shamanistic healing and ecstasy

My “religion” is intellectual shamanism -- a form of atheism, since I believe that religious experiences occur only in the brain.

Intellectual shamanism maintains that we should try to do without the scaffolding of civilization as much as possible. This is by no means because civilization is evil. To the contrary -- but one should not rely on systems of support because there are nearly always hidden power interests that would “assist” you at the cost of your subjectivity.

Intellectual shamanism upholds one’s subjectivity as a pearl beyond price. Lose that and one loses one’s meaning. It is too easy to lose aspects of one’s subjectivity through contemporary pharmaceuticals, through submission to authorities, religious and secular, and through playing safe.

One must meet one’s fears, including fear of death, to be free from unseen binds. The recovery of oneself through facing one's worst fears involves the ecstasy of shamanistic healing.