The shaman lives outside the social system, refusing to have any part of it. Yet he seems to connect the populace to the heavens and the earth far more directly than the priest.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Outsiders who reject social norms often connect people to nature better than established authorities.
- In plain terms
- A shaman outside society connects people to earth more than priests do.
- What can you take from it?
- Authenticity often trumps institutional power.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who connects you to meaning?
- Does institution help or hinder?
Another view
It idealizes outsiders who may lack credibility.
More from Tom Robbins
If you didn't serve the nasty fellow (God), the Romans would burn your house down. If you did serve him, you were called a Christian and got to burn other peop…
Permalink to quote #53 In the quiet ache of the evening, Alobar listened to his calluses grow.
Permalink to quote #55 Modern Romans insisted that there was only one god, a notion that struck Alobar as comically simplistic.
Permalink to quote #52
Related quotes
I'm the pope. I'm ten times the pope. I'm sixty times the pope. But I'm the pope in the hills and in the mountains,
Charles MansonCharles Manson quote #52 Prince : Why don't you purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka?
Dave ChappelleDave Chappelle quote #68 I find more meaning in the wing of a bird and in the branch of a tree, than in five hundred icons. God has given us two books: the Bible and Creation.
Alexander MenAlexander Men quote #1