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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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