Michael Harner
In Memoriam (1929 - 2018)
The founder of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies, Dr. Michael Harner (Michael J. Harner) pioneered the introduction of shamanism and the shamanic drum journey to contemporary life and is recognized as the world leader in this movement.
The internationally eminent Swedish anthropologist Åke Hultkrantz wrote that Mircea Eliade and Michael Harner were the two great authors on shamanism. Eliade himself wrote that Michael Harner’s works were stimulating and original.
In his half century of anthropological fieldwork, cross-cultural studies, experimental research, and firsthand experience, Michael Harner arrived at the core methods of shamans worldwide. The applicability of this core shamanism to contemporary Westerners has been substantiated by the experiences of his thousands of students. The experiential methods are simple, safe, and have been used successfully by them with positive life-changing results.
What Yogananda did for Hinduism and D.T. Suzuki did for Zen, Michael Harner has done for shamanism, namely bring the tradition and its richness to Western awareness. Michael Harner is widely acknowledged as the world's foremost authority on shamanism and has had an enormous influence on both the academic and lay worlds.
Honoring the oral tradition of indigenous shamans, for the last quarter of a century Dr. Harner has conveyed his shamanic knowledge first-hand through teaching and experiential work rather than through writing. Today he and his staff annually teach thousands of students internationally who, in turn, introduce thousands more to shamanism.
In Russia, assembled Siberian shamans of the Buriat people publicly declared Michael Harner a great shaman upon witnessing his shamanic healings in 1998 and that he proved one could do both science and shamanism.
The Way of the Shaman: The Work of Michael and Sandra Harner
Through a series of interviews, this documentary takes you from Michael's early expeditions as a young anthropologist to the formulation of core shamanism and the founding of the Foundation for Shamanic Studies.
My Path in Shamanism
Michael Harner's personal account of his journey in an interview with Roger Walsh and Charles S. Grob from their book, Higher Wisdom.
Way of the Shaman
This classic on shamanism pioneered the modern shamanic renaissance. It remains the foremost resource and reference on understanding shamanism.