Evelyn C. Rysdyk is an internationally recognized shamanic healer, teacher, speaker, and author of several books, including The Norse Shaman and A Spirit Walker’s Guide to Shamanic Tools. Teaching advanced experiential shamanism through her organization, Spirit Passages, she finds creative inspiration and renewal on the coast of Maine. Bhola Nath Banstola is a 27th-generation Nepalese shaman, or jhankri. With his wife, he teaches traditional Himalayan shamanic practices in Europe and North America and leads groups on shamanic tours of Nepal. He divides his time between Italy and Nepal.

Foreword by Sandra Ingerman

Our Prefaces

INTRODUCTION
The Shamanic State of Consciousness
Journeying Basics for Beginners: The Shamanic Bridge between Worlds

PART 1
Awakening

1 Everything Has a Beginning
Journey to Meet Banjhankri and Banjhankrini

2 Shamanic Awakening Is a Continual Process
Journey to Meet a Shamanic Ancestor to Ask for Empowerment

3 Dedicating Yourself to the Spirits
Journey to Experience a Personal Dedication Ceremony

4 The Four Aspects of the Human Soul
Journey to Have a Nepalese Shamanic Experience of Your Soul

PART 2
Flowering
5 Shamanic Sacred Tools and Ritual Objects

6 The Khurpa/Phurba
Journey to Clear and Empower Your Khurpa

7 Using Your Khurpa
Khurpa Mudras

8 The Dhyangro
Journey to Clear and Empower Your Dhyangro and Gajo

9 Aina: The Shaman’s Mirror
Journey to Clear and Empower Your Aina

10 The Mala
Journey to Clear and Empower Your Mala

11 The Trishula or Trident
Journey to Clear and Empower Your Trishula

12 Consecrating Shamanic Tools and Creating the Dhami/Jhankri Altar Awakening and Consecrating Your Shamanic Altar

13 The Dhami/Jhankri’s Costume
Journey to Receive a Vision of Ceremonial Attire

14 Working within the Nepalese Cosmology
Honoring the Elementals with Drumming and Dance

15 Ritual of Spring and Renewal
Creating a Renewal Ceremony

16 Using Your Voice as a Shamanic Tool
Giving Voice to Your Shamanic Practice

PART 3
Bountiful Harvest

17 The Cosmic Plan
The Mansaune Ceremony

18 Primary Feminine Deities
Journey to Meet Aspects of the Divine Mother Durga
Journey to Meet Kali
Journey to Meet the Divine Mother as Our Earth

19 Primary Masculine Deities
Journey to Meet Gannyap
Journey to Meet Shiva
Journey to Meet Vajrakilaya

20 Hanuman the Monkey God
Journey to Meet Hanuman

21 The Nagas
Journey to Meet the Nagas
Journey to Meet Nagakanya

22 Garuda
Journey to Meet Garuda

23 Local Deities, Protectors, Ancestral Guardians
Journey to Meet the Spirit of a Local Landscape Feature
Journey to Meet Your Protective Spirits

PART 4
Healing through Our Connections to All That Is

24 The Eight Fetters

25 Healing and Empowerment through Ceremony
The Khardga Puja Ceremony

26 Other Purifying Rituals

27 The Shamanic Ransom Ritual
The Kalchakra Katne Ceremony

28 Honoring Our Relationship with the Cosmos
The Graha Sarne Ceremony

CONCLUSION
Spiritual and Emotional Unification

Acknowledgments

APPENDIX
Celebrating Durga and the Customs of Dashain

Glossary

Index

About the Authors