Category: school

Shaman Greg

I am thinking about rearranging my travel plans to fit in this course on shamanism. It has kind of called to me ever since, three of four years ago, i did a “service month” at Hollyhock and witnessed the weirdness of the course. I say “witnessed, but part of the mystique of the thing is that they keep it all secret, behind closed, locked doors. I listened at the doors several times, and heard weird things: drums, gongs, trance music, the sound (i swear) of bodies being dragged over dry twigs.

Intrigued the hell outta me, anyway, so when i got the opportunity one evening, with all the shamans-in-training down beating drums on the beach, i tested the door and found it … unlocked. I went in. Won’t say what i found, except that it was an intriguing mix of high tech and low tech.

Says the blurb:

Go on a mythical journey of spiritual initiation.
Reach the essence where the Great Mystery resides in all things. We’ll travel together through deep states of altered consciousness. A bond of trust will be developed through age-old rituals. In this experiential intensive, we use both ancient and modern techniques including portrayals of the transformative journey. We’ll rely on breath and bodywork, music, and gong to enter a shamanic trance. Experience deep catharsis and find the path with heart. Come prepared to use this shamanic environment as a sacred vessel for profound personal exploration and spiritual growth.
This workshop is physically demanding and includes an all night ceremony.

SKOOL DAZE

I stopped in at Simon Fraser University’s downtown campus in passing yesterday, just to see what it felt like. The neighbourhood was appealing: cafes, people with computers, bookshops, hole-in-the-wall eateries … there was an energy and an urgency that interested me.

Inside the building itself, though, the feeling was sterile. Businesslike. Not the fecund warmth i’d be looking for in a school, the hotbed of ideas. Possibly the mountaintop campus holds that atmosphere; the downtown campus was more like a business training centre — NOT what i’m looking for. Though i did take several classes there, years ago, in the Writing & Pub program, and enjoyed them.

Tonight, over daquiris, i talked to Devon, a friend of Rob’s who’s doing a masters in architecture at Dalhousie. Did it sound appealing? Not really. What i’m seeking is a riveting subject, i suppose. But i’m also pining for the university surroundings — the ideas, the sense of nascent becoming…. But i’m also suspicious of the arrogance and false sense of entitlement a university seems to encourage. As David Orr, environmental studies professor at Oberlin College , said some years ago:

“The product of a university degree is a population trained in hypocrisy.”

Off to University of BC tomorrow — the institution that lost my faith years ago, the day it sold its student body to Coca Cola, by way of the cafeteria and vending machines.