Nan:2006-07-21-shamanism-mva

From: board@big-8.org (The Big-8 Management Board)
Subject: Moderator Vacancy Announcement: soc.religion.shamanism
Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups, news.groups, soc.culture.native,
 talk.religion.misc, soc.religion.shamanism
Followup-To: news.groups
Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2006 10:26:55 -0700

                   Moderator Vacancy Announcement (MVA)
                          soc.religion.shamanism

This is a formal Moderator Vacancy Announcement (MVA), initiated after the
moderator of the moderated newsgroup soc.religion.shamanism has been found
to be absent.  The goal of this process is to find a new moderator for the
group.


PROCEDURE:

This is a preliminary procedure, instigated by the Big-8 Management Board
and the Dead Groups Task Force.  Discussion of this procedure is strongly
encouraged.

The Big-8 Management Board (B8MB) would like to find a person or a group
willing to moderate soc.religion.shamanism.  Candidates should write the
B8MB at <board@big-8.org> to present their technical and academic
credentials.

If no willing and qualified moderator or moderation team can be found,
the group will probably be robo-moderated for a time (i.e., posts will
not be checked for scientific content or adherence to the charter).  The
robomoderator will apply simple spam filters and prevent cross-posts from
appearing in the group.

Those who wish to comment on this request to establish a new moderation
team for this newsgroup should subscribe to news:news.groups and
participate in the relevant threads in that newsgroup.  To this end, the
followup header of this RFD has been set to news.groups.

All discussion of proposed nominees should be posted to news.groups.

If desired by the readership of closely affected groups, the discussion
may be crossposted to those groups, but care must be taken to ensure that
all discussion appears in news.groups as well.

For more information on the B8MB, please see

  http://www.big-8.org/


BACKGROUND: soc.religion.shamanism

soc.religion.shamanism was created in October 1993 by a 179:58 vote.  It
enjoyed regular traffic until December 2000.  A recent Moderator Vacancy
Investigation into the group has shown that there is no current active
moderator of soc.religion.shamanism.

Some web links of note:

 http://groups.google.com/group/soc.religion.shamanism/about
 ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/usenet/news.announce.newgroups/soc/soc.religion.shamanism


CHARTER: soc.religion.shamanism

Excerpted from the control messages:

  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 (in) 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 non-traditional 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.


DISTRIBUTION:

This document has been posted to the following newsgroups:

  news.announce.newgroups
  news.groups
  soc.religion.shamanism
  soc.culture.native
  talk.religion.misc

In addition, the proponent will post pointers to this document to:

  soc.culture.celtic
  soc.culture.misc
  alt.pagan
  alt.mythology

  soc.religion.paganism (moderated)


PROPONENT:

Tim Skirvin <tskirvin@killfile.org>
  (acting on behalf of the Big-8 Management Board)


HISTORY:

2006-07-20      Moderator Vacancy Announcement
2006-06-27      Moderator Vacancy Investigation