Walking through Darkness

May the teachings in this book help you walk wakefully as you find your way back home.   Every one of us experiences periods of pain and loss in our life—dark nights of the soul. This is a groundless territory where one feels directionless and devoid of tools, with no sense of how to take the next step. In ancient times, elders guided their communities through life’s initiations and challenges, paths we must all take to transform and grow. In Walking through Darkness, legendary shamanic experts Sandra Ingerman and Llyn Roberts help us forge a pathway through the dark—as we embrace nature as our guide and healer. Sandra and Llyn share metaphorical stories that engage animals, plants, trees, and other aspects of nature. Through the feminine process of circular joint storytelling, they weave the rich tales of their own experiences alongside wisdom that they have gathered for years from their own studies, as well as from healers around the globe. Through teachings from the land, the sky, the sea, and the spiritual world, this sensitive and empowering guide opens us to our spiritual light so that we can face our greatest challenges with courage and love—no matter what they are.

“Walking Through Darkness is a wise and sensitive roadmap to navigating dark nights of the soul. Sandra and Llyn are excellent guides who help us step into our true power and polish our souls, even when life seems too difficult to endure. This heartfelt book offers a wealth of inspiration—its many personal stories, practices, and journeys are steeped in the healing power of nature and love.” —Marci Shimoff, #1 NY Times bestselling author, Happy for No Reason and Chicken Soup for the Woman's Soul   “Walking through the Darkness is the essential handbook for all potential alchemists who wish to transform their base egoic mind into the golden light of their spirit by working through life's challenges and embracing shamanic initiation. Life is a journey and a shamanic life is a path of many twists and turns. In the western world we are called to walk this road with little or no signposts, as the shaman elders of our communities no longer exist. What can two teachers do when the dark clouds of initiation appear? How do they meet the challenges that their soul's path brings to each of them so that they can grow? Sandra and Llyn, teach us by example. They offer all of us, shamanic and spiritual practitioners alike, the tools and practices we need to meet the initiations that will take us through the darkness into the radiance of our spirit. In the process they encourage us to shed the old skin of the egoic conditioned world and the inter-generational trauma of many lifetimes. This is a book grounded in reality, where the miracle has to be reclaimed through persistent spiritual work, observation, connection with nature and deep acceptance, rather than simply invoked.” —Fotoula Adrimi, partner of The ISIS School of Holistic Health, teacher of shamanism and the Path of Isis, and the author of The Golden Book of Wisdom   “The insurmountable can be a passage to transcendence. The experience of a disease, a deep loss, or other profound stripping away of our usual ‘landmarks’ can be so painful and terrifying as to shatter all the illusions our ego has used to bulwark itself. In Walking through Darkness, Sandra Ingerman and Llyn Roberts have reminded us (as nurturing elders do) that it is in those terrifying times that we need to surrender to our own spirit who, accompanied by the magic of Nature, will guide our baby steps through the perilous passage. When we emerge transformed, we may have silvery scars, or other souvenirs from our time in the abyss, but will know that our rebirth required not only our own courage but awakening more fully to the wondrous illumination that underlies all.” —Evelyn C. Rysdyk, author of Spirit Walking: A Course in Shamanic Power, The Norse Shaman, and Shamanic Creativity     “We have all known a time of darkness at midday, when we felt divorced from all the worlds, even bereft of the desire to live. Fro

Sandra Ingerman is the author of 12 books, including How to Heal Toxic Thoughts, and has been teaching shamanism for close to 40 years. Llyn Roberts teaches workshops on healing and shamanism around the world.