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Paleolithic shamanism
Lorne Holyoak (lholyoak@epas.utoronto.ca)
Fri, 7 Apr 1995 16:18:40 GMT
Recently, Dean Edwards, in his article about Basques, blithely referred to
the " shamans" who painted the caves in Spain and France during the
paleolithic. Someone else asserted in another article that the Celts
inherited their shamanic traditions from the builders of Stonehenge,
etc. What is going on in this newsgroup? Were you folks there as
witnesses? Archaeology is speculative in nature, and any conclusions
drawn from material culture remains must be treated as speculation.
Let's stop these assertions which merely serve to legitimize our hopes
and fantasies. If you want to practice what you believe is shamanism
that is fine, and I wish you all the success in the worlds, *but* why do
you bother trying to make it seem like a part of a great tradition which
may or may not have existed. I suspect that many of you need to exam the
original sources about archaeology and shamanism rather than relying
on second hand and third rate interpretations.
Thanks for your time.
Lorne
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