"All art is magic" Picasso (Hughes 2/ Walsh I & II)

Hughes 2-

In reading Hughes's material I was astonished in "The power of nature and human power over nature...." (15). I enjoyed reading about the cave secrets and how these are portrayed by animals such as bears, rhinoceros, lions, owls, etc.. and how this art is transformed into the spirit world of animals and nature and transmitted through rituals and trance.

Generation before ours have allowed us to take part in such findings do to the vast cave paintings found all over the world. We all started in one place and have contributed along the way to what we have today..."modern technology". As I was reading over the material I thought, " If we had paintings left by those before us, telling of their ways, spiritual rituals and gods, What legacy ARE WE leaving behind? Most of our information an transformation is printed on books and new technology. But when these come to extinct what do we have to show for OUR TIME?

When I think of a Shaman I think of a spiritual healer, someone "who is of both worlds" (by that I mean someone who had the ability to speak to spirits and unnatural by means of dreams or ritual experience.) It is said that a shaman has suffered a near death experience and he then, in a dream is stripped of all his flesh and bones and comes back as a community priest, magician and healer.
Another interesting point I saw in the reading was that some kind of hallucinate plant or herb is almost always being used to transport to that other state of consciousness. One quote I really liked and think is true, " ...a divine daimon' resided in every human being, the irrefutable and inescapable witness who could intervene through a dream or a sign, or even appear personally to 'direct what is favourable towards us and to compensate what is evil'. " (31)
I would love to know what kind of daimon I have? (Gunnar I'm there with you)

Walsh I & II

The anthropologists who have studies shamanism have "braved" all from weather conditions to observe the native shamans at work. How exilirating it must be to be a part of these observations and contributions. I wonder, since almost every scholar form their opinions about what is shamanism, what has captured them in individualitc way when observing the native shamans.

Out of The Seven Central Practices:

1. Living ethically
2. Transforming emotions
3. Redirecting mtivation
4. Training attention
5. Refining awareness
6. Cultivating wisdom
7. Serving others.

Which one would you say you would have most difficulty achieving? and Why?