Archive-name: shamanism/newsgroup-faq
Last-modified: 10 Sep 1994
Version: 1.0.5
soc.religion.shamanism-Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
This FAQ is a monthly posting in support of the newsgroup soc.religion.shamanism. It is maintained by dean@netcom.com (Dean Edwards). Send comments to srs-admin@aldhfn.org
I. Who are the moderators of
soc.religion.shamanism
II. Submissions address and mailing list
III.The Charter of soc.religion.shamanism
IV. Why is this news group in the soc.religion
hierarchy?
V. Where does the word "shaman" come from and how
does it relate to "shamanism"?
VI. Submissions Details
VII. Comments on Etiquette
VIII. Comments on Flames
***************************
Skip Watson (ciaran@aldhfn.org)
Dean Edwards (deane@netcom.com)
Al Billings (mimir@io.com)
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II. WHAT IS THE SUBMISSION ADDRESS AND IS THERE MAILING LIST ACCESS?
Submissions/postings for soc.religion.shamanism should be sent
to:
srs@aldhfn.org
Administrative material and queries should be sent to:
srs-admin@aldhfn.org III. CHARTER of soc.religion.shamanism
Mailing List: Yes, soc.religion.shamanism has e-mail support for
those that do *not* have any access to the actual newsgroup. It
was brought to our attention that some folks were unable to
access the newsgroup itself and asked for some way of getting the
information. We set up a mailing list that the newsgroup is gated
into. For more information or to subscribe to this mailing list
send email to ciaran@aldhfn.org. Please note that this is
available only if you do *not* have any other way to access the
group. If you have access to the newsgroup please read it there
;-).
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III. CHARTER of soc.religion.shamanism
1. PURPOSE
The purpose of soc.religion.shamanism is to provide a forum for discussion and exchange of questions, ideas, views, and information about historic, traditional, tribal, and contemporary shamanic experience. Everyone is invited to take part in this discussion by sharing views, ideas, opinions, experience and information about shamanism.
2. BACKGROUND
Technically speaking, Shamanism is classified by anthropologists as an archaic magico-religious phenomena which the shaman is the great master of ecstasy. This view of shamanism is further detailed in the Shamanism-General Overview Frequently Asked Questions (which is available in news.answers). The distinguishing characteristic of shamanism is its focus on an ecstatic trance state in which the soul of the shaman is believed to leave the body and ascend to the sky (heavens) or descend into the earth (underworld). The shaman makes use of spirit helpers, which he or she communicates with,all the while retaining control over his or her own consciousness. Most importantly, shamanism as a spiritual practice focuses on the personal experience of the shaman. Everything that a shaman does depends upon this experience. Without it, there is no shaman.
In contemporary, historical or traditional and nontraditional shamanic practice the shaman may at times fill the role of priest, magician, metaphysician or healer. Personal experience with and knowledge of other realms of being and consciousness and the cosmology of those regions are prime determinants of shamanism. With this knowledge, the shaman is able to serve as a bridge between the mundane and the higher and lower states. The shaman lives at the edge of reality as most people would recognize it and most commonly at the edge of society itself. Few indeed have the stamina to adventure into these realms and endure the outer hardships and personal crises that have been reported by or observed of many shamans.
For more information see the shamanism-general overview FAQ, which has been posted to news.answers. In addition another FAQ, soc religion.shamanism FAQ, will be regularly posted to once this group has been created.
3. MODERATOR POLICIES
Anyone with an interest in shamanism is welcomed and encouraged to post articles to soc.religion.shamanism. (See additional details below.)
Moderators will only return submissions that violate this charter. Any returned article will have an explanation attached to it about which charter provision was violated.
There shall be one to four moderators for soc.religion.shamanism.
The newsgroup will be subject to conventions of network etiquette. In practice, the moderators will reject personal attacks (flames) directed at individual posters, similarly inflammatory attacks directed at religious institutions, and articles which use offensive language. These guidelines are intended to regulate only the tone of the discussions, and not their contents. This instruction is not intended to limit discussion and debate. Vigorous discussion and criticism are encouraged, flames are not.
Repetitive postings (such as multiple responses to one request for a book reference) may also be rejected. Any rejected article will be returned to the sender with an explanation.
Administrative communications, comments and inquiries should be mailed to the moderator(s) rather than being posted to the group.
From time to time a moderator may choose to give up his or her duties as a moderator. In such an event the moderators should select a suitable replacement. The retiring moderator may take part in this selection if he or she has not yet given up their responsibilities as moderator.
4. SUBMISSIONS GUIDELINES
Guidelines for submissions will be regularly posted to news.answers in a soc.religion.shamanism Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).
Readers of soc.religion.shamanism submit articles to the
moderators by email. The initial moderators will be
Skip Watson (ciaran@aldhfn.org)
Dean Edwards (deane@netcom.com)
Note: since the original vote additional moderators have been
added as provided for by the terms of this charter. They are:
Al Billings (mimir@illuminati.io.com)
Submissions/postings for soc.religion.shamanism should be sent to srs@aldhfn.org
A current list of moderators will be included in a soc.religion. shamanism Frequently Asked Question (FAQ) article to be posted to soc.religion.shamanism and selected 'answers' newsgroups.
Administrative matters will not be discussed in
soc.religion.shamanism administrative comments and inquiries
should be sent to:
srs-admin@aldhfn.org
5. COMMENTS ON ETIQUETTE
See the FAQ shamanism-general overview FAQ, which is regularly posted to news.answers.
It is also recommended that the articles on network etiquette posted to news.newusers.questions be read.
For information concerning excessive flames and personal attacks see above comments.
For information on network etiquette please refer to the
following documents, among others:
Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette
Answers to Frequently Asked Questions about Usenet
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IV. Why is this news group in the soc.religion hierarchy?
There have been some questions raised about the name of this
newsgroup The topic of soc.religion.shamanism is 'shamanism.' It
is in the 'soc.religion' hierarchy. While shamanism itself is not
a religion, it is a religious practice. This was the appropriate
hierarchy for discussion of shamanism. (deane@netcom.com).
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V. Where does the word "shaman" come from and how does it relate to "shamanism"?
The practice, study and experience of the shaman is not limited
to any single cultural group. There has been some question about
this raised outside of soc.religion.shamanism. The word 'shaman'
is from the language of the Tungus of Siberia. It is variously
'shaman', 'saman' or 'haman'. Among the Tungus it is both a noun
and a verb. The Tungus themselves have no word for 'shamanism'.
It is something that is done by a shaman. It is by no means the
name of their religion or of anyone's religion. That being said,
there is no provision in the charter of soc.religion. shamanism
for the general discussion of native religion. That is, as it has
been pointed out elsewhere, a very broad topic. The focus of this
newsgroup, according to its charter is much more tightly focused.
All submissions should keep that in mind.
(deane@netcom.com)
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A. At USENET sites that provide automatic mailing in support of moderated newsgroups, posting to soc.religion.shamanism will transparently mail the article to the moderators. At other sites articles will need to be mailed explicitly to the moderators.
B. The moderators attempt to handle each incoming article in a timely manner, either posting it publicly or responding to its author privately within four days of receipt. If a post has resulted in neither of these actions after four days, it should be assumed that one's site is not configured to support submissions to moderated groups, and the article should be resubmitted by mail to the above address.
C. Please provide a signature with your name and correct e-mail
address (preferably in Internet format) at the end of your
article; do not rely on the article header's From: field to
identify you, as this will not necessarily contain your correct
e-mail address.
(This language is taken from the soc.religion.bahai faq.)
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The following suggestions are offered for your consideration before posting.
A. An option in requests for specific information (how do I reach someone, where is this quotation to be found, etc.) is to ask explicitly that all replies be mailed directly to the poster, who may then post a summary if it is of general interest. This would result in only 2 messages (or perhaps just one) being seen by all subscribers, which could be desirable in some contexts. Likewise, responses to such requests may, in some cases, be most appropriately addressed just to the original poster.
B. Please use line lengths of no more than 70. This keeps your text within the 80 character per line limit of most terminals, in both your initial article and in any follow-up articles, where it is customary to prefix each line of quotation from another article with a few additional characters to indicate the material is quoted.
Please be merciful to email mail systems by limiting articles to
50 KiloBytes in length. Posts that exceed this limit should
either be pared down or subdivided; or one could submit an
announcement of the item instead, asking that readers respond via
private mail in order to obtain the actual item.
(Note: some email gateways have only an 8K gateway!)
C. If you quote a previously posted article, please limit the amount of quoted text that you include. One may generally assume that readers have already seen an article to which one is responding. Therefore, you need only quote as much as required for establishing a context.
D. Please choose your Subject: heading carefully!
E. If responding to an earlier article, it is not best to respond to each paragraph therein. Rather, if there one statement that succinctly summarizes the earlier viewpoint, use that or a paraphrase instead.
F. It is useful if articles are written in such a manner that it
is relatively easy to discern fact from opinion.
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The newsgroup will be subject to conventions of network etiquette. In practice, the moderators will reject personal attacks (flames) directed at individuals, similarly inflammatory attacks directed at religious institutions. For point of reference, this charter will define a flame as the following: offensive insults on ones intellect, mentality, physical appearance, race, and other human characteristics. Flammatory attacks on institutions would be comprised of the following: offensive and degrading slurs aimed at the institution which includes the parameters defined under flame above. Offensive and degrading language aimed at a person, people, and institution will not be acceptable. Mild profanity will pass the moderators if it is not offensive or inflammatory. This will allow for open and free discussion although without extreme flames. Moderation will be relaxed. These guidelines are intended to regulate only the tone of the discussions, and not their contents. This instruction is not intended to limit discussion and debate. Vigorous discussion and criticism are encouraged, flames are not. (rsahebi@netcom.com)
Note: Send comments to srs-admin@aldhfn.org
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END OF FAQ