http://anthropik.com se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenki Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:14:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 http://anthropik.com/vault/#comment-39850 The Shaman’s Vision | Outlaw News Fri, 22 Dec 2006 23:27:25 +0000 http://anthropik.com/vault/#comment-39850 [...] Keeping in mind that “the shaman” is a kind of Aristotlean ideal that any member of the tribe may approach, let’s take a moment to consider the elements of that ideal. In “Shamanism as Neurotheology and Evolutionary Psychology,” [PDF] (featured in the Vault) Michael Winkelman uses Mircea Eliade’s classic, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. There are serious flaws in Eliade’s work (see Daniel C. Noel’s The Soul of Shamanism: Western Fantasies, Imaginal Realities), but so long as we remember to use these not as necessary criteria, but as a rubric of the “ideal” shaman, they remain useful. The significance of shamanism for the study of religion was established through the cross-cultural synthesis provided by Eliade (1951/1964) in Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Eliade characterized the core of shamanism as involving (a) “techniques of ecstasyâ€? (altered states of consciousness) and (b) interaction with the spirit world (c) on behalf of the community. Other universals ascribed to shamans include being found in hunting and gathering societies, selection for the position through an illness or calling of the spirits, a vision quest, a death or rebirth experience, the capacity to fly, the ability to transform oneself into an animal, the use of spirits as assistants, and the potential to be a sorcerer with negative powers. Central to shamanic ecstasy is the soul journey or flight, where the shaman’s soul or spirit departs the body and travels to other places. Soul journey was also used for contacting spiritual forces, determining distant conditions or the fate of separated family members, finding lost objects, and escorting souls to the land of the dead. Shaman’s ASCs were also manifested in the vision quest or transformation into animals. [...] […] Keeping in mind that “the shaman” is a kind of Aristotlean ideal that any member of the tribe may approach, let’s take a moment to consider the elements of that ideal. In “Shamanism as Neurotheology and Evolutionary Psychology,” [PDF] (featured in the Vault) Michael Winkelman uses Mircea Eliade’s classic, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. There are serious flaws in Eliade’s work (see Daniel C. Noel’s The Soul of Shamanism: Western Fantasies, Imaginal Realities), but so long as we remember to use these not as necessary criteria, but as a rubric of the “ideal” shaman, they remain useful. The significance of shamanism for the study of religion was established through the cross-cultural synthesis provided by Eliade (1951/1964) in Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy. Eliade characterized the core of shamanism as involving (a) “techniques of ecstasyâ€? (altered states of consciousness) and (b) interaction with the spirit world (c) on behalf of the community. Other universals ascribed to shamans include being found in hunting and gathering societies, selection for the position through an illness or calling of the spirits, a vision quest, a death or rebirth experience, the capacity to fly, the ability to transform oneself into an animal, the use of spirits as assistants, and the potential to be a sorcerer with negative powers. Central to shamanic ecstasy is the soul journey or flight, where the shaman’s soul or spirit departs the body and travels to other places. Soul journey was also used for contacting spiritual forces, determining distant conditions or the fate of separated family members, finding lost objects, and escorting souls to the land of the dead. Shaman’s ASCs were also manifested in the vision quest or transformation into animals. […]

]]> http://anthropik.com/vault/#comment-29515 Wolves & Dogs (The Anthropik Network) Mon, 13 Nov 2006 20:19:55 +0000 http://anthropik.com/vault/#comment-29515 [...] Wolfgang M. Schleidt and Michael D. Shalter make an excellent case in "Co-evolution of Humans and Canids: An Alternative View of Dog Domestication," originally published in Evolution and Cognition (2003, Vol. 9, No. 1; PDF available through the Vault). They recognize the importance of cooperation and commuity in human evolution, but also note that this is fairly unique among primates (not entirely unique, of course—bonobos in captivity have somewhat similar practices3—but the kind of violent hierarchies found among the common chimpanzee are more the rule through the Order Primates). The closest parallel to human behavior is not found in primates, but among wolves. The closest approximation to human morality we can find in nature is that of the gray wolf, Canis lupus. This is especially odd in view of the bad reputation wolves have in our folklore, as expressed in the famous phrase, Homo Homini Lupus. In Thomas Hobbes' own words: "To speak impartially, both sayings are very true; That Man to Man is a kind of God; and that Man to Man is an arrant Wolfe." Since Hobbes' time, however, our understanding of wolves has changed considerably, even though for a rancher who leaves his livestock unsupervised and unprotected by a good shepherd, an "arrant Wolfe" is to this day a formidable threat. Wolves' ability to cooperate in a variety of situations, not only in well coordinated drives in the context of attacking prey, carrying items too heavy for any one individual, provisioning not only their own young but also other pack members, baby sitting, etc., is rivaled only by that of human societies. In addition, similar forms of cooperation are observed in two other closely related canids, the African Cape hunting dog and the Asian dhole. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that canid sociality and cooperativeness are old traits in terms of evolution, predating human sociality and cooperativeness by millions of years. Thus, we can give a new and very different meaning to Homo Homini Lupus: "Man to Man is—or at least should be—a kind Wolfe." [...] […] Wolfgang M. Schleidt and Michael D. Shalter make an excellent case in “Co-evolution of Humans and Canids: An Alternative View of Dog Domestication,” originally published in Evolution and Cognition (2003, Vol. 9, No. 1; PDF available through the Vault). They recognize the importance of cooperation and commuity in human evolution, but also note that this is fairly unique among primates (not entirely unique, of course—bonobos in captivity have somewhat similar practices3—but the kind of violent hierarchies found among the common chimpanzee are more the rule through the Order Primates). The closest parallel to human behavior is not found in primates, but among wolves. The closest approximation to human morality we can find in nature is that of the gray wolf, Canis lupus. This is especially odd in view of the bad reputation wolves have in our folklore, as expressed in the famous phrase, Homo Homini Lupus. In Thomas Hobbes’ own words: “To speak impartially, both sayings are very true; That Man to Man is a kind of God; and that Man to Man is an arrant Wolfe.” Since Hobbes’ time, however, our understanding of wolves has changed considerably, even though for a rancher who leaves his livestock unsupervised and unprotected by a good shepherd, an “arrant Wolfe” is to this day a formidable threat. Wolves’ ability to cooperate in a variety of situations, not only in well coordinated drives in the context of attacking prey, carrying items too heavy for any one individual, provisioning not only their own young but also other pack members, baby sitting, etc., is rivaled only by that of human societies. In addition, similar forms of cooperation are observed in two other closely related canids, the African Cape hunting dog and the Asian dhole. Therefore it is reasonable to assume that canid sociality and cooperativeness are old traits in terms of evolution, predating human sociality and cooperativeness by millions of years. Thus, we can give a new and very different meaning to Homo Homini Lupus: “Man to Man is—or at least should be—a kind Wolfe.” […]

]]> http://anthropik.com/vault/#comment-17165 Episode #6: “Catabolic Collapse” (The Anthropik Podcast) Fri, 21 Jul 2006 18:01:23 +0000 http://anthropik.com/vault/#comment-17165 [...] “How Civilizations Fall: A Theory of Catabolic Collapse.”, PDF in the Vault [...] […] “How Civilizations Fall: A Theory of Catabolic Collapse.”, PDF in the Vault […]

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