The Nomadic Alternative – Page 43

soaring upwards to a paradise of laughter.

A capacity for spiritual gymnastics enables the shaman to shuttle between Heaven and Hell at will. And the Siberian shaman's costume is in itself a theatrical wardrobe, suitable for any dramatic occasion - a glorious rag-bag of bird wings, animal masks, claws, fur and fangs, images of snakes, chains, hooks, glittering metal discs of the sun, moon and stars, pendants and jingle-jangles.

The bird wings enable him to soar to Heaven; with hooks and fangs he grapples with demons in Hell. Musical accompaniment is inseparable from these occasions, and further apparatus may include the use of narcotic vehicles - mushrooms or Indian Hemp - to assist his passage to the world of spirits. Strabo talks of shamans or seers "walking in smoke", while the first part of Aristophanes's Clouds seems to be that old-fashioned moralist's take-off of a communal drug experience. If Socrates was doing that up in the basket, small wonder the small-minded functionaries of Athens condemned him.

Fifth Century Greek drama arose from the rites which accompanied the festival of Dionysus, God of Wine, that liberating anti-aristo-cratic presence which made the life of the common people bearable. Players and chorus acted and danced alternate bouts of comedy and tragedy, and through the tradition of the great Greek dramatists, we maintain an open-minded line of communication with the curative visionary performances of ancient seers. At our theatrical performances the gorgeous plumage, the sex reversal of the actors, the mastery over animals, the paradisical and infernal effects of lighting and scenery, the ecstatic or demonic energy of dancers or acrobats, the insane bravery of the hero or the self-sacrifice of the heroine - all aspire to appeal unconsciously to a primaeval vision of the Heroic Journey.

All religious systems have used the metaphor of the Journey to symbolize the events of life, and in many philosophies the Homeless State is the Sinless State. Wandering in this world is a technique