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weirdelf
weirdelf
Mar 25, 2008 ⭐ View statistics (Premium feature)

Vindicated! (helped by the BBC doco “How Art Made The World”)

 

Preamble: It took me 10 years to complete my M.A. thesis which began with the title “Towards a Prosodic Theory of Film- developing structural relationships between film and poetry.”
To cut a long story short the research and process lead me to believe that art and poetry were the results of shamanic practice.
“Watermana” (on this site) is the poetic result, it was set to a 3d digital animation (you can’t take a video camera into your head and you can’t download a 20 gig file to this site).

In brief
human, animal, plant, microbe.
Who is better?
None.
life is life.
but what is different?
Art is one difference.
Where does it come from?
The science of our brains,
drums, drugs and sensory deprivation make our own brains see things that don’t or can’t exist.
drums, drugs and sensory deprivation allow us access to the spirit world.
Bother are true.
Science and spirit grow ever closer.

But the results are profound,
healing, hurting
nurturing, warlike,
like all things it depends on us.

We grow
We decline
We have one choice
nurture or die.
 
 


— weirdelf, Mar 25, 2008

About This Poem

About the Author

Region, Country: Sydney, Australia, AUS

Favorite Poets: The Romantics, The Mersey Sound, The Beats and, of course, The Bard

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More from this author

Critiques

Mark

Mark

18 years 2 months ago

The Shaman

That's the dude that dances with a feather, he smiles at me :) But the drum circle needs a consistant beat for all to find uphoria. People think of it as entertainment - well some do. But those who allow the art in their spirit truly are the artists. So we work at blocking out all else until we are a part of the magic - the poetry. we feel renewed "nurtued" in this place. We wear down from it's euphoric damage and feel the satisfaction to memories "until we meet again" "Nourish the root of the sacred tree of life, that it may leaf and blossom and fill with singing birds" (Black Elk) Image writing rules ! Mark
weirdelf

weirdelf

18 years 2 months ago

the beat is about 5 per second

but it varies slightly from person to person, and if you get the wrong beat, believe me, the results are not pleasant. I should have put in an official SMSHW (Shamanic Mental and Spiritual Health Warning). If we take heed of the SMSHW and a few other warnings the process is life giving and healing with no ill effects. Not even a hangover! Not even for people with strong religious beliefs! This is a spiritual/neural effect process, applicable to all regardless of faith or creed. cheers, Jess
RSScheerer

RSScheerer

18 years 2 months ago

You just explained ...

... the method and reasoning behind my writing, and better than I could have ever managed! Intelligent, educational, and so damned well-versed. If I didn't love your words so much I'd have to hate them, Jess! ~ Ronda
weirdelf

weirdelf

18 years 2 months ago

Ronda, you, of all people,

I knew would understand this. People like us don't survive without a lot of research! Oh and thank you! To be loved or hated by respected peers is equally high praise. cheers, Jess
Barbara Writes

Barbara Writes

18 years 2 months ago

really good as usual

Barbara Writes look forward to reading your poetry it always has something of a twist, that catches my attention.
weirdelf

weirdelf

18 years 2 months ago

thnks Barbara,

but if I ever end up Like Jeffrey Archer please shoot me. cheers, Jess
Mark

Mark

18 years 2 months ago

in public

the ceramony always starts and continues wonderful. With all the high tones it is just mezmerizing and being your part in the ritual. Later the idiots come along and someone is bound to start pounding garb into your ear. But you focus on the constant - the base, and it continues until you are ready to drop. I really think if SMSHW was not there we would all pass out but we walk to the bay, refresh and go home lol This is my experience with Shaman. I need to read the artical now :) Mark
A

Alobar

18 years 2 months ago

I loved this work! It echoes

I loved this work! It echoes and resonates with the creative soul--any creative soul, I would hazard. A creative expressions of creativity, something post-modern in that, eh? Then again, what I've seen of your work so far, post-modernism is tattooed on the inside of mouth, there to be seen for any who care to look at you when you speak. Loved that you put the poem to drums--a fine accomplishment!
weirdelf

weirdelf

18 years 2 months ago

call me post-modern again and I will

send one of my spiritual warriors to rip your throat out(only joking).Postmodernism is to me the least of all art movements: it is a cop out, recycling the past in the belief that there is nothing new, a failure of the imagination. But thanks for the praise. Resonates and frission are two of my favourite words. Your feedback is so perceptive and constructive I urge you to apply for Advocate status. cheers, Jess
A

Alobar

18 years 2 months ago

So you are against recycling

So you are against recycling then, how odd. I too kid. Postmodernism is a form I am only familiar with in fiction writing, really. And I find it one of the most innovative and invigorating things I have ever discovered. Not the best, Dostoyevski is the best, but really what can you do in traditional fiction after the Big D? Nothing. You must then move on, create a new fiction with the old fiction a symbol, a part of the language you now use. Writing must evolve. I think poetry is the same way. We have all tried to write sonnets, and no matter how bloody good they are, they are compared on a scale of one to Shakespeare, and no one ever scores a Shakespeare. But what if Shakespeare shows up in your sonnet, dances a jig, recites his own sonnet, and exits stage right? And then you resume, but both you--the poet--and the reader's frame of reference has changed. The tone of the poem has changed. Shakespeare, the man and all of his works are one giant word in the middle of a greater work, your poem. Then you might have something. Something new. Something might come out of that. And that something would be... wait for it... Postmodern. Just my evening thought for you to chew on.
weirdelf

weirdelf

18 years 2 months ago

True, Shakespeare is god.

But maybe, one day, one of us might do better. But not through post-modernism. That is a retreat from originality. cheers, Jess
Candlewitch

Candlewitch

18 years 2 months ago

I could hear the drums

I could hear the drums beating as I read this piece, (I could also remember seeing the back of the inside of my own head.) Indeed, we have but one choice. I know this as well as I know my own name... nurture or die. It is my theme song. Always, Cat p.s. I think Alobar would make a very perceptive advocate. He amazes me with his insight.
R

rider68

18 years 2 months ago

The Master At Work

Jess I'm humbled to have read your script, I've realized how little I know, Not being a scholar, Feel challenged, Such Mountains still to climb, Respectfully, Peter
weirdelf

weirdelf

18 years 2 months ago

Thank you Peter

I don't know how to reply to this because I don't think the piece is all that good. My paranoid self even suspects sarcasm. It's great to be challenged but you don't have to be a scholar to be a poet (I hate Auden, you can't understand his work without a degree in classics). I have read poetry on this site that literally moved me to tears from people who clearly have very little education. Thank you again but it's not a mountain, unless you enjoy mountain climbing, to me it's sliding in to wonderful things that have come before me. cheers, Jess
weirdelf

weirdelf

18 years 2 months ago

oh yes!

Have you ever heard Tibetan Bhuddist chanting? Your own heart not only syncs but threatens to explode in a peaceful manner. cheers, Jess
Q

Quillsvein1

18 years 2 months ago

this

poem reminds me of the feeling i get listening to Gregorian Chants--as though silence is impregnating something sacred in my ears and i have no clue what to do about it! it also reminded me of the tapes i've seen of jim morrison's performances--dancing, all screwed up on drugs, hallucinating, shamanic. in other words this poem excites me because it reminds me of every exhilarating medicinal practice in art that i have ever heard or witnessed. yummy job, jess!
dhruv

dhruv

17 years 10 months ago

Your piece begs the

Your piece begs the question, How long can you nurture something that always kills itself by the end? Rest assured, science and the spirit world are closely connected. They are like paths going parallel to each other at a uniform speed, I wonder if they'll bend enough to meet someday. Adoring yet another wonderfully written piece Dhruv
weirdelf

weirdelf

17 years 10 months ago

How can you say that?

"How long can you nurture something that always kills itself by the end?" Maybe I misunderstand. I am always looking for truth that doesn't kill me, even though it often challenges it's own truth. Truly appreciate your other words. cheers, Jess
dhruv

dhruv

17 years 10 months ago

I’ve read you saying “In

I've read you saying "In a dog-eat-dog world, it's better not to be a dog". Very closely related to what I just said. Humans are a race very unlike it's native self. In our race to become immortal we often end up killing ourselves. Not only that, we are killing our beliefs, our directives, and everything we stood for, quite ironically, in the desperate attempt to achieve immortality. We can try to save us, but sometimes it only makes us worse. How long can you nurture something that always kills itself by the end? Art of any kind is like a fruit to the soul. It is something human in this inhumanly world, be it music, paintings, dance, or anything. It seems like one of the only real things actually left. But how long can it support us if we stop believing in it? Not meaning anything wrong Dhruv.