“When a culture is in a state of disintegration or transition the freedom of the artist increases— but the question of subject matter becomes problematic for him; he, himself, has to choose for society.”—Picasso,  from The Success & Failure Of Picasso, by John Berger

  “Now, when the social organism is in fragments, when criticism has taken up everything in order to destroy and refound everything, a hero appears …who will sustain the temple on his shoulder and gather up in the silence of his generous and despairing heart the love which has abandoned the multitudes.”— Elie Faure, The Dance Over Fire And Water

  Two quotes illustrative of the times we are living. 

  And of course the ‘artist’ referred to above are not the dime a dozen well-schooled social commentators and self-promoters, the ‘subversives,’ room decorators and craftspeople that pass for the genuine article today. 

  No, Picasso and Faure are speaking of creative Shaman-Types, those extremely rare individuals who through dangerously difficult ordeals have succeeded in penetrating down to the richly fecund ground of the human condition. 

  Once there was a tradition that assured the passing of the Shaman-Type mantle from one generation to the next. As custodians of the social spirit these Shaman-Types maintained the community’s balance and cohesion in an ever so gradually changing and evolving environment. 

  That Shaman-Type heritage is gone, stamped out centuries ago here in the West. His role has been replaced by committee, by artist, philosopher, professor, poet, priest and preacher. Like our social organism, the role of the Shaman-Type lies in fragments all around us. 

  Hence Faure’s line:

  “…when criticism has taken up everything in order to destroy and refound everything, a hero appears …who will sustain the temple on his shoulder and gather up in the silence of his generous and despairing heart the love which has abandoned the multitudes.”

  The italics are mine this time…

  To emphasize possibilities lying out before us….

  Call the Omphalos Cafe a New School for Lost Shaman-Types…

  Classes are in…!