shamans or medicine men and women of ancient cultures, have the potential to be healers. W R I T E R S AND SHAMANS Shamans have been called "the wounded healers." Like writers, they are special peo ple set apart from the rest by their dreams, visions, or unique experiences. Shamans, like many writers, are prepared for their work by enduring terrible ordeals. T h e y may have a dangerous illness or fall from a cliff and have nearly every bone broken. T h e y are chewed by a lion or mauled by a bear. T h e y are taken apart and put back together again in a new way. In a sense they have died and been reborn, and this experience gives them special powers. M a n y writers come to their craft only after they have been shattered by life in some way. Often those chosen to be shamans are identified by special dreams or visions, in which the gods or spirits take them away to other worlds where they undergo ter rible ordeals
began looking for a replacement. But his brainy First General Staff Officer, Colonel Max Hoffmann, pointed out that the southern Russian army had already invaded so far that its left wing was actually closer to the Vistula than the German rear and so was in a position to cut off the German retreat. He convinced his chief that he had to strike against this wing to give the German army freedom to maneuver, if only to reach the safety of the Vistula. The Germans had somewhat mauled the Russian bear before their rout, and Rennenkampf, instead of pursuing to turn victory into triumph, had paused to lick his wounds. Hoffmann was confident that he would rest another day or two. He proposed, and his general agreed, to disengage two German corps from the front against Rennenkampf, switch them southward over the excellent network of German railroads, and fall upon the Russian southern prong with surprise. The movement was in its early stages when the new German
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