Call of the Great Spirit: The Shamanic Life and Teachings of Medicine Grizzly Bear

by Bobby Lake-Thom

A traditional Native American healer from the Karuk tribe shares his personal story of reconnection to the Great Spirit in contemporary America. • By Bobby Lake-Thom, author of the bestseller Native Healer. • Provides Native American shamanic perspective on disease and healing. • Explores indigenous social identity in a spiritual and political context. • Reveals authentic indigenous traditions and ceremonies from numerous tribes.This redemption story of Native American healer Bobby Lake-Thom invites the reader to enter a world of authentic indigenous traditions and ceremonies. Bobby, also known as Medicine Grizzly Bear, didn't recognize his shamanic calling at first. He didn't know that his vivid dreams, psychic abilities, and visitations by wild animals and ghostly figures were calls from the Great Spirit. In the age-old shamanic tradition, it took a near-death experience for the message to get through to him. Though still a young man, he was wracked with debilitating arthritis. Unable to handle the physical and psychic pain, he set out into the wilderness determined to kill himself with an overdose of drugs and alcohol. But before downing the substances, he approximated a Native American ceremony as best he could, sending a heartfelt prayer for assistance to the Great Spirit. He woke up--alive--the next morning and received a message from Eagle, telling him to seek help from Wahsek, a medicine man in the northern mountains. And so Bobby's apprenticeship began. Forbidden to reveal Wahsek's secrets until 10 years after his death, Bobby is now free to share this fascinating story with the world.

Genres: Spirituality

258 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2001

Reviews

[Terry Cornell · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was an undergraduate college student the author taught several classes in the school's Native American Studies program. I always found the classes I took from him to be fascinating, and this book is similar to being back in his classroom in the early 1980s. Part biography, part spiritual guide the book is a good reference for anyone wanting basic information on Native American spirituality and healing.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only reason I did not give this fascinating autobiographical spirit journey five stars was that , after the first 70 pages of enticing biography, the narrative loses its biographical thread and becomes a series of hit-and-miss vignettes. The timelessness of the American Indian experience comes through, and the individual stories are very effective, but I missed the sense of biography and spirit-growth of a new novitiate that captivated me in the first pages.

Still, well worth the spiritual read! -- as a New Age book, it approaches perfection.

[Randy Wilson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book to learn more about Native American spirituality and I definitely got that from it. As a book it felt amateurish; the writing weak, repetitive and somewhat impersonal despite it being a life story. Yet despite all that, it has great sincerity, honesty and integrity.

The book start with the author in great pain and suicidal. After an attempted suicide, he visits a medicine man named, Wahsek and his wife Gina who agrees to perform an exorcism on him that sounded dreadful but put the author on the road to his physical and spiritual recovery. Eventually Wahsek helps Lake-Thom become a medicine man himself. He includes a number of case studies showing the efficacy of his work.

While all of that was interesting, it was more the relationship the native people have with other animals and plant life that elevated the work into something memorable. There is an energy that allow these channelers to summon animals to their side for ill or for good. There is also a strong believe that mistreating animals or being dismissive of anything of life can bring sickness upon oneself.

What I found most compelling about the book was the belief in everything that was in the world as spiritually charged and powerful. That energy can be stopped or helped by a wide range of factors and that its best not to dismissive of any of them.

[Beth A · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed learning about the Native American culture of this man and his people. The descriptions of his metaphysical and spiritual experiences were very interesting and I respect his beliefs.
However, the writing at times was repetitive and yet left out imo, crucial details, facts and aspects, leaving the reader to fill in gaps.