Quote:
|
Originally Posted by SuchFriendsAreDangerous
It is the nature of capitalism and commercialism to crassly sell for profit the deeper art of humanity and culture. This is what is symbolized in the story of i Jesus going through the Temple in Jerusalem with a nine-tailed whip, to chase away the profiteers who crassly exploit the inner child in us all, which is fascinated and awestruck by value and wisdom of culture. They have Zapatista tourist gift shops in Chiapas, and keep in mind, its the middle of a civil war there between the government and the EZLN. Does it negate the value of the EZLN? Hardly. It just makes the gift-shops look, well, touristy and all the shallow and pejorative connotations such a word contains..
|
Mrs. De Rios talks about how out of hundreds of shamans and ayuhuasca healers, most USA anthropologists who went to study this based much of their reports and research on the two or three "curanderos" that were NOT healers, but instead were con artists scamming tourists from around the area. This led to an explosion in drug tourism of american and european tourists in the 70's and 80's who visited these famous "healers" to get drug experiences. This turned the traditional home area of the healers into a tourist trap, causing the shamans to move and displace themselves, ending their stability and driving away people who were looking for actual shaman work.
I cannot explain it right, but it happens every day.