainment purposes. Castaneda was the king of these, and he fell somewhere in the middle or lower down to me. My favorite of all is Mad Bear: Spirit, Healing, and the Sacred in the Life of a Native American Medicine Man. This one is more credible than average - I count it near to the top of the scale.

Culture shock is always fascinating to read about (it's a staple of fantasy and sci fi fiction, if you notice), and nothing more so than the shock to the system experienced by a strictly materialist person falling over hard evidence of a spiritual reality. The author of this book seems like a charming person, entirely without any excess woo-woo or intent to defraud. I recommend this book highly to anyone interested in Siberia, shamanism, or psychic abilities.

[David Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly written. Entertaining, enlightening, fast-paced. I particularly enjoyed the descriptions of snow-bound Russia and her dream journals. I think what emphasised my enjoyment of this book is its general corroboration with similar literature - however, this had completely new ideas that enabled it to stand out from others that I have read. For example, I much preferred it to Carlos Casteneda's books and believe the reviews on the back detract slightly from its root in fact. Although the information may be difficult to confirm, I did get the impression that Olga's story is a genuine one. If not, it's a wonderful piece of fiction nonetheless.

I'd recommend it for: spiritually-satisfying entertainment, insight into Russia's psychiatric-infrastructure, and testimony to the the mysteries of Siberian Shamanism.
And, finally, as a contribution to consciousness studies.

[Azra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did a bad thing when I picked up this book. I tried to judge it, not only by its cover but by it's subtitle. It struck me as a bit grandiose and more than a little reminescent of the New Age books that came out in the late eighties and early nineties. I was almost right on that last score - it was published in 1996.

It turned out to be better than my expectations. It is written in the same autobiographical style as Carlos Casteneda or Marilyn Tunneshende, with one difference. The author is a practicing medical professional, as noted in that subtitle.

In the end, like Casteneda or Tunneshende, it doesn't matter to me how 'true' the actual story is. There are more than a few ideas in this book that seem to hit home for me. I am going to have to flip back through and let them percolate for a while.

There is one interesting thing. Unlike the other two authors, I went several pages deep in a google search but didn't find any pages determined to out her as a fraud. Those pages usually appear fairly early. It may not mean anything but like I said - it's interesting.

A definite 'good read,' especially for those interested in shamanism.

[Nell Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly compelling until about half way through, when the author's dreams, visions and encounters seemed almost too beautifully woven into events and perfectly remembered for a true story. I put it down but couldn't stop thinking about it and ended up finishing in two days. I hope and wish that it is one hundred percent true but it feels more like a novel than the often unsatisfactory and unexplained realities of life. It is fascinating, interesting and wonderfully mystical though, so it might just be me...

[Moira McPartlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book years ago, fifteen years maybe and now can't remember why, except that the idea of shamans has always intrigued me. Now, after reading about meditation and India, I felt was the time to explore more.
The author was a Russian psychiatrist working in a large psychiatric hospital. She has witnessed many strange things but when one patient urges her to go with him to Siberia to discover shamanic healing she is too curious to refuse. Once in the Altai Mountains she has some weird and magical experiences and accepts that she is susceptible to this type of magic. Back at her day job she tries some of her new found wisdom on her patient with some startling results.
I liked the simple style of the narrative and enjoyed the travel aspect of the trip to the mountains, it sounded remote, mystical and unique. What I didn't like about this book was the fact that there was no answers. It seems because a scientist told me about her shamanic experiences I should accept they exist. Maybe I was looking for something that just wasn't there.

[Tasmin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ein sehr interessantes Buch, dem es allerdings an etwas fehlte, was keinen richtigen Namen hat. Es fühlte sich beim Lesen immer wieder an wie ein fiktiver Roman. Nicht so sehr wegen dem Inhalt, denn für den Schamanismus bin ich aufgeschlossen - obwohl einige Sachen doch sehr abwegig wirkten, aber wer bin ich schon, das zu beurteilen -, sondern vom Erzählstil. Die Unterhaltungen wirkten künstlich und ich hatte nicht den Eindruck, dass Kharitidi viele Emotionen, Zweifel oder innere Kämpfe hatte. Dies ließ eine Distanz entstehen, die das Buch unglaubwürdig und fast schon fantastisch erscheinen ließ, was ich sehr schade fand. Stellenweise war es auch etwas langatmig.

[Portia H. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very slow start that had me rolling my eyes a few times but finally got it's momentum and flowed better at the end.

I would have appreciated the story told in the reverse, starting with the practical application of the wisdom obtained and explaining the journey in getting to that point ~ but that's just my personal preference.

However, due to the structure of outlining events in the way the story is told - I struggled with staying interested...then BAM I was fully invested wanting more just as the book was ending. {sigh}

[Joshua · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Entering the Circle is a compelling account of a journey into the Siberian wilderness and into radically unfamiliar (at least to me) cultural and psychological terrain. Setting aside its spiritual claims, the book works well as an adventure narrative: isolation, physical hardship, and the encounter with a little known people and their traditions are genuinely fascinating. Kharitidi writes in a way that makes the book easy to sink into - often coming across more like a novel than a memoir.

What I found most interesting is not so much the specific metaphysical framework the author adopts, but the breadth of human internal experience that the book puts on display. Descriptions of altered states of consciousness (without drugs), shifting senses of self, and feelings of unity or presence are vivid and clearly meaningful to the author. As someone who is skeptical of literal spiritual interpretations, I didn’t always find the author's explanations convincing, and I have serious doubts about many of the events and conversations she describes. But I did find the experiences themselves interesting as an expression of how differently human minds can operate.

Readers looking for objective, evidentiary grounding will find the book frustrating as it basically asks you to accept the author’s interpretations on trust (and perhaps a deep desire to believe in the spiritual). That said, I enjoyed the book as a reminder that human consciousness is strange, rich, and highly variable.

Overall, Entering the Circle is an engaging read, especially for those interested in anthropology, psychology, and the limits of ordinary perception. You don’t need to share the author’s beliefs to appreciate the journey. Plus, it's a quick read.

[Sophy H · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hmm this is a difficult one to review.

Though I enjoyed the reading for the main part, it felt a little bit "hokey" and melodramatic.

I'm open minded about spirituality and experiences that can't be explained by traditional science but I felt that Kharitidi's account of her experiences would be more linked to her psychiatry background and explored within this realm of knowledge. Instead she comes across as naive, overly trusting and perhaps a bit gullible.

Also, regardless of whatever "spirituality" you practice, hunting and killing animals and taking baby animals from their mothers to trap inside a drum (yep, you read that right) doesn't sit right with me at all.

Saying that, the take away issue from this book is the attempted suppression of Native Russian tribes by "Russia Central" as it were. Disheartening to think tradition and experience has to be subversive to escape persecution. But yeah, just stop killing animals ritualistically!

Overall, a bit disappointing.

[Cecil Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a personal spirituality narrative much in the same vein as Carlos Castaneda (The Teachings of don Juan), Dan Millman (The Way of the Peaceful Warrior), and James Redfield (The Celestine Prophecy), as a the author, a psychiatrist working at a hospital in Siberia during the Soviet era in Russia has a series of events that leads her out of her everyday life into the mysterious world of Siberian shamanism.
Her narrative reads easily during the early chapters, but it becomes a little bogged down in later chapters, which are full of conversations and exposition. While the early chapters portray the protagonist as an individual who seems caught totally off guard by her experiences, later chapers reveal her as someone who has a deep interest in mysticism and spirituality. The setting in Soviet Russia adds a dimension of complexity to the story, given the official atheism of the government, which often treated any expressions, and even suspected interest, of spiritual life as mental illness, at best, and political subversion, at worst.
Overall worth reading.

[Bryn]

Believe it or not, I started reading this book a long time ago, and believe it or not, I didn't finish it.

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adventures of a Russian Psychiatrist finding tribal remnants legends and healing methods. Beautiful tattoo symbols as well.

[Nicola · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone interested in shamanism I cannot recommend this book too highly. It gave me a great deal to think about.

[Marije Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfull book. With a lot of wisdom that can be used.

[Cats Moulder's · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don,t read unless you want to be blown away. Wow

[Katharina · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is special- I've never read anything quite like it!

[yamiyoghurt · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enlightening and heartening book.

[Alison Frame · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t find this book, this book found me. Came upon this one at the free community bus stop drop-off. A book that opened my eyes to Siberian shamanism and had me questioning reality while expanding my horizons to all things mystical.

[Ricardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It's a personal testimony of a Russian psychiatrist who gets in contact with ancient healers in Siberia, and the way those encounters change the way she practices traditional therapies for her patients. A book about changing our environmental reality as well as our own personal reality.

[Noemi · Rating 4 out of 5]

È un buon libro: la lettura è scorrevole e gli argomenti piacevolmente ammalianti. Il tema centrale è legato all' esoterismo e l'ambientazione è la Siberia. Nel libro si trovano anche spunti interessanti se qualcuno volesse approfondire. Ho dato quattro stelle perché, nonostante sia un libro bello e piacevole, non l'ho trovato così entusiasmante per meritarsi cinque stelle.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beschreibung 
Sibirien; Anfang der neunziger Jahre: Die russische Ärztin Olga Kharitidi verläßt ihre Klinik in Nowosibirsk, um mit ihrer kranken Freundin Anna in das Altai-Gebirge zu den dort lebenden Schamanen zu reisen. Nach einem stundenlangen Marsch in den tiefverschneiten Bergen Sibiriens erfahren die beiden erschöpften Frauen, daß vielleicht alle Mühen der Reise umsonst waren: Die KAMS – so nennen sich die Schamanen im Altai – leben fernab von jeder Zivilisation und meiden das Zusammentreffen mit Fremden. Umso spannender wird es für Olga und Anna, als ihnen schließlich doch Eintritt in die verborgene Welt der letzten sibirischen Schamanen gewährt wird. Die Heilerin Umaj wird Olgas große Lehrmeisterin. Sie läßt die junge, modern Wissenschaftlerin teilhaben an ihrer uralten geheimen Weisheit. In ihrem Buch enthüllt Olga Kharitidi die Geheimnisse einer jahrtausendealten Kultur und berichtet von den erstaunlichen Erfolgen ihrer spirituellen Neuorientierung.


Kurzmeinung 
Auch hier dachte ich nach den ersten Seiten, dass die Lektüre wohl eher nichts für mich sein würde, doch nach einigen Kapiteln wurde ich in den Sog der Erzählung gezogen und am Ende las ich es in wenigen Sitzungen. Ich bin kein besonders spiritueller Mensch und sollte mir sicher auch mehr Zeit für meine Seele nehmen, wenn auch ganz sicher nicht in dem hier beschriebenen Ausmaß. Ich danke diesem Buch, dass es mich daran erinnert, auf mich aufzupassen aber so wirklich treffen konnte es mich nicht. 

[Mariana Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked it - the author tells her real-life experience but it feels like reading a novel, and you easily get into it. It is well-written, entertaining, and calls for imagination. This is what I particularly appreciated in this book.

You have to read it with an open-mind, it is not your typical autobiographical novel - it is more of an “initiation story”. Some concepts I found hard to imagine or assimilate, some felt more dreamy, but overall I found it interesting and pleasant to read. This book also made me think a lot about lucid dreaming and what information our dreams may convey to us.

The missing 5th star is that I wanted to know more of the “after” of her initiation : what happened to her life, some concrete examples of how she integrated her learnings into her practice and what type of person and psychiatrist she became after. She explains this but briefly and with a single story of a patient, and otherwise she just mentions that she integrates this into her work, but does not explain concretely the type of work she does after and its results. Hungry for more!

[Wei Chang · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be honest I was quite disappointed.
The notion that someone is being chosen, rather than the result of constant pursuing, to acquire a specific knowledge, bothers me a lot. It basically suggests that it is entirely random to be enlightened, that there is no guarantee the knowledge you acquired is legitimate. And even more, the (hidden) "truth" demonstrated in the book is so mundane that a religious teaching is not even necessary; an old man from an impoverished village can tell you that, though they might not "heal" you at all.
The small dose of archeological explanation of whey there is little evidence exists nowadays that proves a highly civilized society existed in Altai is especially improbable; it shows a major lack of archeological knowledge. But I do believe it could sell well in the US because it did exposed some inhuman Soviet practice to the cheering American conservatives (at the time).

[Kay Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved being in this book. The thoughts and questions I had while reading it made me want to open my mind to the possibilities of connections lying beyond what our daily living allows. Olga’s description of her experiences, while sometimes sounding fantastical, rang a bell with some of those meaningful moments in meditation or when dreaming of someone who has died who looks right into your eyes. It makes me think why not? I know so much more now than I did before, so why wouldn’t there be more to know beyond my current experience? It feels so hopeful. I want to go to Siberia and walk through the deep forests and see the mountains and open my mind to see if it’s possible. Why not?

[Micmoc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good reading about siberian shamanism

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting anecdotes about the author's Siberian adventures.

[Pamela Bray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite fascinating. Truth, beauty, health, happiness, light.

[☘Misericordia☘ ⚡ϟ⚡⛈⚡☁ ❇️❤❣]

Am reading it in Russian original version.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone who reads it will experience something new, and yet familiar. Like wood smoke, trees, and songs.