Shaman Newletter
Content
Beowulf Galleries
Newsletter 14
registered trading name of Anthor International Pty Ltd
contemporary representations of an historic archetype March 23 - 21 April, 2002
A SHAMAN can be a female or male, they can be young or old, they may be from an ancient culture within the darkest forest or from the confines of a city apartment block. Within their communities a shaman was the doctor, priest, social worker, visionary and mystic. The shaman was the intermidiary or visionary who crossed the boundaries of reality and moved between worlds. To our Paleolithic ancestors they were important members of society but with the rise of Christendom the shaman was belived to be possessed by the devil or mentally ill. Throughout history the shaman assisted their people in calling the animals to ensure a good hunt and were instrumental in the survival of their community. The Lascaux caves bears silent witness to the ritual enterprise of the shaman and their followers. The shaman was instrumental in bringing balance to their community by explaining the occurence of natural phenomena events such as storms, floods, pestilence, lunar/solar eclipses, illness or the scarcity of animals to hunt. When seals or whales were scarce, the Inuit shaman would be called upon to take a hazardous spiritual journey down into the depths of the Arctic sea to find the goddess Sedna, and only after carefully untangling and combing her long hair would she grant the return of the sea animals. THE SHAMAN could be thought of as a visionary, someone tapping into energies not readily perceptable to the community as a whole. The visionay acts as interpreter or translator, just as the artist too, interprets and defines. In this exhibition, artists have been asked to go both within themselves and into the natural environment to create the art of the‘Urban Shaman’.
URBAN SHAMAN
March-April, 2002
The song that I have sung for you is the one that I sing lst in the ceremony, just before dawn. It means the Eagle, who spreads his wings and sors above and braths deep with joy of well-being. The Eagle is myself .... Each man’s road is shown to him within his own heart ... He sees all the truths of life and of the spirit. Little Rocl, Cheyenne c1868
SPIRIT ANIMALS - during the initial phase of ‘becoming a shaman’ an animal will
present itself as a guide and helper to the young shaman as they wander the unseen worlds. Humans and animals have lived together as freind and/or foe for 1,000s of years. The animal has been immortalised as spiritual representations, mythologised and demonised, but some animals have remained ‘our best friends’.
WERE THE JEDI SHAMANS?
The Jedi tapped into the force fields of all animate or inanimate objects. Everything had a force and a properly trained Jedi could control these forces and use them for good. This is exactly the role of the shaman. The shaman uses the forces of the environment to communicate, to change or to control‘the forces’ which act upon their community. The Jedi/shaman fights with the malignant forces, and in overcoming them, momentarily restores the natural harmony of life.
“may the force be with you”
NEXT EXHIBITION & THE ONE AFTER THAT the next exhibition is a mystery but the one after that is contemporary & traditional feminine archetypes exposed May 18 - 30 June, 2002
This will be a fabulous show, already such arectypes as the Madonna, Psyche, Medusa, Aphrodite, Geen Tara, White Tara and Red Tara are under construction not to mention Kuan Yin and Sedna. TRANCE & ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Altered states of consciousness - trance or ecstatic awareness are deliberately induced by shaman to facilitate their spirit journeys. These can be ritually induced or assisted by the use of plant derived substances. The molecular structure of hallucinogenic plants (peyote illustrated) is similar to the natural occuring brain hormone, an endorphin called noradrenaline. Endorphins attach themselves to the receptors on nerve cell, reducing the body’s sensitivity to pain. Endorphins can induce altered states of consciousness, such as, states of euphoria and amnesia. Shamanic states appear to link into the endorphin pathways whether naturally induced through physical endurance, such as dance, or chemically induced through ingesting or smoking. Trance & Ecstasy both refer to an altered state of consciousness. When tranced or ecstatic a person has a reduced awareness of their primary environment and appear to be focussed elsewhere. The two are closely related and are often defind useng the same terms. Generally, the term trance is used in medical contexts and ecstasy used in religious contexts. SHAMAN ATTRIBUTES The drum - the shaman is said to the ‘ride’ the rhythm of the drum beat to unseen worlds. Recent research has found that a drumbeat frequency of 4-7 cycles/second is the same range as the theta wave EEG associated with our brain wave frequency when it is dreaming, in hypnotic state or in a trance.
UNVEILED
peyote
noradrenaline
Ceremonial robes or lack of clothes - helps the shaman on his spiritual journey. The outer robes may form the outward expression from which the shaman launches their spiritual journey. The robes or the body are decorated with protection symbols or materials necessary for hazardous journies into the world of the unknown. Often the rattle or rustle of these decorations opened portals to reveal pathways or calmed the very spirits that guarded these pathways.
The staff or wand - the shaman uses these instruments to focus their powers and concentration. They are also used as status symbols of their position within the community.
A Mask is a representative vehicle shaman use to teach or transport their public audiences into their secret realm. The mask is used as a pantomine apparatus to tell the story of a journey the shaman underwent or is undergoing. The mask may expose the inner spiritual nature of the enemy - another human, an animal., an ancestor spirit or a benevolent spirit. By a mask the shaman heals the community by showing the connection between all things. 23 QUEEN STREET, WOOLLAHRA NSW 2025 TEL: 9362 5583 FAX: 9362 5586 E.MAIL: [email protected] WEB: www.beowulfgalleries.com.au OPENING HRS: WED - SUN from 11 am to 6 pm
Newsletter 14
registered trading name of Anthor International Pty Ltd
contemporary representations of an historic archetype March 23 - 21 April, 2002
A SHAMAN can be a female or male, they can be young or old, they may be from an ancient culture within the darkest forest or from the confines of a city apartment block. Within their communities a shaman was the doctor, priest, social worker, visionary and mystic. The shaman was the intermidiary or visionary who crossed the boundaries of reality and moved between worlds. To our Paleolithic ancestors they were important members of society but with the rise of Christendom the shaman was belived to be possessed by the devil or mentally ill. Throughout history the shaman assisted their people in calling the animals to ensure a good hunt and were instrumental in the survival of their community. The Lascaux caves bears silent witness to the ritual enterprise of the shaman and their followers. The shaman was instrumental in bringing balance to their community by explaining the occurence of natural phenomena events such as storms, floods, pestilence, lunar/solar eclipses, illness or the scarcity of animals to hunt. When seals or whales were scarce, the Inuit shaman would be called upon to take a hazardous spiritual journey down into the depths of the Arctic sea to find the goddess Sedna, and only after carefully untangling and combing her long hair would she grant the return of the sea animals. THE SHAMAN could be thought of as a visionary, someone tapping into energies not readily perceptable to the community as a whole. The visionay acts as interpreter or translator, just as the artist too, interprets and defines. In this exhibition, artists have been asked to go both within themselves and into the natural environment to create the art of the‘Urban Shaman’.
URBAN SHAMAN
March-April, 2002
The song that I have sung for you is the one that I sing lst in the ceremony, just before dawn. It means the Eagle, who spreads his wings and sors above and braths deep with joy of well-being. The Eagle is myself .... Each man’s road is shown to him within his own heart ... He sees all the truths of life and of the spirit. Little Rocl, Cheyenne c1868
SPIRIT ANIMALS - during the initial phase of ‘becoming a shaman’ an animal will
present itself as a guide and helper to the young shaman as they wander the unseen worlds. Humans and animals have lived together as freind and/or foe for 1,000s of years. The animal has been immortalised as spiritual representations, mythologised and demonised, but some animals have remained ‘our best friends’.
WERE THE JEDI SHAMANS?
The Jedi tapped into the force fields of all animate or inanimate objects. Everything had a force and a properly trained Jedi could control these forces and use them for good. This is exactly the role of the shaman. The shaman uses the forces of the environment to communicate, to change or to control‘the forces’ which act upon their community. The Jedi/shaman fights with the malignant forces, and in overcoming them, momentarily restores the natural harmony of life.
“may the force be with you”
NEXT EXHIBITION & THE ONE AFTER THAT the next exhibition is a mystery but the one after that is contemporary & traditional feminine archetypes exposed May 18 - 30 June, 2002
This will be a fabulous show, already such arectypes as the Madonna, Psyche, Medusa, Aphrodite, Geen Tara, White Tara and Red Tara are under construction not to mention Kuan Yin and Sedna. TRANCE & ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Altered states of consciousness - trance or ecstatic awareness are deliberately induced by shaman to facilitate their spirit journeys. These can be ritually induced or assisted by the use of plant derived substances. The molecular structure of hallucinogenic plants (peyote illustrated) is similar to the natural occuring brain hormone, an endorphin called noradrenaline. Endorphins attach themselves to the receptors on nerve cell, reducing the body’s sensitivity to pain. Endorphins can induce altered states of consciousness, such as, states of euphoria and amnesia. Shamanic states appear to link into the endorphin pathways whether naturally induced through physical endurance, such as dance, or chemically induced through ingesting or smoking. Trance & Ecstasy both refer to an altered state of consciousness. When tranced or ecstatic a person has a reduced awareness of their primary environment and appear to be focussed elsewhere. The two are closely related and are often defind useng the same terms. Generally, the term trance is used in medical contexts and ecstasy used in religious contexts. SHAMAN ATTRIBUTES The drum - the shaman is said to the ‘ride’ the rhythm of the drum beat to unseen worlds. Recent research has found that a drumbeat frequency of 4-7 cycles/second is the same range as the theta wave EEG associated with our brain wave frequency when it is dreaming, in hypnotic state or in a trance.
UNVEILED
peyote
noradrenaline
Ceremonial robes or lack of clothes - helps the shaman on his spiritual journey. The outer robes may form the outward expression from which the shaman launches their spiritual journey. The robes or the body are decorated with protection symbols or materials necessary for hazardous journies into the world of the unknown. Often the rattle or rustle of these decorations opened portals to reveal pathways or calmed the very spirits that guarded these pathways.
The staff or wand - the shaman uses these instruments to focus their powers and concentration. They are also used as status symbols of their position within the community.
A Mask is a representative vehicle shaman use to teach or transport their public audiences into their secret realm. The mask is used as a pantomine apparatus to tell the story of a journey the shaman underwent or is undergoing. The mask may expose the inner spiritual nature of the enemy - another human, an animal., an ancestor spirit or a benevolent spirit. By a mask the shaman heals the community by showing the connection between all things. 23 QUEEN STREET, WOOLLAHRA NSW 2025 TEL: 9362 5583 FAX: 9362 5586 E.MAIL: [email protected] WEB: www.beowulfgalleries.com.au OPENING HRS: WED - SUN from 11 am to 6 pm
