JULIAN OF NORWICH & MICHAEL HARNER - Assignment Example

Julian of Norwich and Michael Harner Table of Contents Question Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Works Cited 2 Question 1While Julian narrates her thoughts and experiences with an undercurrent of awe and a certain sense of not being able to fully put the experiences into words, Harner expresses his experiences, his feelings as well as the bodily sensations accompanying his forays into shamanism and into ayahuasca as matter of factly as he could, like a reporter using his own body to experience and then to narrate those experiences.

There is also a sense in Julian of a great synthesis of metaphysical truths like sin and the Holy Spirit, whereas Harner more or less sticks to the physical details of his experiences. So while Julian talks about Christ being “the foundation, he is the substance, he is the teacher, he is the end”, Harner talks about the matter of fact aspects of the tsentsak and non-drug forms of shamanism in ordinary, factual language (Harner 57-68; Julian of Norwich 43). Question 2 Both sources narrate forms of spiritual quests, and a common element in both is a sense that both are honest and sincere in their quests and in the way they tried to make sense of their experiences and visions.

This is important because both are narrating extremely subjective experiences whose validity cannot be experienced or confirmed by an external party, but only felt as genuine and believable from an intuitive point of view. The integrity of the narrators can make or break the narratives. One gets a sense of the integrity of Harner’s narratives especially with regard to the subjective experience of ayahuasca, confirmed by a blind shaman for instance. For Julian, her reputation and the internal consistency of her message attest to the sincerity and the genuineness of her narratives and religious insights (Harner; Julian of Norwich).

Question 3 Julian contextualizes her sufferings in the context of Christ’s own suffering and death, couched in language tied to compassion and love. She learns from a desire to suffer the bodily pains and sufferings of Christ also of the internal reality of the compassion that exists in men as a spark too of the divine in men, of the Christ in men. Her key insights are with regard to the love of God shown through the Christ’s own passion, so that she and all who love God and desire to follow the will of God may experience that love as well (Julian of Norwich).

Question 4 The sacred drink ingested by Harner is ayahuasca. When he ingested this he had visions of another dimension, including that of a creature that is reptile-like, who reveals to him an inner reality tied to the nature of man’s past, of the way man had evolved with the designs of ancient reptile-like intelligences. These visions are partly validated and also put into context by a blind shaman. Taking the sacred drink has the effect of opening Harner to new realities hidden from ordinary reality and veiled from the rest of humanity (Harner).

Question 5 The Conibo Indians understand Harner’s visions as constituting a special set of messages from the world of spirits. That reality is something they are comfortable living with, with their shamans having thorough exposure and familiarity with the different aspects of that ayahuasca reality. The missionaries in turn understand the vision in terms of Biblical scripture, and in particular the Revelation book. Harner himself came to understand the visions as a sign that he should pursue shamanism more intently (Harner).

Question 6 The sacred drink allows the shaman to see through the physical bodies of the diseased to see spiritual aspects of the diseases and those bodies, to see whether disease-causing tsentsaks reside within. It conditions the vision of the shaman to see what is ailing the diseased and to determine the best way to cure the diseases (Harner). 3 Works CitedHarner, Michael. “Discovering the Way”. The Way of the Shaman: A Guide to Power and Healing. Julian of Norwich. “Showings: Chapters 1-16”.