Wesselman (The Spiritwalker Trilogy), a paleoanthropologist and shamanic teacher with decades of experience in both fields, constructs an antidote to the 'profound disenchantment' that plagues many people today. The author sets the stage for readers’ 're-enchantment' by telling the tale of his own, involving an improbable vision and a series of lucid dreams he had while on a dig in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley in the 1970s. This experience inspired him to pursue a shamanic path. In a tone that’s equal parts memoir and science report, the author renders fantastical events plausible, tantalizing spiritual seekers with the idea that each of us has the potential to expand our consciousness and engage with what Wesselman calls the Mystery, an 'elusive presence' that may 'draw us forward toward that which we are destined to become.' An openness to the Mystery, a willingness to quiet oneself, and the intention to focus on inner worlds and hidden realms are all components of the shamanic path, which, according to Wesselman, will balance one’s body, mind, and spirit. He reminds readers that their shamanic paths should benefit others as well, by healing and empowering the people around us. Aside from the amazing anecdotes the author shares, his calm voice, positive attitude, and insistence on kindness towards people and spirits are truly enchanting.” —Publishers Weekly
“One of the curses of our modern world is the assumption that we must choose between science and spirituality, reason and intuition, objectivity and subjectivity. This false choice has led us to a critical threshold in which it is uncertain whether our species will survive. That is why Dr. Hank Wesselman’s vision is so important. [His] personal experiences and vision transcend the suffocating limitations of materialism that now threaten our future . . . If we respond to Dr. Wesselman's message, we humans will not only survive, but thrive.” —Larry Dossey, MD, author of One Mind: How Our Individual Mind Is Part of a Greater Consciousness and Why It Matters
“In The Re-Enchantment, Hank Wesselman grabs us by the hand, pulls us out of the seat of the ordinary, and guides us far enough into the Otherworld to glimpse the incredible mysteries that he experienced. Through stunning stories and uncanny synchronicities Hank invites us into a tale of power and recovery you have to read to believe. This is not a scholar’s book with a thousand footnotes, but an adventurer’s log, intended to inspire the young and curious, as well as the seasoned healer or adventurer. I could hardly put it down. This artful book by a real master belongs in the backpacks of every college-age person the way Carlos Castaneda’s books once did for our generation. It deserves that kind of impact, and it is so needed today, as we face a planetary crisis and need a spiritual vision to live by that can help us navigate the challenges facing us.” —C. Michael Smith, PhD, author of Jung and Shamanism in Dialogue: Retrieving the Soul/Retrieving the Sacred; director of Crows Nest Centers International
“Hank Wesselman is a genuine and engaging story teller who blends his scientific wisdom with his experience with shamanism from a place of heart. In The Re-Enchantment, Hank shares a wealth of insights about how shamanism in the West is being changed and reformed by the times and the culture in which we live. Hank is courageous and touches on subjects from which other authors have shied away. He has created an important book for modern day shamanic practitioners and vision seekers alike. It is brilliantly written and has given me lots to ponder on. The Re-Enchantment is a book to be savored and to be read more than once.” —Sandra Ingerman, MA, author of Soul Retrieval and Walking in Light: The Everyday Empowerment of Shamanic Life; coauthor (with Hank Wesselman) of the award-winning Awakening to the Spirit World: The Shamanic Path of Direct Revelation.
“As the scientific method has been transformed by quantum physics, the shaman’s path of direct revelation is rising from the ashes and is being reworked into a new form enabling todays’ spiritual seekers to unfold in their quintessential adventure of self-discovery and personal transformation. Prying open the doors of perception of the inner worlds, Dr. Hank Wesselman nimbly gifts us with glimpses into the panorama of the great mystery. As a scientist, shamanist, and seer, he combines the genius and discipline of scholarly explorations found in the contributions of Joseph Campbell, Lewis Hyde, Michael Harner, and Vine Deloria. This book reminds each of us that our spiritual journey is an expanding fractal mirror of the holographic universe. The Re-Enchantment provides us with guideposts to authentic emergent grace—encouraging us to walk through those ancient misty doors of authentic initiation yet once again.” —Nan Moss, shamanic teacher and practitioner and author of Weather Shamanism: Harmonizing Our Connection with the Elements
“We are living in a time when the materialist world order and the human obsessions with manipulation, profit, and war have brought our civilization to the raw edge of global catastrophe. Into that perfect storm come voices that urge us to remember what we once knew—what shamans and gnostics and the mystics of antiquity taught. Hank Wesselman is such a voice. Trained in the detailed observational skills of a physical anthropologist, gifted with clairvoyant vision into the corridors of deep time, apprenticed to the wisdom teachings of the Hawaiian kahuna, he reminds us of the sacredness of nature and of our personal connection with the spiritual dimensions of life on Earth. He calls this book a ‘manifesto.’ It is indeed a clarion call to turn away from the madness of self-destruction and to practice again the ways of re-connection and re-enchantment.” —Ralph Metzner, PhD, author of The Well of Remembrance and Green Psychology.
“Dr. Hank Wesselman has written an impassioned call for everyone to step onto a visionary path similar to that of our indigenous ancestors who saw reality as a complex mosaic of outer experiences and inner mysteries. He reminds us that our galaxy is one among uncountable millions of galaxies, and that as our small planet rebalances itself for its survival, so must we. If you have felt that something is missing in our endless discussions of what's wrong in our world, you may be feeling the need that Dr. Wesselman presents so convincingly—to re-enchant both nature and ourselves, to embrace the new mysteries coming into being and to overcome our spiritual blindness.” —Tom Cowan, author of Fire in the Head: Shamanism and the Celtic Spirit and Yearning for the Wind: Celtic Reflections on Nature and the Soul.
“Dr. Hank Wesselman has written a provocative book on how we as spiritual beings put reality together with luminosity and with a new vision. To me, a book is a promise to readers that your integrity as a writer will be impeccable. Dr. Wesselman has kept his promise.” —Lynn Andrews, author of the New York Times and internationally bestselling Medicine Woman Series
“In The Re-Enchantment, Hank Wesselman helps us to find songlines for our modern lives. Drawing on a lifetime of scholarship and deep shamanic practice, he invites us to follow a path of direct experience of the sacred. He is candid about the price to be paid to install oneself in "the seat of initiation", but he gives us many reasons to move beyond our comfort zone and re-enchant our world through conscious connection with the powers of nature and the world-behind-the-world. Boldly, he offers a template for a new mythos, affirming that the greater powers do not require us to follow hand-me-down beliefs, but instead to become co-creators. You'll be thrilled by his accounts of his personal awakenings to the deeper reality.” —Robert Moss, bestselling author of Conscious Dreaming, The Secret History of Dreaming, and The Boy Who Died and Came Back
“The Re-Enchantment is full of magic, insight, and profound realizations about the nature of spirit and life. Hank Wesselman is a master teacher of shamanism. Re-enchant your life by reading this excellent book!” —Judith Orloff, MD, author of Second Sight
“The Re-Enchantment by Hank Wesselman is a triumphant achievement that reveals insights into our natural, spiritual birthrights and expertly teaches us to open ourselves to the elusive Great Mystery, the guiding force for a true life of flow and harmony. Written in an informative, gripping storytelling style, Hank prompts us to perceive our own personal power through direct revelation and through our relationship with nature. I highly recommend it.” —Itzhak Beery, author of The Gift of Shamanism and Shamanic Transformations and the publisher of Shaman Portal (shamanportal.org)
“Those in search of epiphanies, the kind that generate action and change, will find in this book a treasure trove. It is filled with insights that may draw readers to ‘ego-shattering, mind-expanding, and soul-enhancing awareness.’ It's a ‘Must have!’ book for anyone seriously seeking life-altering change. Beyond the articulate explanation of modern shamanism as a way to acquire knowledge of self and the cosmos, Hank’s distinctions between true transpersonal mysticism and ‘wishful narcissistic belief systems’ gives readers a clear path to a life of wonder and enchantment.” —Nicki Scully, author of Alchemical Healing and coauthor of The Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt and The Union of Isis and Thoth
02/01/2017
Alienation from our modern selves—what Wesselman (Spiritwalker) terms soul dissociation—has resulted in myriad issues. Wesselman's decadeslong work as a shaman seeks to overcome the divide between the rational and the nonrational, the seen and unseen, in order to help seekers discover true spiritual health, or reenchantment. A trained anthropologist, Wesselman shares his personal path from paleoanthropology to shamanism, which for him represents focusing awareness away from physical reality into the realm of the hidden interior where the task is to open, watch, and truly listen. As he shares his wide-ranging spiritual experiences, Wesselman seeks to find common ground with more established traditions, such as Hesychasm in Eastern Orthodoxy, or Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung's perspectives on the God of the Old Testament. For mainstream believers and scholars, however, Wesselman risks a similar sort of self-determined psycho-spiritual projection with which he charges various other moribund belief systems. VERDICT This mystical guidebook will appeal most to those who feel spiritually alienated and are seeking clarity.—SC
