I finished Count Zero. I couldn't put it down.

While I read it, it reminded me of the techno version of shamanic journeying. Think about it: in William Gibson's books, the 'cowboys' plug into their cyberdecks and are immersed in the matrix. Shamanic practitioners mentally 'plug' into the astral and spiritual planes and are immersed in the various Worlds. Both are methods of gathering information.

In Count Zero, the voodoun loas (gods) have made their presence known to a chosen few on the matrix and it's also said that it is possible to talk to ghosts and other entities. In Shamanic journeying, it is possible to speak to gods and other divine spirits in the Upper World as well as ghosts and nature spirits in the Middle and Lower Worlds.

Is that cool or what??

I've been thinking about how to relate more of my spiritual beliefs in a techno manner - gods, I've gone from being a total and deliberate technophobe to near junkie. It's actually easier for me to think in terms of circuits (could the circle of life be a type of circuit? You're born, live, die and are reborn again...well, maybe not a circuit) and grids (leylines) and whatnot.

O.k...I'm going to continue this later - George Carlin's on Art Bell.