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Littlestone L
Littlestone Mar 10, 2006 17:16:55
Replying to PeterH

>So we invent religions with creation myths and super beings to tell us what we should do.<

Could it not be, however, that tapping into deeper levels of consciousness (through song, dance, prayer, meditation, chemical agents etc) we are transcending our rather restricted view of the world and in a way <i>are</i> in communion with super beings - not the super being without but the super being within :-)

T tiompan
tiompan Mar 10, 2006 17:29:11
Replying to Littlestone

"Could it not be, however, that tapping into deeper levels of consciousness (through song, dance, prayer, meditation, chemical agents etc) we are transcending our rather restricted view of the world and in a way are in communion with super beings - not the super being without but the super being within :-) "

That sums up the role of the shaman , get out of it then tell the punters what it's all about , they accept it without bothering to try it for themselves , perhaps through fear, or ignorance of the technique or agents used . Sometimes it is a communal affair , and nearly always it's the blokes.

P PeterH
PeterH Mar 10, 2006 18:24:33
Replying to Littlestone

Now that is where we can agree. I may be wrong, but I think I read somewhere that shaman type beliefs and so-called "primitive" religions, like those of the remaining hunter/gatherers such as the San Bushmen and Amazonians, do not have deities as such... They have spirits and totem animals who are aids to healing and wisdom, but not all powerful gods.
Now that is something I can understand and wonder if that kind of belief system was once shared by our hunter ancestors. I suspect that things began to change with the adoption of a more settled lifestyle and observance of the agricultural cycle. The whole thing went to pot with the emergence of priestcraft and civilisation. Then we get dogma, dependence on divinity, sacrifice, pampered priests, control, reward and punishment....plus temple circles and extravagant monuments to the dead.