Hank Wesselman

Research paleoanthropologist Hank Wesselman. PhD is one of those rare cutting edge scientists who truly walks between the worlds. He did his undergraduate work, as well as his Masters Degree, in Zoology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, then went on to receive his doctoral degree in Anthropology from the University of California at Berkeley.

A native New Yorker, he has spent much of his life living and working among traditional tribal peoples, primarily in Africa and Polynesia. He served in the US Peace Corps in the 1960’s, living among people of the Yoruba Tribe in Western Nigeria for two years. It was there that he first became interested in indigenous spiritual wisdom.

Since 1971, he has conducted research with an international group of scientists, exploring eastern Africa’s Great Rift Valley in search of answers to the mystery of human origins. He is one of the primary investigators involved in the discovery of the “Ardi” sites (Ardiptithecus ramidus) in Ethiopia–recently revealed to be the famous missing link between humans and apes that Charles Darwin predicted would be found in Africa. Hank’s research is involved with the paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the sites (4-6 million years old) at the time they were laid down.

Hank is also a shamanic student, practitioner and teacher, now in the 28th year of his apprenticeship.

In addition to his scientific papers and monographs, his books include his autobiographical trilogy: SPIRITWALKER: MESSAGES FROM THE FUTURE (Bantam, 1995), MEDICINEMAKER: MYSTIC ENCOUNTERS ON THE SHAMAN’S PATH (Bantam, 1998), and VISIONSEEKER: SHARED WISDOM FROM THE PLACE OF REFUGE (Hay House, 2001).

These unusual books are focused upon a series of altered state experiences that began spontaneously out in the bush of Africa and document his investigations into a hidden reality that most of us have heard about, but few have experienced directly. In his explorations of these inner worlds, Hank may have also provided us with a glimpse into the possible evolutionary future of humanity. Combining the sober objectivity of a trained scientist with a mystic’s passionate search for deeper understanding, his books also contain revelations of the generally secret teachings of the Hawaiian kahunas.

Hank has been a guest on Coast to Coast AM, Giam TV and The Shaman’s Well among a host of others, and has taught at the The Esalen Institute in Big Sur and the Omega Institute.  He invites you to visit his website http://sharedwisdom.com.

You can find Hank’s posts under the Blog Theme Modern Shamanism:

The Modern Shaman
The Re-emergence of the Shaman in Our Time
The Seven Laws of the great Spirit
The Modern Mystical Movement