Hopkins and Sugerman (2006) and Stone (1991) developed the image of Morrison as a shaman and as Lizard King based on the development, by Morrison, of his role as a shaman and the image of the Lizard King. This image was the “existing value structure” of Morrison at the time of his death, despite attempts made by Morrison to change this image. As the “the way in which the total image grows determines or at least limits the direction of future growth,” Hopkins and Sugerman (2006) and Stone (1991) were working within the parameters of Morrison's image. Thus, the image of Morrison as a shaman and Lizard King became internally coherent and consistent through repetition and served to organize both historical and posthumous ideas about Morrison, superseding reality.
Peter Jan Margry (2008, 145), in “The Pilgrimage to Jim Morrison's Grave at Père Lachaise Cemetery: the Social Construction of Sacred Space,” writes of Stone (1991) “[giving] a whole new impetus to this mythologizing [of Morrison].” “The film” writes Margry (2008, 145), “partly confirmed the existing image but added new, powerful iconographies and narratives.”
Popular biographies of Morrison, published since Hopkins and Sugerman (2006), have emphasized the mythic implications of Morrison's life story, such as the development of mythos surrounding Morrison during his life, his mysterious death and the development of a cult following, involving pilgrimage to his grave in Paris (see Davis 2005; Densmore 1990; Henke 2007; Hopkins 2010; Mazerak 1999; Riordan and Prochnicky 2006).
The significance of understanding Morrison as a shaman relates to the origins of attribution. Morrison, through self-characterization as a shaman, instigated the assignment of a religious aura sur...
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...onal autonomy and archetypal rock star decadence. As Morrison has not been subject to a study of commodification, as has Presley, then the study of Morrison as a commodity, and its religion to consideration of him as a “religious figure,” warrants future study.
Ultimately, to understand the development of a religious aura, surrounding Morrison, and Morrison as a “religious figure,” all aspects of his life and image must be accounted for. Historically, his life, self-propagated myth, image, death and potential as a commodity. Posthumously, his popular myth, pilgrimage to his gravesite and commodification of his image. Morrison as a shaman and Lizard King is only one reason for his religious aura; its contribution to the development of the popular myth, along with the central values contained in his image, contributed to the idea of Morrison as a “religious figure.”
Religion often enlightens one with newfound reverence and respect. While caring for the wolf, the man finds both reverence and respect through a few spiritual encounters. As he is walking with the wolf, the man hears coyotes calling from the hills “above him where their cries [seem] to have no origin other than the night itself.” This represents the heavens calling out to the wolf to enter its gates. Once the man stops to build a fire, he seems to hold a ritual for the wolf. His shelter steamed “in the firelight like a burning scrim standing in a wilderness where celebrants of some sacred
The Cross-Cultural Articulations of War Magic and Warrior Religion by D. S. Farrer, main purpose of this article is to provide a re-evaluated perspective of religion and magic, through the perspective of the practitioners and victims. Farrer uses examples that range from the following: “Chinese exorcists, Javanese spirit siblings, Sumatran black magic, Tamil Tiger suicide bombers, Chamorro spiritual re-enchantment, tantric Buddhist war magic, and Yanomami dark shamans” (1). Throughout the article, he uses these examples to address a few central themes. The central themes for war magic, range from “violence and healing, accomplished through ritual and performance, to unleash and/or control the power of gods, demons, ghosts and the dead” (Farrer 1).
“The Wildman in many manifestations, forms part of the culture and mythology of almost every society since records begin.” (Shakley, 1983). The first documented record of Bigfoot was in the Epic of Gilgam...
"American Native Spirituality." American Native Spirituality. Tahtonka, 28 Feb. 1998. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. .
Sabina Magliocco, in her book Witching Culture, takes her readers into the culture of the Neo-Pagan cults in America and focus upon what it reveals about identity and belief in 21st century America. Through her careful employment of ethnographic techniques, Magliocco allows both the Neo-Pagan cult to be represented accurately, and likewise, scientifically. I argue that Magliocco's ethnographic approach is the correct way to go about this type of research involving religions.
Gates, Henry Louis and Appiah, K. A. (eds.). Toni Morrison: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. New York, Amistad, 1993.
Prior to 15th century colonization, indigenous peoples of North America enjoyed a gender system that included not only women and men, but also a third gender known as Two-Spirit. In Native American culture, individuals who identified as Two-Spirit were revered by society and held important roles among tribes. In their article “The Way of the Two-Spirited Pe...
The word “shaman” comes from an oral tradition. Therefore, the exact origin of the term shaman (the ecstatic one) is still disputed. Anthropologists suggest that it comes from the Tunguso- Munchurian verb sa, meaning “to know” or “to heat someone”. Other view derives shaman word from the Vedic, sram, also meaning “to heat oneself” and In Pali it is schamana, in Sanskrit Sramana meaning "buddhist monk, ascetic.”16
Johnson, Anne Janette. “Toni Morrison.” Black Contemporary Authors; A Selection from Contemporary Authors. Eds. Linda Metzger, et al. Detroit, MI: Gale Research, Inc., 1989.411-416.
By reviewing these three articles, it is clear that Morrison does indeed incorporate African religions and Christianity to navigate the storyline of Beloved. Even though some scholars might differ in their opinion on how Morrison incorporates religion into her novel, it is proven that religion was a vital part in Morrison’s approach to writing the novel, Beloved.
Lehmann A. C. & Myers J. E. Magic, Witchcraft and Religion – An anthropological Study of the Supernatural (Fourth Edition) (Mayfield Publishing Company, 1997)
Within "The Site of Memory", Toni Morrison highlights the continuous display of the black humanity through the history of Black literature and its 's social changing powers. She then goes on to explain the tools and techniques of doing so. Morrison even warns against the mixing of facts and truth. Finally, Morrison discusses what the site of memory really is and its spark to the imagination.
2 Marcus, Brad. "Diamond Back." Panel discusses Toni Morrison's Beloved. 04 Dec. 1998. Diamond Back Newspaper . 18. Oct. 2001. <http://www.inform.umd.edu/News/Diamondback/1998-editions/12-Dec/04-Friday/News7.htm>.
Toni Morrison’s Jazz is an eclectic reading based on elements of African American culture that produce, surround, and are an integral part of literary text. As we know, African American culture is distinguishable from other American cultures by its emphasis on music. This attention to music has produced two original forms, blues and jazz, and has developed distinctive traditions of others like gospel. Jazz is based mainly on one of these forms, namely –as the title infer- on jazz. This form pervades the whole book and provides not only subject and theme but also literary technique for the novel. Consequently, Jazz is not only the novel about the jazz era but also a novel that develops jazz “strategies” and creates a “jazz” of its own.
III. Smithson, Jayne. “Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion.” Class lectures. Anthropology 120. Diablo Valley College, San Ramon 2004.