Susan Grimaldi, internationally renowned for producing documentaries on Manchu and Mongol Shamanism, will be my guest this week. She is a member of the Choctaw Nation, and has been practicing Shamanism for over 35 years. She is noted for her work with communities in Northern China, Inner Mongolia, and the Tuvan Republic, and has traveled throughout those regions, sometimes for days on horseback to reach remote tribes like the Reindeer People.

CAROLINE talks today about the true essence of Shamanism, and its relationship to religion. Among the wisdom traditions, Shamanism is the premier method of bringing body, mind, and spirit into balance, and restoring power, health, and harmony to a person's life as well as to Mother Nature, and all our relations. It has been praised and vilified, misunderstood and condemned, but it has survived and weathered the test of time for over 40,000 years.