Nightwing: Reflections of a Traditional Shaman - Paperback

by Roberta Lee (Author)

Shamans were a part of all early civilizations and they remain among us today, despite the fact that the "modern world" is less aware or appreciative of their role in the fabric of life. Shamans are often misunderstood, as fakes, frauds, and fools tend to give true shamans and shamanism a reputation that does not match its true nature and purpose. Someone needs to set the story straight. Nightwing, or Roberta Lee, sets out to do so with her memoir Nightwing: Reflections of a Traditional Shaman.

Roberta Lee is a white woman who defies society's current preconceived notions of being a shaman. She is not the stereotypical image, but she was born shaman and, after reluctantly accepting that role, is a traditional shaman to her core. The wide array of anecdotes in this book draw on her lifetime of learning and teaching-they prove her shaman nature to be tried and true. She spent decades helping the dead cross over, retrieving souls, lifting curses, journeying, healing, visionquesting, foreseeing, cooperating with spirits, and exploring the worlds around her, both seen and unseen.

With this knowledge comes questions. Shamans must quickly accustom themselves to constantly being on uneven ground in worlds of Illusion, both in ordinary reality and in the OtherWorld. Shamans must learn to release rationality and concede to their greater purpose. Life as a shaman is not easy, but nothing worthwhile ever is. And now it is time to share her knowledge and experiences.

This memoir takes you through key aspects of shamanic life, and the straightforward and informational text is laced with riveting accounts of Nightwing's experiences as a shaman. Roberta Lee/Nightwing has accepted being a lifelong learner and a lifelong teacher, and she has embraced the irrationality of the shamanic world. Will you?

Author Biography

Roberta Lee, C.Ht. is a traditional shaman of Anglo/Celtic origin, a healer, seer, and dedicated pipe carrier. She was born a shaman into a straight-laced Methodist family and later attended college on a journalism scholarship. She had two children whose father died in 1969 and the single-mother went on to work a series of traditional jobs-including working as an astrophysicist's technical writer, a political consultant, a funeral counselor, a home health care supervisor, and an office manager for both a criminal lawyer and a private investigator. In 1986 her shaman-side required she shift all of her attention to doing the work of a shaman so she did and, among other things, traveled around Canada and the USA teaching and healing. Lee's shamanic services and activities have been successfully integrated with the services of psychologists, medical doctors, chiropractors, kinesiologists, naturopaths, 12-step counselors, therapists, ministers, and priests. In 1996 she retired to a one-room cabin, RavenHouse, in a remote wilderness area of southeastern Arizona to be in nature and stillness to continue her service. She lived there with more than 90 rescued animals-from finches to burros to emus-which she considered her teachers. She returned to civilization in 2012 and currently lives in Tucson, Arizona. Watch for the release of Roberta's next book, Sacred Wheel of Our Ancestors.