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Beowulf GalleriesNewsletter 14 March-Apri l, 2002

URBAN S HAMANcontemporary representat ions of an historic archetype

March 23 - 21 April, 2002

registered trading name of Anthor Internat ional Pty Ltd

A SHAMAN can be a female or male, t hey can be young or old, t hey may be fr om an ancient cult ure wit hin thedarkest fo rest o r f r om t he conf ines o f a c i t y apar t ment b lock . Wi th in t he i r communi t ies a shaman was t hedoctor, priest , social wor ker, visionary and myst ic. The shaman was t he int ermi diary or visionary w ho crossedt he boundaries of real i t y and moved betw een worlds. To our Paleoli t hic ancest ors t hey were impor t ant m em-bers of soc ie t y bu t wi t h t he r ise o f Chr ist endom t he shaman was be l ived t o be possessed by t he dev i l o rmenta l ly i l l .

WERE THE JEDI SHAMANS?The Jedi tapped into t he force f ields of al l animate or inanimate obj ects. Everything hada force and a proper ly t ra ined Jedi could contr o l t hese forces and use t hem f or good.

This is exactly the role of the shaman. The shaman uses the forces of the environment tocommunicate, t o change or to cont ro l t he forces which act upon their communit y . TheJed i / shaman f igh ts wi t h the mal ignant fo rces, and in overcoming t hem, m omentar i l yrest ores t he natural harmony of l i fe .

may t he f orce be wit h you

Throughout h ist ory t he shaman assist ed t heir people in cal l i ng the anim als t o ensure agood hunt and were i nst rument al in t he surv ival of t heir comm unity . The Lascaux cavesbears si lent witness to the r i tual enterprise of the shaman and their fol lowers. The sha-

man w as inst rument al in bri nging balance to t heir comm unity by explaining t he occurenceof nat ural phenom ena events such as st orm s, f loods, p est i lence, lunar/ solar ec l i pses,i l l ness or t he scarc i t y of animals to hunt . When seals or w hales wer e scarce, t he Inui tshaman would be cal led upon to t ake a hazardous spir i t ual j ourney down int o the dept hsof t he Arc t ic sea to f i nd t he goddess Sedna, and on ly a f t e r care fu l ly un tang l ing andcombing her long hair would she grant t he ret urn of t he sea anim als.

THE SHAMANcould be thought of as a visionary, someone t apping int o energies not read-i ly percept able to t he comm unit y as a whole. The visionay acts as int erpret er or t ransla-t o r , j ust as t he ar t is t t oo , in t e rpre t s and def ines. In th is exh ib i t i on , a r t ist s have beenasked to go both w it hin them selves and into t he nat ural environment t o create t he art oftheUrban Shaman.

The song t hat I have sung for you is t he onet hat I sing lst in t he ceremony, j ust before dawn.

It means the Eagle, who spreads his wingsand sors above and brat hs deep

with joy of well-being.The Eagle i s myself .. ..

Each man s road is shown t o him wit hin his own heart .. .He sees all t he t rut hs of l if e and of t he spir it .

Lit t le Rocl, Cheyenne c1868

SPIRIT ANIMALS - during the init ial phase of becoming a shaman an animal w il lpresent it self as a guide and helper t o t he young shaman as t hey wander t he unseenwor lds. Humans and animals have l ived t oget her as fr eind and/ or f oe for 1,000s ofyears. The animal has been immortalised as spiritual representations, mythologisedand demonised, but some animals have remained our best fr iends .

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the next exhibi t ion is a mystery but t he one aft er that is

UNVEILEDcontemporary & t radit ional

feminine archetypes exposedMay 18 - 30 June, 2002

This will be a fabulous show, already such arectypes

as the Madonna, Psyche, Medusa, Aphrodite, Geen

Tara, White Tara and Red Tara are under construction

not to mention Kuan Yin and Sedna.

RANCE & ALTERED STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

ltered states of consciousness - trance or ecstatic awareness are deliberately in-uced by shaman to faci l i tate their spir i t journeys. These can be r i tual ly induced or

assist ed by t he use of pl ant d erived subst ances. The m olecular str uct ure of hallucino-

enic plants (peyote i l lust rat ed) is simi lar t o the natur al occuring brain hormone, anendorphin cal led noradrenal ine. Endorphins at t ach them selves t o t he recept ors onnerve cel l , reducing the bodys sensi t iv i ty to pain. Endorphins can induce al teredst at es of consciousness, such as, st at es of euphor ia and am nesia. Shamani c st at esappear t o l ink int o the endorphin pathw ays whet her natural ly induced t hrough physi-

al endurance, such as dance, or chemicall y induced t hrough ingest ing or smoking.

peyote

noradrenaline

rance & Ecstasy bot h ref er t o an alt ered st ate of consciousness. When t ranced orecstatic a person has a reduced awareness of their primary environment and appearo be f ocussed elsewhere. The t wo are c losely re lat ed and are of t en def ind usenghe same t erms. General ly, t he t erm t rance is used in m edical context s and ecst asy

used in religious contexts.

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SHAMAN ATTRIBUTEShe drum - t he shaman is said to t he r ide t he rhythm of t he drum beato unseen worl ds. Recent research has found t hat a drum beat f requency

of 4-7 cycl es/ second is the same range as t he t het a wave EEG associat edit h our brain wave frequency when it i s dreaming, in hypnot ic st ate or in

a trance.

A Mask is a represent ati ve vehicle shaman use t o t each or tr ansport t heir publ ic audi-ences int o their secret realm . The mask is used as a pant omine apparat us t o tel l t hest ory of a j ourney t he shaman underw ent or is undergoing. The mask may expose t heinner spir i t ual nature of t he enemy - another hum an, an animal. , an ancest or spir i t ora benevolent spir i t . By a mask t he shaman heals t he communit y by showing t he con-nect ion bet ween al l t h ings.

he st af f or wand - the shaman uses these instruments to focus

heir pow ers and concent rat ion. The y are also used as st at us sym-bols of t heir posi t ion wi t h in the communit y .

Ceremonial robes or l ack of clothes - helps t he shaman on his spir -itual journey. The outer robes may form the outward expression from whichhe shaman launches t he i r sp i r i t ua l j ourney . The robes or t he body areecorated w i t h prot ect i on symbols or mat er ia ls necessary for hazardous

ournies into t he wor ld of the unknown. Oft en the rat t le or rust l e of t heseecorat ions opened port a ls t o reveal pathw ays or calmed t he very spir i t shat guarded t hese pat hways.