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Bev's Best Selling Books and Authors |
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All other considerations aside, Visionseeker--like Spiritwalker and Medicinemaker--is a good story. By the way, if you haven't read any yet--READ THEM IN ORDER! It's interesting to consider what a possible future might look like. I like to hear about Wesselman's shamanic/visionary encounters and lessons with Nainoa. Unlike some other reviewers, I didn't read this with a particular agenda and specific questions I needed to have answered. If a pressing question came up, I think I'd just write to Dr. Wesselman and ask. I read on to book three because I enjoyed the other two and find the "characters" to be multi-dimensional, aware and very human. Their consciousness is expanding with each visit. Some of their epiphanies help to clarify my own thinking--things I've been turning over in my own mind. The author has a gift for articulating hard-to-define concepts, particularly regarding the nature of the soul. I have a stake now in knowing what happens to these characters, and how they continue to learn and make sense of their uncommon relationship. Wesselman is not painting of picture of 21st century life, culture and morality when he visits Nainoa. It's a foreign point of view in most respects. Nor do I think the author is omniscient when it comes to life in that time and place. He is learning as he goes and gathering information and understanding. Readers have to be aware of these things. Personally, I read the books with a curiosity about the possibility of a spiritual connection across time. If you believe in the possibility of reincarnation, his narrative is intriguing. What if he and Nainoa share a portion of an enduring soul? I don't think he is asking us to believe what he is saying beyond a shadow of a doubt; we didn't experience what he did, so how can we? But I respect his experience/his beliefs about them--and I think they contain something of value for us. One of the things I liked best about this particular text was that he goes into specifics about his shamanic practices. As he begins to develop some control over his visionary states, he is also able to share the knowledge he's gained more clearly. He discusses the energy/levels of soul and seems to be honing in on what connects him and his ancestor in these visionary states. I haven't had a conscious experience quite like his, but I've had enough powerful visions in dreaming and other moments to give me an open mind about it. With regard to the sexuality that a few have taken issue with...if it's part of the overall experience and story, why should it be filtered out? Some might think it's overdone--I hear similar complaints about Auel's Clan of the Cave Bear series--but sexuality and intimate partnerships are part of life. I found them to be tastefully and lovingly captured, though a few could make you blush.... For some who follow a more mystical path, I have heard that you CAN launch some journeying via sexual buildup and release. I can't confirm or deny it myself, though I have spoken to people who claim it happens and I've read about it more than once. You might think it's new age mumbo jumbo--that's your prerogative, but as far as I'm concerned Mr. Wesselman is the author and he gets to choose what goes in and what he feels is important or worthwhile to share. Seems rather courageous to me to lay bare the details of one's life so openly. It's also inspiring to read about couples who love and respect each other with passion and tenderness, though it might not always be comfortable to read coming from our cultural framework. At any rate, author/mythologist Joseph Campbell cautions that when the hero comes back after his transformational journey with gifts for his/her community, a lot of times those gifts turn to ashes in his hands, because the the community is often not ready/able to understand and receive those gifts--yet. Keep the stories coming, Dr.
Wesselman! We'll embrace whatever gifts we are ready for.
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