Very interesting...I had no idea you could find similiarities between jolly old St. Nick and a fungus. But yet, you can! Amazing! I found it interesting that the author admits to coming up with this theory during a "state of heightened awareness"(possibly the mushroom itself?) The connection between the appearence: portly, bright, and jolly looking. Also red and white with black (the soot or dirt). The naming of the reindeer was neat. Donder and Blitzen, thunder and lightening. The ancient belief that mushrooms appeared where lightening struck the earth. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer...names used to describe the feeling a Shaman has when in flight. Comet, a celestial body...taking flight, leaving ones body. Cupid, due to the fact that the mushroom awakens feelings of love. Vixen..fox lady...a witch...pretty cool stuff. The description by the Koryak shaman of use of the fly agaric is crazy.The agric tells him what to do. Sometimes it is pleasant, others it is not. I never saw bears involved with christmas...maybe i missed that.
Also, the closeness in names between Satan and Santa. The reading says their could be a an alter ego. Old nick being the dark side and Saint Nick, being the bright side.
Hughes, chap 12
Drugs, drugs, and more drugs. It was cool how each of the major drug category is defined and examples are given. I like the quote on page 161"For many creative artists, however, art is a passion that cannot be replaced by drugs, although it can be extinguished by addiction." OMG...so true! Have you seen any episodes of Intervention? We all know drugs, at one time, had thier positives. At first opium users feel invulnerabile and pleasure and euphoria...with extended use, you can have malnutrition, low blood pressure, and respitory complications. I think it's neat to show that most of the dead white guys we study in litterature and english class were on drugs at some time or another. Coleridge who we read about (Kubla Khan(he wrote while ON opium), and Rime of the Ancient Mariner(BEFORE opium)...I've read both and they're pretty intense.) These works show that Coleridge had a constant feeling of dread and maybe depression throughout his life. Edgar Allen Poe, another huge player was a user of opium. But it's safe to say this guy had issues beyond drugs. Picasso..again..a major part...could have even used opium. It's crazy to believe how many big names have touched this stuff.
Hashishins or assassins..this is an interesting connection. The idea that Hashish/Cannibis causes the user to hear colors and see sounds is unique. Louis Armstrong a forerunner in jazz was a regular user. However, with each drug, there is a downside. On page 167, Baudelaire gives a description of the drug "it is the willpower that is attacked..and that is the most precious organ. No man with a spoonful of conserve is able to procure instantly all the treasures of heaven and earth will bother to acquire the thousandth part of it by means of work. The primary task is to live and work." Hashish is an enemy of the will...an enemy of the artist.
Heroin seems to be the worst of all. Who would want to do this? If it reduces your anxiety, thats great, but not if it takes over your life. Eventually the addict doesn't know how to express thier feelings, so they keep festering up. This does not sound like fun to me...seriously.
LSD..for those who want to alter and intensify their perceptual expierence. Some have even called an acid trip a "peak expierence". Maslow, the psychologist said it is like recharging ones psychic battery. It was cool to know that the creator of LSD only got in in his system at first by accident(page 173).
Walsh, IV
I thought it was interesting that hypnosis was long considered a sham. To be honest...sometimes, i wonder if it could be. I guess it would be different if I tried it though. Part of me wants to think the guy who was under hypnosis during leg surgery...i mean anything is possible....but from a medical stand point...would'nt he have simply gone into shock?
The anthropologist Roberte Hamayon who criticizes Shamanism has some good points. but the book does a great job of counterarguing.
I like the statement on page 181, "Every method sets unavoidable limits on knowledge because every perspective both reveals and conceals." This applies to almost everything in education..not just shamanism.
So..besides drug use, I was wondering the other ways to induce consciousness. There are three stages to induction, according to Walsh: destabilization of the initial ordinary state, transition to a new state, and stabilization of the new state.
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