Text 8020, 109 rader
Skriven 2006-09-10 23:11:00 av Robert E Starr JR (8517.babylon5)
Ärende: Re: OT: B5 actor sighting
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* * * This message was from Amy Guskin to rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.m * * *
         * * * and has been forwarded to you by Lord Time * * *         
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@REPLY:
<0001HW.C127604203F0EB82F0407530@news.verizon.net><0001HW.C127669E03F26935F0407530@news.verizon.net><kurtullman-013B7C.1

>> On Sat, 9 Sep 2006 13:06:13 -0400, kruegerb76@hotmail.com wrote
(in article <1157821573.631936.32350@h48g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>):

> 
> Amy Guskin wrote:
>> It actually did go away then, thanks.  I teach shamanic journeying once a
>> month -- we have an advanced class, a beginner's lesson, then we do a group
>> drumming and journey.  Invariably, I feel better after class than before,
>> which is a good thing.
> 
> Sometimes a headache will go away when I'm lecturing, too.  That's why
> I guessed.  :)
> 
> I went to hear a Shaman speak once.  She was quite an impressive woman,
> up in Tucson, Arizona.  It was while I was "looking around" after
> rejecting Catholicism.
> 
> I also remember her house had one of the coolest collections of statues
> and things that I'd ever seen.  But I think most of all I noticed her
> collection of books.  Since this was a one-time gathering, she handed
> out reading lists for us to take with us, should we care to do some
> more searching on our own.
> 
> What, exactly, makes a person's spiritual journey a "shamanistic" one?<<

Well, that's apples and oranges.  Just to be clear, "shamanic journey" is not 
an alternate term for "spiritual journey" in the sense of generically 
"seeking."  The shamanic journey, which is the main tool of the shaman, is a 
very specific technique whereby you send your spirit body (as opposed to your 
physical and mental bodies) out into what we refer to as the "non-ordinary 
reality," there to exchange energy in some way with spirit guides/allies.  An 
energy exchange can be a discussion, a grant of information (e.g. finding 
lost keys, which I've actually done for people!), a healing, a gift of some 
sort, a soul retrieval, an extraction or depossession, etc. etc.  The journey 
itself is effected in different ways, but the usual methods are by aural 
driver (usually drumming, or a drone of some kind), or by entheogen 
(mushrooms or other plants or drugs).  Personally, I'm a drug-free shaman, 
but I know some people who use them and it seems to be equally effective.

Shamanism seems to be gaining huge ground in the psych world these days.  You 
can't swing a dead cat in a shamanism workshop without hitting a therapist or 
a psychologist.  But I've been in workshops with people of amazingly 
different backgrounds, from people who work in the domestic violence field, 
to people who do psychiatric counseling in prisons, to artists who put their 
journey results into paintings, to chemical engineers who feel out of touch 
with the spirit of 'the Mother,' to programmers, to the usual "weekend 
warriors" you see in every workshop, etc. etc.

The great thing about shamanism is that you don't have to believe it to do it 
and benefit from it.  A lot of people who do it look at it in the same way 
dream interpretation is commonly viewed.  They regard the work in a more 
dryly psychological sense: so that, when people tell about their journeys, 
they believe they're speaking in metaphors that can be easily interpreted 
with a little bit of probing into the person's situation.  And truly, at 
least half of our circle is spent with people sharing their journeys, and 
trying to gain insight into the imagery with the help of me, my husband (who 
teaches with me), and the others in the circle.  It's often very humbling to 
see how profoundly lives are affected by this work.

And, the other great thing that really drew me to shamanism over other 
disciplines is that it is very _assertive_.  Mind, I'm not dissing reiki or 
other things that people do to bring healing energy to their circles and 
communities...but shamanic work is for people who don't want to lay there 
like a lump and be taken care of.  It's for people who want to actively get 
out there and deal with their lives and the stuff of their environment.  As a 
practice, it's great for everyone*; but it's not for someone who isn't ready 
to take charge and fix, change, or discard what needs to be fixed, changed, 
or discarded.  (*However, as a _practitioner_, it's not for the timid.  It's 
often very demanding and weird work.)

Truly, it's a great path (for me), and I haven't looked back _once_ since I 
started doing this in the early 90s.

I've gotten some flak from wiccan friends, who say, "But shamanism is a 
_tool_; it isn't a religion or a faith."  To them, I say I'll have to 
disagree.  Shamanism is most decidedly a spiritual path, but it's not for you 
if what you want is an authority figure (a priest of priestess), a structured 
course of study and promotion ("degrees"), and a community (like a coven).  
There's a _reason_ you only read about single shamans (sometimes with a 
single apprentice) in indigenous communities when you read anthropological 
studies of shamans (and I can recommend some great ones!).  These are people 
who do not tend to get along well with others, often because they are very 
dramatic, charismatic people who don't like to share the spotlight.  For 
whatever reason, those are the kinds of people likely to get the calling -- 
because as I said above, it ain't for the timid!  Anyway, for that reason, 
it's a very solitary path.  The most 'together' shamanic group I've ever 
worked with is about 25 people I went to Scotland with in 1997, and we've 
continued to work together on projects ever since...but from a distance.  We 
live all over the world, and stay in touch by e-mail.  But I'm sure if we 
ever tried to live together in a community someplace, it would just be a big 
ol' bloodbath.  :-)

Anyway, sorry to go on for so long -- you got me in a particular expressive 
mood, plus, I've been doing a lot of scholarly-type work on shamanism for the 
past week, finishing up a book I've been writing for the last skatey-eight 
years or so....

Amy
                                 
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