altering the DNA

Of course it is very dangerous to access the primeval forces.  It’s not to say that private primeval forces are the same a group forces akin to Jung’s collective unconscious.  Of course there is the solitary activity of the solitary shaman, and in that case he or she is only tampering with their own DNA (and this might be quite literal actually, because we now have some idea that there is an adaptive mechanism in DNA – i.e. softwiring (“junk” dna) as well as the hardwired biological material.  So one may be tampering with the soft wired dna.  I’m almost sure we are doing so.

And of course it is very dangerous not just to allow things to proceed as they are, on the surface of being, as has been guided by tradition and historical precedent and perhaps one or two wise males. 

But in the end, historical crisis also forces us into relationship with this taboo level of existence.  We may face the roots of our dna with terror and abundant fear at the knowledge that we are transgressing against historical precedents (which so far have kept us relatively) safe and against tradition, but we have to do it anyway, as not to make this move means that we will almost certainly be destroyed.

I am sure that was the situation with Marechera, it was my situation, and so on.  Historical shifts mean we can’t operate with the same dna anymore.

And let us bear in mind, too, that it is one thing to caution wisely against impetuous delving into the DNA, and it is another thing to act as if one cannot even understand what someone is talking about when they explain their necessities.    There is such a thing as being too pure – too much of a wise monkey.  And such people are so obstructive, in fact, that I fear they put themselves in harm’s way.