How Many Kinds of Wrong is This? (One of Villoldo's)

[Laurel]

Sorry I didn't post this in time for anyone in or near Chapel Hill to attend/protest:

http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/945805.html

Ex-FBI agent Victoria Johnson found being a working mother stressful.  She started out with acupuncture, but doesn't like needles, so she read Villoldo's book, went to his school, became a "shaman" and now teaches others this Four Winds stuff and does medicine wheel readings.  I guess it beats working for a living...?

I'd also love to know who this Michael Winkelman is:

But that doesn't mean modern-day shamanism is a sham. Altered states of consciousness that accompany shamanic rites can produce feelings of profound relaxation, Winkelman said. Rituals allow people to bond with one another so that the body releases opioids or the "feel good chemicals" that stimulate the immune system.
"These ritual altered states of consciousness enhance communication between the lower brain system and the frontal brain and give us access to information not accessible to consciousness," Winkelman said.

Because religion is all about relaxing and feeling good. Sheeeeit.

[debbieredbear]

Because religion is all about relaxing and feeling good. Sheeeeit.

I am finding that many of the followers of these people want an "easier softer way" so to speak. In fact, one of the local frauds uses those words to tell his kind of shamanism. In addition he touts that his brand of shamanism doesn't require time or sacrifice. So I had to laugh when  I heard some of his ex-followers are now saying he isn't spiritual! Do you THINK??? LOL!

I don't get how these people can think they know so much they can teaach others, but I guess I am old fashioned in that I think that people need to study for a long time. One of the people I am close to told me he didn't know very much, and he has been studying with people for more than 30 years! That's humility though, something lacking in most nuagers.

[Laurel]

I think the humility is often false too.  I suspect the "I know nothing" tactic goes back to the 60s when everyone got his/her "humility" from the Orient and fell in love with Zen and Coyote stories because they thought the phrase "holy fool" meant "I'm holy right now, just the way I am!  No work, no time, no sacrifice, no meditation, no introspection, no nothing!  Wheee!"

[educatedindian]

Winkelman is in academia, on my old campus. Amazing, he's written on "cultural sensitivity."

Funny that his page is set up to disable cut and paste.

I'm not too surprised to see this. There was a scandal right as I was finishing grad school, where someone in the anthro dept took blood samples from a tribe and used it for something entirely different than promised without the tribe's permission. That same "we know what's best for you" attitude.

http://www.public.asu.edu/~atmxw/
Dr. Winkelman's teaching and research interests focus on shamanism and
psychedelic medicine, applied medical anthropology, and cross-cultural
relations. His research on shamanism includes cross-cultural studies,
investigations into the origins of shamanism, and contemporary applications of shamanic healing in substance abuse rehabilitation. He has pioneered perspectives on shamanism as humanity's original neurotheology and studies on the biological bases of religion.

Winkelman teaches classes on "Ethnic Relations in the U.S.",
"Culture and Health" and "Holistic Healing". He has written textbooks
on American Ethnic History and Cultural Awareness, Sensitivity
and Competence.
Dr. Michael Winkelman received his B.A. from Rice University (1976), a
Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine (1985), and a Masters in
Public Health in Community Health Practice from the University of Arizona (2002). He served as the Head of Sociocultural Anthropology and is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Human Evolution and
Social Change at Arizona State University. He also teaches in the
Human Health Program on the ASU Polytechnic Campus. Dr. Winkelman is past-president of the Society for the Anthropology of Consciousness
and the founding president of the Anthropology of Religion Section of
the American Anthropological Association. He currently serves on the
AAA Committee for Minority Affairs in Anthropology.
Publications Include

Psychedelic Medicine: New Evidence for Hallucinogenic Substances as Treatments. Michael Winkelman and Thomas Roberts, eds. Portsmouth, NH: Greenwood/Praeger. 2007

American Ethnic History. Dubuque, Iowa: Kendal Hunt Publishing. 2006.

Culture and Health Applying Medical Anthropology.
Boston: McGraw Hill Custom Publications. 2005.

Pilgrimages and Healing. Jill Dubisch and Michael Winkelman, eds. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. 2005.

Cultural Awareness, Sensitivity and Competence. Eddie Bowers, Peosta Iowa. 2005.

Divination and Healing: Potent Vision. Michael Winkelman and Philip Peek, eds. Tucson: University of Arizona Press. 2004

Shamanism: The Neural Ecology of Consciousness and Healing. Westport, Conn.: Bergin & Garvey, 2000.

Ethnic Sensitivity in Social Work. Dubuque, Iowa: Eddie Bowers Publishing, 1999.

Sacred Plants, Consciousness and Healing Yearbook of Cross-cultural Medicine and Psychotherapy. Michael Winkelman and Walter Andritzky, eds. Berlin: Verlag. 1996.

Shamans, Priests and Witches: A Cross-Cultural Study of Magico-Religious Practitioners. (Anthropological Research Papers, No. 44.) Tempe, Ariz.: Arizona State University, 1992.