As I said in another review, I love story-tellers. Michael Berman has captured a treasure-house of shamanic magic. The stories are discussed and illustrated to dig beneath the surface. This is a glimpse into a timeless civilization and culture.

He shows a deep understanding of this magical world. It is a beautiful and wondrous book. Not light reading though. I particularly liked, The Man Who Lost His Wife. This book will make you think, grow, groan, and laugh.

Effectively a review of the writings about shamanism. There are other books on the market that offer illustrative stories, but often they leave the reader dissatisfied as they have no clear story line, perhaps because they are not as old or have not originated in such rich cultures as these. ~ Jenny Jones, De Numine

Within this collection of shamanic stories there is a wealth of information on the traditional, folkloric, magic and very real culture that is Shamanism in today’s world.

Over the past 20 years or slightly more there has been a distinct revival in the arts of and benefits to the modern world - both from a healthy and holist perspective as well as a focus on care of the mother earth.

Berman draws our attention to this in the selected stories by using them as discussion points and debatable issues, as well as helping to illustrate that Shamanism is alive and well and is using the benefits of traditional methods of healing to all who choose to seek it out.

More of a treatise than a light read Berman puts his point across in many ways and leaves one pondering on the many and varied things which make up the elements of a life journey! 

This is a truly amazing piece of work – beautifully written, a joy to read and if he's offering to write more for us, bite his hand off!

The merit of Michael Berman's book... is to introduce shamanic tales from all over the world not to experts, but to people who otherwise would probably never have the occasion to come across them. In very clear language Michael Berman presents the spirituality of civilizations remote in time or geography, showing what shamanism really is and how it differs from fairy tales and legends. In particular, tales like The Courageous Daughter and Tvalchit'a reveal to the reader a world mostly unknown to the general public, such as the Circassian culture and the different beliefs of the Caucasian nations. It is interesting to notice that women and even animals play a major role in these stories (for example in a Russian tale on the language of birds, or in the Japanese The Goddess of Mount Daimugenzan), contrary to what we are used to finding in most of the European traditional legends and tales. Moreover, Michael Berman's deep understanding of shamanic spirituality help us to appreciate the metaphors, the symbology and the morals that are hidden behind the plot and the characters of each of the tales. The book is also enriched by beautiful illustrations that give an insight into the customs and art of the peoples and origins of the stories. ~ Barbara Tognini, bookseller and traveller from Italy