The Reluctant Shaman: A Woman's First Encounters with the Unseen Spirits of the Earth – A Spellbinding Account of a Homemaker's Apprenticeship to Amazon Shamans

by Kay Cordell Whitaker

This is Kay Whitaker's spellbinding account of her "reluctant" apprenticeship to Domano and Chea Hetaka, two charismatic shamans from the Amazon Basin who come to teach her -- a young homemaker -- to be a Kala Keh nah seh, a builder of webs of balance," and to hand down the ancient wisdom of their people. In spite of her doubts and fears, Whitaker finds the balance and harmony she was destined to know.

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction, Memoir

304 pages, Paperback

First published December 6, 1991

Reviews

[Emily Kestrel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book, even though I don’t really believe everything happened exactly as the author claims. That’s not necessarily bad, though. The book is full of stories and parables, so perhaps the whole narrative is also a sort of parable, with others tucked inside it like nesting dolls.

The author describes meeting an elderly couple, both South American shamans, who appear on the beach one day and announce that she, a married college student with two young children, has been chosen to learn their spiritual ways. I think this happened in the 1970s although she didn’t write the book until the 1990s. It’s all got a sort of Carlos Castaneda vibe, which again, isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

What I liked about this book: her descriptions of learning to sense and communicate with nature spirits (I can believe that part) and her depiction of the shaman couple, which was full of warmth and humor.
Also the ending was quite intriguing and made me pause for a minute to ponder it.

What I disliked: parts of the book were rather dry and drawn out. And I firmly believe that great portions of this should be considered as symbolic or happening purely in the inner realm, and I wish the author had been more upfront about which was which. It wouldn’t have detracted from the value of the narrative at all. (Anyway for all I know, it’s all true in which case apologies to the author.)

Finally, apparently the shamans came all that way and spent over a year teaching her, because she had so much potential to do good with it, and then what? She wrote a book a couple decades later? I would have liked a bit more follow up, about how these teachings impacted her life.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoyed Carlos Castenada or Lynne Andrews. It’s a strange little tale with a lot worth pondering.

[Mary Ker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was struck by the correspondences with the philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism, and found some of the ways concepts were put in the book easier to access than I have found them before. I would say, in fact, that this book allowed me some significant spiritual milestones that have eluded me to date.

[Pamela S · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn’t actually finish the book. It is allegedly a true story but none of the events were believable to me. In addition, I found the ‘story’ to be completely uninteresting and I started to feel resentful every evening thinking about reading more. I gave up. It’s been a long time since I haven’t finished a book and I feel regret but life is short and the list of books I want to read is long...

[Pauline Evanosky · Rating 5 out of 5]

In, “The Reluctant Shaman” by Kay Cordell Whitaker the author speaks of the fantastic journey she made into the shamanic tradition. Her teachers Domino and Chea guide her into a different way of looking at the world and at life. As a channel I recognized these same steps into a life of speaking with Spirit; both wonderful and terrifying at the same time.

As you read this book you have the opportunity to begin thinking of your own life and what it might be like if you no longer positioned yourself as a victim. Having more control over your life is a good thing and Kay shows the first tentative steps she took into a new awareness.
This is the second time I’ve read this book. In a few years I will probably read it again.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is still good as gold. Sometimes old books and old stories get better with age - certainly this applies to Whitaker's life experiences as written in her book "The Reluctant Shaman". She goes from her more simple life in Santa Cruz into a whole new universe of spiritual explorations. She expands her world inside and out as she learns some new profound teachings and experiences many revelations- which she passes along to the reader.

[Kayla Kurin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could not get into this book. While the author is clearly passionate about her teachings a few things about it rubbed me the wrong way and some of the views have not aged well. Those with a keen interest in shamanism will probably enjoy.

[Ruby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I don't want a book to end.

This is a great story told well.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shivers........

[Ashley Nichols · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great tale that has insight into living a Shamanistic path, but it needs to go along with a pre-existing study of the practices.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story spoke to me. I could relate to the author and what she was going through on her spiritual journey.

[Infinidimincorp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly fluid writing and compelling depiction of South American Indigenous stories carry this book - but as a narrative, it feels incomplete - as a manual for spiritual training, it feels an odd choice, and I spent the whole book wondering if it was really true. It all seems too good to be true. Many of the experiences Whitaker writes about feel hauntingly familiar to my own spiritual experiences, and yet... Peruvian Shamanism delivered up guilt free with Californian spirituality blending all the way through...

Is it real? Did it really happen? Certainly tempted to track down more of Whitaker!

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young woman finds, through encounter with a shaman couple from the Amazon region, that she has been called on to learn, practice, and teach lessons offered by spirits, about humans' place in the universe. A recurring concept in the story is that one can be guided to spiritual experience, but the lessons are learned only by the experience of them, not analysis or talking about them.

There are numerous intriguing topics raised in this story.

[Lora Keddie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book over and over again. Each time I read it I find new insights on what Kay shares about how the Hetakas were teaching her/us to live our lives in the truth of who we really are and what we really are. After reading the book I hunted down Kay Cordell Whitaker to start studying the teachings of Ka Ta See and my life has been filled with amazing health and happiness. The book is wonderful and Kay is even more amazing.

[Izzadorah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has inspired me in many ways, but it's poor writing makes me give it a lower rating. The dialogue is often tedious to get through, but I did enjoy the parable like stories and her spirit encounters a lot. A good story, but it would've benefited from a good edit to make it less tedious.

[J.B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of disbelieving this. Also, this is written in a semi-chaotic fashion, all over the place.

[Marsha Rae · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book and felt like I learned a lot. It took me a little while to get into it and I didn't like the ending.

[Taron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked getting an insight into the training of a shaman. It was like no other book I've ever read and a whole world I'm not familiar with! It's made me even more curious though about what happened after her unexpected calling to be a shaman. What did she do with this incredible training afterwards? I have some investigation to do because it seems like her only other book is for sale for over 200 GBP via Amazon...