De-toxing and Neo-shamanism

I'm pretty sure I'm not the first one to notice the link between the modern new-agey trend that says detoxing is a great thing, and the ancient shamanic practice of detoxing.

There is a resurgence of neo-shamanism, or urban shamanism, known by many names. This was actually predicted in the Native American prophetic tradition. According to aboriginal Rainbow Warrior prophecies,

When the Earth is dying
there shall arise a new tribe
of all colours and all creeds.

This tribe shall be called
the Warriors of the Rainbow
and it will put its faith in actions
not words

- Prophecy of the Hopi and Cree people

Another version of the prophecy of the Rainbow Warriors, according to the above cited link, says

The Warriors of the Rainbow
would spread these messages
and teach all peoples of the Earth
They would teach them how to live
the Way of the Great Spirit
The tasks of these Warriors of the Rainbow
are many and great

Great leaders, spiritual leaders and warriors
of many nations
will be born and they will cleanse the earth for rebirth.
Together they will be called Rainbow Warriors
for they will gather
the four sacred directions
all distinctly separate but forever
connected in the Circle of Life
They will bring together
the four races of man
to live in peace.

During a recent visit to a raw Vegan restaurant in Chicago, I witnessed a talk given by the owner, Karyn Calabrese, on her lifestyle. The first thing that caught my attention is that, although her age is 62, she only looks about half her age: not one wrinkle, not one grey hair. She has been eating living foods only for 30 years, she is a believer in Spirit, and she sees herself as someone who is doing the work of God by educating others about this lifestyle.

As I researched the living foods lifestyle, I found out that Biblical tradition places the origins of the living foods lifestyle in the Garden of Eden, and that it also teaches that people originally lived very long lives.

Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. - Genesis 1:29

Jesus also drew metaphors from nature, such as his beautiful and profound idea that God feeds the birds daily. This is an ecological teaching, which depicts an environmentally conscious and engaged Holy Spirit of God. Jesus saw God in nature. The God of the Living, he called him: the Great Biologist. In my own Vaishnava tradition, which places emphasis on vegetarianism, God is known as Vishnu (the Preserver), the Sustainer of all life. We Hare Krishnas also worship the God of the living.

The link between spirituality, the practice of detoxing, and the living foods lifestyle was emphasized numerous times during Karyn's speech. She says that she goes through a detox process four times a year.

Aboriginal American shamans often purge themselves prior to their spiritual trips by vomiting and purifying their stomachs. This is almost a universal practice, and in fact many Taino indian artifacts that have been found in the Caribbean attest to this: spatulas, with depictions of spiritual powers, have been found at many sites, that were used in aboriginal ceremonies. Only after the detox, the body and mind are prepared to journey to other worlds.

The same principle that operates for the shamanic purging practices also explains why fasting is so good for the body, mind and spirit. The body spends huge amounts of energy digesting food. When one fasts, that energy can be used for other purposes, such as strengthening the inmune system against a disease carrying germ or virus, or detoxing. This is why the skin feels clear and smooth after a fast: it is one of the first organs that show symptoms of detoxification. Our internal organs also benefit, but it's just not as visible and evident.

Fasting is so good, in fact, that our bodies have the inherent wisdom to fast when we are sick or have a high fever: we naturally lose apetite. Many people consider this a symptom that should be treated by Western medicine and force sick people to eat, but this is counterintuitive. A sick person who loses apetite should probably take supplements, such as vitamins and minerals, and drink water. Otherwise, he or she should rest and fast. The body knows what to do.

Many ancient traditions were concerned with ritual purity and hygiene, including the Zoroastrian traditions, ancient Egyptian religion and Old Testament religion. Ancient Egyptian temples always had a pool, where people bathed with water and natron (minerals and salts from the desert that were used in the same way that we use soap). Because ancient religions and shamanism have always been concerned with health and healing, naturally, hygiene was very important. Purging the body of germs or toxins, oftentimes labeled bad spirits, was central to these systems of natural healing, and fasting has always been one of the main and most natural and efficient methods of doing this.

I've considered often the fact that Jesus the Christ, being probably one of the greatest shamans that ever lived, always refered to illnesses as bad spirits. Invariably, he understood disease as being caused by bad spirits. This strikes modern Westerners as superstitious.

In truth, our bodies have a natural ecology, just like a forest does. Even modern science refers to the ecological system that inhabits us as 'intestinal flora' , using forest imagery. By flora, it is understood that living entities dwell there, and as all living entities have spirits, it is understood that several forms of spiritual forces dwell inside our guts. Science knows them as bacteria of different kind (this is why we often hear of the good and bad bacteria).

Just as the very first teaching of Lord Krishna in the Gita is that we are not these bodies, Jesus had the same understanding. God is Spirit, he said, and we are also Spirit ... and so are all these other living entities, minute as they are.

The acknowledgement of the existence of spirits inside of our bodies is repeated in many shamanic traditions. Chapter 18 of the Bhagavad Gita makes mention of the fact that different chakras and points within the human body are ruled by specific deities, spirits or archetypes.

Accupuncture refers to this inner energetic landscape as a kind of energy interplay instead of refering to spirits, but one should ponder the original sense and meaning of the word 'spirit': that which aspires and expires, that which can breath. 'Spiritus' is the Latin word for breath, just as 'ruach' is the Aramaic word that Yeshua used for the Holy Spirit, and it also means breath ... and just as 'hoo' is the aboriginal Caribbean word for spirit AND breath. All breathing beings, that is beings who inhale and exhale, can be said to have spirits. Trees inhale our carbon and we animals inhale their oxygen: therefore we share the same breath, and we all are living spirits. The microorganisms that live inside our bodies also consume and exude different nutrients, and therefore they are spirits.

"The letter is dead, but the Breath quickens." - the Bible

There is nothing that can be written in any scripture that will do justice to the God of the Living. Creeds and scriptures cannot be sacred to the God of the Living: only living and breathing entities who have the ability to suffer, to understand, to experience pain and joy, can be considered sacred. This God of the Living is, to me, best served through a vegetarian and non-violent lifestyle, since its work is life.

The body ecology is not limited to our intestinal flora: our thoughts and emotions also participate in our body's inner dance. The way in which thought and emotions are translated by our neurons into chemical equations was colorfully explained in the movie 'What the Bleep do We Know'. We now know that thoughts are things. They are real packets of energy within our bodies and they are perceived by the neurons as chemical signals.

Health and happiness, according to this paradigm, are processes that take place WITHIN the body. We can induce them, by consuming superfoods that regulate the secretion of serotonin (such as raw cacao, yerba mate), by periodically fasting, by laughter and song, by closeness and association with others, and by living a wholesome lifestyle. Pain and suffering also happen within the body. Depression is, today, considered a disease caused by a chemical imbalance. These were all the concerns of shamanism, and are now scientific truths ... and these truths are bringing us back to a new, non-superstitious understanding of shamanic techniques.

Science will continue to inform shamanics in future generations. They will remain separate fields with distinct methods, but at their intersection we will become fully aware of the fact that the body, the mind and the spirit are not three separate entities: they exist in unison, work together as one whole, and their field of action and intercommunication can be discerned within the body. There is no real duality between the spiritual and the organic realms: it is the Breath (Spirit) that quickens the body. They're constantly dancing. There is no two, there's only this.