Tag: Amazon
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Amazonian Shamanism, Part Two
Several years ago I spent a couple of weeks with friends and teachers on the Rio Negro, in northwestern Brazil. One day we were visited by a local healer and her daughter. The healer spoke to us about her practice, then went into a trance lasting two or three hours. During that time, she channeled…
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Amazonian Santeria
First Nations peoples in the Amazon basin practice an enormous number of spiritual pathways. Many tribal peoples have developed their practices over thousands of years. At the same time, they have been influenced by African practices imported by slaves, folk practices brought from Spain and Portugal, Catholicism, and beliefs and traditions borrowed from neighbors. All…
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Learning from the Amazon
Yesterday, Susan Grimaldi visited the class I am teaching at a local college. The course is entitled “Shamanisms”, and surveys the immense variety of shamanic practices alive in the world, historically, and today. Susan is a profoundly gifted teacher and healer, and as always, kept the class spellbound throughout her visit. As I waited for…
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Shamans and Scientists
I’ve been following the conversation in the media about the lack of science knowledge in Congress. For some time now, lawmakers have held an almost anti-science attitude, preferring to ignore the findings of ethical scientists over political expediency. There has also developed a remarkable antagonism toward science on the part of many of the world’s…
