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Celtic Totem Animals

Make a shamanic journey
and meet your animal helpers

John Matthews

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The shamanic drumming CD, book, and twenty animal cards in this boxed pack provide everything you need to conduct your own shamanic journey.

In all shamanic traditions animal helpers, totem or power animals, play an important role. They appear in spirit form during the shaman's trancelike reverie, and act as guides and allies for the shaman's journey to the Otherworld. Now you too can meet your own animal spirit guides, during your own shamanic experience, following the guidance of John Matthews, expert on Celtic mythology, story-telling and the role of the shaman.

In Celtic lore there is a huge body of material relating to animals and their exploits, ranging from the great story of Culhwch and Olwen from the Welsh Mabinogion cycle, where the hero is aided by a whole host of animals, to tales relating such famous creatures as the ancient One-eyed Salmon of Assaroe, the wise and allknowing Hawk of Achill, and the powerful Eagle of Leac.

In each case the animal appears to be cleverer, and more cunning or braver than their human counterparts. They have access to the Otherworld, frequently live to a great age, and are both wise and comic.

John Matthews has made an exhaustive study of these often cryptic and scattered manuscripts. Here he has gathered together some of the best stories into a collection that will delight, entertain, and amuse. Here you will find Tricksters, Boasters, Cowards and Heroes of the animal world, all set amidst the dazzling universe of Celtic Tradition.

Reading these tales will introduce many of the inner archetypes of the shamanic tradition, which we can still relate to our lives today. We can become empowered by this connection and made more aware of our place in the pattern of the natural world.

JOHN MATTHEWS is an internationally acclaimed expert on the Celtic tradition, an area he has studied for over 30 years. He also teaches and gives seminars and workshops on shamanic experience all over the world and, together with his wife Caitlin, is the author of over sixty books.

List of contents

Foreword
Introduction: Learning the Way of the Totems

Part One  THE WISDOM OF ANIMALS, SHAMAN GUIDES, TEACHERS AND MEDIATORS [Read a sample from this section]

Part Two  TALES OF THE TOTEMS
NINE CLASSIC CELTIC STORIES
The Story of Leithin and the Coldest Night
The Crane of Moy Leana
The Hawk of Achill
Tuan Mac Carill's Story
Fionn, the Crane Bag, and the Salmon of Wisdom
Fionn and the Man in the Tree
The Story of Taliesin
The Search for Mabon
Cormac and the Wolves

Part Three  WORKING WITH THE TOTEMS:
HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN SHAMANIC JOURNEY

Glossary of Special Names and Terms
Further Reading
Sources
Resources
Index
Acknowledgements

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See also:

Sacred Celebrations
Complete book list