Spiritual theater

The stage is set: It is nearing midnight under a full moon. The celebrants are gathered in a circle around a roaring fire. There is an air of expectation and wonder. They slowly begin to chant, softly at first, then with gathering volume & power, all voices joining together in a growing crescendo of ecstatic voice. As the the chanting reaches its climax, the shaman enters the circle, reslendant in his feathers, skins and ribbons of brightly colored cloths. He dances his power animal, body swaying, stamping, jumping and spinning, an ecstatic expression on the part of his face that isn't covered by a mask. Suddenly he stops and motions to those in the circle. The drums stop, the voices are silenced and all await his words.

A man addresses an expectant crowd. They sit in rows, listening, quietly at first, then with shouts and affirmations as he stirs them up. He stalks the stage, microphone in hand, waving his arms, pointing at the crowd and at the sky. He invokes the names of their gods--Father, Son, Holy Spirit. His voice is sometimes soft & modulated, the listeners leaning forward to catch each word. Sometimes it is loud, forceful, strident even, eliciting shouts & claps from the audience. Finally he softens again, the music begins to softly play in the background as he invites one & all to come forward and join him.

I have shared just two examples of theater in religion. The first could be an pagan, shamanic culture; the second, any evangelical Christian service. And for those who belong to neither, I only have to describe the rituals and theater inherent in their own faith. There are the priests reciting mass in ancient Latin, the Methodists reciting the doxology in responsive reading, and many other examples I don't have time to list. The point is not to say that all religion is just theater and therefore, false. It is to point out that our society has made a mistake in assuming that theater is not compatible with spirituality. Many people make fun of the "witch doctor's" crazy shenanigans and deny the performance element in their own belief system. I would propose that theater is an integral part of our religious experience. We need it; we crave it; yet we often deny and trivialize it. When the voodoo practitioner throws blood & powder into the fire and it explodes in bright colors, many dismiss this as trickery or a hoax to fool others into thinking there is magic there when there is not. I believe it is to help us recognize the magic that is there. I used to scoff at the elaborate rituals and theatrical monologues often incorporated in Western Ceremonial Magic as useless and pompous. Sometimes it may be, if we get hung up on the appearances and forget the underlying principles at work. In this way, the greatest preachers, the most powerful incantations, the deepest and most touching recitations may become nothing more than nursery rhymes. But a performance that grabs the audience and lifts them out of their own minds for a time can become a spiritual experience even if not initially invested with religious significance. If you doubt this, just ask anyone who has been to hear a Bach symphony or attended a great opera. I believe we need to re-discover the awe and respect for theater in our spirituality. Do not giggle at the curious antics of those you do not understand. Divorced of spirituality the whirling dervishes of Sufiism are just silly dances. The incense burned at Mass is just a pretty smell. And the weeping of dedicants at a baptism is just hysterics over being dunked in water. In the same vein, the calling of the four corners into the circle and the dancing of a power animal can become pointless play. But they do not have to be.

Dogma: the 2-edged sword

Shamanism, and most other pagan traditions as a rule, are not bound by strict interpretation of dogma. We do not have a single sacred text that contains everything we know about the Spirit. Most of us do not have a long and ancient tradition to guide us or often even pastors, bishops or other ministers to counsel us. Pagans usually see this as a benefit; our experiences are not limited by what another person tells us we should experience. However, it can be a double-edged sword. As anyone who has been through a high school civics course can tell you, the price of freedom is responsibility. We become responsible for our own development. It is great to have the freedom to choose our own destiny, but it can be more difficult as well. Christians who desire a deeper understanding of God, for instance, can study the Bible. They have the benefit of centuries of other studies into the same text. This can draw out the deepest meanings and greatest insights from one collection of books. Pagans, on the other hand, have the internet and a few shelves of books written from many different points of view, often by unknown authors with names like HawkRaven or Silvermoon Shadowdancer. By necessity we must learn to follow the winding, sometimes faint, path that is laid out before us by the Spirit. And the decisions are all our own without the comfort of anyone telling us what we should do or what we should believe. Once one develops that relationship, you cannot really go back. Once we start on the path we are committed and sometimes the spirits will push us along, even if we are not particularly excited about going. A friend once shared a very good analogy with me on this point. She said, "Sometimes the spirit may point out a path that lies through a lake." If you don't know how to swim, you might be very reluctant to step into the water and start across. You may prefer to go around the lake, even though it takes longer to get where you need to go. Other times, your path MUST go through the lake. At that point, you have two choices: wade in & trust the spirit to teach you to swim; or stall until the spirit picks you up and tosses you into the lake. I have followed both options. The first option is definitely the easiest! There have been times, however, when I was so reluctant to move forward for one reason or another, that I eventually was tossed into the water and floundered around, wishing I could have just waded in gently!

Psychadelics, etc.

The use of psychadelics and other mind-altering substances is taboo in most religious traditions in the U.S. and controversial even in the pagan community. The reasons are numerous & complex. One of the biggest arguments against their use is the fact that many hallucinogens are illegal in this country & have been the subject of a massive propaganda campaign to deny their usefulness and ruin their reputation as a source of inspiration and/or wisdom. They have also been characterized as extremely dangerous with high potential for abuse and little or no benefit. This is not entirely bad, but an incomplete viewpoint. Psychadelic substances, also known as entheogens (literally, "god-containing") are powerful and sometimes dangerous. Some, such as datura, are literally poisonous and can cause long-term damage. There is also the ever-present possibility of a user disconnecting from physical reality and behaving in a way that is dangerous to themselves or to others (thinking one can fly, for instance, can lead to a rude awakening). Our culture also lacks the ancient traditions often associated with these substances in tribal or shamanic cultures. The Tungans in Siberia, for example, used Fly Agar mushrooms occasionally, and the use was not limited to the shaman. But they had a tradition that encompassed the experiences obtained by such use and both the user and those around him/ her knew how to deal with the experience. My one experience with Fly Agar, on the other hand, was confusing to me and to my "sitter," though not dangerous or frightening. I had no shaman to guide me through the first time and so I was blundering in the dark, so to speak. The point I'm trying to make is, not everyone who is interested in shamanism should be ingesting every entheogen they can get their hands on. It does not always lead to greater wisdom; it can in fact lead to greater confusion if one is not prepared to sort out and make sense of the experience. And there is the factor of dependence. Entheogens are almost never addictive, at least not physically. But I have known people who became psychologically addicted to the apparent escapism provided by "tripping." And I have known shamanic pracitioners who were bound to the entheogens in their practice; that is to say, they did not know how to engage the spirits or explore other realms without the use of mushrooms, LSD, etc. That is not the purpose of these substances. They are teachers, not hand-holders. A strong psychadelic experience in the right context can show us the mountaintops, but that does not make one a mountain climber. We must learn on our own how to reach those peaks through our practice. When the entheogens are no longer necessary, they have done their job. I have lots more to say on the subject, but I will take a break here and re-visit later.
Dream well,
Chancy

What the hell....

am I doing? Having much to say and few who care to listen, I was sure I needed a blog of my own. But now I have one and ran into two problems. One: I don't have anything to say that seems important enough to write down. Two: It took me nearly ten minutes just to figure out how to post on my own blog! I hope it gets better from here. I will post later when I have actually put some thought into this whole process. Love & Light