Interesting model of shamanism. I had never thought of it in quite that
way. It's very concrete and has caused me to re-adjust my view on what a
shaman is.
I had never thought of it as a class thing before. (Although certain
shamans are undeniably part of a class-- Voodoo Doctors and Catholic
Bishops are two examples)
I always viewed Shamanism as a function. A special person brings
knowledge from some "other" place in order to calm or re-inforce or
subvert the society to which s/he belongs. (And I use the term "belong"
loosely. Shamans rarely belong to a society, they are owned *by* the
society.) They are the storytellers/fools of the society.
Your model is very interesting and causes me to wonder what is wealth. I
look at a shaman that, for example, would interpret a dream for me and
wonder if I do the same thing when I consult a psyciatrist. The
weatherman is my shaman. What about other shamanistic figures? St. John
the Baptist living like a wildman in the desert on the fringes of a big
fat empire.... what do we make of him. What's his wealth? He's
untainted by the Romans, purer than the average suburban Israelite, he
is a lawless creature of passion...... I guess he's a rock star.
I guess there's money in it after all.
-- Regards +------------------------------------------------------------------+ Ken Pantheists http://www.lurchinvault.com/ken Lurch In Vault Web Services http://www.lurchinvault.com +------------------------------------------------------------------+