Shamanism

Week Two

These two readings seemed to go very well hand-in-hand; in fact, there was a lot of repetition of information from one book to the other. they both had unique valid points, though, and I would like to start by mentioning Hughes.
One of the most interesting things in Hughes discussion of shamanism was his comparison of the shaman with the modern-day artist (p 20). In most representation of shaman (or medicine men or witch doctors or sorcerers), whether it be in a book or a movie, there seems to be a consistent fear and respect displayed by onlookers. Shaman are seen as having special powers or unique abilities, and it seems to be commonplace for ordinary people to fear what they do not understand. As such, while one may in part be impressed by a shaman's talents or abilities, without proper insight to said abilities, it can easily be conjectured why this onlooker would fear the shaman's powers, especially if the presentation of such powers progressed too far beyond a common person's comprehension.
A modern-day artist can likewise be feared. For all intents and purpose, an artist is individual who has a unique way of viewing the world, different than most people or at the very least seeing it that way for the first time, and when his view is brought to the attention of others, it can be met with fear or even hostility. Sometimes the public is not ready to admit that the world can be seen like that; sometimes they flat-out disagree. I think the real correlation between shamans and artists is their way of viewing the world, though by different means and for different purposes.

Most of the first two sections of Walsh seemed to be concentrating on finding an appropriate definition or description of what is a shaman, which was useful to read prior to continuing with the Hughes. If one of the main purposes of a shaman is to seek cures or answers as a public service, then it brings to mind discussion from past class discussions, where we wondered if altered states of consciousness really can lead to actual answers, as they have been sometimes claimed to. If artists find inspiration in an altered states and musicians find song, is it so hard to believe that someone seeking a less artistic but still necessary answer would be able to find it in a similar state?
We view the world as we know it, the plane on which we exist, as the logical place to be, which is why it seems like an altered state would not be the place to seek a logical answer. Nine times out of ten when I'm looking for a solution, it is often the easiest answer I overlook that turns out to work the best. If an altered state of consciousness is the ability to diffuse the white noise and eliminate any unnecessary distractions, wouldn't it follow that the logical, simple, straightforward answer would be the one we discover?