A shaman and a writer each serve as their communities’ seers by engaging in extraordinary acts of conscientious study of the past and the present and predicting the future. An inner voice calls to the shaman and an essayistic writer to answer the call that vexes the pernicious spirit of their times. Shamanistic writers induce a trance state of mind where they lose contact with physical reality through a rational disordering of the senses, in an effort to encounter for the umpteenth time the great unknown and the unutterable truths that structure existence. An afflicted person seeking clarification of existence cannot ignore the shamanistic calling of narrative exposition. Thus, I shall continue this longwinded howl – making a personal immortality vessel – into the darkness of night forevermore.

~ Kilroy J. Oldster

Kilroy J. Oldster Autobiography Essay Writing Essayist Essays Immorality Immorality Quotes Immortality Of The Soul Journey Of Becoming Journey Of Faith Journey Of Life Journey Of Self Discovery Journey Of The Soul Journey Of Your Life Life Story Memoir Memoir Writing Memoirs Narrative Narrative Identity Narrative Writing Narratives Personal Essays Self Discovery Shaman Shamanic Shamanic Healing Shamanic Journeying Shamanism Shamanism Healing Shamans Story Of A Soul Story Of Life Story Of My Life Story Of Your Life Storytellers Storytelling Writers Writers On Thinking Writers On Writing Writers On Writing Books Writers Voice Writing Writing Life Writing Philosophy Writing Process

The communication function of modern writers is akin to the ancient role fulfilled by tribal shamans. All writers ultimately perform a shamanistic role in society, their mythmaking voices speak to us from the underworld after their passage to the other side. Writers place themselves in a trance-like state where their unconscious mind dictates to them what to write.

~ Kilroy J. Oldster

Kilroy J. Oldster Memoir Memoir Writing Personal Essay Personal Essays Shaman Shamanic Shamanic Journeying Shamanism Writers Writers On Thinking Writers On Writing Writing Process Writing Quotes

The novel comes from a long shamanic tradition wherein the shaman-storyteller himself is transformed, no longer storyteller but a character, an animal, a god, a goddess, or a natural force that is not his everyday identity. And these moments, when the characters come alive and the author disappears, take us into another world.

~ Hal Zina Bennett

Hal Zina Bennett Author Identity Shaman Shamanic Journeying Storyteller Transform