Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey: Pagan Folkways from ... (ISBN 1567183794)

Amazon.com Review:
The 20th century has seen an astounding revival of European pagan beliefs such as witchcraft, but could these pre-Christian traditions have roots in an even older heritage, one common to people in lands as far apart as Iceland and South America? Kenneth Johnson believes so, and as he sifts through the records left from the witch trials of the 15th and 16th centuries, he uncovers bits of evidence that point to an ancient shamanic lore that survives in Slavic, Icelandic, and even North American cultural beliefs. According to Johnson, such a far-reaching lore would necessarily have its origins with the very beginnings of humankind before we migrated across the continents. Johnson's colorful prose transports the reader to diverse eras, from colonial Greenland to 19th-century United States. He blends this prose with historical research and practical spiritual exercises, exploring the origins of an ancient pathway while reestablishing our connection to it. --Brian Patterson

it's really a shame...:
...that this book has been ignored by so much of the neopagan community. This book, along woth Carlo Ginzburg's "The Night Battles" is one of two(yes, two) books that takes an HONEST look at the possibility fertility cults existing in the Alpine countryside during the inquisition. Like Ginzburg, Johnson concludes that they is quite a bit of evidence to support such a claim. But from what can be concluded, the picture of the Italian Stregerhia(a word which Johnson(thankfully) refrains from ever using) is quite different from the typical neopagan explanation. Johnson shows us that any distinct(meaning going beyond the level of simply surviving folk magic) fertility rituals practices were primarily done in dream states, meaning that the "night battles" benandante fought were in spirit, not in physical reality, and that they tended to focuus aroud spiritual/underworld journeys. And another striking thing is the essence of such night battles themselves, meaning that the benandante thought of themselves as "good doers"(which is actually the Italian translation of the word) and were in a fight against the evil, destructive forces of witchcraft, which they believed were causing crops to die. You see, the belief in evil witches turns out to be a purely pagan belief. But over time, the activities of the benandante's spiritual journeys became melded with existing witchlore until there became no distinction between them, and witches. This in turn is where a lot of the neopagan propaganda(noteably found in Raven Grimaasi's "Ways of the Strega") that states that the benendante WERE witches comes from. Johnson also makes lot of comparisons to other spiritual traditions throughout the world and shows us that the idea of the "crisis cult" performing a state of spiritual warfare is fairly common trend among agriculturl people. Along with Ginzburg's book, these two titles are all you need to get an honest look at Italian witchcraft.

most of us know better:
Certain Witchcraft books really get me mad, this is one of them. In Witchcraft' Mr. Johnson pieces together little chips and bits of information from the records of Witch trials(yes, every piece of information he uses is taken from trials) and then comes up with the conclusion that that the basis of Witchcraft was Shamanism. This meaning that the goal of the Witches was to uncover the mysteries of the underworld and heavens, while still alive. Some f this true. Witches certainly were masters of herbal concoctions that made them feel like they were in another world(usually a faery mound), but Johnson tries to pass off all of Witchcraft as this. The great mother goodess is now a bone goddess with her lunar cults now death cults. The horned god is now an underworld god rather than a forest and animal god. And like so many other sholarary books of modern Witchcraft, he has little regard for neo-paganism. He looks at little pieces of Wicca and then decides for himself whether they are correct or not. Like Erica Jong in "Witches" he seems to think that his information is better because he has P.H.d But with his very biased, and for the most part, wrong, interpretation of Witchcraft, all his degrees don't mean jack. Try the first chapters of "The Wiccan Mysteries" by Raven Grimassi or "Wicca" by Vivianne Crowley. In all fairness though, alot of the historical information taken from the trials is good. It's simply a matter of being misinterpreted and wanting YOUR version of Witchcraft to right that makes this book bad.

Not a must read:
Armed with the work of one professor on the legends of a group of psychic warriors in Northern Italy and an extremely free definition of "shaman" the author wends his unsubstantiated way through the real and pseudo history of Witchcraft in Europe.

A Grand Synthesis:
This book makes a very convincing case for locating the roots of practically all true magical practices in the original spiritual path of shamanism. In doing so, we see that true Wicca, and other simular traditions, have a legitimate claim to extremely ancient and profound practices dating back to the dawn of the race. The author shows parallels between the beliefs and practices in culture after culture (Mayan, Plains Indian, Siberian, Norse, Celtic, Chinese, Tibetan, Polynesian, Hindu, Greek, Etc.) He then shows connections with more historically recent traditions in Germany, Switzerland, France, Ireland, Italy, England, etc. I found it to be a magnificent and convincing synthesis. I found it especially appropriate that a book about common roots should use the universal symbol of the World Tree as a starting point. The author points out that when a society ceases to listen to the messages of the otherworldly dimension the results are always the same: listlessness, depression, addiction, inhumanity, and general malaise. This is the result of "loss of soul." It is the natural function of the shaman to maintain the connection with the otherworld and to reclaim lost souls. The next time a "skeptic" tries to minimalise the legitamacy and lineage of your spiritual path, you could do far worse than to refer this book to them. The connection between early Christianity and Shamanism is even explored (estatic states, speaking in tongues, spirit journeys to higher realms, helping spirits, crucifixion on the World Tree....)