In Chapter 6 Ellen D. writes about the importance of feelings, how feelings affect our daily lives, and how we live with these feelings. As you continue through the chapter there is a section called, “Art and the Experience of the Extraordinary” (pg. 134). This section of the chapter definitely peaked my interest.
Ellen D. writes about how there are “two worlds”. The ordinary world that all humans know and share, and then there is the extraordinary world which fulfills humans needs for intensity. As Ellen says, these “intense” emotions that we strive to feel is what makes us feel that we are living.
As the section continues Ellen beings to write about the other world and how different cultures have different ways of reaching it. One way is through dance, the example she gave is about the Kalahari !Kung people who perform healing dances. During one of these dances, the energy of the dance will bring community health. The dancers will fall into a trance in which they might see God, animals, or spirits. While in a trance a person may reach a mental state of ecstasy. Other cultures will reach this euphoric state through alcohol, rapid over-breathing, drugs, or hypnosis. Eskimos would slip in and out of trances during periods of starvation/exhaustion.
Drugs are used when a person is attempting to visit the other world for a long period of time. Some cultures go on pilgrimages that may last for a few days, during this time they may be led by a shaman who will guide their way through the spirit world. These rituals use very strong hallucinogenic plants that may be either eaten or drink. In the New World there are many primitive societies that follow shamanistic religions and use these drugs to grow spiritually or reach different forms of enlightenment.
I love learning about shamanism and the different uses of drugs because the territory to the “other world” is explored by these people that spend a lot of their lives trying to master and understand the other world. People have different accounts of what they see/experience during these trances based on their own life. I really like that because no one will see the exact same thing as someone else, so each experience is unique to that individual. In the Western world people will use these drugs as a way to try to escape from their lives rather than learn something from it.
I find art and drugs share much in common within the results of each and while some art is influenced by drug use and not normally the other way round, it's this need for an alterview on the normalcies of the world around us. People gravitate towards art forms and drug use for a variety of reasons but in the most simplest of terms both are meant to make the user/audience feel 'different' from the norms of society. The more intense the better. Even if someone were to experience a 'bad trip', they may later reflect on the intensity and draw creativity from it. Art is the reflection of subconscious while drugs, dreams, and nightmares act as the mirror.
ReplyDelete