Walsh, Hughes, and Pearce.

Walsh went off talking about what types of altered states occur in shamanism. Control, ability to enter and leave ASC, altered states of conscience, at will, the ability to control the content of experience, awareness of environment, ability to communicate, concentration, mental energy/arousal, calm, emotion, identity or self-sense, out of body experience, and nature of experience, are all examples of a map of shamanic journey states. The chapter demonstrates, simply if a person looks at the shamanic charts, that their really is no definition for shamanism. It’s something that Walsh couldn’t fully define. He has thoughts and uses the word “may” a lot. Walsh eventually leads you to the topic of evolutionary change and how it “may” affect shamanism. Everything in the world evolves due to change, including the practice of shamanism. It’s inescapable, unless you plan on going to live on a deserted island by yourself. The evolving world will change how things are conducted, and if something isn’t working out anymore, the world has a way of making it obsolete. What I don’t understand by Hughes, on the first page of this chapter, is how he defines consciousness. He acts as if it was a term just developed. “Consciousness is now seen more as the operation of certain areas of the brain,” according to Hughes. Where did he see this? I didn’t really understand where he was coming from discussing consciousness, and then going off unto different forms of art. He showed some weird paintings that are not looked at as great works of art in current society. People like Monet, not Francis Bacon. His picture is not a recognizable art so the examples didn’t coincide well with the text. That painting didn’t create an emotional response to the viewer. More or less, it causes viewers to grow puzzled over what they are looking at. It almost looks like three deformed birds with teeth yet he calls it Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion. Pearce used examples of magic, and talked about hallucinogens. Drugs mostly induced the hallucinogens in his stories. I guess it all depends on what a person believes, again. I am very direct with my faith and beliefs. I’m a very strong practicing Catholic, so when it comes to talking about shamanism, I don’t have the same response like many classmates. I don’t believe in shamanism. I believe in certain similar traits that shamanism has with certain religions and faith, and reaching powerful altered states, but how they are achieved is controversial. It all depends on a person’s beliefs. If my intentions are different from another’s, of course there are going to be different outcomes.