The Shamanic Healer: The Healing World of Ikuko Osumi and the Traditional Art of Seiki-Jutsu

Although traditional medicine is still widely practiced in Japan, some forms of it are extremely rare. One of these is Seiki-jutsu, an ancient form of healing based on focusing and transmitting 'vital life force from healer to patient. One of the few remaining practitioners of this pre-Buddhist art is an extraordinary shamanic healer named Ikuko Osumi.

Malcolm Ritchie is Ikuko Osumi's 'deshi,' or apprentice, and the first Westerner to be initiated in the art of Seki-jutsu. He recounts Osumi's life story from her earliest years as a sensitive, psychic child to her development as a healer. Included are case histories of her work and chapters on the basic method, philosophy, and ritual of Seiki-jutsu.

The second part of 'The Shamanic Healer' is a personal narrative of Ritchie's own experiences of Seiki power and the dramatic story of his initiation and training as Osumi's apprentice. His account recalls the tremendous personal transformation that was necessary for him to develop as a practitioner of Seiki-jutsu.