Michael Chow - Week 4

The reading that spoke to me most this week was "'We Are Not Alone' The Shamans of the World Tell Us". This reading discusses the practice of shamanism and how it is not grounded in science, but rather, is subjective, but under-appreciated and would prove to be useful in today's society. It says that Shamanism provides us with another method, outside of science, for knowing. I somewhat agree with the reading in that I believe that answers can be found outside of science. For what science cannot answer now, spiritualism and shamanism may provide answers. I believe that shamanism is valuable, like the reading states, in that those of our past have accumulated so much knowledge and wisdom, that it would be a shame to only look forward and not into the past. Our guest speaker Osvaldo spoke about how everything around us is alive and how we can look for signs, or rather, signs would come to us. I can relate to this and I believe everything around us is alive, like plants, the water, the ground... Everything is one large breathing ecosystem and each organism and "thing" is an integral component of it. I truly believe the greatest value in Shamanism is it's ability to help mental health issues. Too often, we are too quick to look to Western medicine and its prescription pills, when eastern medicine and shamanism is able to sooth us without symptoms. With that being said, where is the balance between looking to the past (like Shamanism), and looking to the future (like Science)? For example, I'd want to use western medicine if I developed cancer, but I'd look to shamanism for a mental illness.