The death and resurrection show : from shaman to superstar

The Death and Resurrection Show's power is that it is timeless. It astonishes, and will continue to astonish, as long as there are people.
It traces us back to the beginning of man, when the most powerful thing you could do was to claim to have been to the other side. Having returned from the

Underworld and from the Upperworld, shamans held sway over their merely mortal fellow tribesmen.

When institutional religions formed, they co-opted the stories. Hell in Christianity suddenly became a bad place, while until the death of Jesus (who also visited the Underworld), it was a place to escape TO, not from.

Christianity slammed the competition of minstrels, fairs, puppets and performers, because it wanted everyone's sole attention. Its magic had to be the only magic, or it felt doomed, much as Islam clearly feels today.

In the last century, with mass communication, entertainment took over and rockstars ruled. It is Taylor's analysis that rockstars employed precisely the same words, deeds and acts as the shamans did, that really gives the book its impact. The words of Jerry Lee Lewis, of Bob Dylan, of John Lennon, all match the fascinating research Taylor has taken us through from prehistoric times. And coming full circle, he posits that it is precisely their success and dominance in the secular 60s that led to the resurgence of institutional religion since then.

With the deaths of Jimi Hendrix and John Lennon and James Brown, the yawning gap of religious satisfaction has caused millions to seek solace in the institutions once again. It is precisely the flower children of the 60s who have led the stampede of the Born Agains. We have no shamans comparable to these stars any more. Certainly hip hop and rap have provided none. Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake inspire nothing. So we have come full circle. We have never left the tribal stage of needing spiritual reassurance that there is more to life than this Middleworld we see.

This is an extraordinarily important book. I first owned it when it was new in 1985. I had a review copy, which for the only time in my life, someone stole from my collection about five years later. I just recently found another, and paid handsomely for it. It is worth every penny. Its importance to me is its revelation of who we really are, and who we will look to for solace and salvation. It is a real eye opener.

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