Michael Harner - Revision history

Halbmond: /* Claims of Indigenous Descent */

2015-06-20T15:43:09Z

Claims of Indigenous Descent

Halbmond: /* Core Shamanism */

2015-02-19T13:08:42Z

Core Shamanism

Halbmond at 21:12, 24 June 2014

2014-06-24T21:12:17Z

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Halbmond: /* Biography */

2014-03-24T18:33:16Z

Biography

EsoTypo: tpo, fmt, srt

2013-08-21T21:29:27Z

tpo, fmt, srt

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12x98: Template:OtherLang

2013-04-12T21:59:40Z

Template:OtherLang

12x98: /* FSS courses and titles */

2013-04-12T20:59:57Z

FSS courses and titles

12x98: /* Reception and Criticism */

2013-03-26T23:17:11Z

Reception and Criticism

12x98: /* FSS in Germany */

2013-03-26T23:15:49Z

FSS in Germany

12x98: /* Reception and Criticism */

2013-03-26T23:14:40Z

Reception and Criticism

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 The biographical information on her own website seem to have been brushed up, since Gauthier not only claims to be "Métis Algonquine", but to have been initiated into "the" indigenous spirituality since her early childhood, to have worked with several "pipe carriers" of Algonkin nations as well as of Innu and Mohawk nations who all allegedly initiated Gauthier to different ceremonies like Sweat Lodges, Marriages, and Ceremonies of Passing.<ref name="loumitea">www.lamessageredevie.com/loumitea.html accessed March 15, 2013</ref> Gauthier not only does workshops in Canada/USA, but also in France. Her activities outside of FSS seem to be done under the aliases of "Loumitea" and "Grand-Mère Louise".<ref>www.chamanisme.fr/LE-CERCLE-DE-SAGESSE-CHAMANIQUE.html accessed March 15, 2013</ref>
-However, Gauthier is not only selling indigenous ceremonies and workshops, she also practices further pseudoscientific CAM methods, among them "Total Biology" and "Décodage Biologique".<ref name="loumitea" /> "Total Biology" has its origins in [[Germanic New Medicine]] which contends that tumours were due to psychological conflicts and to be healed by a "conflictolysis"; it further rejects evidence-based medical therapies, pain management etc.
+However, Gauthier is not only selling indigenous ceremonies and workshops, she also practices further pseudoscientific CAM methods, among them "[[Total Biology]]" resp. "Décodage Biologique".<ref name="loumitea" /> "Total Biology" has its origins in [[Germanic New Medicine]] which contends that tumours were due to psychological conflicts and to be healed by a "conflictolysis"; it further rejects evidence-based medical therapies, pain management etc.
 Another person who is not listed as FSS staff presently but taught FSS courses in the past is Carol Proudfoot Edgar who claims to be Lakota<ref name="Stuckrad" />; however, mentioning just an indigenous nation without any further specifications usually indicates a person of distant (if any) indigenous ancestry and/or a Newager trying to further sales of their workshops by claiming to be indigenous.

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 The Core Shamanism Harner claims to have discovered and developed insists that shamanic practices and religions were once used in European cultures, too, until shamanic knowledge was ousted „by the suppressive pre-eminence of religions“<ref>www.shamanicstudies.net/Schamanismus accessed Nov 28, 2012</ref> Core Shamanism asserts there were ''„[...] underlying universal, near-universal, and common features of shamanism [...]“'' which it claims to teach particularly to ''„[...] Westerners to reacquire access to their rightful spiritual heritage [...]“''.<ref name="shamanism.org">www.shamanism.org/fssinfo/index.html accessed Nov 28, 2012</ref>
-Although Harner's site today claims that ''„core shamanism does not focus on ceremonies [...]“''<ref name="shamanism.org" />, there are accounts of FSS and former FSS students selling indigenous ceremonies as e.g. sweatlodges.<ref>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shamandebunk/message/337 accessed Nov. 28, 2012</ref>. In fact, according to the announcement of the so-called Basic Workshops „Way of the Shaman“ for 2013 on the FSS website, participants are still expected to ''„[...] bring a rattle or a drum if you have one. [...] and bring a bandanna, cushion and/or blanket (if the sponsor does not provide cushions), a rough-surfaced rock approximately the size of a grapefruit [...]“''<ref>www.shamanism.org/workshops/calendar.php?Wkshp_ID=10  accessed Nov 28, 2012</ref>, indicating that the seminar includes a sweatlodge. However, this brief information to bring a „rough-surfaced rock“ leaves much room for participants bringing a stone not appropriate for high temperatures and a subsequent cooling by water; this may cause some types of rock to explode, with rock splinters taking on the speed and impact of missiles. Therefore, participation in such a lodge can be very dangerous.
+Although Harner's site today claims that ''„core shamanism does not focus on ceremonies [...]“''<ref name="shamanism.org" />, there are accounts of FSS and former FSS students selling indigenous ceremonies as e.g. sweatlodges resp. alleged indigenous ceremonies invented by FSS.<ref>http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shamandebunk/message/337 accessed Nov. 28, 2012</ref>. In fact, according to the announcement of the so-called Basic Workshops „Way of the Shaman“ for 2013 on the FSS website, participants are still expected to ''„[...] bring a rattle or a drum if you have one. [...] and bring a bandanna, cushion and/or blanket (if the sponsor does not provide cushions), a rough-surfaced rock approximately the size of a grapefruit [...]“''<ref>www.shamanism.org/workshops/calendar.php?Wkshp_ID=10  accessed Nov 28, 2012</ref>, indicating that the seminar includes a sweatlodge. However, this brief information to bring a „rough-surfaced rock“ leaves much room for participants bringing a stone not appropriate for high temperatures and a subsequent cooling by water; this may cause some types of rock to explode, with rock splinters taking on the speed and impact of missiles. Therefore, participation in such a lodge can be very dangerous. On the other hand, reports suggest that such stones are meant to be used in a so-called "Lakota stone oracle". This is a pseudo-ceremony propagated by FSS almost exclusively found on websites maintained by vendors who were taught by FSS, or in forum threads discussing FSS courses.
 ==Foundation for Shamanic Studies==

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 ==Biography==
-According to biographical information published on the FSS website, Harner received a Ph.D in anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley and has taught at various institutions.<ref name="harnerbio">http://www.shamanism.org/fssinfo/harnerbio.html accessed Nov. 28, 2012</ref> Harner did field work in South America where he became interested in „shamans“, and claims to have had experience with entheogens like Ayahuasca.<ref name="harnerbio" /> In 1979, Harner founded the Center for Shamanic Studies in Norwalk, Connecticut<ref  name="HarnerWP">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Harner accessed Nov 28, 2012</ref> which was renamed Foundation for Shamanic Studies in 1987. Harner also gave up his academic career in 1987 and since then has been president of the Foundation.<ref name="Stuckrad">Stuckrad, Kocku von: Schamanismus und Esoterik. Kultur- und Wissenschaftsgeschichtliche Betrachtungen. Leuven 2003, p. 159</ref> The FSS site claims Harner is an „authentic white shaman“.<ref name="harnerbio" />
+According to biographical information published on the FSS website, Harner received a Ph.D in anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley and has taught at various institutions.<ref name="harnerbio">http://www.shamanism.org/fssinfo/harnerbio.html accessed Nov. 28, 2012</ref> Harner did field work in South America where he became interested in „shamans“, and claims to have had experience with entheogens like [[Ayahuasca]].<ref name="harnerbio" /> In 1979, Harner founded the Center for Shamanic Studies in Norwalk, Connecticut<ref  name="HarnerWP">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Harner accessed Nov 28, 2012</ref> which was renamed Foundation for Shamanic Studies in 1987. Harner also gave up his academic career in 1987 and since then has been president of the Foundation.<ref name="Stuckrad">Stuckrad, Kocku von: Schamanismus und Esoterik. Kultur- und Wissenschaftsgeschichtliche Betrachtungen. Leuven 2003, p. 159</ref> The FSS site claims Harner is an „authentic white shaman“.<ref name="harnerbio" />
 Besides the genuine academic title obtained at Berkeley, Harner also claims honorary titles, such as the "Pioneers in Integrative Medicine Award" in 2009 from a „California Pacific Medical Center's Institute for Health & Healing“ and a 2003 honorary doctorate by an instituion unnamed on the FSS site<ref name="harnerbio" /> which seems to have been awarded by one California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS).<ref name="HarnerWP" /> CIIS also offers chargeable FSS-courses at its premises, so e.g. the Basics and one Advanced Course in 2013.<ref>http://www.ciis.edu/News_and_Events/Event_Calendar/Harner_Mokelke_SU13_June_Basic.html accessed March 15, 2013</ref>

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 [[File:Sharner2.jpg|thumb|Sandra Harner]]
 Although Harner's publications since he left academia are largely not recognized by anthropologists, a 2009 meeting of the American Association of Anthropologists ran a series of lectures and discussions titled „Papers in Honor of Michael Harner Part I and II" which were being organized by Jeffrey David Ehrenreich. Ehrenreich, an anthropologist, also invited several persons connected to FSS to give lectures, one of them Sandra Harner, Michael Harner's wife, Vice President of FSS and also a member of its Board of Trustees<ref>http://www.shamanicstudies.com/fssinfo/index.html accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref>, as well as Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, Frank Lipp, and Edith Turner who are all listed as FSS Field Associates on the FSS site.<ref>http://www.shamanism.org/fssinfo/fieldassociates.html accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref> According to the information provided in Sandra Harner's biography at the FSS site, she has no formal education in anthropology, but is a clinical psychologist.<ref>http://www.shamanism.org/fssinfo/sharnerbio.html accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref> FSS used this incident to claim Harner had been "honored by the American Anthropological Association" on its website.<ref>http://shamanism.org/news/2010/01/13/michael-harner-recognized-by-the-american-anthropological-association/ accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref> The events earned Ehrenreich an admission to the FSS Board of Trustees which was announced in the FSS E-Newsletter Volume 6, Issue 3 of September 2012, after prior publications in the FSS ''Shamanism Annual'' in December 2010.<ref>http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs045/1101293452407/archive/1111013772171.html  accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref>
 ==References==

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 *Gold certificate (prerequisite: all standard advanced seminars plus five-day seminar on counseling, two-week healing intensive, and three-year programme).<ref name="certificates" />
-Surprisingly, the Vienna site only mentions one „Harner Shamanic Counselors®“ and one „Shamanic Practitioner“; the Shamanic Counselor is described as ''“graduated shamanic counselors who completed a respective training with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies“.<ref>http://www.shamanicstudies.net/Page/ID/192 accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref>
+Surprisingly, the Vienna site only mentions one „Harner Shamanic Counselors®“ and one „Shamanic Practitioner“; the Shamanic Counselor is described as ''“graduated shamanic counselors who completed a respective training with the Foundation for Shamanic Studies“''.<ref>http://www.shamanicstudies.net/Page/ID/192 accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref>
 ==Reception and Criticism==

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 A racist attitude is also the basis of the FSS goal to aid indigenous peoples to preserve their traditions, and the statement that FSS will give indigenous persons a possibility „to establish a renewed contact with their own traditions via the Harner Method“<ref name="Stuckrad" /> documents that FSS claims a power of definition what a real Indian is, how real Indians should act and behave, and that only successfully passed FSS courses will make them real Indians again, as opposed to learning the ways of their ethnic groups from their elders. However, the success of FSS may be doubted: ''“In a private communication, Paul Uccusic wrote in reply of a respective question (July 2000), FSS had repeatedly accepted enrolled Indians to participate in courses without payment (particularly in the Basic Seminar) and that this right was still in effect to this day. The idea was to teach these people only the techniques of shamanic journeys, so that they afterwards were able to find a contact to their buried roots on their own with the help of their power animals and spirit teachers. Uccusic commented very negatively on the „personal structure of many Indians“ and their „difficulties in adapting“, which made success of this measure doubtful, so Harner was thinking about changing this practice. [...] Uccusic's condescending ways towards Natives were also criticised by some participants of the shamanism congress „Wanderers between Worlds“ (in the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 2000) ...“''<ref name="Stuckrad" />
 Currently, the FSS website only offers reduced fees for indigenous participants which will amount to 50% of the original fee charged<ref name="article18page3" />, and apart from the letter quoted above, there are no further reports about FSS courses being available without payment for indigenous persons. On the other hand, there is an account by a person of Buryat ethnicity describing that a Buryat shamanic centre contacted FSS in 1997, with FSS simply sending them application forms for membership and a schedule of their courses in reply<ref>http://www.newagefraud.org/smf/index.php?topic=236 accessed Nov 28, 2012</ref>. FSS also offers no proof for their claim that „... representatives of 54 tribes have taken advantage of this offer.“<ref name="article18page3" />
 It is also noteworthy that the FSS staff does not have any indigenous teachers from English speaking countries (except for the two persons of dubious distant ancestry mentioned above), and despite its preference for teachers with an academic education, persons with a course of studies in anthropology are an absolute minority. Furthermore, FSS claims to have assisted several ethnic groups in South and North America, and this list bears an apparent likeness to the list of ethnic groups with whom Harner worked while still employed at university institutes. One of these claims asserts FSS had assisted the Paiute in reconstructing the Ghost Dance.<ref>http://www.shamanism.org/articles/article18page4.html accessed Nov 29, 2012</ref> This seems highly unlikely, as the Ghost Dance religion in particular has seen academic research by anthropologists for more than one century, with publications dating back to 1896 (James Mooney), 1927 (Leslie Spier), and 1930 (A.H. Gayton).
 [[File:Sharner2.jpg|thumb|Sandra Harner]]
 Although Harner's publications since he left academia are largely not recognized by anthropologists, a 2009 meeting of the American Association of Anthropologists ran a series of lectures and discussions titled „Papers in Honor of Michael Harner Part I and II" which were being organized by Jeffrey David Ehrenreich. Ehrenreich, an anthropologist, also invited several persons connected to FSS to give lectures, one of them Sandra Harner, Michael Harner's wife, Vice President of FSS and also a member of its Board of Trustees<ref>http://www.shamanicstudies.com/fssinfo/index.html accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref>, as well as Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, Frank Lipp, and Edith Turner who are all listed as FSS Field Associates on the FSS site.<ref>http://www.shamanism.org/fssinfo/fieldassociates.html accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref> According to the information provided in Sandra Harner's biography at the FSS site, she has no formal education in anthropology, but is a clinical psychologist.<ref>http://www.shamanism.org/fssinfo/sharnerbio.html accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref> FSS used this incident to claim Harner had been "honored by the American Anthropological Association" on its website.<ref>http://shamanism.org/news/2010/01/13/michael-harner-recognized-by-the-american-anthropological-association/ accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref> The events earned Ehrenreich an admission to the FSS Board of Trustees which was announced in the FSS E-Newsletter Volume 6, Issue 3 of September 2012, after prior publications in the FSS ''Shamanism Annual'' in December 2010.<ref>http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs045/1101293452407/archive/1111013772171.html  accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref>

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:15, 26 March 2013
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	===FSS in Germany===		===FSS in Germany===

		+	[[File:Kontakt.jpg\|thumb\|Olaf Bernhardt]]
	A further German website offers courses according to FSS. The site is maintained by one Olaf Bernhardt who is mentioned as an FSS Europe staff member on various sites. However, Bernhardt presently is not listed as a staff member (February 2013). He is still mentioned in the list of „Core Shamanic Drum Circles“<ref>http://www.shamanicstudies.com/resources/drumcircle.html accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref>, as a retailer of one of the FSS books, ''Shamans' stories from Tuva''<ref>http://www.fss.at/Page/ID/175 accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref>, and as a retailer for a kit to make one's own shamanic drum.<ref>http://www.fss.at/Page/ID/185 accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref>		A further German website offers courses according to FSS. The site is maintained by one Olaf Bernhardt who is mentioned as an FSS Europe staff member on various sites. However, Bernhardt presently is not listed as a staff member (February 2013). He is still mentioned in the list of „Core Shamanic Drum Circles“<ref>http://www.shamanicstudies.com/resources/drumcircle.html accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref>, as a retailer of one of the FSS books, ''Shamans' stories from Tuva''<ref>http://www.fss.at/Page/ID/175 accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref>, and as a retailer for a kit to make one's own shamanic drum.<ref>http://www.fss.at/Page/ID/185 accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref>

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:14, 26 March 2013
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	[[File:317.jpg\|thumb\|Jeffrey David Ehrenreich]]		[[File:317.jpg\|thumb\|Jeffrey David Ehrenreich]]
		+	[[File:Sharner2.jpg\|thumb\|Sandra Harner]]
	Although Harner's publications since he left academia are largely not recognized by anthropologists, a 2009 meeting of the American Association of Anthropologists ran a series of lectures and discussions titled „Papers in Honor of Michael Harner Part I and II" which were being organized by Jeffrey David Ehrenreich. Ehrenreich, an anthropologist, also invited several persons connected to FSS to give lectures, one of them Sandra Harner, Michael Harner's wife, Vice President of FSS and also a member of its Board of Trustees<ref>http://www.shamanicstudies.com/fssinfo/index.html accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref>, as well as Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, Frank Lipp, and Edith Turner who are all listed as FSS Field Associates on the FSS site.<ref>http://www.shamanism.org/fssinfo/fieldassociates.html accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref> According to the information provided in Sandra Harner's biography at the FSS site, she has no formal education in anthropology, but is a clinical psychologist.<ref>http://www.shamanism.org/fssinfo/sharnerbio.html accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref> FSS used this incident to claim Harner had been "honored by the American Anthropological Association" on its website.<ref>http://shamanism.org/news/2010/01/13/michael-harner-recognized-by-the-american-anthropological-association/ accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref> The events earned Ehrenreich an admission to the FSS Board of Trustees which was announced in the FSS E-Newsletter Volume 6, Issue 3 of September 2012, after prior publications in the FSS ''Shamanism Annual'' in December 2010.<ref>http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs045/1101293452407/archive/1111013772171.html accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref>		Although Harner's publications since he left academia are largely not recognized by anthropologists, a 2009 meeting of the American Association of Anthropologists ran a series of lectures and discussions titled „Papers in Honor of Michael Harner Part I and II" which were being organized by Jeffrey David Ehrenreich. Ehrenreich, an anthropologist, also invited several persons connected to FSS to give lectures, one of them Sandra Harner, Michael Harner's wife, Vice President of FSS and also a member of its Board of Trustees<ref>http://www.shamanicstudies.com/fssinfo/index.html accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref>, as well as Marjorie Mandelstam Balzer, Frank Lipp, and Edith Turner who are all listed as FSS Field Associates on the FSS site.<ref>http://www.shamanism.org/fssinfo/fieldassociates.html accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref> According to the information provided in Sandra Harner's biography at the FSS site, she has no formal education in anthropology, but is a clinical psychologist.<ref>http://www.shamanism.org/fssinfo/sharnerbio.html accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref> FSS used this incident to claim Harner had been "honored by the American Anthropological Association" on its website.<ref>http://shamanism.org/news/2010/01/13/michael-harner-recognized-by-the-american-anthropological-association/ accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref> The events earned Ehrenreich an admission to the FSS Board of Trustees which was announced in the FSS E-Newsletter Volume 6, Issue 3 of September 2012, after prior publications in the FSS ''Shamanism Annual'' in December 2010.<ref>http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs045/1101293452407/archive/1111013772171.html accessed Feb 3, 2013</ref>