{"product_id":"9781906958220","title":"Sacred Mountains: Stories of the Mystic Mountains an Anthology","description":"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.\u003cbr\u003e~ Friedrich Nietzsche\u003cp\u003eWhat 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.\u003cbr\u003e~ Professor David Hunt\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll 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,\u003cbr\u003e2011, p.252).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIntroduction\u003cbr\u003eWhat are Mountains for you?\u003cbr\u003eSoul Captivation on White Bone Mountain\u003cbr\u003eThe Magic Brush and the Golden Mountain\u003cbr\u003eThe Legend of Amirani\u003cbr\u003eThe Story of Jumping Mouse\u003cbr\u003eThe Children of Hamelin: A Shamanic Journey into Mount Poppenberg\u003cbr\u003eThe Crystal Clear Waters of Mount Elbruz\u003cbr\u003eThe Vision Quest, Mount Sinai, and a Dream Fulfilled\u003cbr\u003eMount Ararat\u003cbr\u003eMount Koya-san, the Hermit's Cave, and Fujiyama\u003cbr\u003eSacred Towers\u003cbr\u003eThe Fool on the Hill and the Book of Mysteries\u003cbr\u003eThe Tobacco of Harisaboqued\u003cbr\u003eThe Princess of the Tower\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAppendix:\u003cbr\u003eThe Baal Shem Tov -\u003cbr\u003eRabbi, Religious Formulator or Shaman?\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mandrake","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49899264704752,"sku":"9781906958220","price":23.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781906958220","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}