The Occult Book Review

Reading Spirits from the Edge of the World by J. Van. Ysslestyne is an eye-opening anthropological revealing of authentic shamanism. Unlike many examinations from western writers, this book is mostly compiled by the Ulchi people themselves. As one of the few remaining cultures with living links back to their ancient lineages we should listen carefully to what they have to tell us. Their animism (Itself a western term) is primal, of course, but also holistic and connective in a way we often overlook. Indeed, sometimes we are under pressure to label or not label, categorise and separate, define and ritualise, all of which, while well meaning, only result in order, dogma and an unnatural barrier to what 'shamanism' really is. Shamanism in the Ulchi context, and for those of us in the west to a more crude degree, is an overview and umbrella term for what might be a multitude of paths, methods of contact and connection to what I call the 'whatever '. The arch