Engaging the Spirit World: Shamanism, Totemism, and other Animistic Practices

Anthologies are tricky. The theme may be clear, but corralling authors to present clear and compelling discussions on that topic rarely works out very easily. Lupa's anthology on animism is an excellent collection of writings that will provoke discussion and likely stimulate different practices.

Animism is a core belief in Neo Pagan practice, for all that we rarely discuss it openly. Having such a disparate collection of viewpoints and topics made for interesting reading, even though I didn't love every essay. That said, of particular interest were Kaldera's essay on ancient spirits in modern times, Mandelbaum's "Embodying the Sacred," and Elford's "Spirits on the Move."

This is Lupa's second anthology as an editor (our review of her first is here), and I think she's even better now than she was then. This collection of eighteen essays is exciting and deserves a place on every Neo-Pagan's bookshelf.

~review by Lisa Mc Sherry

Editor: Lupa
Megalithica Books, 2013
pp. 224, $26.95



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