Blog number four

Altered States, Chapter Four: Dreams and the Unconscious
It’s kind of interesting to think of dreams as relating to mental health. It could be true that dreaming promotes mental health and it’s definitely true that if it does, it’s in ways we don’t understand. Perhaps our dreams are things we think in our subconscious/unconscious. The impact dreams have is undeniable as well. Sometimes dreams are so vivid and realistic, the dream can be briefly confused with reality upon waking. Another important concept is how artists and authors utilized their dreams for inspiration. Dreams are powerful, and we definitely take the experience for granted for the most part.

Of course we have Sigmund Freud’s take on things… to rain on everyone’s parade with another dated and sexist theory. Oh joy, gotta love sexism in academia. I think he’s the one who is oppressed and has penis envy. Anyways, I don’t agree with his theory on dreams, and I also believe his opinions have no business in this matter, but at least he’s “creative” in his ideas.

The Crack in the Cosmic Egg, Chapter four:
I appreciate Pearce’s effort, but maybe his book would be better and more effective if written in affirmations as to keep ideas together and less spread out.
I like that he touches on the “Eureka!” moment that everyone experiences in his or her lifetime. It is true that there are no limits to the experience.

Overall, Pearce’s stuff is wordy dips from a lot of different psychologists and philosophers. It seems like his writing is a huge collaboration of other people’s ideas, with his own thrown in there as well, and through that he finds his defining “Eureka!” moments…

Part V: The Shaman’s Universe:
I know a lot of people are skeptical in this class about the abilities of the shaman, but really, what do we know? We only know what we’ve read and seen, and we’re already predisposed to think it’s a bunch of crap anyways thanks to western civilization. Maybe it takes a shaman to know a shaman.

I can see how it would be difficult to believe that for shamans the multilayered cosmos is a myth and article of faith. That only shamans cross these layers and turn cosmology into a road map which they use to acquire information and power.

Yeah, I can see how people find shamanism sketchy, which makes me think a few things:
Either A.) Everything we see and hear about shamanism is true and we’re skeptical because of our culture/ upbringing, B.) Everything we see and hear about shamanism is true but we are told to think it is not real, and it’s fake, so that a majority of people don’t seek out this form of enlightenment and remain ignorant to the truth therefore still controlled by society/government/whoever, or C.) It’s all a load of bull and we’re wasting our time.

We can know about shamanism and his or her way of contacting spirits and channeling them, but in a way, I think the only way to know is to experience these things first hand. I’m skeptical in the sense that, I want to see a shaman, in real life, access these spirits who act as a teacher first and foremost. I know the chances of me experiencing it is very slim considering it seems that there needs to be lots of practice involved.

Another thing I gathered from this reading is the basis the shaman puts on contacting spirits. Contacting spirits serves the shaman in four ways. To teach, assist with journeys, provide strengths and abilities, or possess the shaman as in mediumship.

So… we would never think of spirits to help us out with ANY of that stuff. With our westernized ways, we go to school to be taught, we have a travel agent, Mapquest, or GPS to assist us in our “journeys,” we generally consider our life experiences to provide our strength and abilities, and we don’t really ever consider “mediumship.” I think it’s interesting how painfully aware we are reminded that, hey, we have different values and cultural/societal norms while reading all these texts.