Announcing Woman Shaman: the Ancients - Max Dashu

1 Announcing Woman shaman : the Ancients A new video by Max Dash reveals the rich cultural record of medicine women, oracles, healers, trance-dancers, shapeshifters, drummers, and dreamers around the world. This visually stunning global survey shows female shamans in rock murals, sculpture, codices, bronzes, and ceramics, with well-researched commentary and music. Two discs, 89 minutes each. View trailer at This unprecedented study of ancient female shamans overturns the presumption that archaic shamanism was a masculine preserve. Max Dashu retrieves archaeological images out of obscurity to reveal a rich female past. Women lead ceremony in rock art of the Sahara, southern Africa, Azerbaijan, Spain, and Baja California. They dance with tigers on Indus seals, with serpents on Iranian ones. They are shown in ecstatic ceremonies in Aztec codices, Chinese bronzes, and Cretan art.

2 Female shape-shifters manifest walrus tusks in Nunavut, horns in Libya;. ceramic sculptures in Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, show them shape-shifting into snakes, owls, deer. The video has chapters on invocation, sacred dance, drums, entheogens, shamanic flight; With archival world music from Smithsonian serpents, animal spirits, and goddesses with Folkways, and Flute by Cynth; Luisah Teish;. shamanic aspects; ritual staffs, rattles, fans and Yolanda Martinez; Layne Redmond; Maryam mirrors. In her discussion of the images, Dash . Akhondy; Tiokasin Ghosthorse; Suzanne Teng;. raises issues such as ambiguity in interpretation Viviana Guzm n; Ensemble Pachamama, Mary ( shaman , ancestor, or deity? female, male, or Sherhart; Anawak; and more musicians. ambiguous?) and multivalent symbolism (what do all those serpents mean?)

3 She discusses problems of naming and cultural specificity, Then Miriam the prophetess and calls attention to recurrent trans-cultural patterns. Ancient representations of divination, took the drum in her hand, and laying on of hands, staff dancers, regalia, paleo- all the women went out after her lithic shamans and deified adepts are augmented with timbrels and dancing.. by an evocative musical underscore. Woman shaman : the Ancients - Contents Disc One (89 minutes): Disc Two (89 minutes). Invocation Oldest Shamans Sacred Dance Drums Flight Rattles Shapeshifters Entheogens Serpents Staffs Animal Spirits Fans / Herbal Bundles Goddesses with Shamanic Aspects Crowns / Headdresses Healers and Diviners Mirrors (Extra: Commentary). Max is one of the most knowledgeable and dedicated researchers, artists, teachers I know.

4 She has been addressing cultural kinship with great respect, sensitivity, and generosity.. --Luisah Teish, Iyanifa, Il Orunmila Oshun Amazingly beautiful images from cultures around the world about women shamans. Max Dash . has provided the world with an incredibly important piece for our collective memories.. --Baylan Megino, Pinay culture researcher This is so awesomely good! The information and photos of ancient I highly recommend it.. --Yolanda Martinez, musician and drummaker Woman with ceremonial staff in regalia, Maack Shelter, Brandberg, Namibia I just finished watching Max Dashu 's dvd Woman shaman . It is life-changing to see so many images of women shamans, priestesses, and spiritual leaders across time and culture. The images Dash . has collected present a totally different picture of the world and of women than is available in most of our culture.

5 I highly recommend this work: it will change your view of spiritual practice forever.. -- Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD, co-founder of Kohenet Institute, Director of Spiritual Education at the Academy for Jewish Religion. Wu playing drums, gongs and horns, China