The Shaman Speaks


reviewed by Kristine Morris

How to Use the Power of Shamanism to Heal Your Life Now

By Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls

“There is so much value in looking at today’s world from a Traditional Shamanic perspective,” says Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls. “The Traditional Shamans of ancient times who were my own family elders have handed down their own perspective on life and joy and healing and power, and that is what I have presented in this book for all the world to learn, before this information is completely lost to us.”

Maggie Wahls began her apprentice-ship as a shaman at the age of three, when her grandmother, whose traditional shamanic lineage can be traced back 400 years to its origin in Ukraine, began teaching her how to work with spirit, energy, and matter to create healing. By the time she was five, Maggie had accomplished her first healing; at the age of ten, she took her first shamanic “journey.” Her book describes how, through her grandmother’s loving instruction, she came to see that “love is the key to walking the shamanic path.”

A deep interest in the religions of the world led her to travel and study in many countries after graduating from college, and although ordination to the Christian ministry followed, she soon became frustrated by people’s inability to experience Higher Power through Christian theology, and she set out to learn the teachings of the shamans of other cultures. Because of her training and lineage she was allowed access to some of the world’s most powerful shamans, and all confirmed the teachings of her grandmother. Greatly moved by the fact that no matter what culture or country they came from, all shamans agreed upon and taught universal truth, she affirmed in her heart the path she was to take, and, from that time on, has devoted herself exclusively to the practice of shamanism and healing. “For the longest time, I did not think my teaching was sufficient, so I did not teach,” says Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls. “But as I was seeing shamanism dying around me, I was given a dispensation to teach all who would learn.”

The Shaman Speaks is not culture-specific; rather, it shares the basic wisdom underlying all of shamanism in accessible language. Based on questions asked by students, it offers descriptions of the character of one who is a shaman; teachings on how to use the power of our feelings in pursuit of our goals and how to perceive the deeper meaning behind simple, everyday experiences; advice on working with guides and spirits; ways to create physical health for oneself and for others; and most important, how to stand in one’s own power and live one’s own truth.

Shaman Elder Maggie Wahls holds a doctorate in divinity, and is a master teacher of Usui Reiki. She is also a healer and speaker, and a teacher of shamanism who offers her services throughout the country and online at shamanelder.com.


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Book ReviewsShamanism

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