The Feel of Real
In the late 1970’s, I was a psychology trainee on a psychiatric unit of a hospital in Madison, Wisconsin. And I was scared. Patients talked nonsense, tried suicide, and shuffled aimlessly through the corridors looking downright miserable. They were medicated into submission and sometimes locked into restraints. I had no clue as to how to help them. But I was lucky to have Myron, one of the Aides, who took me under his wing. Myron was not afraid. He explained the therapies, the staff politics, and the stories of some of the patients. More importantly, he had a depth of empathy and understanding that comforted the patients as well as myself. We became friends. Over the years, Myron turned to shamanic practices as a means to heal people in emotional turmoil...
Read MoreJourneys to the spirit world
In my short story “An Occurrence on Interstate Five,” Grandma ferries her dogs beyond ordinary reality through an ancient, amorphous space. Her journey has inexplicable consequences witnessed by several people. My tale is a variation on the classic ghost story theme, in which spirit beings create physical effects in the real world. But there’s a flip side to ghost stories: A person from the ordinary world enters the spirit realm. Visionaries, prophets, psychics and shamans are examples of people who claim to experience non-ordinary reality. Shamans, in particular, can supposedly then influence reality from the vantage point of the spirit world. My first exposure to shamanism was “The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge” by Carlos Castaneda (Ballantine...
Read MoreOccurrences at the Edge of Life
As a teenager, I read Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” a short story published in 1891 about the hanging of a Confederate sympathizer during the American Civil War. Ever since, I’ve been fascinated by the idea that a person at the point of death might have an elaborate vision in which a compelling wish is fulfilled. Ambrose Bierce was a soldier in the American Civil War, and is renowned for his short stories set in that period. “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” is about Peyton Farquhar, a southern plantation owner about to be hanged for attempting to destroy Owl Creek bridge, a Yankee stronghold. The rope is around his neck and his last heartfelt desire is to return to his wife and home. The plank under his feet tips...
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