Hi All,
Thanks, Karen, for posting this.
In my own shamanic apprenticship and training ('86-'93 or so), I was taught,
and eventually came to see that the world around me was alive and conscious,
trying to communicate with me all the time, and in fact in love with me. But,
it "danced according to my belief system." That is, if I regarded it as
"dead," then it would play dead. Regarding living conscious beings that are
trying to express love to you as "dead" is extremely impolite, to say the
least. No wonder then, that they play dead if you treat them that way. This
is animism, the oldest form of spirituality on the planet.
The terrible split between this worldview and that of the dead, mechanical
world of bumping lumps is so apparent in this NYT article. But think of the
masks this way. In ceremonial dances that follow the seasons, different people
over years, and over many generations, wear a certain mask and costume to enact
and embody for children and grown-ups alike the energy of a certain godess,
god, spirit, saint (whatever you want to call it). It's a sacred trust taken
very seriously, because it perpetuates the spiritual culture. We still do this
in a diminished way with Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, etc.
But it's a half truth to say the mask is "the god." The mask acquires the
energy of all the people who have worn it as they do their best to portray, or
to become "possessed" by the spirit. This is a sacred trust. Most of us have
seen enough in constellations, I would think, to understand what a powerful
"presence" comes to be experienced when someone puts on such a mask. The mask
carries the ability to channel "the god" to those who handle and/or wear it.
So to say it most carefully, it is the mask plus the person, the union of these
becomes the "god." This happens, in my view, just the same way representative
get feelings and information about non-living ancestors in constellations.
I once had to help a person who brought such a mask back from central Mexico
for a friend. Many strange things happened to her as she did, and we had to do
some serious communing with it and then ritual to calm her life down again.
The "knowing field" doesn't just exist within the confines of a constellation,
I would suggest.
Sincerely,
Michael
Michael Reddy, PhD, CPC, ELI-MP
michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 610 469 7588
www.reddyworks.com
Relieving Chronic Emotional/Physical Suffering using
Family Constellations | Core Energy Coaching | EFT | Shamanism
On Apr 19, 2013, at 4:56 PM, Karen Carnabucci wrote:
As someone interested in indigenous traditions and art, I also found this
article fascinating from a tribal and ancestral perspective:
http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/12/french-judge-rules-that-auction-of-hopi-masks-can-proceed/
Karen Carnabucci, MSS, LCSW, LISW-S, TEP
www.lakehousecenter.com
(262) 633-2645
Sent from my iPad
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