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Wisdom of the Mythtellers
Book by KANE,SEAN
180 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1994
3 people are currently reading
175 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 2, 2023
Not even the name kane made this enjoyable
March 5, 2019
This is a profound book for anyone who is exploring the path of the shaman.
Just as J.R. Tolkien provided a detailed map and a language for Middle Earth, and George R. R. Martin created a detailed map for Westeros and Essos, Sean Kane provides a good overview of the maps, territories, rules and languages that have been used by human shamans throughout history.
It is the duty of the "mythteller" to teach his or her listeners how to travel to the spirit world and how to return from it safely. There are many ways to do this.
Fundamental is understanding that certain landmarks to be found in the ordinary world be they mountains, bodies of water, trees, rocks or sacred groves, also exist in the spirit world and can be used as guides to find your way there and back again.
Another is recognizing that the things of the everyday world - be they fish, animal, bird or human - exist simultaneously within the spirit realm, although perhaps in a different form.
The characters and cultures may differ, but all myths show the infinite number of ways one can move from the realm of the material to the realm of the immortal and back again.
Using translations of a few select myths from various cultures, and with the help of hypnotic annotation, Kane makes his points, as in this passage from the Haida people of the Pacific Northwest: "Salmon are people, just like us. They are people who have put on their salmon forms. When they die, their spirits return to their human shape. That is why when you kill a salmon, you are careful to put its bones back into the sea, so the salmon can become a person again and come back another time. And this relationship is guarded in each river by a Woman of Power, or what we would call a Goddess."
This little book suggests much, not the least how to look at the world and all things in it through the eyes of our ancient ancestors, and how differently they viewed it. Imagine walking side-by-side with the immortal gods and goddesses, or as our human ancestors, who may exist among us as the totems of crow, bear, or coyote, or as sacred lake or grove. It turns a simple hike into a magical journey and suggests the importance of honoring all life as sacred.
Just as J.R. Tolkien provided a detailed map and a language for Middle Earth, and George R. R. Martin created a detailed map for Westeros and Essos, Sean Kane provides a good overview of the maps, territories, rules and languages that have been used by human shamans throughout history.
It is the duty of the "mythteller" to teach his or her listeners how to travel to the spirit world and how to return from it safely. There are many ways to do this.
Fundamental is understanding that certain landmarks to be found in the ordinary world be they mountains, bodies of water, trees, rocks or sacred groves, also exist in the spirit world and can be used as guides to find your way there and back again.
Another is recognizing that the things of the everyday world - be they fish, animal, bird or human - exist simultaneously within the spirit realm, although perhaps in a different form.
The characters and cultures may differ, but all myths show the infinite number of ways one can move from the realm of the material to the realm of the immortal and back again.
Using translations of a few select myths from various cultures, and with the help of hypnotic annotation, Kane makes his points, as in this passage from the Haida people of the Pacific Northwest: "Salmon are people, just like us. They are people who have put on their salmon forms. When they die, their spirits return to their human shape. That is why when you kill a salmon, you are careful to put its bones back into the sea, so the salmon can become a person again and come back another time. And this relationship is guarded in each river by a Woman of Power, or what we would call a Goddess."
This little book suggests much, not the least how to look at the world and all things in it through the eyes of our ancient ancestors, and how differently they viewed it. Imagine walking side-by-side with the immortal gods and goddesses, or as our human ancestors, who may exist among us as the totems of crow, bear, or coyote, or as sacred lake or grove. It turns a simple hike into a magical journey and suggests the importance of honoring all life as sacred.
July 16, 2018
There's a lot of fascinating information, if you want to learn about how stories come about, in this book. There's some wonderful underlying history within myths, and this is a fun way to unveil things you may have missed.
August 17, 2020
This book is important.
January 14, 2024
An interesting view of native American and Irish myths and how we see the world today vs history.
December 28, 2022
Learned a lot from this, read it for a class and it helped deepen my love for mythology
September 14, 2007
This was one of those rare gems of a book that are like Lewis Hyde's "The Gift" or Keith Basso's "Wisdom Sits in Places." Kane gets at the heart of the interrelationship between stories, places, language and meaning. He's a beautiful writer and captures the heart of poetry like few people I've ever seen. I highly recommend this one!
August 5, 2011
does an important thing for us by describing the process in which myths evoke the Other world - the living non-human sentience, and elegantly describes how the the myth evokes rather than reports this Other world.
January 1, 2012
great read.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews