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Summary: Extraordinary ¿ Years Ahead of its Time
Review: !*~*#**`>+*#!!, what is it with you people? Are you so numbed by fast-food shamanism or all the other mediocre material flooding the spiritual market that you cannot recognize an account of real teaching experiences without explaining it with drugs or delusions or daydreaming? I always knew the spiritual community was in trouble, I just didn't know how much trouble. Why don't you go read another one of the many pseudo-spiritual accounts of psychobabble and leave people who actually have something of substance to offer alone? When you encounter something you don't understand could you take a moment to think about that it doesn't necessarily mean that what is talked about is fantasy, or delusion or daydreaming or based on drug induced experience. It may just mean you don't understand which does not necessarily reflect on the quality of the material. The Reluctant Shaman is among the most remarkable works of spiritual teachings and despite the inability of some to recognize it, full of instructions on how to truly free one's self. Don't get this book if you want to read another account of useless psychobabble but do get this book if you are sincere about being part of creating a world of real equality and balance for future generations. This work is nothing short of extraordinary and very possibly years ahead of its time.
Rating:
Summary: The Reluctant Shaman
Review: "The Reluctant Shaman is definitely among the most incredible books I have ever read about the dynamics of the human psyche and how to find and become who you truly are and what your life's purpose is, how to connect and relate to all things from a heart
centered place of equality and non-judgment. Kay Cordell Whitaker describes her journey to become a Kala Keh nah seh, a builder of webs of balance, in a most fascinating way. I had no difficulty whatsoever reading the material and enjoyed every minute of it. I would recommend this work to every sincere spiritual seeker from any spiritual path."
Rating: 
Summary: Frustrating main character
Review: A very interesting book with a compelling (for me) premise, but I was often frustrated with the narrator's fear of the changes she was experiencing. I looked forward to her next book, as she was supposed to be in training as a storyteller, but never saw one.
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Summary: Experience It For Yourself
Review: A wise friend mentioned his work with Kay, so I sought out her book on my own. As I read the book, I felt the Hetaka's stories she recounts were starting a healing process that I could feel but not fully understand. This book planted seeds that were more fully realized when I worked with her CDs, participated in workshops, and spent time in private sessions with Kay. I have read a lot of books on shamanism, but these teachings felt right for me. It all started with connecting with my own joy and sense who I really am. I thought it was a pretty good place to start, so I wanted to learn more and I haven't been disappointed. I have experienced a number of the ceremonies that Kay describes in the book for myself and I believe personal experience is the best way to truly validate any spiritual teachings to see if they work for you. Not only have I have been able to apply what I've learned, but it has fundamentally changed how I live my life on a daily basis. I find her teachings both extraordinary and extremely practical. I have recommended this book and Kay's CDs to family and friends and now to you.
Rating: 
Summary: I dispise writing negative reviews; but will when necessary
Review: I bought this book because of my interest in Shamanism. Bluntly; I was not able to finish the book, I think I read the first 50-60 pages before I had to set the book aside. The books that I have been unable to complete are few and far between. In 1974; she happened to encounter two South American Shamans (Damano and Chea Hetaka) are the names given in the book and studies with them. Chapter 3 "Meeting Death And Destiny" disturbed me very much; because the book looks to my somewhat trained eye; that Damano spiked Ms. Whitakers coffee with a psychotropic drug. Psychotropic drugs are NOT necessary, and NOT recommended...
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Discovery
Review: I came upon Reluctant Shaman in a used bookstore. I was skeptical at first, having read many books on similar topics and been extremely disapointed. I am a discerning consumer, particularly of material in this subject area, but I kept being drawn to the book, so I took a chance. And what a wonderful discovery it turned out to be!!
Kay Whitaker's writing is straight forward, honest and engaging. It is easy to empathize with her hesitation and confusion when she is approached by the Hetakas. And her struggles with the changes and challenges of her spiritual journey felt so completely real, it was like talking with a friend.
As I got further into the book, the material got more and more dynamic and powerful. I began to feel that I was actually being influenced by the same powers that were working on and through Kay. Her writing became an amazing tool for enlightenment and awakening.
I also was awed by the resonance I felt with my own experiences of focussed, intensive training over the last 15 years.
Reluctant Shaman is a gift for which I'm deeply grateful. I intend to recommend it to all my students!
Rating:
Summary: Finding the joy that is you
Review: I have been an avid reader of new age books for nearly twenty years and have devoured a countless number of books over this time. But of all those books never have I been so personally touched or inspired nor has a book ever had such an incredible and profound impact on me in the way A Reluctant Shaman has.
This book brought everything I have read, learnt, thought and believed together. When I first read it, something clicked and a light literally went on, not just inside my mind, but in my heart and spirit.
I cannot tell you how much I love this book. Over the years I have treasured and re-read it many times over. I would recommend this book to everyone. Even if it doesn't touch you the same way it did me, you will be overwhelmed by the sense of love, purpose and the knowledge you will gain from it.
This is a book about waking up to who and what we truly are. Most of us spend our lives in an almost zombie-like state just going through the motions that we think is life, yet there is so much more behind us and this life that we are living. This book truly awakens you to that reality. Its about letting go of the masks we live behind and the ordinariness of the everyday life and waking up to a world where everything has purpose and is truly joyous and magical.
If you want a book that not only inspires you but helps you find the magic in life, then this is it.
If you want a book that helps you know who you really are and what you are capable of becoming, then I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
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Summary: A really fun read, these people are GREAT!
Review: I haven't laughed so much since reading Rita Mae Brown's "Six of One"! These people are so joyful, so insouciant,so playful, that they really lightened up my spirits at a rather depressing time in my life. The whole premise of the book is so ... outlandish! I read fiction for that feeling of going SOMEWHERE ELSE, somewhere I can't go myself and this account of one woman getting there in real life is a RIOT!!!
I've had enough weird experiences to recognise the truly confused voice of real experience in this book - it's NOT fiction! - and reading this is like watching the Marx brothers come to one of my family's holiday get-togethers! There's no meanness in the humor, just affection, and the ridiculous combination of modern world with ancient psychic practices is just hilarious!
In addition, the hope that there CAN be a larger world out there, just waiting for us to find it, a loving, supportive, enthusiastic universe waiting to buttonhole us on the street, just to tell us to come on in and join the party is a beautiful and PRICELESS gift that this book brings, and an accurate one, in my experience.
Rating:
Summary: Be Enchanted. It's fun.
Review: I was very lucky. I read The Reluctant Shaman from little yellow pieces of notepaper a bit at a time as I typed it into manuscript form. At my request, Kay paid me for this service [over paid?] by giving me the ceremonies she had been given as described in her books. I was honored to be among her first few 'students' as she began to practice teaching her craft. But the book -- proof reading my work was difficult as I was constantly dragged back into the vicarious reality of the writing. This experience changed my perspective of the universe as well as my day-to-day application of spiritual principles. And reading both The Reluctant Shaman and Sacred Link [The sequel, self published] again and again has more deeply inspired me on my own individual path. Kay starts out the story just as it started into her life; at the edge of the cliff over the Pacific Ocean during a wild storm. Hahaha. What could make it more dramatic if it were happening to you? Bit by bit the journey of what truly happened to her unfolds. The reader is told the struggles Kay has with overcoming her cultural issues about these very foreign ideas, then hears stories as told by Domano or Chea and then hears a description of her experiences in the Sacred Ceremonies. I love Domano's stories. Like all good parables they come to mind when needed giving a helping hand for the more difficult steps in life. One interviewer said she was unable to understand why Kay was fighting her fears for so long. Remember, these things were happening in the mid 70s and there wasn't much in public knowledge about New Age stuff -- this is so Earthy! And Kay started out a very, VERY, conventional woman with two kids to raise by herself. It would be well to remember, too, that the Hetakas are not an ordinary couple who teach ideas, but are Shaman quite capable of shifting reality to enhance the experience. As I recall, Carlos Castaneda was slow in getting over his terror, too. What I experienced with the same ceremonies were far different because Cordell was my "guide", not the Hetakas. And if you have good vicarious skills, you won't be just reading a good story. You could, as I did, make a major shift in your comprehension of the World In Balance or Katasee, as it is said. And it's not even my major path but the experiences brought a greater clarity to what is mine to do. I may have worked with Kay and eventually become a close friend, but that is not the reason I'm writing this. The material stands well on its own, not for its literary value for there are far better writers out there, but for the whole experience, the environment that is created for the reader to become more. For those for whom this work is intended, you will quickly feel the mastery of the message. Be enchanted. It's fun.
Rating:
Summary: Thank you Kay Whitaker for a FABULOUS book!
Review: If you liked Dan Millman's "Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior", then let Kay Whitaker's "The Reluctant Shaman" take you on even deeper sacred journey. My consciousness altered noticably every time I started reading it...and then magical shifts started happening in my life!
Suggestion: read "Reluctant Shaman" for pleasure and knowledge, then use it as a text book. I have practiced many of the exercises (finding my song, the kundalini and chakra experiences, etc.) and I'm delighted with the surprises that have made me grow! I love to e x p a n d my awareness and this book is a treasure into which I repeatedly dig. There is more packed in here than meets the eye! This book's a keeper for anyone who is a mystic/shaman in training! Let your heart sing!
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