“In many shamanic societies, if you came to a medicine person disheartened, dispirited, or depressed, they would ask one of four questions: “When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing? When did you stop being enchanted by stories? When did you stop being comforted by the sweet territory of silence?”
Gabrielle Roth

To dance, to sing, to be enchanted by stories.  How often do we do these things?

It is evident that depression and alienation abound in contemporary urban society where we do not  consult the traditional medicine person or the shaman for help.  It is the shaman’s task to re-spirit the dispirited.

Gabrielle Roth, whose quote  has been making the rounds on social media, calls herself an urban shaman.  She brings a unique perspective  to music and dance within Western society, imbuing them with the qualities of traditional tribal societies with her Sweat Your Prayers  movement to specified rhythms.

When did you stop being enchanted by stories?  When you listen to stories you step onto the path of enchantment. Storytellers have a place in tribal societies; and they have a place in ours.  Stories have a way of seeping into the subconscious, and connecting us to our community and our past.  To lose stories is to lose ourselves.

And let us not forget the sweet territory of silence.  It, too, is necessary.