Quest Magazine

American Shamans: Journeys with Traditional Healers

Jack Montgomery
Ithaca, NY: Busca, 2008. Paperback, $19.95, 265 pages.

In 1974, Jack Montgomery was an undergraduate student at the University of South Carolina, in search of an interesting topic for a religious studies paper. He decided to interview local practitioners of folk magic and traditional healing, representing traditions such as hoodoo and powwow. This project "became a quest for knowledge, heritage, and personal meaning" (xi) which has continued to the present. Today, Montgomery is an associate professor at Western Kentucky University, and American Shamans is the fruit of over thirty years of study of these home-grown spiritual traditions.

Montgomery focuses his attention on traditions native to his home state of South Carolina, from both the lowland and Piedmont regions. Unlike Louisianan voodoo, these South Carolina traditions do not cultivate an alternative practice of religious worship/ritual, but are most often practiced by people who see themselves as pious Christians, and understand their magical work as a gift from God. For example, here is an excerpt from Montgomery's interview with "Sarah Ramsey," an Appalachian granny-woman:

JM: Mrs. Ramsey, how do you feel about the life you've had?
SR: I'm happy. I don't have any regrets, I'm at peace with the Lord.
JM: What has all of your healing experience done for you?
SR: I don't know what you're asking.
JM: I'm sorry; it's just that you have healed people, delivered babies, even fought with evil. What does all that mean to you?
SR: That my Jesus is everywhere. No matter what happens, he is with me. He's loved me and blessed me through all my troubles. Now I look forward to going home to be with him one day soon. (241-2)

These sentiments come from a woman who had just recounted to Montgomery her way of dealing with a "witch ball" sent as a curse to her, and her conversations with spirits who instructed her that "what you think makes everything" (241).

A large part of the book is Montgomery's account of his time with Lee Raus Gandee, who began as a contact for his USC paper, but became Montgomery's spiritual mentor and teacher of powwow for several years. Gandee is a complex character, whose personality comes through clearly in the dialogues:

"How does one become a Hexenmeister?" I asked him at our first meeting.
"By being a Hex until you can manage it!" replied the elderly gentleman in the rocking chair, calmly smoking his pipe (72).

American Shamans is somewhere between an academic anthropological account and a personal memoir. Montgomery admits to some trepidation in discussing his own spiritual experiences, his views on magic and spirituality, and how his work as a powwow has impacted his life. Gandee tells the young Montgomery: "Either magic works or it doesn't. I don't worry too much about the theory" (109). While Montgomery gives us a bit of theory, he focuses on the work, especially as it takes form in his life. It is his courage in bringing himself into the story which lends this book its warmth and its spirit of humble authenticity.

John Plummer

The reviewer is a member of the Theosophical Society currently residing in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a freelance theologian, and the author of several books and articles on independent sacramental churches and esoteric Christianity.

Nagarjuna's Letter to a Friend

Translated by the Padamakara Translation Group with commentary by Kyabje Kangyur Rinpoche
Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion Publications, 2005. Paperback, 208 pages. 

This is an English translation of the Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit text called Suhrllekha, literally "Letter to a friend". The original letter was written in 123 four-line stanzas. Its translation and appended commentary are by the Rinpoche. For those able to read Tibetan, the original text, alternating with a running translation, is included as well as a lined index of the Tibetan text. The Sanskrit original has apparently been lost as is, unfortunately, the case with a number of other important Buddhist philosophical works. The book contains ninety-three footnotes to help the reader better understand some of the ideas. A photograph of the Tibetan translator, who died in 1975, is also included.

The friend in question was King Surabhibhadra (also known by several other names), one of several early rulers in the Andhra area of central India. And, of course, Nagarjuna was one of the most important Indian Buddhist philosophers, associated with the philosophic system known as Madhyamika ("The Middle Way"). He is credited with being the author of several other important philosophic works and a very good outline of his ideas may be found in T. R. V. Murti's The Central Philosophy of Buddhism (1955). He is said to have lived in South India in either the first or the second centuries of the common era. He is also supposed to have later incarnated as the Mahatma known in theosophical literature as K. H. or Kuthumi (anglicized as Koot Hoomi), one of the principal inner founders of The Theosophical Society and author of most of the letters published as The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett. As such, this book ought to be of interest to serious students of theosophy. But it is not for the casual reader.

I have read some of Nagarjuna's works both in translation and in Sanskrit-as well as his letters to Sinnett and find it difficult to believe he would have written this particular poetic work, especially the rather gruesome descriptions of various hells, which read more like some Christian descriptions rather than Buddhist or theosophical ones. Perhaps the author's purpose was to make the descriptions of hell overly dramatic in order to motivate the king to adopt a benevolent policy. Since that particular king is not generally mentioned by most writers on ancient India (e.g. A. L. Basham, The Wonder that Was India, 1954), we have no way of knowing whether Nagarjuna's advice was taken.

The book is very well done and has a handsome dust jacket. The translation and commentary are lovely and easy to follow. But the book is for the serious student, not for the occasional theosophical reader.

-RICHARD W. BROOKS

November/December 2007

Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation of Children's Memories of Previous Lives

Dr. Jim B. Tucker
NY: St. Martin's Press, 2005. Hardcover, $23.95, 256 pages.

Dr. Tucker is a child psychiatrist connected with the University of Virginia Medical Center who, in addition to his professional duties, has taken over, from his colleague Dr. Ian Stevenson, the investigation of children who claim to remember their immediate past lives. Like Stevenson, Dr. Tucker has traveled to various countries to interview the children who tell of their previous life. In his book, he occasionally makes reference to some of the cases Stevenson published in his several books, but more importantly discusses details of his own investigation of new cases. Despite his caution in identifying these cases as merely suggestive of reincarnation, there is no doubt whatever that the children he interviewed remember their previous incarnation and are able to give details which only the previous personality could have known. There are also birthmarks and other physical marks on the "present personality" which relate to something that happened to the "previous personality" (to use Stevenson's cautious terminology). This furthers Stevenson's publication of such evidence in his two volume book Reincarnation and Biology: A Contribution to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects, a copy of which is in the Olcott Library.

As Stevenson writes in his introduction to the book, Dr. Tucker "asks, almost requires" readers of this book "to reason along with him as he describes and discusses each objection to the idea of reincarnation." Stevenson did the same in his book Twenty Cases Suggestive of Reincarnation, pointing out the difficulties of each alternative hypothesis to account for the cases. In fact, for members of the TS, who already are predisposed to accept the idea of reincarnation, this caution seems quite unnecessary in light of the quantity of evidence.

Since I have read all of Stevenson's books—and have corresponded with him and have met and talked with him personally—I found Tucker's caution curious. The evidence for reincarnation is overwhelming, not only from Stevenson's and Tucker's careful investigations, but from several other books as well, some of which have been published by the Theosophical Publishing House. I suppose Tucker felt his caution necessary, since the opposition to the idea of reincarnation is so strong from materialist scientists and philosophers as well as fundamentalist Christians and Muslims. But those people are unlikely to read this book anyway. So it seems to me the caution is quite unnecessary.

TS members may want to read this book, but may also, as I did, find its caution curious—perhaps even irritating—in light of the evidence he presents. The book is well written, even if somewhat "clinical." And it is but one more support for the theosophical teaching about reincarnation.

Dr. Richard W. Brooks

The Secret Gateway: Modern Theosophy and the Ancient Wisdom Tradition

By Edward Abdill
The Theosophical Publishing House, 2006. Paperback, 241 pages.

This book is not only excellent for beginning Theosophists, but long time truth seekers as well. As one who has read many Theosophical books over the years, I was amazed at how clearly Ed Abdill was able to bring out new approaches in this study of the ancient wisdom. Even if you have numerous Theosophical books in your collection, you need to add Ed's book to make it complete; it is that good.

The book begins with an excellent short story about a compassionate monkey. Essentially, a monkey that almost drowns saves a fish from the same fate. Only the fish in this case dies because it has been removed from the water. The moral of the story is: To do the good, we must know what the good is. The innuendo is that this book will help us know what the good is. It should be noted that Ed credits Nelda Samarel, director of the Krotona School of Theosophy and a director on the Theosophical Society's Board, for this story. He freely gives credit where credit is due.

I feel that the book has two major parts. Chapters 1-8 give us the basic teachings of Theosophy in a contemporary setting. The second part, Chapters 9-19, is a brief history of the Theosophical movement and how one can live and interact in this world as a Theosophist.

Abdill begins with the Theosophical view that we must discover truth within ourselves. It must result from our experience rather than from our belief. To help with this discovery process, we are introduced in the beginning to many Theosophical concepts, such as consciousness, motion, and matter. He suggests that there is a reality beyond space and time. Another view is that our life is not separated from the divine life, but at one with it, and the whole universe comes into being by the creative power of motion.

These could be strange concepts to some, but are handled skillfully and clearly in these early chapters. This is done because this background is needed to understand the Theosophical approach such as karma. Since one of the founders of the Theosophical Society (TS), Madame Blavatsky, says, "… karma is the fundamental law of the universe" it seems imperative that we grasp its meaning. Before we simply assume we understand this profound statement, Abdill gives us this clear warning: "If we claim to understand how karma works, we are being either too naive or too sure of ourselves." In reading this, I was struck by how much he sounded like some of the Theosophical giants that have come before us. In the chapter titled "What Survives Death?" Ed discusses, among other things, the previously mentioned concept of karma, and also dharma. He writes that dharma is: "the inner purpose of life. It is an inner pressure that moves us in the best direction to confront and neutralize the selected karmic charge from the past." I have felt for years that dharma rather than karma is more important in our incarnations and this is what we should he focusing on. Abdill supports this approach with the following:

When we fulfill our dharma, or at least as much of it as we can, it is likely that we die. Life's purpose ended, we assimilate the lessons learned and begin a new adventure when we are reborn.

How much clearer can you be? After we fulfill our dharma, we die!

The current President of the Theosophical Society in America, Betty Bland, has written that Ed's book shows a recognizable influence of Emily Sellon and Fritz and Dora Kunz. These are indeed three of the Theosophical giants that came before us. I did not know Fritz, but knew and worked with Dora for over a decade on a number of projects. Emily quite often was involved in many of those projects. From Emily, I learned that one could write and say things very clearly using only a small number of words. I saw Emily's influence not only in the above example of explaining dharma, but also the statement of being naïve in understanding karma.

Continuing with contemporary language, Ed explains basic Theosophy as presented in Madame Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine (SD). Using the three fundamental propositions as given in the SD, we tackle certain conundrums as "Be-ness." We take the Theosophical view that we are the eternal self; a point in unconditioned consciousness. We have a very clear discussion of the spiritual soul and animal soul using more Theosophical words such as buddhi-manas and kama-manas, These concepts are never easy to grasp, especially in reading the SD. However, Ed's book continues to be as concise and clear as any I have read recently.

If you have ever wondered how our body is formed and what holds it together in this life, Ed gives Blavatsky's claim of a surrounding dynamic force field that a clairvoyant can sense and probably see. Again, using her Sanskrit words such as linga sharira, he updates them into the more familiar etheric double, etc. This continues until he has told us what constitutes the "human aura." Then he explains in a Theosophical way what happens to all of this when we die.

In the second half of the book, Ed is now able to discuss the values and virtues of living a Theosophical life. After a brief history of Blavatsky, the TS, and the Mahatmas Letters, we have a number of chapters with familiar themes that a Theosophist would recognize. These include a world view, the path, study, meditation, and service. In the closing chapters further studies are suggested along with some excellent advice in the form of embedded pithy statements. It is worth your time to dig these out and meditate on them every day. Some of my favorites are:

The true Theosophist will develop a deep appreciation of the changing world, but a calm indifference to the changes.

Compassion is not pity.

The fruits of a Theosophical life are ever-increasing inner peace and outer joy.

There are some minor errors that could be expected in any first printing. For example, the famous chemist (incorrectly identified as a theoretical physicist) and Theosophist, Sir William Crookes, is identified in the Index as on page 120. In reality, he is on page 121. There is nothing serious here except that a number of other famous Theosophists are also off by a page in the same paragraph. Perhaps something that could be considered more serious is the omission of William Quan Judge as one of the founding members of the modern day Theosophical Society. This could have been easily noted on page 2 or 121.

In a short piece, Madame Blavatsky wrote about a "Steep and Thorny Road." In it, she says,

[This road] leads to the very heart of the Universe. I can tell you how to find those who will show you the secret gateway that opens inwardly only…

Ed's book is an excellent start to finding this "secret gateway." Or, for those already on the path, it could prove to be a very clear up-to-date road map.

-RALPH HANNON

November/December 2007