I thought you had some sort of natural affinity with Shamanism, mouse - so why the use of quotes around the word?
Why are you a bit wary of a set meaning for things?
I am interested in the subject of shamanism, and I feel drawn to it. Whether I have a natural affinity with it, well that is another thing altogether. I would have to be practising shamanism to decide that I think, which I haven't yet. Quotes because I felt uneasy about the word being in that particular way, i.e. what does shamanism say about....it is not a body of thought and I'm not an expert on it despite my reading (in fact maybe even because of my reading 🙂
Why am I a bit wary of a set meaning for things? I'm a bit wary of set meanings in that context, not necessarily set meaning per se....
Shamanism has nothing to say about black panthers - or any other animal.
When you find lists of "power animal meanings" in books at best this is from one culture, at worst it is made up. Publishers know that it sells books.
If Shamanism according to yourself Crowan has nothing to say about black panthers or any other animal, could you remind me what (essentially) Shamanism is to you...?
You seem to be a bit sniffy about "power animal meanings" being at best from one culture - which seems a lot like you berating another cultures belief in order to bolster your own - something that you've chastised a few people for doing on the forums when it comes to religion:
This isn't fact, it is opinion. I appreciate that this is the Christianity forum and therefore the posts are likely to come from that direction, but you surely dont have to defend your beliefs by insulting those of others? <a class="go2wpf-bbcode" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="
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....and you're saying that at worst with regards to power animals:
When you find lists of "power animal meanings" in books at best this is from one culture, at worst it is made up. Publishers know that it sells books.
How can you you be so sure that they're made up?
You seem to say "publishers know what sells books" in a disparaging way - is your book self-published, and are people buying it in the quantities that you hoped?
PS: Mods - I know this looks to be veering of topic, but where does one draw the line between dreaming and waking states... I may well dream about this thread tonight... ;).
Shamanism has nothing to say about black panthers - or any other animal.
When you find lists of "power animal meanings" in books at best this is from one culture, at worst it is made up. Publishers know that it sells books.
Yes, that is what I was getting at when I said I'm wary of set meanings.....Who exactly has decided that seeing a black panther in your dreams means xyz.....
Yes, that is what I was getting at when I said I'm wary of set meanings.....Who exactly has decided that seeing a black panther in your dreams means xyz.....
So I suppose that just leaves your with your own interpretation....
Yes, I think it does. I feel that you should always trust your own interpretation of what an image or a symbol means in a dream. An interesting dreams related book or website is still worth a read though because they can point the way for you and then you can test it against your own intuition. But books that state seeing 'a' = 'b' full stop I wouldn't bother with, I prefer a more abstract/philosophical sort of approach.