it strikes me that this is just a continuation of the notion in the 1960s
when various new forms of 'eastern spirituality' were the flavourof the
month, simply because it was exotic and new (then... and The Beatles helped
to popularise such things) and that (neo)shamanism of various types is
fulfilling that role now, as we discover more about it from research into
the tribal practices of various indigenous peoples, the increase of
cheap-easy world travel and simple import of artefacts etc * ... complete
with cultural appropriation-using the artefacts as fashion accessories, and
colonialism as a side-dish, quite often..... and for every decent book (like
the recent ones by Robert Wallis, Pinchbeck and Wade Davis) there are ten
howlers....
and (only half seriously) something I was sent a while ago (by someone who
was very into their shamanism) on email went a little like this:
When a Westerner says:
"I am a shaman" they mean "I have read almost all of a Leo Rutherford book"
"I am a Native American shaman" they mean "the feathers in my hair are not
from any common-or-garden bird, and I hated 'Dances With Wolves' "
"I am a tribal shaman" they mean "I take drugs from the rainforest that you
have probably never heard of, and I have read a lot of McKenna"
"I am a techno-shaman" they mean "I take a lot of LSD and draw fractals on
my computer"
"I am a Celtic shaman" they mean "I take psilocybin mushrooms, carry a staff
and wear an old army blanket fashioned into a poncho"
"I am a Norse shaman" they mean "I have a leather jerkin that I made myself,
and carry a pewter tankard replica of the Gundestrup Cauldron at all times"
: )
there is a similar piece of gentle mockery about Tantra, but I can't find it
right now.....
I wonder what will come along once shamanism is out of fashion?
dave e
(who's power animal is probably a slug or a sloth)
* re import of artefacts etc- in a town not too far from where I live it is
apparently quite simple to buy Ayahuasca, which is a rainforest shamanic
drug that is some thousands of miles from home.....
----- Original Message -----
From: "kaligrafr" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, August 17, 2006 3:39 PM
Subject: Re: [ACADEMIC-STUDY-MAGIC] Definitions of Magic
> Aloha,
>
> Perhaps another way to look at this comment about magicians
> vs. shamans might lead to some useful notions.
>
> How did shamans/shamanism come by this aura of almost
> unquestioned authenticity among Neo-Pagans, while Western
> occulture is seen as shoddy, moth-eaten goods?
>
> The only thing that I can think of right now has to do with
> a sort of stepping back--with some distaste, possibly--from the
> felt excesses of New Ageism and the rapid growth and popularization
> of Western occulture. Shamans may appear to be more directly
> connected to non-Western sources of Earthy wisdom, which
> are more highly valued than Western ones.
>
> Musing If I Was A Shaman, Then I'd Know How To Finish My Filk! Rose,
>
> Pitch
> who has travelled on the Entheogen Express once or twice
>
>
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