MAGNT Meeting

Saturday Nov. 12, 2011
10 AM to noon

 Unity South Church
7950 First Ave. So.
Bloomington, 55420

Straddling Worlds: A Voyage into Shamanic Reality
Facilitator: Ira L. Gordon

Most of us are not shamans. And yet ...

Shaman -- pronounced SHAH-man -- is a word borrowed from the Tungus people of Siberia. The word is favored by anthropologists and esotericists, because it does not carry the troubled baggage of related words such as witch, medicine man, sorcerer, magician, wizard, or seer.

In indigenous cultures, the shaman fulfills a function without which the community would not cohere: serving as a conduit between that community's everyday world and a different world -- a world that is stranger, bigger, more. This individual is chosen to wear the mantle of shamanic power, because she or he is recognized at a young age to be adept at journeying between the two worlds. Cultures grounded in the Abrahamic religions have tended to regard shamanic reality with grave suspicion, even contempt. Hence, as recently as the eighteenth century, the witchcraft hysteria that cost millions of women their lives. Yet even in the western world, Sufis, Kabbalists, and Christian Mages have frequently incorporated shamanic beliefs and techniques into their spiritual practices.

As with music, mathematics, athletics, or cooking, some of us come into the world with more innate potential than others -- in the case of shamanism, the potential for transitioning between alternative realities. Nevertheless ... all of us have shamanic gifts, gifts that can be developed. Each of us is a shaman in embryo.

In this workshop, through exposition, dialogue, and exercises -- and without the aid of pharmaceutical inducements to altered consciousness -- we will seek to access our shamanic selves. We will investigate how and why the development of shamanic gifts has been discouraged. And we will consider how honoring and cultivating those gifts could enrich our lives.

Please note: This workshop will NOT be exclusively theoretical. Come prepared to shed a few of your outer garments and to renew/deepen your acqaintance with the YOU who is stranger, bigger, more.

Finally, bring with you a writing implement and, if possible, a tablet or book you can rest on your knees for writing.

Ira L. Gordon is a retired philosophy professor, author, and amateur dancer whose life long journey has featured an exploration of the various ways in which we know things.

MAGNT, the Minnesota chapter of the Association for Global New Thought, offers activities to expand consciousness. Its purpose is to inspire, inform and empower people to create an awakened world. MAGNT is supported by local Unity and Religious Science churches.

There is no admission fee for this or other MAGNT programs unless specified. Donations are welcome. No need to pre-register. Just come and be warmly included. Come to learn, to ask questions, and to engage in spirited conversation with the group.

We look forward to seeing you.

Saturday, Nov. 12, 2011

10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon

Unity South Church

7950 First Ave. So., Bloomington, MN 55420

Mapquest link for directions

MAGNT contacts for further information.