Date of Publication: 2007-11-01

journey, or contains a number of the elements that are typical of such a journey.

The stories featured are the Book of Jonah from the Old Testament, two traditional stories from the Republic of Georgia–The Earth will take its

Own and Davit, a contemporary German tale Bundles, and the Korean story of Shimchong, the Blindman’s Daughter.

By making use of textual material from a number of different cultures and times, the intention is to highlight the pervasive influence shamanism has

had and to show how the “new” genre being proposed is a universal one.

The research questions addressed include 1) defining what shamanism is, deciding whether it should be classified as a religion, a methodology or a

way of life 2) considering whether a case can be made out for the introduction of a new genre of tale and, if so, what its characteristics are.

It is hoped the book will be of interest not only to those involved in the study of shamanism but also to those whose interest is in the study of

literary texts. Since the old bearers of shamanic traditions quite often were, and even today are, illiterate, the study of their folklore–epic

songs, laments, narratives–undoubtedly provides a rich source for research.

Michael Berman BA, MPhil, PhD (Alternative Medicines) is a part-time teacher at Oxford House College in London, a writer, and core shamanic counsellor. Publications include A Multiple Intelligences Road to an ELT Classroom and The Power of Metaphor for Crown House Publishing and The Shaman and the Storyteller for Superscript. Michael has been involved in teaching English as a Foreign Language to adults for over thirty years and has given presentations at Conferences in Austria, Azerbaijan, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Spain, Turkey, and the Ukraine.

Sample pdf (including Table of Contents)