I am going to be resting my Newbies series for a while, although please do feel free to email me any suggestions for future articles, which you would like to read, as I want to publish a few articles about my experiences in Egypt and my subsequent research. This being the case, it seems appropriate that my final piece in this series should consider the end of all things – death.
Since there is quite a lot to cover on this topic, I’ve decided to split this blog into two parts. In this week’s piece, Part 1, I’ll provide an introduction to the topic and explore what shamans have taught us about death. In Part 2, I’ll look at the consequences of being afraid of death.
Death For Newbies: Part 1
So, let’s start big – what happens when we die?
Short answer? Nobody knows and anyone who tells you that they know is a liar. It is what Shakespeare’s Hamlet called ‘the undiscovered country’ for every person on this planet, without exception. You might have a belief as to what happens, even one that is informed by your ‘holy book’, or by your own spiritual travels, but nobody really knows for certain until they undertake the final journey for themselves.
Even those who have died and who have been brought back to life by the miracles of modern science, offering us tales of a ‘light at the end of the tunnel’, or visions of Heaven, or even, in some unfortunate circumstances, of Hell, cannot provide an answer because they have not truly passed over, as much as they might believe that they did. You see, even if near death experiences can provide a glimpse behind the curtain, a human could not possibly articulate what lies beyond because they have returned to this particular level of consciousness.
What do you mean?
Well, in David Eagleman’s beautiful book, Sum: Tales from the Afterlife, which I highly recommend (you can read my review of Audible’s production of the book here), one of my favourite tales is called ‘Descent of Species’.
It relates how, in this version of the afterlife, you may choose whatever you would like to be and so, a person chooses to be a horse. As they transform, however, they realise that they will lose the vital understanding of what it was like to be a human, wondering what it was like to be a horse – since, when the transformation is complete, they will only be able to think like a horse. They will, therefore, never seek to be human again because they cannot contemplate what it is to be human with their horse brain. The final revelation is the consideration of what magnificent, extraterrestrial creature, enthralled with the idea of finding a simpler life, chose, in the last round, to be human.
In the same way, I am suggesting that someone returning to this life cannot comprehend ‘the beyond’ because they must have suffered a ‘descent in consciousness’.
What if death is just a loss of consciousness and nothing more?
Well, on the plus side, you really don’t have to worry about it – after all, you lose consciousness every night without any ill effects, don’t you?
If that’s all that happens at the point of death – consciousness is lost – you’re not going to know anything about it. After all, if you are not conscious of what happened to you before you were born, why should you be afraid of not being conscious after you die?
I can assure you that the universe existed for about 13.8 billion years before you were conscious and it will go on quite happily for a few more billion years without you.
What do shamans believe?
The Medicine Wheel tradition, in which I have trained, holds that, once the brain has shut down, our luminous energy field folds in on itself and becomes one with the eighth chakra, which has enfolded our other chakras into itself. Alberto Villoldo teaches that we then move through the Laika’s concept of five planes of the Upper World – the level of the stone people, the level of the plant people, the level of animal spirits, the level of ancestors and the level of the highest.
Whilst other Shamans may have other ‘maps’ than the one Alberto ascribes to the mythical Laika, they all learn ‘spirit flight’, so that this process and even the journey itself are rendered familiar. The idea, here, is that, when our time comes, we will be able to pass through these realms quickly and easily, in order to reach our ultimate destination, with Great Spirit.
Core shamanism, which I have also studied, and which pools shamanic traditions from across the globe takes a more ethnographic viewpoint, whereby the Upper World can be one plane, or a series of planes, which are unique to the individual, albeit with some common features. Core shamanism also acknowledges traditions of reincarnation but, since it is not the majority-held view amongst shamans, it is offered as a possibility, rather than as a certainty.
Interestingly, in The Way of the Shaman, Harner highlights the Jívaro, who contend that death is only ever the result of a person’s guardian spirit leaving them. Having a great affinity with my Wolf, this idea rather saddens me.
What do you believe?
I used to accept the viewpoint of Science, Psychology and the late Professor Stephen Hawking (amongst others), which holds that the brain is a sort of biological computer and that, once the plug is pulled, consciousness ceases. We have no empirical evidence to suggest that our minds could survive the end of our bodies. If this idea terrifies you, if your blood runs ice cold at the thought, you are not alone but please, please read Part 2 of this blog piece!
I think we first have to acknowledge that wanting something to be true (in this case, that death is not ‘the end’) is not the same as it being true. Just because we desperately do not want it all to end, does not mean that it will not.
Besides, if life were truly eternal, wouldn’t it lose much of what gives it our purpose? Isn’t life often beautiful precisely because it is ephemeral?
Whatever the case, I know that I do not want to be fearful of death and that, when it comes, I would like to depart this world peacefully. I believe that the shamanic tradition assists in this process by reducing our fear of the prospect and I don’t actually need to believe that my consciousness continues, or to accept the concept of a ‘Heaven’, in order to come to terms with the end of my life, as I currently understand it.
Speaking very personally, however, I think it is possible that we do experience a beautiful moment of grace at the time of our departing.
Isn’t there a theory about DMT and the moment of death?
Yes, indeed. Scientists have suggested that this ‘moment of grace’ might be why the brain manufactures DMT (the hallucinogenic chemical that is present in the shamanic brew, Ayahuasca). It might just be manufactured for this epic, final moment – to ease us on our way. Interestingly, many people who use DMT report the vision of a tunnel with a light at the end, which is so often reported by those who have had ‘near death experiences’.
Perhaps we even shift into infinity in that impossible moment of clarity and, thus, do indeed, in some sense, live forever? I suppose, then, that all those religious folk will run up to me and say, ‘see, we told you it doesn’t end’!
Are there any stories of shaman travelling beyond death?
There are a few. My favourite is actually a Bantu myth from the Abundu tribe of Angola and references the god of the dead, Kalunga-ngombe, who was believed to rule the underworld and who was associated with the sea (regarded as the realm of death).
The story tells of how, when Queen Muhongo died, her heartbroken husband King Kitamba refused to believe she would stay dead. He thought that if the entire village mourned her as deeply as he did – meaning no work, no play, no cooking or eating, no speaking or singing – Kalunga would take pity and restore the queen to life.
After a few days, the villagers tried to change the king’s mind, but he refused to listen. Then, because they were starving, since their farms were going to ruin, the villagers turned to the shaman for assistance.
The shaman used his powers to travel to the world of the dead, there he found Queen Muhongo and told her the situation. He asked her to point out Kalunga, so that he could plead the king’s case to him. Queen Muhongo pointed to Kalunga, who was seated in the centre of the village, licking his fingers after a meal.
‘There he is,’ the queen told the shaman. ‘But I don’t think he will let me go. We dead people are his nourishment. Kalunga eats every dead person who comes here.’
Queen Muhongo gave the shaman a beautifully carved bone bracelet that King Kitamba had buried with her, so that the shaman could prove he had visited her. Her message to the king was that it was time to let the villagers return to their normal lives again.
When the shaman returned to earth and reported his visit, the king recognised his wife’s bracelet and finally allowed the villagers to stop mourning.
So, what can we learn from this myth?
We can see that the shaman’s job was to help the king to accept the reality of death – the story makes it clear that the dead cannot be returned to life. We can mourn for those we have lost but the lesson of the story is that, eventually, we need to move on.
What’s in Part 2?
In Part 2, I’ll consider the awful consequences of being afraid of death and why I believe it is of crucial importance that we come to terms with this inevitability.