- “We have been the benefactors of our cultural heritage and the victims of our cultural narrowness.”
- “Much of the mystery surrounding the phenomenon of shamanism is perhaps attributable to the fact that it emerged during a time of preliteracy. Thus little is known about its origins.”
- “Western theologians and philosophers spoke of the necessity of humankind to dominate and manipulate nature; this “modern” worldview supplanted the “premodern” worldview with the latter’s position that human beings were part of nature, and separated from it at their peril.”
- “A wealth of anecdotal and clinical material exist which supports the possibility of telepathic effects occurring in dreams.”
- “Shamans use drums such as these in ritual ceremonies to call in the spirits and to assist in journeying into the Upper World and the Lower World as well as to call upon such allies as ancestors and power animals for help.”
- “There are other epistemologies, “ways of knowing” relying on the body, on feelings, on intuition, and on transpersonal and anomalous experiences, that are capable of taking us to realms that mainstream science has yet to acknowledge, much less to appreciate.”
- “What philosophers refer to as the “modern” worldview is responsible for impressive advances in technology, industry, and scientific discovery. However, it has not prevented (and may even have been partially responsible for) unprecedented fragmentation, nihilism, and devastation.”
- “Western interpretations of shamanism often reveal more about the observer than they do about the observed.”
- “The shaman often plays the trickster role, and there are numerous accounts of shamanism that are filled with alleged phenomena that cross the boundaries of what mainstream science knows about time, space and energy.”
- “I am not a believer.” “But just because I play with ideas does not mean I accept those ideas.”
- “Whatever psychic ability is, it’s not something you can turn on and off. It’s a bit like sexual experience — you can’t guarantee every experience will be ecstatic or blissful. The conditions have to be just right for it.”
- “Nothing in parapsychology is guaranteed to replicate. So, really, I understand where the counter-advocates are coming from.”
- “Like the term “hypnosis,” the word “consciousness” is a social construct. It is defined and described differently by various groups and writers.”
- “Most illnesses in a society are socially constructed, at least in part, and alleged changes in consciousness also reflect social construction.”
- “Western medicine and psychotherapy have their roots in traditional practices, and need to explore avenues of potential cooperation with native practitioners of those healing methods that may still contain wise insights and practical applications.”
- “Of all the meditation techniques I have tried, I find focusing on a flame, while attending to my breathing, to be the most satisfying.”
- “Concepts of sickness and of healing can be socially constructed and modeled in a number of ways. The models found in traditional cultures frequently identify such etiological factors in sickness as “soul loss” and spirit “possession,” “intrusion,” or “invasion” — all of which are diagnosed (at least in part) by observable changes in the victims’ behavior as related to their mentation or mood.”
- “It is become increasing apparent to cross-cultural psychologists that the human psyche cannot be extricated from the historically variable and diverse “intentional worlds” in which it plays a co-constituting part.”
- “Shamans can be defined as socially sanctioned practitioners who purport to voluntarily regulate their attention and awareness so as to access information not ordinarily available, using it to facilitate appropriate behavior and healthy development — as well as to alleviate stress and sickness — among members of their community and/or for the community as a whole.”
- “Simply put, one’s sense of identity is extended beyond its ordinary limits, giving him or her the impression that “reality” has been encountered more completely.”
- “Shamanic healing procedures are highly scripted in a manner similar to the way that hypnotic procedures are carefully sequenced and structured.”
- “Anomalous experiences, from my perspective, are uncommon and/or inexplicable episodes in one’s life.”
- “There is a controversy among anthropologists about whether shamanic traditions that favor mind-altering plants are “inferior” or “superior” to those that do not use drugs. I have never found this distinction useful or accurate.”
- “Following a series of dreams pertinent to the topic, I realized that I had at least two totems, or “power animals.” One was the deer; I had been introduced to its power during my summer camp experience in Wisconsin. Another was the South American puma.”
- “The contemporary architect who most directly addressed “spirit of place” was the Wisconsin architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who I had the fortune to encounter several times during his long life and tumultuous career.”
