Shinju -I suppose when you consider the actual symbol itself, it is quite related to childbirth. You have the upright, which is the torso, two legs splayed out horizontally and a vertical protruding below representing the child.
Maggie -Yeah, absolutely.
Shinju -Do you believe yourself descended from any particular tradition, for example, Catriona believes herself descended from the Native Americans, myself from the Orient.
Maggie -At the moment, Celtic, possibly Native American but I need to know more about them. I know I'm drawn to them, but...
Shinju -Ok. What shamanic artwork have you been involved in?
Maggie -I've done a series of performance art pieces. It was done in a friends bedroom and she took loads of photos while I was moving around It was like, doing the childbirth thing, I had a rosary around me, like the Catholics use. There was a yin-yang symbol on my belly and Celtic knotwork spirals around my breasts; sorry I'm a bit embarrassed.
Shinju -There's no need to be. So what were you doing in this performance, were you just relieving the experience of childbirth as a piece of art?
Maggie -No it was more involved than that. I had a Rasta bird, freedom bird on my forehead as well and I experienced, believed that there were gods and goddesses on this planet getting rid of the negative patriarchal energy balancing it out with feminine energy. It was really powerful when I did it. I had twenty minutes to put the paint on my body and then another twenty minutes to do the performance and it was all really, really intense, like wow. I was just completely exhilarated when I finished it.
Shinju -Fantastic. What's the difference between a madman and a shaman?
Maggie -Ah, I know this one. A shaman is in control of the energy whereas a mad person isn't. A shaman is grounded and a mad person isn't. Does that make sense?
Shinju -Yup. How do you think modern shamanism relates to ancient shamanism? Do we still have shamen serving a tribe or has that changed? Are the energies involved different?
Maggie -I think that in our culture, there's are more and more shamen emerging but there's not as many guides as there should be. I think in previous times with shamans, that was their own job and their own role. There are more responsibilities these days, you have to get on with your life, and you cant just live in your own isolated shamanic world and do the healing. You've got to be a mother, do all the conventional things like pay bills and stuff.

Shinju -There's no specific role set aside for shamen, so you have to find another role to take on as well as the shamanism?
Maggie -Yes, but I think the shamanic role is still very important because we need the healers and the view of the other world.
Shinju -OK. Well that all my questions answered. Thank you very much for taking part.
Maggie -I enjoyed it.
Shinju -Cheers. Peace, Love, Unity and Respect.