Ho, Ho, Ho – Who knew?

It feels as though the sleigh has been pulled out from beneath me! Santa Claus, Jolly Old Saint Nick, Father Christmas they are all mysteriously linked to Satan and Amanita muscaria a psychedelic mushroom? Please say it isn’t so… Next someone will tell me that the tooth fairy isn’t legitimate!!

Let me start by saying that I wasn’t making the connection between Santa’s benevolence and widespread religious and political oppression. . . Yes, I know we talked about Consensus Reality and Suspension of Disbelief during class on September 18, but the information in “Santa” article causes me to dig my heels deeper into the filed of logic!

I’m sorry, I think, but I cannot suspend my beliefs and even consider that “The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross posited that Jesus was actually a metaphor for the flying agaric and the powers it bestowed upon the initiate.”

Albeit this article may have facts regarding mushrooms, Shamans connection to bears, and the semi-nomadic communities’ relationship with reindeer; I submit that the masses of society are not willing to accept the postulations of James Bursenos. I realize that he is looking at patterns and applying them to Christmas and the jolly- faced mushrooms he enjoys. However, society’s suspension of disbelief to think that “the true origin of Christmas and his flying reindeer” are connected to hallucinogenic mushrooms is off the wall! I will close this section by quoting my Pap “That’s hog wash!”

I get high with a little help from my friends. . .
(Hughes)

Hughes makes reference to various “famous” drug users who were seeking a new creative break though in their work. The mystical adventures described in the text may seem enchanting because of the names associated with drugs. I realize that the text does not cover, to any degree, addiction, but I think it is worth a mention. When you consider the thousands of individuals who are looking for something to release their mind from the normal constrains of life and end-up disillusioned.

Rat-ah-tat-tat on the drum…
(Walsh)

I don’t claim to recall every word I have read in this course, sorry Dr. Kearney… But to my recollection, very few of the texts explore how it is determined whether a practitioner is actually in an altered state, let alone which state they are in? (Hamayon) For an “altered state novice” like me, the concept of altering ones’ state is difficult to comprehend. Maybe I am getting off track because much of what we read is so unusual and out of my ‘normal’. . . The psychedelic experiences we have seen and heard are wild. I have no point of reference or understanding of people seeing gem colored alligators while smoking weed in a tent…

Each of us has a talent (S). Our talents are refined with practice. I wonder if individuals who force altered experiences upon themselves by the use of drugs or other mind altering substances are receiving a genuine mystical experience. This seemed a bit more logical to me when Walsh discussed independence. Independence implies that the Shaman may need less external stimulation fewer drugs to induce an altered state.

I really enjoyed Chapter 25 because it helped to have contemporary examples (pg 192). This chapter also, concluded with an idea that I have been pondering; the use of drugs can unequivocally produce mystical experiences – in some people, on some occasions.