James Endredy - 23 Apr

SHAMANIC ALCHEMY

PRAISE FOR THE WORKS OF JAMES ENDREDY

With competence and authority James Endredy has written a powerful book with clear and precise instructions on advanced shamanic techniques learned directly from indigenous shamans. [Advanced Shamanism] is a wonderful contribution to shamanic literature. By bridging quantum physics with ancient shamanic practices, he immeasurably expands our access to the strange and wonderful world of the age-old shamanic path. This is the real deal.

JOS LUIS STEVENS, PH.D., AUTHOR OF AWAKEN THE INNER SHAMAN AND ENCOUNTERS WITH POWER

James Endredy continues to tap into the primordial ways of healing. Advanced Autogenic Training and Primal Awareness is a marriage of his power of storytelling and his vast personal history with the practice. It is not often in this lifetime that one meets a true spiritual master, but this generation has James, and this book is a must-have for those desirous of deepening their connection with the I AM.

SHAWN TASSONE, M.D., PH.D., COAUTHOR OF SPIRITUAL PREGNANCY: DEVELOP, NURTURE & EMBRACE THE JOURNEY TO MOTHERHOOD

For indigenous people everywhere, walking is spiritual as well as physicalan ecstatic journey into our oneness with nature. In these magical pages, Jim Endredy opens the door to that journey. Earthwalks for Body and Spirit is a beautiful invitation for you to shapeshift your life.

JOHN PERKINS, AUTHOR OF SHAPESHIFTING AND SPIRIT OF THE SHUAR

I recommend [Teachings of the Peyote Shamans] as a smooth ride into the world of the indigenous Huichol people of Mexico. The author gives rare insight into the everyday life of these people, their art, and religion.

NEW DAWN MAGAZINE, JENNIFER HOSKINS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

W riting a book takes a fair amount of time and effort, and without the support of friends, family, and professionals in the publishing industry, even the best books have little chance of reaching their intended audience. For this, my eleventh book, I give heartfelt thanks (in no particular order) to Old King Farm, my mom Irma, Big Ed, Luby, Jacki, Rick, Jessica, and Bandito del Kittycatos. Much appreciation goes to Ehud, Jon, Jeanie, and Kelly at Inner Traditions/Bear & Co. for the continued support of my work. Thanks go to my editors Jennie Marx and Kate Mueller, to Aaron Davis for the amazing cover art, and to Erica Robinson for the great catalog copy.

There are really no words to describe my immense gratitude to both my indigenous shaman mentors and the ancient alchemists. Without them the profound shamanic alchemy shared in this text would not be possible.

INTRODUCTION

ALCHEMY AND SHAMANISMTOOLS OF TRANSFORMATION

A lchemyaka hermetic philosophy, the great art, the great work, the secret art, the divine artis one of the most complex areas of study one can enter because of the vast variety of pursuits and goals associated with the term. Its also one of the oldest philosophies and disciplines, dating back some three thousand years or more.

So what is alchemy? The very simplest answer, and the one we will work from in this book, is: alchemy is the art of transformation. Paracelsus, probably the most important and consistent philosopher in the history of the alchemic tradition, and who I will speak of during the course of this book, put it this way: Alchemy is the art that separates what is useful from what is not by transforming it into its ultimate matter and essence.

For the actual work in this book, and truly learning alchemy is a lot of work, we will be employing alchemy as a practical vibrational science that will be enhanced and expanded upon by shamanic techniques. When we change the vibrational frequency within the structure of a substance or system via shamanic alchemy, it changes into a new form. For our purposes, we could say that we are here engaged in the art of transformation through the discipline of mind over matter. Or, as physicist Fred Allen Wolf puts it, mind into matter. Wolf promotes a new view of alchemy, some topics of which we will explore further in this book. On the new alchemy he writes:

In much the same way that modern dictionaries make alchemy a mere shadow of the chemistry to come, modern science has attempted to make the study of the subject a mere reflection of the objective and reducible science of matter. Some of us, including many scientists, dont agree with the new objective materialism. We believe in our heart of hearts, as did the alchemists that came before us, that something far richer than materialism is responsible for the universe... armed with the ancient knowledge and the modern vision that comes from modern physics, we can rediscover what the ancients may have known. All we need are a few basic conceptsa new way of seeing the old way. I call (these ways of seeing) the new alchemy.

When seeing or hearing the word alchemy, one might think of old men in funny hats working at furnaces in ancient chemistry labs seeking to turn minerals into gold, create the philosophers stone, or find the elixir of life. However, these popular modern stereotypes of the ancient alchemists are but a tiny fragment of alchemy. Alchemic author Stanislas Klossowski puts it nicely:

Alchemy is a rainbow bridging the chasm between earthly and heavenly planes, between matter and spirit.... Alchemy, the royal sacerdotal art, also called the hermetic philosophy, conceals in esoteric texts and enigmatic emblems, the means of penetrating the very secrets of Nature, Life and Death, of Unity, Eternity, and Infinity. Viewed in the context of these secrets, that of gold making is, relatively speaking, of little consequence: something comparable to the super-powers (siddhis) sometimes obtained by Great Yogis, which are sought not after for their own sake, but are important by-products of high spiritual attainment.

In modern times the comprehensiveness of the alchemic art offers us innumerous insights into a wide spectrum of topics and disciplines, including alternative healing, psychology and parapsychology, spirituality, art, sociology, and quantum physics, to name a few. But remember, whether the alchemic subject is herbs, minerals, elements, or sociology, medicine, psychology, or shamanism, or even our own physical body, mind, or etheric body, alchemy is always about creative transformation; changing something that is inferior, imperfect, or unacceptable into something that is better, more perfect, and closer to what we desire.

Fig. I.1. Alchemical laboratory (Wellcome Images).

Although alchemy in its various manifestations can be clearly viewed as a quite serious subject, reading through both ancient and modern texts on alchemy can be entertaining as well, and the history of alchemy has a plethora of interesting characters, some mythical, some shrouded in mystery, and many historical people.

Among these hundreds of fascinating personages, we have Hermes Trismegistus, regarded as a historical founder of alchemy and Hellenistic magical astral mysticism. The Thrice Great Hermes is often identified with Thoth, the ancient Egyptian scribe of the gods. There is of course the famous Paracelsus (the Latin name adopted by Dr. Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenhiem)a powerful sixteenth-century reformer in the history of medicine who boasted that his form of alchemical-medical philosophy transcended the learned medicine of the Galenist physicians of his day. Our modern adjective