Spirit Land The Peyote Diaries of Charles Langley: Against Witchcraft and Evil Ones

Spirit Land, The Peyote Diaries of Charles Langley, is a window into a world that most people in America know nothing about. With unfailing integrity and humility, Charles describes his journey alongside his mentor, the powerful North American Navajo Indian medicine man named Blue Horse. Reluctantly, still heavily influenced by his western upbringing and mindset, Charles is gradually drawn deeper into Navajo ancient culture and tradition as he travels around with Blue Horse, mostly inside the Navajo Indian reservation in the American Southwest. In this silent, empty land, surrounded by sand, red mountains, wide open stretches and as far as the eye can see, Charles describes his experience of Navajo traditional ways, where peyote visions, divination, healing rituals, and witchcraft is nothing less than everyday life occurrences. Blue Horse did not grow up with computers, telephones and satellites. But he still has what his ancestors gave him and he still knows how to find everything that he needs by listening to, and trusting, the earth and the sky, the water and fire. Reading Spirit Land, you can almost smell the sweet wild sage after the rain and feel the warm smoke on your skin from sacred fireplaces. You find yourself longing to go to that place up in the dry red mountains where the forgotten is remembered, where power is restored and where the impossible is possible because in the end, love is stronger than witchcraft, evil spells, oppression and poverty.

The lady who mistook this for a "How to be a Witch Doctor book" short changed herself. This is a truly stunning book and she should read it instead of flipping through looking for pictures. I've lived most of my adult life in the South West and while I knew there were strange things going on around here, I had no idea of their depth and intensity. The power of Navajo medicine men and the things they can do is astonishing. Charles Langley brings this world of real witchcraft, real magic and peyote medicine to life like no one I've ever read, because he is a part of it. This isn't fiction, it isn't made up, the writer is a real medicine man's apprentice and he knows what he is talking about. I'd recommend this book to anyone ... actually, correct that ... I'd recommend this book to everyone!

Looks interesting...have yet to finish.My early impression...the author goes into a peyote trance and feels he has wasted his life...that of a successful journalist, and now to atone should spend all his time with the Navajos...presumably ingesting more peyote??The author details how the Navajo medicine man works miraculous cures...Jacoby Ellsbury IS a Navajo, and he is always sick or hurt while making over 20 million a year ...over an 8 year contract...with the NY Yankees...what gives...??Has Jacoby abandoned his roots...for a mere 160 million plus??

This is a wonderful book. The stories are beautifully written. It is a gift that Charles Langley was able to “apprentice” with Blue Horse. We probably would not have been able to know what type of life a Navajo Shaman lives. The story ended too quickly without finding what Charles decision was. However there is so much beautiful material here for anyone wanting to understand the ways of a Navajo Medicine Man. I loved it.

I have been away from the reservation for many years. This is a good read that has connected me to "home"Interesting that a white man has been taken in as an apprentice.

A very different book to what I normally read. I enjoyed it very much. A small window into a culture I knew very little about. The honesty of the author was compelling, his doubts still there. I can understand how he felt. We all have these doubts of faith at times.

This is one man’s story of discovery. Mr. Langley traveled from his home in London to the American Southwest where he found himself drawn to the practices of the Navajo, in particular a Medicine Man known as Blue Horse. He immersed himself in the world – learning, receiving, giving, accepting, questioning and practicing. He came to love a society so removed from all he knew.Spirit Land is easy to read and utterly fascinating but it isn’t a historian’s or a researcher’s book. It’s one man’s story of his experiences. It really is, as the title indicates, diaries. His tellings of the lessons he learned as he studies with the famous medicine man. There was much for him to learn and much more still and that leads to the one big question – does Mr Langley stay or does he go? The book doesn’t give that answer it sets up for another book so be on the lookout for that – I’m sure it will be as interesting as this one.I received a free copy for my honest review

This a fascinating, enjoyable, and compelling read. It blends engaging insight into the culture, beliefs, and practices of the Navajo people, the author's personal story and life path, and his relationship with his shaman. Well worth a read.

Compelling insight into the ancient and mysterious rituals of Navajo medicine. All the more fascinating for being written by a complete outsider, armed with a healthy degree of scepticism.