Complexities and Singularity of Belief

[kokopelle]

My blog "To Be the Plastic Shaman or a Fluffy Pagan" finally hit the nonfluffypagans community. Their messages are moderator reviewed, and it took few days to get the post approved.

There are a few comments so far. One, by urthlvr, lists some other websites that touch on the topic of the plastic shaman:

http://www.legendarysurfers.com/naw/blog/2004/10/plastic-shamans.html

This is a GOOD article that clearly connects the challenges of commercialism and cultural "borrowing".

and then finally Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_shaman

Check out the talk page on this Wikipedia entry. The range of dialog shows the complexity of the topic.


My original blog sought to understand the commonalities of dynamics in the definition, and use, of the words 'plastic shaman' and 'fluffy bunny'. One of these words belongs to the shamanic world and the other belongs to the neopagan world. I am interested in both, as I do walk in both worlds. I was also interested in the dynamics of these because I believe they speak to the challenges we humans have in dealing with the Spiritual.

In my mind, the commonality between the plastic bunny and the fluffy bunny is that of cultural borrowing, maintaining the integrity of tradition, the lack of integrity by interlopers, commercialism, and 'mystery school' guardianship. These combine in a many-headed dynamic. It is to this 'dynamic' that my thoughts will continue.

I have two thoughts I would like to put out today.

The first is that the neopagan 'fluffy bunny' discussion is a toddler compared to the age and scope of the 'plastic shaman' discussion. The more I learn, the more I am aware of the complexities of the plastic shaman controversy. I cannot shy away from it. I have already met this force. I am sure I will meet it again. As a believer in experience and knowledge equaling wisdom, I am called to increase my wisdom on the topic. While the fluffy bunny discussion introduced the underlying dynamics, the plastic shaman controversy is vast in showing this dynamic.

The second thought is one that I had is affirmed by the excellent book, "The Spiritual Legacy of the American Indian" by Joseph Epes Brown. I will speak more of this book in other blogs. For now, I will only say that Joseph's text affirms that the life of the Native American (NA) is a living combination of the sacred and the profane, of the divine and the secular. In the NA life there is no separation between these two. According to Joseph, 'religion' is not a concept embraced by the NA because to do so would be to create a dualism between the divine and secular. I now have a better understanding for why the NA community, or at least segments of it, react as they do. To borrow or use any part of their culture is to also borrow or use their sacred life.

This singularity of divine/secular is starting to be echoed in the neopagan world. This is not a bad thing. It is a thing that challenges all to be guardians, and to this task, learn the wisdom inherent in the calling.

Comments

[valkyriur.livejournal.com]

You've been snarked. :/ Just figured I'd let you know. But, you know, it's just because they don't agree with you.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

Where was I snarked?

[valkyriur.livejournal.com]

"dot_pagan_snark" I like your icon! *giggles* No need to take off and defend yourself; it won't help anyway. I think your doing a great job explaining your position on the nonfluffy community, as far as I can see.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

The icon was in jest. My presence in dot_pagan_snark will increase my (in)fame(y). I am reminded of the scene from "The Jerk" where Navin's name is in the new phone book, and he celebrates stating, "things are going to start happening to me now." Sure enough, a gun-wielding lunatic (played by M. Emmet Walsh) randomly flips through the phone book and picks Navin R. Johnson as his next victim. The joy of being known!

Those who have something to REALLY say will do so on the original LJ community. Yep...

[valkyriur.livejournal.com]

Those who have something to REALLY say will do so on the original LJ community.

Pretty much. :D

[greensh.livejournal.com]

I got access to dot_pagan_snark and saw the comments that had been left. The sentence that kicked off the snark was "Calling a person a plastic shaman or a fluffy pagan is not wrong. It is also OK to be called such by others. The true measure for both is having integrity in each case". This is a contrary statement for those who are invested in the concept that fluffies have no integrity. So be it. I've since restated my beliefs about fluffy integrity in my own blog and on nonfluffypagans. At this point I can only agree to disagree with people who hold the "fluffies have no integrity" mindset.

I was also called out on having a very long article. Yes it was. There were three or four lines of thought mixed in their. I used paragraph headers on the blog because of the length and complexity. This is something I don't usually do. It didn't work. There was really too much info crammed into a small space. Many people don't have any interest in the plastic shaman thing and the integrity message threw others off kilter. I've since broken out the plastic shaman and the integrity thing into their own blogs. I will rewrite the article to address only the mystery school angle. I'm going to dig up some references to support my statements too. It seems that opinions are good, but opinions that people don't fully agree with require sources. So be it. The result will not go on nonfluffypagans, as I believe it would be an act seen as opinionated and mean-spirited. While I believe in challenging people to think, I also believe that a rubbed nose creates a closed mind.

The 'brain hurting/frying thing' is something I've heard before. Such is life. I sometimes think big things in odd ways. I can't apologize for that part of who I am. For now I am celebrating it by writing something everyday.

Lastly, I received a compliment of sorts from my friend brook_tn. He is normally not at a lack of words, and his saying "the OP (me) is someone who irks me for some reason" may be a first. He's been an incredible shadow teacher for me. I look forward to him continuing that role.

Thanks for letting me know about the snark. You didn't have to. I find it interesting that this forum exists. On the positive side, it seems to be a place to blow-off steam and get sanity checks. The moderation angle is pretty impressive. I'm glad I'm now on the community so I can observe this side of the human condition further.

[valkyriur.livejournal.com]

Well, as I made mention, I didn't read your whole article either. To me, it seemed like a lot of the things you included were unnecessary, but I do agree with your main point from it. Those who don't...I think maybe they just can't realize that they are just as fluffy as the others.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

I've reworked the article to reflect only the mystery school aspect. The updated version is on my personal blog. Thanks for the input. It moved me to reflect and restate.

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

I have to admit I know very, very little about shamanism - which is why I tend to be so quiet and not respond as often to your posts, though I do read and enjoy them.

There's a huge push in some of the Judeopagan communities about Judeo shamanism. I cannot begin to compute. So not plastic shamans, in that case, but more like pesach shamans!

[greensh.livejournal.com]

I would like to learn more about Judeo shamanism. Do you know of any reputable websites?

[tryst-inn.livejournal.com]

From two yahoogroups, jewitchery and judeopaganbasics:

Gershon Winkler's book "Magic of the Ordinary: Recovering the Shamanic in Judaism", his website is www.walkingstick.org.

Parallels to Jordanian bedouin shamanism...http://www.acacialand.com.

[lupagreenwolf.livejournal.com]

I hope that you don't mind that I friended you. I liked what I read from your post on NFP, and also what I saw of your public posts on your LJ. Heh--it even sparked a post of my own that I'm in the middle of composing :P But I lihe what I read and I'd like to read more :)

[greensh.livejournal.com]

It's fine... I've seen your replies and liked what you had to say.

[greensh.livejournal.com]

I looked at the results of your composing and I liked what I saw (http://lupabitch.livejournal.com/1112356.html#cutid1). You've thought a lot about the subject from several angles. Kudos.

[lupagreenwolf.livejournal.com]

Graci :) I try to keep several viewpoints in mind at once when considering things. It doesn't *always* work, as sometimes my opinions get in the way of my brain, but I do my best :)