Shamanism by Victor Acquista @victoracquista #Guest #Shamanism

Victor Acquista has become an international author and speaker following his careers as a primary-care physician and medical executive. He is known for “Writing to Raise Consciousness.” His multi-genre works include fiction and nonfiction and often incorporate social messaging to engage readers in thought-provoking themes.

He is a member of the Authors Guild, the Mystery Writers of America, the Florida Writers Association, Writers Co-op, and is a Knight of the Sci-Fi Roundtable.

When not pondering the big questions in life and what’s for dinner, he enjoys gardening and cooking. He lives with his wife and dog in Ave Maria, Florida.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

Website: https://victoracquista.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/VictorAcquista

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/victoracquistaauthor/

SHAMANISM 

By Victor Acquista

 

            The word “shaman” originates from the Tungus tribe in Siberia. It can be translated as, “one who knows.” The word usage has spread far beyond these Siberian roots and is broadly applied to practitioners of shamanism across many different ethnic and cultural groups.

            The specific types of activities and the characteristics of practitioners of shamanism vary among different cultures but often include the following:

·         Healing rituals and practices

·         Use of botanicals and entheogens (As noted in Wikipedia: “An entheogen is a psychoactive substance that induces alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, or behavior for the purposes of engendering spiritual development in sacred contexts.”)

·         Divination, communication with spirits

·         Accessing altered states of consciousness themselves and/or guiding others into these altered states

            Among many peoples, shamans function as priests/priestesses, wisdom keepers and holders of sacred knowledge and traditions, sages, and oral historians. Evident in these characterizations, shamans function in many important ways and are usually respected and sometimes feared. In some ways, they seem to have powers and abilities beyond those of ordinary men and women.

            The purpose of this brief blog post is not to provide a comprehensive exploration of shamanism so much as to highlight some of the features and attributes associated with shamans and the roles they play in their respective societies and cultures.

            As characters in stories, shamans often play a crucial role in plot and story line. They are sometimes featured as main characters but often act as influencers of other characters and may have a significant impact on the character arc of another figure in the story.

            In my novel, Serpent Rising, there are three different characters who meet the description of shaman. Serena’s Aunt Ooljee is a Navajo shaman. She is a dream-walker, a possible shape shifter, a healer, and has some powers of divination. I never provide much description about what is in the pouch she gives to Serena to burn in the cave, but it likely induces an altered state of consciousness accompanying the chakra opening.

            The Australian shaman, a Koradji in his indigenous Aboriginal language, is a wanderer of both the spirit realm and the dream world where he communicates with spirits. His chakra opening ritual of Serena’s third chakra involves drumming and rhythmic dancing, both known to induce altered states of consciousness.

            Finally, the Peruvian hermit is also a shaman. He is a shape shifter who navigates two realities (the seen and the unseen), a dream interpreter, and a master at using hallucinogens to guide both Serena and Bryson in experiencing transformational altered consciousness.

            Interested readers can learn more about shamanism by researching on the web. There is quite a lot of information readily available. I hope the brief highlights I have offered about the characters in my novel help you to better understand what they represent and how their roles are authentically portrayed. Although they each utilize different shamanic tools, they all help to advance Serena along in her journey of self-discovery and transformation.

  
About the Book:

SERPENT RISING
Victor Acquista
BHC Press
304 pp.
Mystery/Suspense/Thriller/Contemporary Fiction

BOOK BLURB:

Serena Mendez is haunted and she is hunted…

… Haunted by trauma—terrified and scarred as a young child, when a secret initiation into an ancient order of Lightbringers went horribly wrong. Unaware of the power latent in her blood, she is haunted by a life out of sync with her true identity. At twenty-one, she is abrasive, jobless, in debt, and addicted to sedatives. Haunted by her past, she knows nothing of her destiny.

… Hunted by an enemy—ruthless and powerful, a Brotherhood that has been pitted against the Luminarian Sects for thousands of years. An ancient struggle continues—The War of the Two Serpents—a saga extending back to the dawn of civilization, to the time of the second breaking, when the elite sought dominion over the masses. Those serving truth and light opposed these dark forces. In return they were persecuted, burned as witches, suppressed and nearly defeated by the powers of darkness.

But the flame was not extinguished.

An old Navajo dream-walker had a plan to open the seven chakras mystically binding Serena’s power. To fulfill her true destiny, to unleash the latent power within her blood, Serena journeys to six continents where she uncovers the truth of who she is, and what she must do.

A warrior stirs, a Lightbringer. She is Serena Mendez. She is awakening. She is a Candelaria…

Serpent Rising is a story of unfulfilled destiny, discovery, transformation, and courage to embrace the truth.

PRAISE

  “Author Victor Acquista has opened a pandora’s box of adventure in his new breath-taking thriller, Serpent Rising. I was swept away from the first page in this wonder-filled, mystical, and compelling novel. Cleverly plotted with a female protagonist, Serena Mendez, that is truly original in ancestry, yet very 21st century-real, with personal problems that she manages to set aside to pursue the very truth of her being. We join her in this a non-stop rush that mixes equal parts of  history, myth, and lore that I didn’t want to ever end! I’m already looking forward to more of Serena again and again. Acquista is the obvious heir apparent to the globe-trotting, can’t-be-put-down-novels such as The DaVinci Code and The House Of Secrets. Move over Dan Brown and Brad Meltzer, you have deserving company at your table with Serpent Rising!”

— Patrick Kendrick, award-winning author of American Ripper: The Enigma Of America’s Serial Killer Cop.

ORDER YOUR COPY

Amazon → https://amzn.to/3inT9gU

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BHC Press → https://www.bhcpress.com/Books_Acquista_Serpent_Rising