Another example of the truths I am trying to get at…

Even the most die hard materialists tend to acknowledge an experience of a person with “power”, whether that’s interpreted as just them simply being unusually charismatic or strangely disturbing or something else all together. Everyone can relate to this idea, no? The person seems to have uncommon insight into an “unseen” aspect of life.

Well, what if rather than fearing this, it was recognized, trusted and trained in an open and socially acknowledge format, and this influence used in a way to empower others to find this motivation and strength in themselves. Would that not serve a greater good?

Yes, find that strength in themselves. Their ashe, their medicine, their totem, or we can have an entirely new word for it, or a new understanding of the old ideas. But it was originally seen as the source of the tribe’s greatest strength. Not that the shaman had it, but that the shaman guided the tribe to find it for themselves. A great many of the medicine objects we have in museums today, that we sometimes still find, weren’t even made by a shaman or shamanka. They were made by those who would be “just folks” in today’s view. The artifacts known as medicine shields were made and carried by the same person. If we had this in today’s society, what would our communities look like?

Gentler, smoother, more integrated. More in touch with what it is experiencing as living feeling human beings?

I’d hope that would be the case.

Second Life? People can make their own stuff in Second Life though it’s becoming less and less common. It would be more common with socially acknowledged catalysts, and remain common. This is the origin of the soul retrieval practice. When someone in the tribe had lost motivation and inspiration, lost their spirit, a shaman was called upon. The shaman could often “get inside their head”, journey into the spirit world, and discover what had tripped the person up in the first place, and then devise some manner of “placebo” or ceremony to bring them back out of it. Do our psychotherapists succeed in this today?

I sure wish we had shamans in contemporary America. Most shrinks are drug dispensers.

They don’t seem to, but I don’t have first hand knowledge of therapists. I have first hand knowledge of therapists and “patience”, and those who tend to show the most actual success tend to adopt revamped versions of “new age” methods. It is pretty controversial.

Yes, and are also empathetic and compassionate. Ah yes, they are willing to risk their social standing for actual success in healing. The rest just seem to go through the motions.

Well, perhaps something like that will emerge in our modern world. Maybe even a new and improved form.

This reminds me of Fraser. I couldn’t imagine him helping anyone. Yes, I think that’s what makes him such a comedic figure, and he’s not a very unrealistic example either, just as the characters of Big Bang Theory are not unrealistic examples of scientists. They even employ a scientist to help them figure out the culture.

I disagree with that. They are lampooned scientists I give you that, but what way do you feel they are unrealistic?

I wouldn’t watch Big Bang Theory for the longest time because they are such blatant offensive stereotypes, but now I find it funny. Ah, comedy has to go there, otherwise it would be drama. But the character foibles, the social sidelining…

Some comedy is smarter than others, Community for example. Ah, indeed. I can say from experience that colleges and universities are rather strange places.

Yes, they use games like World of Warcraft and Second Life as a punch line, and misrepresent them for laughs. Yes. But if you are a lawyer say, like in Community, you can be taken much more seriously than if you are a scientist. The scientist has the social stamp of “other” which people find much more strange than the social stamp of “liar.”

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~