by bosco

The alt.religion.shamanism community in its later years gathered a handful of practitioners who wrote with unusual plainness about the texture of lived shamanic experience — not dramatic initiations or harrowing descents, but the daily negotiation with spirit helpers, the small surprises, the quiet humor. "Bosco" (Ben) was one of these. In this post from January 2007, he describes how his spirit helper Otter developed a preference for a specific brand of cookie and, in doing so, opened an old account with Crow. The story is characteristic of bosco's voice: attentive to the absurd logic of spirit relationships, gently skeptical of his own interpretations, and warm throughout.

I want to share a story in the making, even though I am not sure where it will end up. For me it is a story that is very creative, insightful, and funny, on a few different levels.

I lived in a rural area as a child in Minnesota. One early spring day (with a few feet of snow still on the ground) two crows showed up on the fence on a small hill that could be seen from the dining room window. As I was watching and listening to them my Mom told me they wanted to be fed. I pulled on my snow clothes and she gave me a package of graham crackers to put on a fence post for the crows to eat. I put the package on a fence post and as soon as I was back in the house at the window the crows went to the graham crackers and started eating. That pair of crows (I am guessing anyway) showed up every spring for three years as the first birds to announce spring and were fed the same thing each year.

Zoom forward to the present. I do not know why, but occasionally I get the urge to have a cookie after lunch. A few months back I thought Otter would like a taste of a cookie. I thought it would be a nice way to say thank you. It happened to be a Mrs. Fields cookie which in my opinion is the best store bought cookie there is, so I offered Otter a part of a Mrs. Fields cookie. Well, Otter sure developed a taste, but for those cookies only! If I happen to have some other type of cookie, I am told no thanks, but Crow would still like some too, so I will place part of a cookie on the ground for Crow to eat — today turned out to be 1/2 a cookie.

Now, this didn't make sense to me. Why would Otter want me to leave some cookie for Crow to eat, as I do not imagine they are the best of friends. I asked Otter about this and I was told that the purpose is to help restore the relationship I once had with Crow.

Now, my theory about this is that Otter somehow understands those cookies probably have more calories and bad stuff than whatever I had just eaten for lunch and is mostly interested in limiting the amount of cookie I eat for my own good rather than whether Crow really wants any or not. Of course I can only go on what I am told, but I will still hold my personal theory in reserve.

On a side note, suddenly it is okay for me to write of and about these things. Most of my previous writing (the little there is) has been highly modified, as I was not allowed to write as I normally would. I think the reason is my understanding now is more than it was even six months ago, and I know where to draw the line when I write something, which I know I did not know in the past. At any rate it is nice to not be monitored and proofread every post.

Colophon

Written by bosco (Ben) and posted to alt.religion.shamanism on January 8, 2007. Original Message-ID: <2007010821335111272-boscopelone@yahoocom>.

The post is characteristic of bosco's practice writing from this period: attentive to the lived texture of spirit relationships, warm in tone, and gently self-deprecating. The framing of Otter as a spirit helper with specific cookie preferences is not comedy — it is the pragmatic, relational shamanism that characterizes the best of the alt.religion.shamanism community in this era.

Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

🌲