>> >I guess a shaman would probably deny the mind/matter
>> >dichotomy.
>> For that matter, don't most shamans seny the self/universe dichotomy?
>I don't know about that, but most mystics probably would.
>Robin
List,
A Shaman is a mystic/magus. So, yes, the shaman must *also* deny the
self/universe dichotomy--like the mystic does. Though the magus maintains
the self/universe dichotomy as does the mystic maintain the mind/matter
dichotomy. (But in the words of a magus--me--there is no dichotomy between
self/universe, mind/matter...there is a progression or hierarchy. Mind is
superior to matter and self is superior to group--for the simple reason that
it is quicker for the individual to think something than it is for the group
to build it.) A "professional Shaman" (a term I've been trying to come to
grips with...so bare with me...like "professional sham") is a magus who
orders mystical experience (or a mystic who destroys order--otherwise known
as a chaos magician...a contradiction in terms).
So, finally I think I agree with Wade, that in a professionalistic world
view there is no room for a Shaman (though technology, magic, mysticism,
and spirituality--in the negative sense that they are often used--keeps
him/her in business).
Brett
Returning,
rBERTS%n
Rabble Sonnet Retort
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy - and Jill a
wealthy widow.
E. Esar