Sky Shamans of Mongolia ─ Meetings With Remarkable Healers

Part travelogue, part experiential spiritual memoir, Kevin Turner takes us to visit with authentic shamans in the steppes and urban centers of modern-day Mongolia. Along the way, the author, a practicing shaman himself, tells of spontaneous medical diagnoses, all-night shamanic ceremonies, and miraculous healings, all welling from a rich culture in which divination, soul-retrieval, and spirit depossession are a part of everyday life.

Shamanism, described in the 1950s by Mircea Eliade as "archaic techniques of ecstasy," is alive and well in Mongolia as a means of accessing "nonordinary realities" and the spirit world. After centuries of suppression by Buddhist and then Communist political powers, it is exploding in popularity in Mongolia. Turner gives compelling accounts of healings and rituals he witnesses among Darkhad, Buryat, and Khalkh shamans, and goes on to provide us with his insights into a universal shamanism, principles that lie at the heart of shamanic traditions worldwide. This astounding, inspiring book will appeal to shamans and shamanic therapists, students of Mongolian culture and comparative religion, and fans of off-grid travel memoirs.

KEVIN TURNER is the director for Asia and faculty member of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies founded by Michael Harner. After years of study with yogis, monks, and lamas in India, Nepal, Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Japan, Kevin met Michael Harner in 1997 and since then has developed an integrative, nontraditional approach to shamanism. He teaches Core Shamanism internationally, offering several workshops a year. He is also a full trainer at the Monroe Institute, where he teaches about out-of-body experiences, clairvoyance, remote viewing, psychokinesis, and psychopomp work.