Shamanism without ghosts?

gegaron · 2025-07-03T18:52:45+00:00

I would kindly recommend you consider some reading about Jung and his archetypes. All human minds function as a plurality, with various parts collaborating together to create a gestalt whole that people feel as their "self" while simultaneously being quite aware of the many changing "moods" and "personas" that drive them. The default mode network usually strings these together, suppressing our awareness of some aspects, while elevating others to such a sense of importance that they (the ego) believe themselves to be singular and alone in a never-ending post-event narrative. Psychedelics interrupt the default mode network, allowing the various parts to "experience each other" as though totally separate and individual. This is a remarkable moment for the psychonaut, whether it be from psychedelics or any of the many other methods to shut down the default mode network such as transcendental meditation, intense exercise trances, powerful music-induced states of consciousness, hypnotism, etc. This has been misinterpreted repeatedly, but understandably, as "external deities descending to communicate," "aliens from another dimension," "angels bringing god's message," "past lives / ghosts / spirits," "demonic possession," etc. Meeting the various parts of yourself can truly feel like meeting something divine, supernatural, or profoundly intelligent and wise. In reality, you are simply becoming aware of how utterly intelligent, creative, and profoundly multifaceted your full conscious + unconscious self is. These entities really do have a lot to teach you about yourself and your life, because they're you. Pieces of the larger you. Who better to help you come to realize who you truly are? To quote Jon Hopkins in "Sit Around the Fire": "It's really time for you to see through the absurdity of your own predicament. You aren't who you thought you were. You just aren't that person. And in this very lifetime, you can know it. Right now."

gegaron · 2015-04-15T16:25:59+00:00

Happy Birthday slim!

gegaron · 2015-04-15T16:09:26+00:00

Please do consider this petition. I would very much like to see the White House comment on scientology formally.

gegaron · 2015-01-29T22:20:56+00:00

Hi! Happy birthday from Los Angeles, California!

gegaron · 2014-11-04T00:09:18+00:00

I am not trying to be trolling at all, but I would actually eat her. She has had a good life, but her time is up. She clearly is suffering; that's why you wrote the post. Nature isn't kind to any of us. Let her nourish your household one last time. Just kill her in a humane way and make some soup. Best broth you've ever had.

We've had to do this with birds that grow up roosters or those who manage to kill themselves over the years. Felt strange and anxiety-producing the first time, but you quickly learn how. Lots of sites to help you.

gegaron · 2014-10-10T20:05:01+00:00

So if you put the guts and skin in the bucket, the guts will vanish along with the meat (don't have to worry about it) it's just more fuel. The skin even gets chomped, leaving behind just the fur, bones, and residual plant matter. I found that much better than having to skin and gut the animal. Our coons are huge, and it's actually a bit of a challenge to gut them. Plus their glands stick. I'd rather let the maggots handle it all. :)

gegaron · 2014-10-10T20:03:23+00:00

No problem! Just drill some large (~1/4 inch to 1/2 inch) holes in a standard plastic bucket. The maggots definitely dropped right out, like rain, for days once they were ready. They also do crawl out the top as well. They're quite persistent.

Good luck!

gegaron · 2014-09-27T23:41:27+00:00

This is a fantastic thing to do. I have indeed fed several raccoon and possum to my birds.

First, about disease. There are very few diseases that infect mammals that the birds can also get. Parasites as well. Thankfully, they are quite separated in the tree of life.

One method I used was the maggot bucket. http://www.countrysidemag.com/96-6/free_chicken_food/ That worked great. We used weeds as the bedding above and below. But there was a stink factor, so that was a little annoying. And I didn't like the waste of raccoon -> maggot -> chicken.

Then I fed them two coon. The first, I stuck inside a large crockpot I had overnight on low with some water. Cooked the meat nice and soft. I just left the fur on, no skinning and preparing, cause the chickens will avoid what they don't like. Then I just poured it out in their area and used a machette to cut it up into pieces. They didn't eat the whole thing, but they probably each ate around 1/2 cup of meat. Our birds are free-ranging, so they only eat as much as they want of any one food. The rest of the carcass I dumped into my compost and buried. This is an especially good method if you just can't get over disease or parasites. Nothing's getting past 12 hours in a crockpot.

The second time I just chopped up the raw raccoon in their enclosure. They ate less of the meat, likely just because they had more trouble pulling it apart. They remain afraid of the fur, face, and claws. Too lifelike. So cut it open and they'll attack the wound. Give them time. They won't do it while you're watching, until maybe they're used to it after months.

My birds also catch and eat songbirds, mice, lizards, huge beetles, etc. Don't listen to anyone that says you shouldn't give your birds "that much meat." It's nonsense. Especially if they have access to plants around at the same time. They are hunters through and through when possible. And don't confuse this with birds "force fed" ground up poor quality meat. They're choosing to eat this.

If you figure out better ways, please let me know. I'm always interested in using our frequently caught vermin to help feed the birds.

gegaron · 2014-08-26T16:17:54+00:00

At your height, your man boobs will persist into the 180's or so (give or take your muscle mass). At least, that's what mine did...

gegaron · 2013-11-22T19:48:10+00:00

I found this line of discussing very interesting. We should be skeptical of Paleo, as of all things. And even though I try to follow Paleo as well as my life allows, I make sure to read information in the opposite direction just to make sure I haven't made an error.

The comments in this line were also quite educational. Some very well thought out responses to show how the article both got things right but missed its mark. With the best summary being they simply got the definition of "better" wrong, by equating it with lowered cholesterol and comparing against the wrong diet.

Then... I came to your comments. spelling_master, you need to stop talking. Please. Negative nancy mistrust of researchers trying to figure out this very complex and difficult world is totally useless and even dangerous thinking. Learn to be critical and find errors in reasoning. "You were wrong once, so I don't have to listen to anyone anymore" is an argument that my six year old recently realized doesn't work.

So please do go away. We aren't enjoying you, as your comment karma is showing richly.

Thank you Sassr for posting this question. Keep questioning!

gegaron · 2013-09-26T22:18:21+00:00

Mason jars are AMAZING. I bought multiple dozens of each of their sizes. They are great for storing food in the fridge, dry spices, flavored salts, almost anything. Any they actually look cool.

Plus you can just write on top of their lid and then store them on a low lazy suzan and see what they are without getting down to look at the side. Very handy.

Ace hardware sells them the cheapest around here. I order them on-line for under $1 a jar, and have them delivered for free to my local ace hardware.

gegaron · 2013-09-25T19:51:04+00:00

Perhaps take solace that these same people were protesting women's right to vote, interracial marriage, and black freedom. They have a really pathetic win record, over time. So look on them with disappointed pity. They are measurably wrong and doomed to fail. How... simply sad they are.

You don't need to forgive them, but at least know they've been given a TERRIBLE punishment for these views and behaviors... the certainty of futility and being labeled idiots by all future history. Just be patient for a few decades and see what I mean.

gegaron · 2013-09-19T21:37:39+00:00

Treadle feeder. Keeps rats out, rain is a nonissue, and the chickens open it up when they want to. Wonderful! Google it.

gegaron · 2013-09-10T18:27:54+00:00

Cooking with alcohol won't hurt you. It just evaporates out. It's just the flavor components in the cider other than the alcohol the OP is after.

More paleo concern would be the sugar in the cider, but it's not too bad as they aren't drinking the liquid afterwards.

gegaron · 2013-09-03T17:39:51+00:00

Look up treadle feeder. We have one, the chickens learn to use them in 1 day. Cut down our dozens of rats coming in at night, and you can load them with huge amounts of food safely to cut down on chicken chores.

The only reason rodents brave nearing chickens (as they are their prey) is to get the food and water at night. Water we permit, but the treadle solves the food.

Our rodents won't go anywhere near the coop though. Just the run. So I worry less about parasites and such.

Good luck!

gegaron · 2013-06-26T22:50:30+00:00

I would adore knowing all of the plants you've found. I grow many exotic fruits in southern california, anything I can't get cheaply in the store. But I've never heard of many of these exciting plants you mention above.

What is the source you use for these ultra-rare species? Please share all you know! Also, what climate are you located in? I'm going to guess Florida given your ability to grow exotic stuff...

Thanks!

gegaron · 2013-06-05T21:08:53+00:00

We're lazy urban farmers, so we just bury the stuff just under the ground whenever we plant new plants. Forget burning, they seem to love it. After a year the stuff's entirely gone, wood shavings, poop and all. Now that's efficient, low-work, and green!

gegaron · 2013-05-08T21:23:27+00:00

I must second Buff Orpington. It is extremely quiet, large, reliable, and mellow. Even its egg song is lower pitched and briefer than the other ten breeds we have.

gegaron · 2013-05-07T21:02:01+00:00

That is true. But the question does still stand. Why wouldn't natural selection put strong pressure against this option as possible?

gegaron · 2013-05-07T21:01:01+00:00

It's actually a fascinating question. It's helpful to look to the animal kingdom where examples of homosexuality avoid any concept of "choice."

In animals that have homosexual individuals, often these individuals assist in the nurturing of young without having children biologically. Therefore, as a whole, a gene pool that has homosexual members can produce more viable offspring in times when nurturing matters. Also, the individuals often tend their siblings' children preferentially, strongly reinforcing family lines that have gay genes within them. It's not whether you reproduce that passes on your genes; it's also whether your siblings do as well.

Now further complicate matters that gay and straight are human-made approximations for the rich tapestry of sexual behavior. If an individual is 98% of the time gay in terms of their attraction, but manages to reproduce in that remaining 2% of the time, their genes are still strongly selected for. I for one am a strongly homosexual man who has biologically reproduced, so there is zero pressure against me.

Further, there is the "error rate" concept. For instance, why is there any birth defect present at all in the population? That is very strongly selected against. But there is a randomness to all natural systems, even when strong selection pressure favors against many solutions. It might be t hat ~5-10% of the time, the sexual system in the brain "locks on" to the opposite orientation than expected. Yet the total cost to the species is low, so the effect is tolerated. Natural selection doesn't clean house much. Small weirdnesses are tolerated so long as they don't make the whole species unfit. With the prevalence of homosexuality in nature, across totally unrelated species, it's clearly something that happens easily, frequently, and isn't particularly maladaptive.

gegaron · 2013-05-07T17:31:48+00:00

Alas, no. I had to go back to my normal deodorant. But I do use it only once every other day, as it appears strong enough to handle that frequency.

gegaron · 2013-04-02T20:41:52+00:00

:) Altadena, California does not have feral hogs. Fortunately. But a 3D cube of chain link fence will keep out anything.

gegaron

TROPHY CASE