On the mountains of truth you can never climb in vain: either you will
reach a point higher up today, or you will be training your powers so
that you will be able to climb higher tomorrow. Friedrich Nietzsche What
mountains mean to me: in one word, awe-inspiring. Although we can
measure them, our minds are incapable of actually grasping the very
small or the very large things in nature: neither atomic particles nor
astronomical distances. How big is a mountain, how much does it weigh?
Our limited minds can only cope with subjective assessments such as how
difficult is it to climb, how dangerous would an avalanche be? So the
feelings it produces are awe, a little fear, and possibly exhilaration
if and when we think that we have conquered the mountain - but in
reality we never can. Professor David Hunt All the stories presented in
this collection contain shamanic elements, so the obvious starting point
is to explain what is meant by this. The term 'shaman' is a
controversial one. Initially employed by early anthropologists to refer
to a specific category of magical practitioners from Siberia, the term
is now widely used to denote similar practitioners from a variety of
cultures around the world. This application of an originally
culture-specific term to a more general usage has caused problems with
regard to definition, with disagreements among scholars over whether
certain features, such as soul flight or possession, or certain types of
altered states of consciousness, should or should not be listed among
the core characteristics of shamanism (Wilby, 2011, p.252). Introduction
What are Mountains for you? Soul Captivation on White Bone Mountain The
Magic Brush and the Golden Mountain The Legend of Amirani The Story of
Jumping Mouse The Children of Hamelin: A Shamanic Journey into Mount
Poppenberg The Crystal Clear Waters of Mount Elbruz The Vision Quest,
Mount Sinai, and a Dream Fulfilled Mount Ararat Mount Koya-san, the
Hermit's Cave, and Fujiyama Sacred Towers The Fool on the Hill and the
Book of Mysteries The Tobacco of Harisaboqued The Princess of the Tower
Appendix: The Baal Shem Tov - Rabbi, Religious Formulator or Shaman?
