author
Michael J. Harner
Best known for bringing shamanism to a wide modern audience, this anthropologist wrote influential books that blended field research with spiritual practice. His work helped spark lasting interest in what he called "core shamanism."
1 Audiobook
Mohave Pottery
by A. L. (Alfred Louis) Kroeber, Michael J. Harner
About the author
Born in Washington, D.C., in 1929, Michael J. Harner was an American anthropologist, educator, and author. He earned his PhD in anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley, and carried out fieldwork in South America, including among the Conibo people of eastern Peru.
Harner became widely known for exploring shamanic traditions both as a scholar and as a practitioner. He founded the Foundation for Shamanic Studies and developed the idea of "core shamanism," an approach that aimed to identify practices shared across different shamanic cultures.
His best-known book, The Way of the Shaman, became a long-running bestseller and introduced many readers to his ideas. He later wrote Cave and Cosmos and remained an important figure in modern discussions of shamanism until his death in 2018.