Where the Spirits Ride the Wind: Trance Journeys and Other Ecstatic Experiences Book

Fascinating experiential "studies" of the postures of ancient statues of a variety of cultures across the globe and the altered shamanistic states of consciousness that they engendered. Felicitas Goodman was a brave and daring researcher in an area untouched by most. Her institute is still alive and well in New Mexico, The Cuyamungue Institute
and it's activities are compelling.

Here from the book:

Agriculture ushered in the unbounded exploitation of our earth. As a result, the "tribal" societies, the living treasures of humankind, who should be protected and cherished because they still possess an easy access to the spiritual homeland, are vanishing at an accelerated rate. Their habitats are being destroyed and taken over by developers and exploiters, the vultures of the modern age. Retribution was swift and merciless: the development threatens everything, the earth, the sky, the waters, the plants and the animals, our very existence. As the Navajo creation myth warns, if things are no longer sacred, the monsters will arise and devour the people.