Or, maybe both? Bizarre behavior reinforces itself--is both the cause and
the effect of freedom (One is free so one acts bizarre/one acts bizarre so
one attains freedom). Relatively speaking, the shamanic perspective
*could* also be superior to those of the subcultures (and therefore only
bizarre from their perspective).
I work from the premise that freedom and not control leads to "correct"
thinking (that the true shaman is superior and misunderstood--though not
from a lack of effort). There may also be the "corral" shaman and the
"king" shaman--the one who appears to be bizarre and the one who actually
is...each trading off of the influence of the other!
Brett
At 09:55 AM 8/11/97 -0700, you wrote:
On Sun, 10 Aug 1997, Brett Lane Robertson wrote:
>> The shaman exchanges one coin for another (ie. raw material for
>> influence)--this is not an easy task: Why use would a farmer have of
>> influence...How would this--directly--produce more crops?
>[snip]
>> S/he (the Shaman) is involved with freedom, specialization, children,
>> language, art, imagination, standards, and recreation.
>[snip]
>> Complete freedom from rules *may* result in bizarre behavior from the
>> perspective of any or all of the subcultures. It is this bizarre
>> behavior which insures that the shaman does not get caught up in the
>> individual perspectives embodied by each subculture; thus, s/he can
>> remain free from their control.
>I excerpted these parts because they seem to get to the heart of the
>matter (the first part of the post... well, if it got you to this point,
>that's good enough).
>The only part I'd change is in the last section. "Bizarre behavior" is
>not a result of his compete freedom, but rather a necessary tool the
>Shaman uses for attaining that freedom from the society he works for (Yes,
>Wade, *works* It's no free lunch!). They must stand outside the culture
>in order to create solutions that are not available within the limits of
>the culture. Hence they must be seemingly "freaky", "bizarre", or
>"frightening" even to their own society.
>A much easier task in West actually, where the scientific model and the
>culture that surrounds it makes even the slightest irrationality seem "way
>out there". (Of course, under the rule of Science the penalties for
>being "out there" are much stiffer, as well.)
>-Prof. Tim
Returning,
rBERTS%n
Rabble Sonnet Retort
Dentist, n.:
A Prestidigitator who, putting metal in one's mouth, pulls
coins out of one's pockets.
Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"