Medicinemaker

August 3, 1998
Dream travel, according to anthropologist Wesselman, begins with flashes of light that form a brilliant grid and open onto a "spiritual subway system across time and space" that accesses other levels of reality. In his sequel to Spiritwalker: Messages from the Future, the scientist-turned-shaman chronicles his visits to a primitive village on the coast of California 5000 years hence, where the survivors of the human race reside. He describes his psychic connections with a shaman called Nainoa, whose noble and idyllic depiction of tribal life emphasizes moral standards, respect for nature and rich spirituality. The author makes his salient point, however, when he juxtaposes this futuristic pastoral culture with our present-day society and its technology that, he says, violates nature. Wesselman is conversant with the history of the earth's climatic changes, and when, during his visionary episodes, he observes coastal California as a vast rain forest and its topography altered dramatically by a rise in sea level, he concludes that our civilization will be destroyed by global warming. He suggests that the modern mystics of our culture, with their increasing awareness of our intimate relationship with nature, can motivate the public to work toward long-term ecological sustainability. Wesselman makes a dramatic case for environmental activism, but Castaneda he isn't. His central conceits come off as contrived and far-fetched compared to those of the recently deceased master of this genre, and his prose is serviceable, boilerplate only.