How did art begin? What can religious studies teach us? What can we learn in the bones and caves of pre-history, at the dawn, when man was just separating from the apes in a glimmer of cold light? Originally, sorcerers and seers drew images of animals to attract their power. Certain natural objects of stone and feather were seen to emanate a force and so they were painted, decorated and glorified. Chants and runes were made up to speak to the Great Spirit. Songs were made to cause spells. Dramas and dances were performed to enter the spirit world and to act out events--healings, successful hunts--that the performances would bring about. Grave stone figures of gods and goddesses were carved, physical representations of those ones, as reminders and clarifiers of power.

THE NEW ARTIST .....by VictorGreentree

The Artist

The Shaman (SEEing)

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Circle of the EarthTM doesn't identify with any one earth tradition because, in the past, each tradition was related to a certain global region or a certain culture. Thus, to embrace any one tradition is both divisive and often ties us to antiquated practices. Some of these old practices are now abhorrent, such as human sacrifice, while for others, the authentic practice was lost long, long ago. Rather we believe that a real understanding of the spirituality of the earth should come from within: from individuals making contact with the earth. We believe that, despite cultural and genetic differences, all members of the human species, in a larger sense, are the same. That's what makes us a species. We all have the same physiology and anatomy, the same brain, the same nervous and hormonal systems. Because our bodies are a certain type, we relate to the environment of our planet in the same way wherever we live. We all have the same life situation, the same needs for food, water, air, warmth, and the same
concerns about dying. This common, universal human experience that arises from our biologic makeup and our relationship to our environment, our planet earth, can be found in our collective mythology, our collective consciousness. It is our understanding as a species as to the deeper reasons for why we are here. We can learn of our collective mythology and consciousness through shamanic experiences. In a shamanic experience, or ecstatic experience, or Religious Feeling State, we enter the Other Reality and SEE.