Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey: Pagan Folkways from the Burning Times

by Kenneth Johnson

Discover the amazing links between two of the world's oldest spiritual systems and how you can make use of them today, when you read "Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey" (previously titled "North Star Road)" by Kenneth Johnson.
This is an inspiring guide for those who seek to reclaim the ways and lore of their ancestors. "Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey" reveals the spiritual experience at the core of the world's religious traditions--shamanism. Johnson has uncovered compelling evidence for the existence of a variety of ecstatic traditions throughout medieval and Renaissance Europe--regional cults that survived into the so-called "Burning Times," when their members were ruthlessly persecuted as Witches.
-Discover the secrets of the shamanic "otherworld" and what it looks like
-Initiation rites
-Secrets of totem animals
-Traveling in the Spirit
-Origins of the Sabbat
-The truth about the "Flying Ointment"
-The Wild Hunt
-Technique to journey to the Land of the Dead
-How to find your animal totem
-How to find your tree of power
Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki, famous author and Director of Studies for the Servants of the Light, says this about "Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey: ""Kenneth Johnson has given us a detailed map of the 'Otherworld' and with a masterly touch has woven a multi-hued picture of its origins, highways, and by-ways. It will appeal to all who tread the Path of the Magi, be you Witch, Shaman, Qabbalist, Alchemist, or Magician. Informative, accurate, inspiring, and written with the heart as well as the head, "Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey" is a book to have, hold, and enjoy that will always have something new to offer as your abilities grow."
"Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey" is a phenomenal book, revealing the true secrets of the past of Shamanism and Witchcraft, their ultimate unity today, and a path for tomorrow. If you follow a spiritual path, you must get "Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey.

Genres: Witchcraft, Occult, History

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1999

About the author

Kenneth Johnson has been a professional astrologer for forty years. He holds a B.A. in Comparative Religions from California State University Fullerton. He obtained his Master of Arts in Eastern Studies (with an emphasis in Classical Sanskrit) from St. John's College, Santa Fe.
A leading figure in the study of myths and archetypes and their importance to the art of astrology, Kenneth is the author of numerous books and magazine articles, including the well-known Mythic Astrology series (with Arielle Guttman) and Mansions of the Moon: The Lost Zodiac of the Goddess, a study of the lunar zodiac of India. A close student of both Western and Vedic astrology, he has been the managing editor of the Journal of the American College of Vedic Astrology and a frequent contributor to The Mountain Astrologer.
A serious researcher of the culture of the Maya, both ancient and modern, he has spent months with indigenous teachers in remote parts of Guatemala and is the author of Mayan Calendar Astrology: Mapping Your Inner Cosmos, Jaguar Wisdom: An Introduction to the Mayan Calendar, and The Mayan Prophecies: The Renewal of the World 2012-2072.
Throughout the years, Ken has developed a unique approach to the art of astrology, blending contemporary practice with ancient insights. Astrologer, researcher, and writer, Ken lives in Taos, New Mexico.

Reviews

[Sable · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book suffered from the lousy scholarship that characterized its time period, but I am intrigued by the author's theory, which is that the beginnings of the most active period of witch persecutions in Western Europe happened as a result of a "crisis cult" of Renaissance witchcraft that emerged in response to the crisis of collapsing medieval social order in the aftermath of the Black Death; and that the "witchcraft" itself was a syncretic faith that grew out of Western demonology, folk practices and superstitions, and a genuine "shamanic" desire to communicate with the Otherworld to seek guidance. He likened the early Renaissance "witch cult" to the syncretic crisis-cults of history that have led to revolutions of varying success, such as Voodoo and the Haitian Revolution and the Great Ghost Dance. I can see the comparison; and it is my contention that modern Witchcraft is actually not a survival of anything; but that it represents a syncretic blend of English folk customs and superstitions, the Western occult tradition, Indian Buddhism and English Protestantism. Renaissance witchcraft, then, would represent a similar evolution at a different time period; and naturally I find it interesting that someone else suggests a similar conclusion to my own! I only wish that his scholarship and research were more akin to the modern brutally stark style of not drawing conclusions without direct evidence. Kenneth Johnson has punctuated his thesis with exercises that draw on an essential "shamanic" core, and these exercises are valuable and useful. Worth a read, in any case, especially for any modern Pagan.

[Maranda · Rating 5 out of 5]

My review posted on my blog:

https://whiteroseofavalon.life/2023/0...