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Mu: A Reflection on Shamanism and Synthesis - Heinz Insu Fenkl

We had many visiting lecturers--not all of whom were well-received or exceptionally meaningful for the students. But among them was Christina Stack, an American practitioner of "core shamanism," who left the most lasting impression.

After she left, the students would describe her as "wolf-like," "totally self-assured," "disturbingly powerful." Even those who did not experience anything remarkable during the shamanic journey she conducted with us would agree that she had a certain resonant strength of character.

Stack had come with rattles and a large round skin drum of the Siberian/Inuit type. She had lit candles and incense in the darkened multi-purpose room, and after a brief lecture on the nature of core shamanism, she had taken us all on several "drum journeys" into the underworld.

For some, the journeys were merely relaxing, but the experience was so intense for some students that they had to be "brought down" individually after the ceremony; other students retained incredibly vivid memories of their journeys, and yet others reported an influence in their dreams for weeks afterwards.

To me, it was no accident--perhaps I should call it a "synchronicity"--that Christina Stack practices a form that has very strong parallels with the Siberian tradition, the same tradition that is dominant in Korea.