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The Accidental Shaman: Journeys with Plant Teachers and Other Spirit Allies
A story of awakening to remarkable shamanic powers, teachings, and techniques
• Describes the author’s work with plant spirits, entheogens such as ayahuasca, and indigenous shamans during his 20 years of fieldwork in the Peruvian Amazon
• Explores the practice of soul retrieval and shamanic work with feathers, stones, and sound
• Includes techniques for exploring non-ordinary reality, exercises for expanding sensory perception, and practices to open your creative artistic visionary potential
After surviving a serious elevator crash in London, Howard G. Charing found he had developed healing touch as well as the ability to hear voices and experience visions--just as a healer in Italy had predicted only a week before the accident. He began using his abilities to heal but felt he needed more guidance and training. He first connected with a national spiritual healing organization, only to be told he was doing everything wrong. Then, through a friend, he discovered shamanism.
Sharing profound teachings and extraordinary experiences from his more than 30 years of shamanic healing work, Charing explains how he accidentally became a shaman and completely changed the course of his life. He describes his work with plant spirits, entheogens such as ayahuasca, and indigenous shamans during his 20 years of fieldwork in the Peruvian Amazon, including his studies with the late visionary artist Pablo Amaringo. Investigating altered states of perception, he provides visionary techniques for exploring non-ordinary reality, exercises for expanding sensory perception, and practices to open your creative artistic visionary potential. Detailing the practice of soul retrieval, the author discusses why it is one of the most effective and profound spiritual healing practices and shares emotionally charged stories of successful shamanic healings he has attended. He also includes shamanic wisdom on working with feathers, stones, and sound and compares current research in physics with the vast body of experiential knowledge from indigenous spiritual traditions.
From the accident that started his journey to the many remarkable spiritwork encounters that have happened since, Charing’s story will empower readers to begin exploring the realms of consciousness and energy that surround us and welcome the dissolution of the boundary between the physical and the spiritual.
• Describes the author’s work with plant spirits, entheogens such as ayahuasca, and indigenous shamans during his 20 years of fieldwork in the Peruvian Amazon
• Explores the practice of soul retrieval and shamanic work with feathers, stones, and sound
• Includes techniques for exploring non-ordinary reality, exercises for expanding sensory perception, and practices to open your creative artistic visionary potential
After surviving a serious elevator crash in London, Howard G. Charing found he had developed healing touch as well as the ability to hear voices and experience visions--just as a healer in Italy had predicted only a week before the accident. He began using his abilities to heal but felt he needed more guidance and training. He first connected with a national spiritual healing organization, only to be told he was doing everything wrong. Then, through a friend, he discovered shamanism.
Sharing profound teachings and extraordinary experiences from his more than 30 years of shamanic healing work, Charing explains how he accidentally became a shaman and completely changed the course of his life. He describes his work with plant spirits, entheogens such as ayahuasca, and indigenous shamans during his 20 years of fieldwork in the Peruvian Amazon, including his studies with the late visionary artist Pablo Amaringo. Investigating altered states of perception, he provides visionary techniques for exploring non-ordinary reality, exercises for expanding sensory perception, and practices to open your creative artistic visionary potential. Detailing the practice of soul retrieval, the author discusses why it is one of the most effective and profound spiritual healing practices and shares emotionally charged stories of successful shamanic healings he has attended. He also includes shamanic wisdom on working with feathers, stones, and sound and compares current research in physics with the vast body of experiential knowledge from indigenous spiritual traditions.
From the accident that started his journey to the many remarkable spiritwork encounters that have happened since, Charing’s story will empower readers to begin exploring the realms of consciousness and energy that surround us and welcome the dissolution of the boundary between the physical and the spiritual.
- GenresSpirituality
232 pages, Paperback
Published February 25, 2017
26 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Howard G. Charing
8 books14 followersHoward G. Charing is an international workshop leader on shamanism, author and visionary artist. For over twenty five years he has worked with some of the most respected and extraordinary shamans & elders in the Andes, the Amazon Rainforest, and the Philippines.
His books are; Plant Spirit Shamanism (Destiny Books USA) 2006, The Ayahuasca Visions of Pablo Amaringo (Inner Traditions USA) 2011, and The Accidental Shaman (Destiny Books USA) 2017. He has written numerous articles that include original source field interviews of indigenous shamans. His latest work (August 2022) is The Amazonian Angel Oracle
Click on link for Howard’s Website . This website features his workshop programme, his visionary art, introduction to the Amazonian Angel Oracle, and a solid selection of articles and interviews.
In 2016, he organised the first major conference in East Europe dedicated to visionary consciousness. This conference featured luminaries such as Graham Hancock, Dennis McKenna, Jan Kounen, plus many others. Full details of this event are on the web at Sumiruna Website
His books are; Plant Spirit Shamanism (Destiny Books USA) 2006, The Ayahuasca Visions of Pablo Amaringo (Inner Traditions USA) 2011, and The Accidental Shaman (Destiny Books USA) 2017. He has written numerous articles that include original source field interviews of indigenous shamans. His latest work (August 2022) is The Amazonian Angel Oracle
Click on link for Howard’s Website . This website features his workshop programme, his visionary art, introduction to the Amazonian Angel Oracle, and a solid selection of articles and interviews.
In 2016, he organised the first major conference in East Europe dedicated to visionary consciousness. This conference featured luminaries such as Graham Hancock, Dennis McKenna, Jan Kounen, plus many others. Full details of this event are on the web at Sumiruna Website
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 24, 2020
'Ecstasy deprivation' as a source of Western stiffling mind-boundaries.
Q:
Because Western society provides no structure to support and help people reach the theta brain state, they are suffering what anthropologist Felicitas Goodman defines as ecstasy deprivation. The lack of trance work and expanded states of awareness have become the norm in Western society, in her view, with serious consequences. Not only are our natural biological and primal needs not supported, but some Westerners try to compensate for this deprivation with high levels of alcohol and drug abuse. (c)
Q:
He started to speak, and for the next hour I sat transfixed, as if I was in the grip of a magical enchantment. He told me about my life, my dreams, my hopes, and my dark and painful experiences. It was if I had become an open book, and my inner secrets were being revealed page by page. (c)
Q:
Soul retrieval is one of the most effective and well-known practices to restore lost life force. The loss of life force is known as soul loss, and this can take place when we suffer a trauma, have an accident, separate from a partner, experience the death of a loved one, or go through a pervasive period of difficult circumstances. When we undergo a severe trauma, typically a part of our life force goes away so that we can survive whatever is happening to us. It is a way for the body and consciousness to survive the trauma. Problems develop when the soul part or fragment does not return.
Often soul loss happens when we are very young and are without a frame of reference for the experience, and we are therefore unaware of the dissonance within our being and the unconscious disruptive patterns that repeat in our lives because of that early soul loss. In some way we are endeavoring to reclaim our lost life force by repeating and reexperiencing the emotional wound over and over again. This can be very painful to live through, but we need to know that our consciousness, in a consummate self-revealing function, is showing us that we need to restore our life force and heal. (с)
Q:
OVERVIEW OF THE SIX CREATIVE ENRICHMENT PRACTICES
Align the mind-body system with the universal creative source.
Dissolve the inner obstacles to creativity.
Encounter the archetype of primordial creativity.
See the world like a child again.
Discover the luminous symbol of your creative power.
Manifest your creative energy. (c)
Q:
Because Western society provides no structure to support and help people reach the theta brain state, they are suffering what anthropologist Felicitas Goodman defines as ecstasy deprivation. The lack of trance work and expanded states of awareness have become the norm in Western society, in her view, with serious consequences. Not only are our natural biological and primal needs not supported, but some Westerners try to compensate for this deprivation with high levels of alcohol and drug abuse. (c)
Q:
He started to speak, and for the next hour I sat transfixed, as if I was in the grip of a magical enchantment. He told me about my life, my dreams, my hopes, and my dark and painful experiences. It was if I had become an open book, and my inner secrets were being revealed page by page. (c)
Q:
Soul retrieval is one of the most effective and well-known practices to restore lost life force. The loss of life force is known as soul loss, and this can take place when we suffer a trauma, have an accident, separate from a partner, experience the death of a loved one, or go through a pervasive period of difficult circumstances. When we undergo a severe trauma, typically a part of our life force goes away so that we can survive whatever is happening to us. It is a way for the body and consciousness to survive the trauma. Problems develop when the soul part or fragment does not return.
Often soul loss happens when we are very young and are without a frame of reference for the experience, and we are therefore unaware of the dissonance within our being and the unconscious disruptive patterns that repeat in our lives because of that early soul loss. In some way we are endeavoring to reclaim our lost life force by repeating and reexperiencing the emotional wound over and over again. This can be very painful to live through, but we need to know that our consciousness, in a consummate self-revealing function, is showing us that we need to restore our life force and heal. (с)
Q:
OVERVIEW OF THE SIX CREATIVE ENRICHMENT PRACTICES
Align the mind-body system with the universal creative source.
Dissolve the inner obstacles to creativity.
Encounter the archetype of primordial creativity.
See the world like a child again.
Discover the luminous symbol of your creative power.
Manifest your creative energy. (c)
April 27, 2020
A sincere and personal account about the author's experiences with shamanism and other alternative healing practices. A times very interesting but not every chapter could keep my attention. Also, I felt the book could have benefitted from a bit more structure; after finishing one chapter I had no idea what the next would be about.
June 4, 2018
enjoyed this books review of shamanism - looking from a range of perspectives.
also some great hands on exercises. I felt that the title was a little misleading - I actually expected more about plant teachers- although there is a chapter on that it did not seem that in depth.
also some great hands on exercises. I felt that the title was a little misleading - I actually expected more about plant teachers- although there is a chapter on that it did not seem that in depth.
December 30, 2018
Phenomenal read
Great read with 10x the information I had expected. Worth a read for any would be shaman. Lots of experiential accounts as well made this book an easy and enjoyable read.
Great read with 10x the information I had expected. Worth a read for any would be shaman. Lots of experiential accounts as well made this book an easy and enjoyable read.
December 3, 2017
Warning:
You read this book and you are gonna want to head to the Amazon to partake in the brew. Geez, if I wasn't so old ....
I sure would like to find a shaman, maybe if I keep talking to plants they will send one to me.
In the meanwhile I will check out Howard's other books. Am sure they will be as Exhilarating as The Accidental Shaman. Thank you Howard ....
You read this book and you are gonna want to head to the Amazon to partake in the brew. Geez, if I wasn't so old ....
I sure would like to find a shaman, maybe if I keep talking to plants they will send one to me.
In the meanwhile I will check out Howard's other books. Am sure they will be as Exhilarating as The Accidental Shaman. Thank you Howard ....
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews