{"id":9980,"date":"2011-12-18T20:10:53","date_gmt":"2011-12-19T01:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/?p=9980"},"modified":"2012-12-26T20:07:56","modified_gmt":"2012-12-27T01:07:56","slug":"my-predestined-date-with-shamanism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/cultural-correspondent\/12\/18\/my-predestined-date-with-shamanism\/","title":{"rendered":"My Predestined Date With Shamanism"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I was lucky enough to score an extra ticket to a modern shamanism class in Los Angeles. What I knew of shamanism prior to the intro course was limited at best and while I like to be spontaneous, I also like to be prepared. I tried to research the event itself but also knew that the lower expectations that I had, the better. Luckily, there wasn\u2019t much information on the event, so I was going rogue. My friend Julie and I talked the night before to discuss our plan of attack and the car situation so that when we walked in wearing yoga pants and leggings compared to everyone else\u2019s Levi\u2019s and boots, we would at least be partner pariahs. And that\u2019s exactly what happened. <\/p>\n<p>Quickly disposing of our corporate Starbucks coffee cups in fear of being judged by hemp-loving, incense-burning, damn-the-Man hippies, we walked into the Manhattan Beach Marriott. The room was markedly less Marriott than anticipated: an ambiance that consisted of a 30-chair circle and a maraca rattling, rain stick thrusting, and indigenous Amazonian drum pounding ditty awaited us.<\/p>\n<p>In the car, Julie joked that it was going to be one of those, \u201cI see your light, and I appreciate you\u201d workshops and it seemed to be the case. For a hot second I thought I\u2019d be a real jackass and use this as an excuse to practice my comedic repertoire on the cheap. I\u2019d play the straight man and ask the shaman questions as if he were a World of Warcraft expert: Do you throw lightning bolts? Can you see into the world of spirits and communicate with creatures invisible to eyes of mere mortals? When did you discover this other realm? On Draenor, now shattered Outland, the orcs were shamanistic; on Azeroth, trolls and tauren were shamanistic. Though shamanism on Azeroth flourished and still continues to, shamanism on Draenor was all but extinct by the time of the great crossing of the Horde into Azeroth via the Dark Portal. Your thoughts, <em>sir<\/em>?<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Though as the session started, I realized I couldn\u2019t be that much of an asshole. Just drink the kool-aid and leave the New Yorker cynicism and expectations at the door. After all, I live in California now and I decided to jump on the thought free, sun drenched fun bus in full force. <\/p>\n<p>The rockstar shaman went around the room and introduced himself.  When he stopped at Brendan they did a little, \u201cWho\u2019s on First\u201d bit. It went a little something like this:<\/p>\n<p>Hamilton: Hi, I\u2019m Hamilton.<br \/>\nBrendan: Wait, I thought I was Hamilton.<br \/>\nHamilton: You are you and I\u2019m you.<br \/>\nBrendan: If I\u2019m you and you\u2019re me, then we already know.<br \/>\nHamilton: Yes, we do. What time is it?<br \/>\nBrendan: It\u2019s now o\u2019clock. <\/p>\n<p>They let out a few hearty chuckles. Hamilton proceeded with the introductions. The day began.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_10001\" style=\"width: 478px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-10001\" src=\"http:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/non-judgmental-hippie.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Hippie Believer\" width=\"468\" height=\"340\" class=\"size-full wp-image-10001\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/non-judgmental-hippie.jpg 468w, https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/non-judgmental-hippie-200x145.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-10001\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">&quot;Be here now, man.&quot; <\/p><\/div>\n<p>Along with my yoga mat, I also left any pre-conceived notions in the car. I turned it all off in an attempt to swallow what Hamilton was selling. Be here now, man. So when I overheard conversations consisting of, \u201cI laughed so hard doing my arcani yatra (sp) practice that water came out of my nose!\u201d and \u201cThose of you that were here yesterday, how was everyone\u2019s sleep last night? Was it deep? Did you have weird dreams?\u201d I was unfazed.  <\/p>\n<p>So what is shamanism? I still don\u2019t really know because Hamilton never actually defined it. I don\u2019t know if you even can. When he spoke to the group I found myself pondering Asperger\u2019s Syndrome. He could have been a punk ass middle schooler explaining how to be the dungeon master: very straightforward, authoritative, and matter of fact but struggled navigating the abstract and heady sea of ideas that comprise shamanism.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s what I did pick up: Shamanism is a culture relegated to a spiritual society. It\u2019s formed out of everyday experiences that are based on a spiritual journey. It\u2019s people engaging themselves and their environment in order to alter their current state of emotional being, consciousness, and essence. Clearly. <\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xp018O3A6Fk\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>According to the shamans, through spiritual guidance, trances, and a retraining of the mind, one will experience a change of self. They say that once you unlock these techniques in the altered reality, you can work through the hierarchy of mastery into your own reality of daily life and invoke your principal guide through any and all situations. <\/p>\n<p>Sounds like a great video game. <\/p>\n<p>There is no dogma that you have to believe in; you just need to explore what\u2019s already inside of you. Oh, and then there are the \u201cprincipal guides\u201d: they are omniscient, always truthful, knowing, and well-connected with all OTHER spirits. I wondered if I could find him, her, or it on Twitter. So how does one summon the principal guide? Well, according to Hamilton the guide comes from the invocation of the definition itself. No, I don\u2019t get it either and I live in California, the weed smoking capital of the United States.<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"600\" height=\"437\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/zcTsFaLLaYI?rel=0\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Tangible experiences however, are things I can wrap my head around. The first exercise involved a clear cubed space that roughly comprised the size of the ballroom. There is a clear wall in front of you, one behind you, a surface below you, to the side of you, and above you. They\u2019re everywhere, man. <\/p>\n<p>You are standing inside the space. You pick up the rubber ball that is on the floor next to you. You bounce it and catch it in your hands. As I\u2019ve added \u201cball bouncing\u201d to my list of life experiences, I know the ball\u2019s texture, what it looks like, and can hear the sound of the ball hitting the ground and popping back up. OK, done. <\/p>\n<p>Next, you bring a glowing sphere into your space. So there\u2019s your space, your ball, your glowing sphere, and you are currently standing in the middle of the sphere in the middle of the space. Fine. <\/p>\n<p>Now, bring in a red disk. OK, subconscious: you know what a disc looks like and what you associate with the color red, now place that in your space with your ball and your sphere. Now add an orange disc. Now add a yellow one. A green one. And then a blue disc, a purple disc, and finally an indigo disc. Indigo, really? Whatever, all right.<\/p>\n<p>Now jump from disc to disc. Great. Tack a door onto your blank space, open it and walk into a new space that isn\u2019t clear but rather blue. Meanwhile, Hamilton quickly chanted ROYGBIV as participants manipulated the different colored spaces, jumping through time until their partially digested granola began to climb back up their throats. Imagine the acid trip boat rides and the glass elevator scenes from Charlie &#038; The Chocolate Factory. Yeah, it was kinda like that.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/InTheMomentHere.gif\" alt=\"Shamanism sessions\" title=\"Yoga Mats and Moments\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10002\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/InTheMomentHere.gif 300w, https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/InTheMomentHere-200x200.gif 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Prior to moving into the second trance state, we had to loosen up our bodies with a child\u2019s pose and some blood pumping yoga movements. And then the leaders chanted and sang. Sticks rattled and voila: trance state.<\/p>\n<p>With the lights off and bodies strewn about the floor, we were going to travel. Or at least that\u2019s what Hamilton told us. We didn\u2019t know where or why, we just relied on our all-knowing principal guide to take us there. Hamilton and his partner\/wife\/whatever he could get began their incantations: they might have been made up words, or another language or even just Pig Latin. Regardless, it was beautiful and I was relaxed. The group had just traveled the entire fucking color spectrum and I was exhausted. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/time_tunnel-465x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"Journey to the Alternate Realities of Shamanism\" width=\"465\" height=\"600\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10003\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/time_tunnel-465x600.jpg 465w, https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/time_tunnel-155x200.jpg 155w, https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/12\/time_tunnel.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 465px) 100vw, 465px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The only English words I picked up on related to flora and fauna. Specifically, hummingbird, lion, and spruce. Hamilton asked me to travel, so I traveled. I went back to Upendo orphanage in Muranga Town in Kenya; I flew over what I think was New Zealand (though I\u2019ve never been); I cruised on a boat charting the waters that encompassed Alaskan glaciers, and actually tasted the brisk December frost that hugs the top of the Brooklyn Bridge. In one minute I scavenged for water bearing cacti in a desert and in the next I was swinging my machete in the Amazon. Yet I never left Ballroom B. Maybe my practical guide was an airplane. <\/p>\n<p>And just when I thought I had hit my shaman stride, the lights flicked on and I opened my eyes. I sat up and looked around. I was dizzy. Apparently it was time to break for lunch. Or rather, \u201cingest the food spirit.\u201d Brendan looked over at me and smiled. \u201cWow, you look completely different.\u201d Yeah, coach &#8211; I\u2019ll bet you say that to ALL the shamanic newbies.<\/p>\n<p>Upon returning to the ballroom two hours later, the spell was broken. Maybe it was Samurai Sam\u2019s fast food sushi (because that\u2019s a thing in Los Angeles) that glued itself to the lining of my digestive tract, but for some reason I just couldn\u2019t seem to re-focus or relax. Keep in mind that Hamilton leads 35 Iowaska ceremonies a year in Peru (home of Machu Picchu and his physical body) and spends \u201cvery little time in a world based on linear geography.\u201d  <\/p>\n<p>Actually, I think that\u2019s probably what shifted me out of my altered reality. That, and the weird guy who sat on the floor with his mouth gaping open like a largemouth bass. He was clearly only doing this workshop under the false pretense that there would be Iowaska at the end of this tunnel. Oh, and I failed to mention the incense he insisted on burning. I\u2019m a terrible hippie; I hate incense. And patchouli. Point being, I couldn\u2019t get back into it for the final trance state. So when Hamilton told us we were going to travel through time again I chuckled and chalked it up to a Saturday well spent. <\/p>\n<p>But I couldn\u2019t help myself. I told Hamilton after the last trance that I was frustrated and distracted the entire time we were treading the waters of the other realm. Concerned, he asked if my practical guide had shown itself yet. It had not. He told me that was totally normal and that I shouldn\u2019t worry. It was just an intro class. Much like me, my practical guide was fashionably late. Fair enough, master. You are me, after all. <\/p>\n<p>All snark aside, I have a new found appreciation and respect for this type of work and I told Brendan I\u2019d like to set up a chakra cleansing appointment with him soon \u2013 that\u2019s a thing, right? Also, my next travel destination of choice: Peru for an Iowaska ceremony with all of Hamilton\u2019s selves.<\/p>\n<p>The session ended at 6:45pm. Julie and I got back in the car with our yoga mats and cynicism and rehashed our strange day. Radiohead\u2019s <em>Karma Police<\/em> was the first song that came on the radio. Fitting.<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<hr width=\"80%\"><\/center><\/p>\n<p>Stephanie Belsky is the Head of Audience Development &#038; Channel Marketing at <a href=\"http:\/\/BigFra.me\">BigFra.me<\/a>, a YouTube influencer network. She started the marketing department at CollegeHumor.com and is the owner of <a href=\"http:\/\/confectioncrawl.com\">confectioncrawl.com<\/a>. Belsky dabbles in long form improvisational comedy, volunteerism, running marathons, and 4chan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was lucky enough to score an extra ticket to a modern shamanism class in Los Angeles. What I knew of shamanism prior to the intro course was limited at best and while I like to be spontaneous, I also like to be prepared. I tried to research the event itself but also knew that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":549,"featured_media":10010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[259],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>My Predestined Date With Shamanism<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A newly-arrived Los Angeles transplant takes part in a no-refunds-provided spiritual journey.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/cultural-correspondent\/12\/18\/my-predestined-date-with-shamanism\/\" \/>\n<link rel=\"next\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/cultural-correspondent\/12\/18\/my-predestined-date-with-shamanism\/2\/\" \/>\n<meta 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