...contemporary life is locked into a situation in which it can only see its magicians as isolated hermits who withdraw into the cultivation of a superior ego, when in fact the visionary is nothing without the pack, truibe, or band - in a word, the collective he or she servces. The becomings-animal, -woman and -molecular undertaken by the shaman are not self-serving, but ultimately for he purpose of the healing and transformation of a social body, and of the earth itself. Contact with what I would call the "shamanic virtual" - a plane of consistency populated by ancestors, totems, and spirits - is not primarily for the ecstatic enjoyment of the visionary. In fact, it is much more like a hallucinatory illness that the shaman sustains for the sake of the people. And the joy of the shaman's song comes directly from the pain of the people.- Joshua Ramey, The Hermetic Deleuze (2012) p. 217
Is it possible to combine non-dualist spirituality, revolutionary socialist politics, modern insights into culture and memes, a skeptical attitude and a sense of humour? Only one way to find out.
2018-09-26
TWELVE YEARS OF CHAOS MARXISM
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Aha. You finally read Deleuze then? I'd like to register my thanks for your twelve years of effort. You've touched more people than you might know.
ReplyDeleteI read a book about Deleuze, does that count?
ReplyDeleteYou'd have to ask him I think. Not that he was ever too precious about the way ideas are propagated. I'd really recommend his 'Practical Philosophy' on Spinoza while I'm here though.
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