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Magician,
Mystic, Master Healer
by
Judy Winters
Recently
my astrologer informed me that I am stepping foot into the first phase
of an 18-year Neptune transit. In preparation she suggested I record
what I understand to be the differences between shaman and mystic. “Shamanism,
you know,” she acknowledged, “and with this transit, mysticism
you will soon come to appreciate. There's common ground as well
as distinct differences and it won't hurt to start sorting it out
early.”
Mystical Neptune is tricky territory. On the one hand there's the
sense of oneness, unity with all that is. It's about feeling connected
to the Divine, being in touch with one's dreams and the alternate
realities; it's poetry, art and music. Mysticism is usually accompanied
by visionary experiences, oracular voices and prophetic dreams.
At the same time, when one is in this state of dreamy connectedness,
it is easy to be taken advantage of, to be deceived, to feel alienated
from those who are not experiencing the world in the same way you are.
Then anything that offers an escape from what is perceived as harsh
reality becomes increasingly tempting and the result may not look pretty:
addictions, compulsions, neuroses, or worse, free-floating madness.
In fact, Harper's Encyclopedia of Mystical and Paranormal Experience
describes the path of the mystic as one “characterized by a vacillation
between states of intense pleasure and intense pain.”
The life and work of 19th century English poet and artist, William Blake,
is a perfect example of what mysticism looks like in the extreme. As
a child he saw angels and talked with spirits; later, when his youngest
brother Robert died, he from that day forward communicated with Robert's
spirit “daily and hourly.” As an adult, he claimed his paintings
were “copied” from a visionary world and his poetry “dictated.”
Meanwhile, Blake's life in what shamans call the middle world of
daily obligations assumed the color and smell of chaos. His finances
were in a constant state of disarray, his relationship with patrons
strained and his behaviors, when they were not viewed as scandalous,
were at best considered strange. For example, one day a friend found
Blake and his wife seated in their garden in a state of undress. The
Blakes were reading Milton's Paradise Lost aloud to
each other and had in the process taken on the respective character
roles of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The friend was warmly invited
to join them as they continued the drama.
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Shaman