A couple of weeks ago I wrote to Manny, and have finally found time to come here and re-post the gist of my letter: Last night my wife and I watched the Kirk Douglas film "Lust for Life," the Van Gogh biopic from the 50s. As I usually do, I read up a little afterward, hitting IMDB and Wikipedia. Two things from the Wiki bio jumped out at me, and I thought you might find them interesting from the "Artist as Shaman" angle: QUOTE 1: Art and religion were the two occupations to which the Van Gogh family gravitated. QUOTE 2: Vincent wished to become an artist while in God's service as he stated, "to try to understand the real significance of what the great artists, the serious masters, tell us in their masterpieces, that leads to God; one man wrote or told it in a book; another in a picture." END QUOTES You may know that Vincent tried his hand at being a minister for a while. His descent into madness also reminded me of Campbell's writings on schizophrenia. I think a close study of Van Gogh's life would be a rich field for someone interested in the things we love: Campbell, art, spirituality.