Not only do people misunderstand that “houseless” does not mean “homeless”, but I believe, as others do, that the American society (as well as most other “civilized” countries) is depraved of the shamanic class and subculture. That without this class we are without a traditional “Wise Man”, and forever lost in our own folies against Mother Nature. This is reason for human rewilding, to cultivate a neo-shamanic class, to forge an alliance with those who are willing to “decondition themselves from society’s distrust of the mystery and walk in to it”, to paraphrase Terence McKenna. I wrote a short article on this called “Guerilla Urban Camping” which I posted on my site RovingFestival.com. I am a veteran “urban camper” and I’m seeking others to join my Artopium Art Troupe. Let me know what you think with a reply!
Hey thanks for this, Artopium! The place I rent was just recently put up for sale and I asked myself, why should I pay rent? So instead of finding another place I decided I’d try living in a tent. This article of yours came at a very opportune moment for me.
Thanks again!
Rob
I hear yall about the tent thing. I hope to be getting cash enough for all my camping needs, and live that way once my lease ends mid August, and couch surfing the rest. I’ve found a few spots around town that seem decent enough and away enough it’d be hard to find me, so why not give it a go? No rent = less money required = less time spent getting money = more free time. Works for me.
Thanks for such a thoughtful and provocative post, Artopium.
Thank you for your replies. I plan on making a complete “guide” to urban camping, including a more comprehensive list of equipment necessary, good techniques for finding camping spots, etc. I know there is already a plethera of websites that do this already, but I thought I might add to it in my own way.
One thing I might share right away, is that if you are planning on buying a tent anytime soon for your own guerilla urban camping adventures, you might consider getting two of them. I currently own a small, 2 person tent with a bright yellow rain fly, which works great, especially if I’m having a “guest” over for the night. 
I have a large camouflage tarp i throw over it so it can’t be seen easily. However, I feel I need to buy a much smaller, one-man, camouflaged bivoac as it would be easier to set up and break down every day, and it would open up more spots for me to camp in that my current tent is too big or noticeable to fit into. Just a thought.
Also, as far as saving money, you will definitely do that, but perhaps not as much as you might think. first of all, I find that without having a house-structure to live in, I am mostly hanging out at the coffee shops. They frown on you if you don’t buy something and I find that I’m spending a lot more on coffee shops then I would if I were staying at “home” all the time. Also, I own a small whisperlite camp stove to cook on, which is great, except that I’m limited to non-perishable foods, otherwise I’m buying fresh produce daily, or eating out, which can also get expensive. I guess this could be a whole other “misconceptions” topic. I have actually had to explain on more than one occasion that I do pay rent, just not to a leasing company. In other words, when people say that I’m mooching off of society, I retort with the explanation that I easily spend enough money at the coffee shop to pay for a small room in a house with roommates. And I most certainly contribute to society in a meaningful way (with and without money).
One last thing to consider: shamans do not necessarily want to be shamans. They are usually chosen by the tribe due to some mysterious or strange event that “signifies” to the tribe that this person should be the next shaman. The shaman then reluctantly goes off to some remote place outside the tribal village where they live in isolation and meditate. In a sense, they are even shunned, and it is not an easy experience for the shaman. But it is for this very reason that they are capable of deconditioning themselves from the tribes “normal” thinking patterns. I’m saying this as I have recently been shunned by a few people within my “tribe”, and it’s been hard for me to accept this. In our current society, there is no way around having at least a few people view you as a “mooch”, “bum”, “vagabond”, etc., and this can be hard on a person’s soul. Guerilla urban camping is not for the weak hearted. But all in all, it’s worth it. If not for the savings in money, the excitement and adventure, then at least for the spiritual awakening and impact it can have on your being.
This is always a pet peeve of mine, but can’t anyone think of a better word to use than ‘shaman’? Need we continually appropriate this word and water down its meaning because of the mistake of some long-dead Euro-centric anthropologists.
Whenever ai can when ai’m talking about a certain people, ai like to use their word for their “professional”. Ai believe English has a few terms already, but have been watered down and distorted in meaning over the course of civilizing. Namely: “wich” from Old English “wigga” (pronounced [wija]), which is also the name of the energy utilised by said persons (also “majick”); “wizard” from OE “wÃÂs” (modern “wise”) and suffex “-ard”, meaning one who does habitually (ie. drunkard), rendering “one who is always wise”, nowadays with connotations of majick.
There are a couple other, minor ones, but those two are the majors. Also, we could just say “wiseman” or “wisewoman” and be done with it.
There are a couple other, minor ones, but those two are the majors. Also, we could just say "wiseman" or "wisewoman" and be done with it.
I always love it when a good conversation or debate becomes purely syntactical.
OK - so you did miss one, which is “weird”, which comes from the old english word “wyrd”, (pronounced the same way) which means the interconnectedness of all things.
Anyway, I think there’s a good reason to use the word “Shaman” or “Shamanic” when describing the attribute missing from our current society (or I wouldn’t have used it :)). A shaman is to the shaman’s village in a manner much different from the way a mere wiseman is to that same village. Our current politicians claim to be “wise men” but this does nothing for my confidence in them. A shaman is a wiseman, as well as a healer, psychologist, doctor, town weirdo and fool, psychic, homeless bum, spare-changer, and in a sense, does as much for the village as a whole as does for each individual in the village. The shaman provides a balancing factor in that by being so strange and different, the villagers may feel “normal” and “content”. The shaman pushes the envelope. Much the same way a certain few guerilla urban campers I know do the same thing. Also, centered very much around shamanism is the use of psychedelic drugs, including ayawaska, mushrooms, lsd, pot, etc. John Lennon once said that he believed that if every major leader in the world took lsd there would be no more wars. Something to ponder…
[quote=“Artopium, post:8, topic:863”]OK - so you did miss one, which is “weird”, which comes from the old english word “wyrd”, (pronounced the same way) which means the interconnectedness of all things.
Anyway, I think there’s a good reason to use the word “Shaman” or “Shamanic” when describing the attribute missing from our current society (or I wouldn’t have used it :)). A shaman is to the shaman’s village in a manner much different from the way a mere wiseman is to that same village. Our current politicians claim to be “wise men” but this does nothing for my confidence in them. A shaman is a wiseman, as well as a healer, psychologist, doctor, town weirdo and fool, psychic, homeless bum, spare-changer…[/quote]
Ai did intentionally leave out weird, because it now has a meaning much farther away from the original connotation than would be easy to transition to. Mai argument in favor of “wiseman/woman” is that its rather easy to add connotations (ie. healer, doctor, etc.), while it is rather difficult to take away existing connotations. So, personally, ai would go with the one with less specific connotations and add. Perhaps we can say that “wisdom” is the knowledge of the ways of Spirit?