The shaman is a visionary who has the ability to connect with nature, to journey to the spirit world, and to heal. Drawing on traditional ethnic as well as contemporary Western practice, this beautifully illustrated book reveals the ancient heart of shamanism and its continuing relevance for the way we live today. Learn from shamans around the world how to walk with the nature spirits and bring the wisdom of power animals and shamanic drumming and dance into your own life. Here are the practical exercises that anyone can perform. Be inspired by an Aboriginal walkabout as you plan a pilgrimage to a sacred site. Learn from the strange stone-rubbing vision-quests of the Inuit healers as you undertake your own journey to the spirits. Connect with your power animal, borrowing lucid-dreaming techniques from the Toba shamans or carrying a stone fetish like the Zuni people of the southwest United States. Purify yourself with a flower bath to benefit from the energies of plants, like the shamans of Amazonia and Peru. And follow the practice of Ladakhi shamans of the Himalaya in beating a drum to reveal and shape your destiny.