Shaman on you.
To wear a golden Shaman Pendant around one’s neck or not to wear a
golden Shaman Pendant around one’s neck … that is the question.
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to bear the slings and arrows of
evil medicine men … or to join forces and bear arms as we
accompany them in their noble marches toward seas of troubled
mysticism. Oh … were it only that I kneweth what I were rambling
abouteth.
Shaman: Medicine Man. Healer. Witch Doctor. Trance-expert. And
Prophet too. Male or female … our Shaman can inherit his/her role
from mummy and daddy … lest of course–in childhood–our
Shaman-to -be is spontaneously called upon by the spirits and reacts
in such a way as to be deemed different (read crazy) by those around
him or her.
The year is between 500 and 900 AD. We’re at the “crossroads of the
world” … Panama. The Darien culture exists in a dense jungle
region which borders Colombia. It’s an imposing frontier. It is here
that our golden Shaman pendant is created. What candidate, I wonder,
inspired our 5 7/8 inch gold sculpture? Did our Shaman go through
the same ordeal as did the great Odin of Norse myth … impaling
himself as did Odin … on his own spear and hanging from it for
nine days and nine nights …thereby gaining Shamanic powers by
visiting death and returning then to the world of the living?
Becoming a full-fledged and fully respected Shaman … recognized by
the community as one above others … required testes of steel …
let me tell you. Skin pierced with skewers for some. Plunging into
icy waters and then left on ice to survive without food for a month
for others. And for others yet … walled up in a cave for
undetermined periods of time … or slashed with quartz knives …
all in the name of attaining intimacy with the spirits by having
death or near- death experiences. If you survived your ordeals …
you were a Shaman. If you didn’t … you were a dead duck … or
whatever the equivalent for dead duck was back then.
Even Jack-in-the-Beanstalk was no mere fairy tale. Rather … the
story originally involved climbing a cosmic rope in order to kill a
giant living at the top and thereby returning to earth with the
giant’s power … and becoming Shaman to one’s people.
So … to get back to the main question … should one or should one
not wear a Shaman Pendant about one’s neck … the answer is an
unequivocal Yes! Of course you should hunny bunny. Who knows what
magic might leave the amulet and seep through to you via your pores
… infusing you with powers you might not have otherwise had. Wear
it, I say. Wear it … and breathe deep … and step forth … and
be prepared to enter the world of mysticism.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the left side menu till you get to the area that says
Tidbits Graphics … and then click on the link that says: Shaman
… where you will see the graphic of a Damien culture Shaman
Pendant made of gold and measuring 5 7/8 inches high.
And there ya have it. That’s it for this week folks. Catch you all
next week. Benjamin Mark
-- http://www.tyler-adam.com --