Resources

Ancient Greece

• The Greeks and the Irrational by E.R. Dodds
• Caves and the Ancient Greek Mind by Yulia Ustinova
• The Seer in Ancient Greece by Michael Flower
• In the Dark Places of Wisdom by Peter Kingsley
• “Anthropology and Spirit Possession: a Reconsideration of the Pythia’s Role at Delphi” by L. Maurizio (PDF)
• “Seized by the Nymphs: Nympholepsy and Symbolic Expression in Classical Greece” by W.R. Connor (PDF)
• “The Corycian Nymphs and the Bee Maidens of the Homeric Hymn to Hermes” by Jennifer Larson (PDF)
• Greek Divination by W.R. Halliday – a classic text on the subject, now available online

Middle Ages

• Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits by Emma Wilby
• Witches, Werewolves and Fairies: Shapeshifters and Astral Doubles in the Middle Ages by Claude Lecouteux
• The Shaman of Oberstdorf: Conrad Stoeckhlin and the Phantoms of the Night by Wolfgang Behringer
• Between the Living and the Dead: A Perspective on Witches and Seers in the Early Modern Age by Eva Pocs

Cross-Cultural Trance/Ekstasis

• Portals: Opening Doorways to Other Realities Through the Senses by Lynne Hume
• Ecstatic Religion: A Study of Shamanism and Spirit Possession by I.M. Lewis
• Music and Trance by Gilbert Rouget
• Neurophysiological and Psychological Approaches to Spirit Possession in Haiti

Shamanism

• Disadvantages of Shamanism by Jenny Blain
• The Shaman Sickness
• Shamanism FAQ
• Circle of Tengerism (Siberian and Mongolian Shamanism)
• Brief documentary on Siberian shamanism as it exists today
• “The Making of a Shaman: Calling, Training, and Culmination” by Roger Walsh (PDF)
• “Mental Imagery Cultivation as a Cultural Phenomenon: The Role of Visions in Shamanism” by Richard Noll (PDF)
• Chosen by the Spirits by Sarangerel
• A Saora Shamanin - a tradition that mirrors my own experience in many ways
• Journeying and Fairytales
• Wildspeak (shamanism, animism), also great articles by same author, “So what can you do in the otherworlds, anyway?” and “Without the spirits in my life…”
• Shanar: Dedication Ritual of a Buryat Shaman in Siberia by Virlana Tkacz – fascinating and detailed chronicle of a modern yet traditional shamanic ritual with many photos, gives a better sense of what they do than anything else I’ve read

Northern Paganism

• Raven Kaldera’s Northern Tradition Shamanism, including:
  • Pathwalking
  • Etiquette of Alternate Reality
  • Classic Shamanism and Core Shamanism: Basic Differences
  • The Eightfold Path to Altered States of Consciousness
  • Wyrdwalkers and Wightridden (Northern Tradition Shamanism books)
• The Seiðhman Rants, including: Where Does a Seiðhman Go?
• Nine Worlds of Seid-Magic by Jenny Blain
• Huginn: A Journal of Alternative Heathenry
• Hex Magazine: Old Ways for a New Day

Entheogens

• Visionary Plant Consciousness (essay collection)
• Firefly Pages: A Collection of Northern Tradition Spirit Work
• Erowid.org - comprehensive site on psychoactive substances
• Plants of the Gods by Schultes, Hofmann and Ratsch
• Breaking Open the Head by Daniel Pinchbeck
• Pharmako/Poeia: Plant Powers, Poisons and Herbcraft by Dale Pendell
• Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom by Andy Letcher

Miscellaneous

• Walking the Heartroad by Silence Maestas (incredible book on devotion for spirit-workers)
• Walking Through Walls by Philip Smith – a fascinating memoir about the author’s father, who was a spiritual healer and psychic living in Miami several decades ago, a relevant read for those on strange spiritual paths
• Hermits: The Insights of Solitude by Peter France
• Mumming & Mask Resources – from my own blog
• At the Edge – articles on folklore
• Somafera – an intersection of spirituality and physiology

Notable Posts from Spiritual Blogs

• On the Edge of the Village at Notes from a Barking Shaman
• Walking Between Worlds at The Witch of Forest Grove
• Spirituality: Beyond the Superficial-World at Heathen Ranter
• Obligation at Root and Rock
• It’s All Rather a Lot of Bother at Walking the Hedge
• Going Through the Motions at Aedicula Antinoi
• Thoughts on “Spiritually Transmitted Diseases” at Augoeides
• Spirituality is a Two Way Street at Highway to Hel
• Why I Worship the Gods at Feral Druidry
• Fallow Isn’t Just About Fields and Dreams at Mystical Bewilderment on the Spiritual Turnpike