Lecture Traditional and Modern Amazonian Shamanism
Description:
I became interested in how the shamans utilized sound, chant and music to guide and affect trance states as well as healing. I practiced as a healer at our center (www.bluemorphotours.com), specializing in using ayahuasca and sound to heal depression and generate transcendent experience of consciousness. http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0603/features/peru.html 4 years ago I started to branch out from ayahuasca and sought to bring the unique qualities of ayahuasca shamanism to music. I wanted to use the music to guide trance states induced by the music. The theory was to guide people to heart, love and direct spiritual or transcendent experience without being told where or how to go. The music itself would guide through the mix of sounds. I started a music partnership with my wife Wendy, who is a 15 year opera, choir and rock singer to create the music. The mix of her traditional musical training with my traditional shamanic training allowed for the right combination to make the music possible.We blended the musical structure found in the shamanism to existing electronic genres like World Music and House. The music itself is electronic with vocals sung by Wendy and me.As for the burn, we have three distinct types of music we could perform. The first would be the chants and icaros of traditional amazonian shamanism (leading ceremonies for groups of people), the second would be to perform our world music and the third, our house music. In addition, lectures on ayahuasca shamanism and the traditional uses of ayahuasca, how it is practiced, apprenticeship, working with elders and the modern uses of ayahuasca for healing. In addition I created a project called Modern Shamanism designed to create a unique form of shamanic/spiritual exploration for Modern people based out of modern life experience. I could lead trances/meditations through this practice. www.modernshamanism.org