The Power of the Lion

Waking from this heavy sleep, the man stumbles home. He hardly knows where he is. He falls onto his bed; is back in his dream; and again there appears the animal swarm. All the beasts are extremely friendly. They are inviting his soul to join them. And it does so, following them, presently, out onto the high seas. Moreover, there is one that is being especially amiable, in the most extravagantly attentive way, and this will become his familiar; though the others, too, will be at his call as friends and helpers.

Descriptition of a shaman experience of the Yahgan, a people of Tierra del Fuego, as reported by Martin Gusinde in Die Fueurland Indianer, Vienna, 1931.

Ⓒ The Susan Eleanor Boulet Trust (illustration)