Free Essays on Shamanism

Within Native American groups, shamans are considered to be ritual specialists. The word shaman literally means, â€Å"one who is excited, moved or raised.† Shamans are intermediaries between the spirit and ordinary world. When Native Americans were first moved off of their lands and put into reservations, Europeans did not really want anything to do with their religious practices. Many were even banned by the Europeans. Now, however, with the rise in popularity of new age religions, many Americans are taking an interest in Native American religious practices without fully understanding their implications. The only real similarities between traditional Native American shamanism and the newfound plastic medicine man practices are the actions performed. The vision quests performed by both may be very similar, involving the same actions. This is the same with the sweat lodge ceremonies. The problem is that the new age interpretations of shamanism do not fully address all of the implications of the ceremonies. For example, at www.shamanicvisions.com, there is a page devoted to the songs used during ceremonies. The songs themselves should not be the focus of the ceremonies. As found with Native American shamanism, the ceremonies had less to do with the songs themselves, but more to do with their context and meaning. This website seems to focus more on the songs and instruments used, rather than their spiritual meaning when used during a ceremony. Another ridiculous section at www.shamanicvisions.com is the recognition of Winnie the Pooh having â€Å"shamanic undertones.† One example the author of the webpage uses to explain this was that Winnie the Pooh had a boat called â€Å"The Floating Bear.† I can easily see why this would offend Native Americans. Shamanism should not be treated so lightheartedly. I found www.shamanschool.com equally as offensive as the previous site. The first page contains a banner stating, â€Å"Need help with angry b... Free Essays on Shamanism Free Essays on Shamanism Within Native American groups, shamans are considered to be ritual specialists. The word shaman literally means, â€Å"one who is excited, moved or raised.† Shamans are intermediaries between the spirit and ordinary world. When Native Americans were first moved off of their lands and put into reservations, Europeans did not really want anything to do with their religious practices. Many were even banned by the Europeans. Now, however, with the rise in popularity of new age religions, many Americans are taking an interest in Native American religious practices without fully understanding their implications. The only real similarities between traditional Native American shamanism and the newfound plastic medicine man practices are the actions performed. The vision quests performed by both may be very similar, involving the same actions. This is the same with the sweat lodge ceremonies. The problem is that the new age interpretations of shamanism do not fully address all of the implications of the ceremonies. For example, at www.shamanicvisions.com, there is a page devoted to the songs used during ceremonies. The songs themselves should not be the focus of the ceremonies. As found with Native American shamanism, the ceremonies had less to do with the songs themselves, but more to do with their context and meaning. This website seems to focus more on the songs and instruments used, rather than their spiritual meaning when used during a ceremony. Another ridiculous section at www.shamanicvisions.com is the recognition of Winnie the Pooh having â€Å"shamanic undertones.† One example the author of the webpage uses to explain this was that Winnie the Pooh had a boat called â€Å"The Floating Bear.† I can easily see why this would offend Native Americans. Shamanism should not be treated so lightheartedly. I found www.shamanschool.com equally as offensive as the previous site. The first page contains a banner stating, â€Å"Need help with angry b...

Conjugating Comer in Spanish

Conjugating Comer in Spanish Comer is a common Spanish verb to eat and has most of the meanings that the English verb has. Most commonly, comer means simply to consume food through the mouth: Me gusta comer pizza sin anchoas. I like to eat pizza without anchovies.El comer es uno de los placeres de la vida. Eating is one of the pleasures of life.Comieron en el aeropuerto de Lima antes de abordar el avià ³n. They ate at the Lima airport before boarding the plane.Leah come como un pajarito. Leah eats like a bird. Sometimes, depending on the context, comer refers specifically to eating lunch or dinner. Desayunamos en casa y comemos en el camino. Were eating breakfast at home and eating lunch on the road. Like eat up, comer can be used colloquially to suggest immense pleasure: Mi abuela comià ³ el libro. My grandmother ate up the book. Comer can be used figuratively to refer to corrosion, erosion or the eating up of something by natural processes. The translation varies with the context: El mar comià ³ toda la arena. The sea washed away all the sand.El cido comià ³ el concreto de la cisterna. The acid ate away at the tanks concrete. Similarly, the reflexive form comerse can be used in a variety of ways to indicate that something is swallowed up or otherwise consumed or missing:  ¿Cuntas pginas se comieron? How many pages were missing?Parece que se comià ³ la letra N. It looks like the letter N was omitted.La inflacià ³n se come el ahorro de la gente. Inflation is eating up the peoples savings. The reflexive form is also sometimes used to add emphasis. In such a case, the difference between comer and comerse is roughly the difference between to eat and to eat up. Los chicos se comieron todos los dulces. The boys ate up all the candy. Comer is conjugated regularly, following the pattern of beber.