Shamans, silence and solitude in New York City

Though similarly unassuming, Ken’s shaman wasn’t quite as charismatic as The Oracle from The Matrix–no cookies. Photo: The Matrix
To reach the shaman, first I had to get real low.
I descended underground, hopped a downtown 6, made my way above ground, and navigated to a high rise in Yorkville. There, up 19 floors, through a putrid-yellow corridor in murky mauve lighting, at an apartment whose front door first concealed the muffled conversation of a couple and a yelping do