The influence of Eliade and Harner

[AndreasWinsnes]

Does anyone know roughly how many well-known "plastic medicine men and women" have been influenced by Michael Harner, Castaneda, Joseph Campbell, or Mircea Eliade? Was Sun Bear, for example, influenced by these guys and their perennialism and comparativism? I am asking because I need to know if it is correct to call the followers of Sun Bear for "Harnerists". I am using this concept as an alternative to "neo-shamans", but in which degree can it be extended to Native Americans who have made their own mix of traditions and New Age? 

[Barnaby_McEwan]

I think plastics try to tune their product to meet the demands of their market. The better they do that the more successful they will be in dollar terms. Since that market is pervasively influenced directly or indirectly by those four authors, you could say they also influence the plastics.

It's a really interesting question which unfortunately I don't have the time or patience to pursue in detail. I'd have to read a lot of Harner's and Laduke's (Sun Bear's) output to give more than this vague answer, and frankly I'd rather watch paint dry!

[educatedindian]

You could actually just go by the dates. Harner came well after Sun Bear. Laduke was part of the first wave of exploiters, Harner the leader of the second. I don't think Laduke ever read anything. He just realized that white hippies were ripe for exploitation and took bits and pieces of what he knew of a neighboring tribe's tradition and mixed them with astrology.

As a general rule, people calling themselves into "core shamanism" are followers of Harner. Harner and co reject the label New Age, but plenty of the first wave of exploiters use the second wave's labels too. Better marketing, more cash.

Campbell and Eliade were serious scholars, though there's plenty to disagree with them about. Castaneda never was, he'd already gone for the cash and power before he finished grad school.

[AndreasWinsnes]

Thanks for answers.  Appreciate it. I already knew that Sun Bear was ahead of Harner, but what I mean by the term "Harnerist" is a person who combines the perennialism/comparativism of authors like Eliade with trance-journeys, workshops, money-making, and individualism while taking native symbols and practices out of their traditional cultures and religions. Does Sun Bear fit that description?

Surprisingly, I have enough patience to watch paint try, so I will study Sun Bear myself, but I am just asking you guys about your opinions, which I value. Thanks.

[earthw7]

all you have to know it has nothing to do with native people.

[AndreasWinsnes]

I am writing a book about the topic, so I need to know more than that. But I get your point.