To Prasadine about Christ as Shaman (was Westerners and bed of roses)

[Guest guest]

Prasadini wrote:

 

....I was raised

as a liberal protestant, so we didn't have saints, and the suffering

or hardship aspects of spirituality were never discussed. The crucifix

did not exist - just an empty cross to focus on the living Christ, not

the crucifixion. The suffering of Christ was not emphasized...

Dear Prasadini ~ I'm not sure if you or the others are aware of my interest

in shamanism and of my practice, which has very much slid, along with many

other things. The last time I went to a Christian church was when I was staying

with my mother and stepfather (I was trying to please them). There was a

cross, and I think there was a Christ on the cross. As the minister was

blathering about converting the entire Treasure Valley (quite a large area), I

began

to focus on the cross.

 

This awareness began to grow within me about Christ being a shaman. This may

seem sacrilegious to some, to me it was an incredible revelation. The

commonalities were without question: the shaman undergoes suffering on behalf of

the "community;" the shaman climbs a tree, a vine or "creeper" to connect with

the Upper World; the shaman dies, and in many cultures the shaman makes a

three day journey to the Under World (not like hell at all in indigineaous

cultures); and then the shaman comes back from his journey, alive, reborn, with

gifts of healing for his "community."

 

I hope this doesn't offend anyone. Shamanism is an ancient tradition and has

often been referred to the first "religion" (and also, of interest to me,

the "beginnings of art," which has a lot to do with all those cave paintings. I

was stunned to tears, and I will never forget this experience. In one way, I

felt it was Jesus revealing himself to me in a context that I understood and

was very familiar with. The time on the cross is only a part of the process,

but all the processes are important. The rebirth, or coming back from death

into life, is a demonstration to all that death is not the end, that we

survive and go on and continue to evolve. In this context, the suffering made

sense to me, because it is part of the overall process. Blessings and thanks for

the opportunity to share ~ Linda