Table of Contents

Part One: Reclaiming History

Bayar Odun addressing her spirit familiars.

1. Old History

2. Healing and the Seekers of Knowledge: What Shamans Do

3. Handprints on a Cave Wall: Women Shamans in Prehistory

4. Summoning Whales, Serpents, and Bears: Women Shamans in History

5. The Disappearing Act: How Female Shamanism was Eclipsed

Part Two: Traditions in Action

6. The Mystical Union: Eroticism, Ecstasy, and Trance

7. Riding the Wind Horse: A Shamanic Performance

8. Crossroads Between Worlds: The Power of Dreaming

9. The Dolphin Wore Diamonds: Following The Path of Dreams

10. Song of a Coneflower: Herbalism and Plant Power

11. The Flowery Dream: The Shamanic Use of Psychedelics

Part Three: The Female Cycle: Menstruation, Birth, and Creation

12. Butterflies in the Moonlight: Blood Magic

13. The Sacred, the Dangerous, and the Forbidden: Menstrual Taboos as Feminine Power

14. Calling Forth the Spirits: Birth, Ritual, and the Midwife's Art

15. Tied to the Fabric of the Sky: Weavers and Celestial Goddesses

16. Lightning in the Shadows: A Midnight Healing Séance

Part Four: The Power of Gender and Shamanic Revitalization

17. Uniting Separate Realms: Gender Shifting in Shamanism

18. Brave Acts and Visions: Women Warriors and Prophets

19. Rekindling the Flame: Shamanic Revitalization and Reconstruction