FEATURES

Interview by Alex Palau
The Wisdom of San Pedro Shaman Eduardo Calderón Palomino examines the rich shamanic philosophy of a Peruvian curandero who helped introduce the shamanic use of San Pedro, a psychoactive cactus, to Westerners.

Interview by Timothy White
R. Alan Fuller’s Adventures Traveling with a Peruvian Shaman explores the intense shamanic experiences of an American psychologist who studied with the great San Pedro shaman don Eduardo Calderón Palomino.

Peter T. Furst, Ph.D.
The Visionary Art of José Benítez Sánchez, an excerpt from the book Visions of a Huichol Shaman, describes the role of one of Mexico’s best known Huichol shaman-artists in the development of indigenous yarn paintings.

Timothy White
Revisioning Siberian Shamanisms: A Critique of Alice B. Kehoe’s Shamans and Religion looks at a scholar’s prejudiced perspectives on Siberian shamanisms and examines the limitations of theorizing about the nature of shamanism without extensive experiential knowledge of the subject.

Catherine M. Brown
Blessed by a Santero’s Flowers and Herbs relates the author’s experiences in Brooklyn, New York, consulting a neighborhood santero.

ON THE FRONT COVER:  “The Birth of Sun Father,” a yarn painting by José Benítez Sánchez, depicts the Huichol story of when the resplendent Sun Father was born in a volcanic explosion at Reu’unaxi (32 in. by 24 in., 97-15-25, courtesy of University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology).

ON THE BACK COVER:  Cosmic serpents and deer spirits swirl inside an oval representing a Huichol tuki (temple), in another yarn painting by José Benítez Sánchez (32 in. by 24 in., #97-5-12, courtesy of University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology).

DEPARTMENTS

FROM THE EDITOR discusses the potential impact of the Supreme Court’s recent decision to review a critical religious rights case involving the Uniaõ do Vegetal and its religious use of the psychoactive hoasca, or ayahuasca.

LETTERS 

EARTH CIRCLES examines recent developments in the battles to block the development of the Yucca Mountain nuclear dump and last minute efforts to stop Congress from opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development. 

REVIEWS offers critiques of Shamanism in Siberia: Russian Records of Indigneous Spirituality by Andrei A. Znamenski; and Exploring Shamanism: Using Ancient Rites to Discover the Unlimited Healing Powers of Cosmos and Consciousness by Hillary S. Webb.

RECEIVED & NOTED  lists titles and brief information on new books and other media we have recently received from publishers. 

UNCLASSIFIEDS 

RESOURCES DIRECTORY 

SHAMAN’S DRUM ARTS GALLERY (on the inside back cover) features the painting “La Machi” by Chilean-born artist Mariela de la Paz.
Click on cover to
see larger image
Published by Shaman's Drum and the Cross-Cultural Shamanism Network, copyright 2005. The above content is intended for the noncommercial use of shamansdrum.org users, and it may not be reproduced or sold without the written permission of the publishers:

Shaman's Drum, P.O. Box 270, Williams, OR 97544 ~ 1-541-846-1313