Welcome, Ven a gozar!

I was reading a blog entry today about Shamanism which frustrated me. The writer of the blog definitely has their own ideas, and their own agenda. (No surprise there, I suppose.) Shamanism is not a religion, it is probably best described as one way of interacting with the world. Shamanism or Shamanistic practices is found in every major religion that I know of. So what has me riled up about the bog entry? Let me start from the beginning.

I am googling around, and I come across this blog as I said. I do not wish to attack the blog entry, or its author, so let me move the subject to a different topic, say Christianity? Just kidding, how about a card game, say some version of the card game Rummy? That sounds pretty safe to use Rummy for an analogy.

Okay, now you have to pretend you know, and maybe you do, that there are many variations of the card game Rummy. One day, an anthropologist with a fascination for the game of Rummy, decided to write a book about Rummy. The would be author finds many variations of Rummy. If they were all covered, the book would become so fractured and disjointed that no matter how it was written it would not be easy for the reader to understand.

After giving it some thought, the wanna be author finds a solution to his problem. The wanna be author will write about those parts of Rummy that all Rummy variations share. What a brilliant idea! Once the book is written there will always be a written core form of Rummy that is present no matter how it is played. If a Rummy game does not contain some of the core parts of Rummy shared in all other Rummy games, it is not a variation of Rummy, period.

This is a very simple and elegant solution to a complex problem. This same process could be applied to major religions around the world, how businesses are managed, almost anything that has more than one way of being done. All these things could be distilled down to basic parts that are common in the many parts.

Sounds pretty good having a book containing the core of something no matter how it is done? I thought it is pretty effective and quite smart too. So what is the rub? The rub is the same as it is everywhere, power and control. The blog author has decided that a book on core generic practices of Shamanism can not possibly be correct. What is correct in the authors opinion is Shamanism should only be practiced the way the blog author thinks it should be.

The details of this practice are a work in development, but contains little to no core Shamanism practices. If a Shamanistic practice does not contain portions of core Shamanism, then it is something else masquerading as Shamanism.

Christianity is a lot like the card game Rummy in some respects. Just like Rummy, Christianity has so many variations that I do not know how many variations exist. Each of these variations of Christianity feel they are the real deal, and the rest are some sort of knock off. But they all share some or most of the many core ideas found in Christianity.

So, Christianity can not be Christianity if you leave certain essentials like Christ out of the picture. The argument stating - the Shamanism the blog author is developing is correct, and any previous form of Shamanism is wrong - is clouded thinking. Just like Christianity, you can not leave out the core aspects Shamanism, and call it Shamanism. I see this author’s thinking as no different than entering a theatre in the second act of a play, stopping the play, and telling the actors they have it all wrong.

Whatever a person chooses to think, or not think is a correct personal choice. Once that thinking extends to what one, or a group of people claim is correct, and everyone else is wrong, is definitely wrong. Stating that core shared practices that have been used for thousands of years are wrong, and only a still developing system not using Shamanistic technique is right, is a different matter completely, and wrong in any format. This applies to Shamanism, Christianity, or any other major religion.

Comments (1) Dec 18 2007