Review by Choice Review
This short book broadens the story Kingsley (independent scholar) told in In the Dark Places of Wisdom (CH, Jul'99, 36-6224) and Reality (CH, Jul'04, 41-6456). These works presented the early Greek mystics Parmenides, Empedocles, and Pythagoras as spiritually relevant for the modern West. In this new book Kingsley traces the origins of the shamanic practices employed for inner transformation by these Greek figures back to Central Asia. He tells the dramatic tale of how the legendary healer and priest of Apollo, Abaris the Hyperborean, transmitted shamanic techniques and esoteric teachings, like the transmigration of souls, from Mongolia to the ancient Mediterranean (he also reveals links with Amerindian reincarnation). Paradoxically, Kingsley's aim in deriving these ideas from Asia is to turn readers' eyes back toward the West, where they were planted long ago and grew in their native soil. He also recounts the purifying effects of the Mongol conquests in Asia and the collision between Mongolian shamanism and Tibetan Buddhists, who sought to repress shamanism in the interests of a supposedly more refined religion. The book's controversial claims are based on impeccable scholarship and thus should be taken seriously. Summing Up; Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers; general readers. J. Bussanich University of New Mexico
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
