David Palladin continues his reflections on shamanship and dying when he says:
We have the privilege of serving others, reaching out to them. We can share with others that they have died and been reborn. Even Christ said you don’t live until you’re born again. The shaman is a warrior who has experienced such death before his physical death.*
I shared some stories about my mother’s death that I tell in my book, Creativity: where the divine and the human meet. People can often approach death in ways other than passive; death itself becomes an invitation to be creative.
When my mother was in the hospital and near death, two of my sisters came to visit her. She said to them, “I was up all night last night and didn’t sleep at all.”
One replied: “I’ll talk to the nurse and ask her for some medicine to help you sleep at night.” “Oh no,” my mother said. “I was up all night because I’ve never died before, and I wanted to figure out how to do it right.”
Then she turned to a nurse and said, ‘Roberta, this is a waste of time, that you stick around to watch me die. Why don’t you do something more important and useful?’ Then she said the same thing to my sister Terry.
Then she said, ‘This is a waste of time for me too. How long will it take for me to die?”
Weeks later, when the doctor told us she would die soon, all seven children flew in with their husbands, etc. to be with her. After three days I had to go back to work in California, so I went to her, sitting in a chair, to say goodbye.
She said to me, ‘Tim, you know I’m not afraid to die.’ I said, “I know and I know why.” She replied, “Why?” I said, “Because you are curious and looking forward to an adventure.” She replied, “Exactly.” With that we kissed, and I continued with that word “exactly” as the last word we exchanged.
She died ten days later while riding an indoor bicycle.
*A correspondence from his wife about a closing speech David gave to participants in a shamanic workshop he gave in 1983.
Adapted from Matthew Fox, Creativity where the divine and the human meet, pp. 218-220.
Banner image: Dandelion releasing its seeds, Finland. photo by Saad Chaudhry on Unsplash
Questions for contemplation
Thomas Berry said that we need “fewer priests and fewer professors and more shamans.” How do you think David Palladin’s teachings on shamanism and death relate to Berry’s observation? How do the stories about my mother’s attitude toward death touch or encourage you?
Recommended reading
Creativity: where the divine and the human meet
Since creativity is the key to both our genius and beauty as a species, but also to our capacity for evil, we must learn creativity and learn ways to direct this divine force in directions that promote the love of life (biophilia) and not love of death (necrophilia). Fox’s focus on creativity extends far beyond the boundaries of conventional Christian doctrine and seeks to shape nothing less than a new ethic.
“Matt Fox is a pilgrim looking for a way to the church of tomorrow. Countless people will be happy to follow his example.” –Bishop John Shelby Spong, author, Saving the Bible from Fundamentalism, Living in sin
