Inspired by Jesus.

By Lisa F. Tardiff

Four to five years ago we started a group site on Facebook to gather community members together and open up a space for discussions relating to material discussed on my blog.  The participation on Medicine Wheel and Indigenous Dreaming has been off the chart…  We really appreciate the questions, the insights, and the great stories people bring to the page every day.  Every now and again, I ask the members of this group if they have any blog ideas.  Believe it or not – I often hit a blank wall. 

“What do initiates of Shamanism want to read?”

With Easter last weekend and forty days of lent, many of the questions last month related to Jesus.  I often come across people who have a keen connection to Jesus, but have strong issues with Christianity.  In 1999 – G and I were in N.B., Canada when we came across an ancestral story at one of our workshops; which rallied together this small group of participants.  What started as a simple visualisation leading into a dream journey unexpectedly transformed into a traumatic story; which occurred almost 2,000 years ago.  Here we were G and I standing in the midst of a coliseum watching a group of Christians being devoured by wild cats, all in the name of sport. 

One of the things G and I have learnt through being traditional Dreamers and giving workshops all over the World is that people are a collection of memories stemming from a distant past all to way to the present moment.  There’s no doubt in my mind that our DNA holds memories; which the body can relive as lucid experiences and collect knowledge and wisdom from the learning and healing that is triggered by these stories.  It’s astounding how detailed these memories can be and how each of us as individuals and collectives are archives of incredible history both human and environmental.  Through studying and exploring these realities I’ve come to understand that part of what is being asked of us while reliving these stories is to bring presence (healing and learning) and awareness to them.  They are tools but they are also living cells within us. 

There’s a genius behind the methods used by Shamans / Sorcerers.  Many years ago while I was being initiated on my path, EC (an elder and teacher) asked me to look up at the sky.  She eloquently guided me through an observation of the World.  She conveyed the message that the galaxy is made of a huge percentage of darkness spotted by light that comes and goes.  She asked me to sit with this understanding and apply it to my life and my inner reality.  I understood through this exercise that our Western understanding of the World is a fleeting and fluttering star.  It represents 0.01% of reality and it’s limited to a point in time. 

I’m 48 years old today and in 25 years the World has changed drastically.  I no longer approach the modern day University students (example) in the same manner and I cannot convey the teachings with the same language and the same examples as I did 15 years ago.  Young people perceive the World in a completely different light than the young people of 20 or even 10 years ago.  If this is true for the people of our own century, imagine the gap that exists between the people of different millenniums?  And yet while working with workshop participants G and I often touch memories, and trigger perspectives relating to historical periods; which mystify us and keep us guessing no matter the archaeological evidence.

In 1999 when G and I mysteriously found ourselves in the middle of a Christian massacre, we reverted to technique.  It was important to contain the chaos and to move each person through the details; which impacted them in particular. We guided each individual through their own personal story; bringing learning and most of all healing to a trauma; which remarkably was still impacting each of these people’s present day lives.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t focus on historical information and explore legendary scenarios because emotions were flaring and people were authentically reliving fears and panic. 

Yet, I did imagine for a moment: “What if we could be disciplined in the ability to dream the past or to access deep rooted memories?  We could literally remember history.” 

Nevertheless, we touched crucial details during this experience; which left everyone perplexed.  It was clear to this small group once they stepped out of the experience that the word “Christian” implied a phenomenal experience rather than a Religion.  It wasn’t about Jesus or Christ – it was about the message he conveyed.  Everyone that day seemed convinced that a “big piece of the puzzle” was missing in today’s Christian World and that for a moment in this dream they had touched it!

It was MR who wrote on our Facebook site: “I’m tired of being misinformed and misled by Christianity.  I want to know through Shamanism – what is the story of Jesus?”

Every Easter weekend we try to gather together as a family.  We are busy people and can’t always find time to come together as one.  Easter is the only celebration during the year where we make an effort.  It seems the word itself  “Easter” – inspires a sense of family, community or collectivity.   Aside from catching up on each other’s lives and sharing good food, we also dedicate to one activity during the Easter weekend.  This year we all went to see the movie: Captain America.  We are big fans of Marvel and we all love superheroes.  Interestingly enough, this Easter season brought us to realize that no matter what Hollywood creates for us on the screen, we all imagine and create our own superhero realities.  We all fantasize about being part of World where we can interact with such amazing people. 

Jesus has been part of people’s fantasies for over 2,000 years and in many ways he’s been the hero of choice for an incredible amount of people.  Every era seems to inspire writers and thinkers to write about Jesus.  Their works reflect Jesus as the Hero / or Messiah of the times.  It’s certainly no different than Batman and how he was transformed from an innocent, mild mattered, humorous character in the 1960’s to a badass, shadow-possessed hero in the year 2000. 

Since 1997 and more recently 2012, a few authors have written fictitious novels about Jesus:  Colm Toibin (The Testament of Mary), Naomi Alderman (The Liars and Gospel), Richard Beard’s (Lazarus the Dead), Philip Pullman (The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ), Jim Grace (Quarantine) and JM Coetzee (Childhood of Jesus).   Stuart Kelly one of the judges for Booker explained that he understands this sudden boom as “a reaction to the current situation in the Middle East.”  The way I see it – “people have been infatuated with this story for millenniums; inspired by the wisdom, the love, the irony and the tragedy.” 

Who hasn’t imagined this story from their own perspective?

We keep saying that the Christian Church abused of the message that Jesus and his apostles tried to convey but maybe it was simply inspired by it.   If we look at the history that stretches within the last 2000 years we can certainly envision how Jesus’ story was used and modified to give hope to the people of this Earth.  Jesus has not been the only “superhero” that has motivated people to survive and grow beyond their limitations.  And even the stories of the Gods / Goddesses were altered to suit the people of the times.