The Christmas trip to Mississippi was long - and, as always on long trips, filled with psychic synchronicity and strangeness. As we passed through the open flatness of the upper Miss. Delta in Arkansas, I flipped through the satellite radar for a station to ease the monotony. At one point, I had to stop and look up for a truck or something, not knowing which station I was on, only to hear the blues - the music of the Delta, which I did not even know was on the list. Driving back, listening to the hypnotic beat of electronic music after 9 hours of driving, the lights of central Illinois flickering in a vast darkness, I felt knowledge - a different, otherworldly knowledge, pressing through me, indecipherable but somehow known. Spooky - and enticing. Another level - but what?
It is of these things that I thought about when reading Michael Harner's new book on shamanism. In it, he describes visualized adventures of those following the beat of a drum as they ascend into the heavens or into the lower world on a quest of knowledge, ones that invariably lead to enlightenment and often a sense of universal love and oneness with the universe. The wanderers fly to these places on the backs of horses or deer or eagles or owls and are delivered to masters - some well-known, such as Christ or Buddha, others less so - residing in golden palaces or in a lotus flower. The grass here might shine of itself in an indescribable color, the visions will speak of knowledge itself, and the masters - the teachers - will deliver wisdom through symbol and metaphor that cannot be contained or delivered in words. As said in the previous blog, many of these encounters - and almost all in the upper world - sound exactly like the NDE's that so many people have written of, even to the tunnel and the light and meeting with relatives and old friends. It sounds wonderful, and I want to go - and all I have to do is follow the instructions in the appendix and listen as the beat of a drum takes me away.
I have tremendous respect for Michael Harner and have read much of his work, from his early days as a standard anthropologist to his later days as a practicing shaman. Like me, he lived with Amazon Indians and knows much of their life and thought. He is aware that shamans often turn to the dark side and use the power gained in the NOR (non-ordinary reality) for harm or selfish gain. He knows that many of the Indians are warriors, intent on killing as many of the enemy as they can. He knows, unlike many New Agers, the dark side to their lives, and yet he never mentions negative trips taken to the other worlds in his new book.
I wonder; he rightly chastises those of organized religion - not just Christian, but Buddhist and Hindu - who abuse their positions for control and power. But in this, I think he praises the world of shamanism too much, ignoring the warnings in the great religions. Cannot people's souls be used by powers in these other worlds? Is there not evil - a satanic like force - in the lower and upper worlds? He emphasizes most the upper world, and perhaps this is where demons cannot reside. But can we always steer ourselves there? Is it that safe and infallible?
These are only questions, but ones that have kept my own travels to a minimum. Perhaps the warnings of the great religions were put their to keep people from attaining their own personal power beyond the hierarchies. But another thing happened on the trip to Mississippi. For some reason, the serial killer John Wayne Gacey was mentioned, and my wife looked him up on her hand computer and read about him for an hour. Here was an abused child, probably a homosexual from an early age, who became thrilled by the act of murder. He confessed that on his first kill, he had an orgasm like no other, and he rushed to have many, many more. But he lived a double life, having successful businesses, wives and kids - and was even vice-president of the local Jaycees - having his picture taken next to then-first lady Rosalyn Carter. He was not crazy - but he gave in to the dark side. What power could have pulled him there? Can it happen to us? And where did it come from?
Such are my questions and worries. Should we dare to adventure out into the spirit realms on our own? I do not take this lightly - these worlds exist and they have real power, much of it good. But how about the bad? Are we like hitchhikers there taking our chances? I once hitchhiked for a year (my book Dream Weaver is about this) and was never beaten or truly harmed. Most people are decent. But I was hitching through the areas where Gacey lived at the time of his murder spree. Could I have become one of his victims?
Still - there are scary things in True Religion - hell, demons, temptations, and one's faith may not always be strong enough to fight them off - or one might become unhinged, like David Koresh. But the true path is always Love and goodness. Perhaps that is why Harner accentuates that - that this is always the true path, and we simply have to keep to it. Never use power for revenge or purely selfish gain. Maybe then, as he believes, we can almost always have a good flight. Because, yes, flying on a power animal to have a direct experience with heaven and truth surely beats watching the clock as the choir sings another leaden tune off-key. Still - could any other vision beat the visions of perfect love that the True Religions bring?
Harner seems to think so. More on shamanism later, FK
It is of these things that I thought about when reading Michael Harner's new book on shamanism. In it, he describes visualized adventures of those following the beat of a drum as they ascend into the heavens or into the lower world on a quest of knowledge, ones that invariably lead to enlightenment and often a sense of universal love and oneness with the universe. The wanderers fly to these places on the backs of horses or deer or eagles or owls and are delivered to masters - some well-known, such as Christ or Buddha, others less so - residing in golden palaces or in a lotus flower. The grass here might shine of itself in an indescribable color, the visions will speak of knowledge itself, and the masters - the teachers - will deliver wisdom through symbol and metaphor that cannot be contained or delivered in words. As said in the previous blog, many of these encounters - and almost all in the upper world - sound exactly like the NDE's that so many people have written of, even to the tunnel and the light and meeting with relatives and old friends. It sounds wonderful, and I want to go - and all I have to do is follow the instructions in the appendix and listen as the beat of a drum takes me away.
I have tremendous respect for Michael Harner and have read much of his work, from his early days as a standard anthropologist to his later days as a practicing shaman. Like me, he lived with Amazon Indians and knows much of their life and thought. He is aware that shamans often turn to the dark side and use the power gained in the NOR (non-ordinary reality) for harm or selfish gain. He knows that many of the Indians are warriors, intent on killing as many of the enemy as they can. He knows, unlike many New Agers, the dark side to their lives, and yet he never mentions negative trips taken to the other worlds in his new book.
I wonder; he rightly chastises those of organized religion - not just Christian, but Buddhist and Hindu - who abuse their positions for control and power. But in this, I think he praises the world of shamanism too much, ignoring the warnings in the great religions. Cannot people's souls be used by powers in these other worlds? Is there not evil - a satanic like force - in the lower and upper worlds? He emphasizes most the upper world, and perhaps this is where demons cannot reside. But can we always steer ourselves there? Is it that safe and infallible?
These are only questions, but ones that have kept my own travels to a minimum. Perhaps the warnings of the great religions were put their to keep people from attaining their own personal power beyond the hierarchies. But another thing happened on the trip to Mississippi. For some reason, the serial killer John Wayne Gacey was mentioned, and my wife looked him up on her hand computer and read about him for an hour. Here was an abused child, probably a homosexual from an early age, who became thrilled by the act of murder. He confessed that on his first kill, he had an orgasm like no other, and he rushed to have many, many more. But he lived a double life, having successful businesses, wives and kids - and was even vice-president of the local Jaycees - having his picture taken next to then-first lady Rosalyn Carter. He was not crazy - but he gave in to the dark side. What power could have pulled him there? Can it happen to us? And where did it come from?
Such are my questions and worries. Should we dare to adventure out into the spirit realms on our own? I do not take this lightly - these worlds exist and they have real power, much of it good. But how about the bad? Are we like hitchhikers there taking our chances? I once hitchhiked for a year (my book Dream Weaver is about this) and was never beaten or truly harmed. Most people are decent. But I was hitching through the areas where Gacey lived at the time of his murder spree. Could I have become one of his victims?
Still - there are scary things in True Religion - hell, demons, temptations, and one's faith may not always be strong enough to fight them off - or one might become unhinged, like David Koresh. But the true path is always Love and goodness. Perhaps that is why Harner accentuates that - that this is always the true path, and we simply have to keep to it. Never use power for revenge or purely selfish gain. Maybe then, as he believes, we can almost always have a good flight. Because, yes, flying on a power animal to have a direct experience with heaven and truth surely beats watching the clock as the choir sings another leaden tune off-key. Still - could any other vision beat the visions of perfect love that the True Religions bring?
Harner seems to think so. More on shamanism later, FK
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