Ya’Acov Darling Khan has written an exquisite and important book that places the great and deep work of shamanism in its rightful context in this crucial time for the human species. It is both a personal and archetypal story. He honestly shares his struggles about the challenges of being a shaman in the modern world and he does so refreshingly without self-importance. Many times, I found myself moved by the story of a life devoted to finding a modern expression of shamanism that is appropriate to the times we are living in.

We live in critical times for our species and our relationship with the Earth that is our home. We are now being faced every day by the limitations of the cultural story that we have been telling since the industrial revolution began, namely that ‘more is best’. As our colleagues in the Amazon and indigenous peoples everywhere are telling us, we need to remember that the Earth is a living being, and like all living beings, she has her limits. We need to find a new story that is appropriate for the realities of our time in which we remember that in fact every single of one of us that lives depends on the intricate balance of life that is our biosphere. This has always been true, but our modern way of life has created an imperative for us to find a new way if we are to carry out the sacred task of passing life on to the generations that will follow in a better state than we received it.

Throughout our human story, shamans have had the job of reminding us that we are part of the web of life and that we need to honour and learn to live in balance with the forces that shape our lives. For too long, shamanism has been seen in popular culture as a left-field weekend pastime that is divorced from the challenges that we face as a species. But in reality, shamanism has never been solely about trancing out or getting high on the latest medicine or technique to come into fashion – it’s about living in a way that honours that which gives us life, feeds us, waters us, and gives us warmth and shelter. It is about the quest to find our place in our community and the wider community of life on which our own lives depend. It is about bringing our visions to Earth, and in so doing, finding what is ours to contribute. It invites us to live in a balanced way, asking for what we need in order to give everything we’ve got in gratitude for the gift of this life.

Shamanism is about passing on the torch of life, received intact from those who came before us, tending it and helping it to evolve in the short time that we hold that torch. It’s about being in touch with the spirits of a place, not through belief, but through a committed relationship with the land we live on and care for. It’s about recognizing the passing of the seasons and taking time to honour the different stages of life through appropriate initiation. It’s a tradition that is as old as the first drumbeat and, despite the fact that its practitioners have been cast as charlatans and quacks, it has survived brutal oppression across the world over the centuries.

Interestingly, as it retreated into the silent and untouched places that remain on this Earth, those same places became more and more threatened by the mistaken story that the world is ours to do with whatever we see fit. In the last three decades, shamanism has risen like the phoenix and traditional shamans from these hidden worlds have been feeling the call from nature itself to share their knowledge once again in the hope that we will remember our responsibilities before it is too late.

From a young age, Ya’Acov was drawn to the spirit world of shamanism. He pursued this yearning throughout his adult life, studying and practising shamanism with many gifted teachers around the world. In this magical memoir, he tells the story of his 30-year initiation into the shaman’s world. The way he describes his often extraordinary experiences, far from making us feel like lesser mortals, invites and challenges us to look deeply into what matters most to us and to find the courage to live from this place.

His story describes a modern-day shamanic initiation in a world where our connections to the old ways have been cut but not destroyed. His searching and commitment are clearly the results of his love for life. His stories of meeting traditional shamans from the very north of Europe to the dense jungles of the Amazon made me both laugh and cry in recognition of the ways in which we all need to wake up from our walking blind in the dark.

He and his wife, Susannah, have dedicated their lives to protecting ‘the wild’ inside us and in nature and to rediscovering a modern-day shamanism that is relevant to the challenges of our times. Their Movement Medicine work is a contemporary shamanic practice that invites all of us to discover the ongoing and evolving mystery of who we are and to put that knowledge in the driving seat of our lives.

I believe that the most important work of our times is to dedicate our brilliant creativity as a species towards finding sustainable, socially just and spiritually fulfilling solutions to the challenges we now face. In this task, shamanism has an important gift to offer. Ya’Acov has deeply integrated what he has learned from his indigenous teachers and the work that he and his wife offer is a wonderful thread in the tapestry of brilliant responses I see growing on my travels around the world.

I feel it important to mention that Ya’Acov is highly respected amongst our indigenous partners in the Amazon, where he is accepted as a practising shaman. His book is vital for all of us who are ready to find the passion, dedication and courage to bring our visions to Earth and to leave a legacy for our descendants that we can be proud of.

Lynne Twist, co-founder of the Pachamama Alliance and author of The Soul of Money