Shamanic Christianity: The Direct Experience of Mystical Communion [Paperback]

Bradford Keeney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 13, 2006

A guide to reconnecting with Jesus, Mary, and the saints as shamanic teachers of divine mysteries

• Contains meditations, contemplations, parables, and active ritual tasks that help bring forth a shamanic understanding and practice of Christianity

• Shows shamanic experience to be the root of mystical communion

When the missionaries came to North America to “save” the American Indians, they were perplexed to discover that while they talked about Jesus, some of the Indians claimed to talk directly with him. Among Christians there is almost complete silence on the subject of the place of shamanism in experiencing the divine, yet shamanic experience is at the root of all mystical communion.

Shamanic Christianity offers a chance to rekindle the shamanic practices of Christianity to those who wish to restore their direct connection to the spirit world. In the tradition of contemplative practice, this reconnection takes the form of devotions. Presented in four forms, these devotions begin with a specific contemplation, followed by a meditative focus, then a parable from the author’s own visionary experiences, and finally an active mystical practice to help ground the meditations and contemplations in a ritual or ceremony that involves active participation. These four forms serve to reintroduce Jesus, Mary, and the historically renowned saints as shamanic teachers of divine mysteries whose spiritual presence is readily available to contemporary lives. The author also presents specific directives for handling everyday challenges in a shamanic-inspired manner, drawing upon creative activities and resources that encourage approaching the world with the imaginative and playful spirit of a child, whose personal freedom and creative expression is always wide open to possibilities.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“This shamanic-handbook-for-all-people is an invitation to breathe in a fresh spirit and observe the boundless horizons of spiritual possibilities. Keeney challenges us to respond to the persistent tapping of ancient wisdom, which seeks communion at the altar of each of our hearts.”
(Malidoma P. Som?, author of Of Water and the Spirit and Healing Wisdom of Africa? )

"If your background is within the Christian Tradition, you will probably be very interested in what this book has to teach and may experience a true healing and fuller acceptance of your own beliefs."
(Krysta Gibson, New Spirit Journal, April 2006 )

"To open-minded Christians seeking a more intimate and mystical experience of Jesus (and Christianity), this joyful and playful book brings new ways of thinking about and practicing their religion."
(Dianne Fresquez, For Heaven's Sake, New Age Retailer, Fall 2006 )

"With a bold dash of imagination, Keeney imagines what a shamanic Christianity would look like."
(Spirituality & Health, Oct 2006 )

"Timely, and well-written. . . . The reader will find this book fascinating in its implications."

"Timely, and well-written. . . . The reader will find this book fascinating in its implications."
(Lee Prosser, Ghostvillage.com, April 2006 )

From the Back Cover

SHAMANISM / RELIGION

“This shamanic-handbook-for-all-people is an invitation to breathe in a fresh spirit and observe the boundless horizons of spiritual possibilities. Keeney challenges us to respond to the persistent tapping of ancient wisdom, which seeks communion at the altar of each of our hearts.”
--Malidoma P. Somé, author of Of Water and the Spirit and Healing Wisdom of Africa

When the missionaries came to North America to “save” the American Indians, they were perplexed to discover that while they talked about Jesus, some of the Indians claimed to talk directly with him. Among Christians there is almost complete silence on the subject of the place of shamanism in experiencing the divine; yet shamanic experience is at the root of all mystical communion.

Shamanic Christianity offers a chance to rekindle the shamanic practices of Christianity to those who wish to restore their direct connection to the spirit world. In the tradition of contemplative practice, this reconnection takes the form of devotions. Each devotion begins with contemplation of a specific spiritual theme, followed by a guided meditation, then a parable from the author’s own visionary experiences, and finally an active mystical practice--a grounding ritual or ceremony that involves physical participation. Through these four devotional forms, Jesus, Mary, and the renowned saints are reintroduced as shamanic teachers of divine mysteries whose spiritual presence is readily available to us today. The author also presents specific directives for handling everyday challenges in a shamanic-inspired manner. Drawing upon creative activities and intuitive resources, these directives encourage approaching the world with the imaginative and playful spirit of a child--always wide open to possibilities.

BRADFORD KEENEY, PH.D., is an internationally renowned scholar, therapist, and shaman who has led expeditions throughout the world to study cultural healing practices. He is the author of Bushman Shaman: Awakening the Spirit through Ecstatic  Dance, Shaking Medicine: The Healing Power of Ecstatic Movement, and the editor of the Profiles of Healing series.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Destiny Books (March 13, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594770867
• ISBN-13: 978-1594770869
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #743,388 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Professor Bradford Keeney, PhD, is an internationally renowned scholar, author, and therapist. He is presently Hanna Spyker Eminent Scholars Chair in Education and Director, Institute for Creative Transformation and Virtual Pedagogy, University of Louisiana, Monroe, and President, Louisiana Association of Marriage and Family Therapy.

As a fieldworker, Keeney has been called "the Marco Polo of psychology and an anthropologist of the spirit" by the editors of Utne Reader. As the author of over thirty-one books, Keeney presently is practicing and teaching what he has learned from the arts and sciences across diverse cultural traditions to help individuals, couples, and families transform their challenges and suffering into growth and more meaningful lives.

Apart from his work with the Kalahari Bushmen, he has served distinguished careers that span and connect the disciplines of social cybernetics, anthropology, and therapy. He has extensively researched and published information about various healing traditions around the world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Barking Mad Genius, December 1, 2008

By 

Robert Elm "Coyoteknight" (Reseda California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Shamanic Christianity: The Direct Experience of Mystical Communion (Paperback)

Brad Keeney is my hero. This book isn't a hymnal or a book about going to hell for not believing in Jesus, nor is it a book about day dreaming your way into a hole in the ground to get an animal to help you escape from life. It is the work of someone who wants to shake your mind to it's foundation, but with no small help from you. Inside you will find stories about Brad's experiences with his grand father the evangelist, Kalahari Bushmen, and the Spiritual Baptists of Saint Vincent. But most important are the rituals that Brad produces to shake the cobwebs out of your mind (to make you "out of your mind" in a very good way). These rituals don't follow a specific formulaic structure nor do they have a strong "inspirational" religious flavor to them, they are simply mad. They are deliberately nonsensical in such a way that they will take you outside of yourself.

I should point out that this isn't just some Michael Harner rehash either, this is the ecstatic part of the equation that brings you to a state of real, temporary divine insanity. Brad doesn't say that an imagined trip to an underground forest is a real shamanic event (neither does Harner either really although so many people act like it is and thus miss the whole point. Then everyone's expectations of spirit get lowered to the point that a visualization is enough). Keeney's view is one that sees the boiling energy of ecstasy that defines the word "shaman" as central to the experience of spirit and gives real advice on how to open oneself to the real thing, not just a mental picture of a serene white light that inspires neither ecstasy nor real experience.

Brad is a crazy wisdom teacher in the truest sense of the term.

Get Shaking Medicine to make your body shake with divine energy and get Shamanic Christianity to shake out your mind. You won't be sorry.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars God is bigger than one religion, December 31, 2010

By 

Elizabeth "Liz" (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shamanic Christianity: The Direct Experience of Mystical Communion (Paperback)

If I had to verbalize the one thing that this book opened my consciousness to, is that God is too big to be contained within a single religion. Since religion is a human institution, there's no possible way a single religion could fully grasp the magnitude of an almighty, allknowing God.

The message that stood out to me the most was when the Indians stated that before the Pilgrims came to witness of Him, Jesus had already walked with them... but they knew him by a different name.

How powerful is that?!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars very interesting, February 8, 2011

By 

jennyharper - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Shamanic Christianity: The Direct Experience of Mystical Communion (Paperback)

I was surprised to find the very topic I was looking for when I searched on Amazon.com. I like the way the chapters are broken down into readable lengths. And it is written in very understandable terms. A good choice for me, and I'm sure, for many others with an interest in this topic.