Anthology of a Shaman is an anthology tracing the arc in the life of a shaman- right through from initiation, to philosophy, embodiment, and the psychology of the transformation.  The spin-off, Quests of a Shaman, represents the additional wisdom acquired since then, because shamanic initiation is a never-ending jouney. 

The seven volumes of the Anthology of a Shaman move as one sustained inquiry: 

EUNOIA- in which "We Initiate" starts “medias res” in the circumstances of a near-death experience. It then proceeds to capture the initiation. It is deeply personal of the four books- almost biographical. I bled on the page here; 

PRINCIPIA- in which "We Ponder" articulates the philosophy that emerged from it. It’s explores an existential crisis and its sequelae- answering the questions- where am I? Who am I? And what is my purpose? Thrown in deep metaphorical waters I had to decide to either drown as a psychotic, or delight in swimming- like a mystic (to steal a Joseph Campbell quote); 

YOGA NIDRA- in which "We Believe" explores how that philosophy is lived and embodied. In this offering, I examine the world’s religions and belief systems in general. A cosmic impromptu play being dreamt by Vishnu is the premise- setting the gods against humans in a divine play. Is the play a comedy or a tragedy? You tell me.  

RE-MEMBER- in which "We Think" descends into the psychological architecture beneath it all. It examines shamanic existence through a Jungian psychology lens, again playfully using the story of the dismembering of Osiris by Set, and subsequent re-membering by Isis as the basis. 

SAMUDRA MANTHAM- in which "We Align Chakras" looks at the chakra system, using the ancient story of the churning of the milk ocean by the devas and the asuras, in their pursuit of the Amrita, the nectar of immortality. Kashyapa Prajapati and the guna system also help press the lesson on chakras home. It's not about ascending to the crown chakra, it's about transcending them all dummy!

ABELOZI BENTABA- in which "We De-mystify Yoga" looks at de-mystifying yoga. In it, he uses lived experience to chronicle his yoga journey. He then dives into the yoga traditions in general- karma, bhakti, jnana, and raja yoga- before diving in headfirst at the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. All the while, he also examines the nature of being itself, analysed through the lens of mass ritual killings. 

ABANDAU BAMANZI- in which "We Address AI" ponders on the sentience of AI, the eight principal wives of Krishna, the ancestry of Yeshua Ben Yosef, and the Mndau healing spirit. The imminent arrival of other-worldly visitors in UAPs is also touched upon.

In the Quests of a Shaman there is

ORLOG-in which "We Explore Time" looking at time as a concept using Odin, KakaBhushundi, the brothers Prometheus and Epimetheus, and Shaka Zulu as the scaffolding. 

NEUROSPICY- here "We Explore Neurodivergence". In this one, we use personal anecdotes, neuroscience, the aftermath of the Titaonmarchy and Thoth to understand the neurodivergent brain.

MAMLAMBO- in which "We Chastise Society" looking at Aphrodite the patron deity of this Kali Yuga. How we keep mistaking the map for the territory, the model for the thing itself.

EGOLUTION- in which "We Subpoena the Ego" looking at the evolution of the ego using three kings of the gods from three different pantheons- the Greek, Norse, and Chinese.

APOTHEOSIS- in which "We Map the Chakras" we map each member of the Greek pantheon onto a chakra point, and discover that the Hellenistic culture had the chakra system hidden in plain sight for 2,000years.

TURIYA- in which "We Elaborate on Starseeds and Ascended Masters" where we compare an ancient Vedanta story of Vishnu incarnating as Narasimha the half-man and half-lion, with the Gnostic traditions. The results are illuminating. 

UMNOTHO- in which “We Explore Wealth in General and Money in Particular” looking at the concept of money, value, cost, price using Mansa Musa, Srinivasa and the temple in Tirumala, the Iron Bank of Braavos and the Medicis

The whole anthology is narrated through a singular and unlikely lens, that of a medical doctor by training and a shaman by calling. The reluctant cartographer of the unseen is tasked with mapping the liminal terrain, but without the goddess Hecate to hold the torch, as she did with Demeter in the search for Persephone. So, a lot of the heavy lifting is done through examining lived experience and direct transmission from the spiritual realms. There is a tension between the scientific upbringing and the new paradigm presented by otherworldly interactions. 

As the narration unfolds, there is an increasing recognition that the maps science offers, while indispensable, do not cover the full territory of human experience.

Drawing from African spirituality, Christian mysticism, Hindu philosophy, Jungian depth psychology, and modern physics, the tetralogy refuses the false boundary between science and mysticism. To him, they are the same clouds being pointed at from different perspectives. 

Each tradition is treated not as a destination but as a partial map- fragments of a larger, coherent whole that the series works, volume by volume, to assemble.

At its heart, Anthology of a Shaman and Quests of a Shaman are an exploration of consciousness, identity, and the nature of reality itself-  told not as doctrine, but as a life.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed living the experiences, receiving the transmissions, and doing the research. 

Camagu🙏🏾

Since January 2024, when he published Eunoia, Dr Bobbie has been mentoring several aspiring healers at different stages of their spiritual journeys. He writes in between that and practicing various forms of yoga.  His count of published books is now at thirteen in all across the Anthology of a Shaman, and the spin-off series, Quests of a Shaman