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Shamans of San Damiano by Dr. J. Lamah Walker San Damiano Publications
book review by Millie Hinkle
"According to Zuni mythology, this most sacred of all places on earth was thought to be somewhere in the vicinity of what are now the Sandia Mountains."
If the enchanted land of New Mexico is the setting for this story, the magnificent Sandia Mountain range just outside Albuquerque could be called a main character. Romantic names such as the Turquoise Trail, Meditation Rock, and Zuni River prompt the reader to feel the pull of the deeper significance of this often ignored garden of Eden. The story begins in the late eighteenth century in western New Mexico territory. A peaceful village of a Zuni tribe comes alive as inhabitants are met and their customs are understood.
Kiasiwa, a shaman and Raquel begin their relationship as young people who marry and join not only their lives, but their spiritual quest of the healing arts. Each of them has dedicated themselves to the healing of their fellow people. Their mission takes them to the Sandia mountains where they build their home and make themselves available to all Native Americans in the area. Raquels loving spirit and her gifts of knowledge of the healing arts is resolved by her becoming a shaman in her own right.
Walker takes the reader into the tradition of the Medicine Bag of the shaman with a clear understanding of its purpose and tradition. It's also a historical portrait of the overarching missionary efforts that occurred. He also steps outside this story by showing his incorporation of many of the natural customs and traditions into his modern home in the Sandia mountains. He too, is a shaman who offers healing to the lost and lonely. This is ultimately a story about the power and significance of love in both the past and the present.