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| Brother Sun dancing on the surface of the Potomac River. Charismatic!! |
What is charisma? Is it the same as charm? Is it about being sexy? Perhaps it has something to do with looks - but not necessarily. I'm thinking about it while reading Zealot, by Reza Asian. The book is about the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth. Well - wow - is it interesting!
The two things about Jesus that interest me at the moment are his talents as a faith healer and his charisma.
About his skills in healing, there is no argument. Everyone who ever wrote about him - in the bible and elsewhere (for instance, Roman historians) - wrote extensively about how he healed the sick and exorcized demons from the possessed. Everyone agreed he was really good.
He healed for free. Now that is really something. Wow.
And he drew large crowds, not because his message was brand new or unique - there were a lot of self proclaimed messiahs at that moment in history, preaching more or less the same thing - but they didn't have "it." You know - IT. But Jesus did. It's interesting to think about.
In the Reyaverse, each of us hosts a nature soul. We have other souls, too, that come and go from our bodies and the bodies of others. But the nature soul is singular. It incarnates as a human only once. It's a personal soul. After incarnating once, it returns to an earthly form. It incarnates as a forest or mountain, a river or meadow, or a swamp. A desert. You know.
People who are charismatic have very powerful nature souls. Encountering these people causes reactions similar to what happens when we see mountain ranges or the sea. We can't help but say, "Oh wow." A powerful nature soul inspires and creates awe in a way that's almost separate from the personality of the person hosting that soul.
It isn't as rare as it would seem, actually. Public figures of every kind often have powerful nature souls. Michelle Obama is a good example. No matter how you feel about her as a person, surely you can see she radiates something very powerful, yes? I'm sure there are sports figures who have powerful nature souls. I'm not a sports person so wouldn't know the names. Of course there are many movie stars and musicians who have incredible nature souls. Something about them, even if you don't appreciate their personalities, makes you stop and take notice. Mick Jagger has a very powerful nature soul. Good lord he is eternal. So is the Dalai Lama. Elvis. Bill Clinton. I could go on, but I'm sure you get my meaning, yes?
Charisma also entails bringing through the body a particular energy, something people are passionate about, something they really really want. There is a form of divine energy that comes through any true charismatic. Sometimes it comes through in a very pure way. I think of Edgar Cayce for example, or Miles Davis, Martin Luther King, Princess Di. For others, it gets distorted and comes out all wrong. For instance: Alistair Crowley. Poor fellow. All the crazy cult leaders channel the divine in a very twisted way. They have IT, but things go terribly wrong. I wonder why.
JFK was charismatic, Reagan, too. But not every president is, nor is every rock star or spiritual leader. I wonder why?
Jesus brought good news and healing to the people of first century Palestine. Believe me, those people needed good news. What a time. Holy cow.
My new motto: It could be worse. This could be first century Jerusalem. Oh yeah. I am very lucky to be right here and right now, I surely am! Lucky, too, I think, that not only is my nature soul not so potent, but I do not channel anything in particular that people want. I am not charismatic, I'm invisible except to certain people at certain times. I can mediate between the worlds for those who seek to contact the powers of healing and light, but I do not personally channel it. Thank god.
It's a good life. I'm grateful. Shalom.
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| They look like discarded pie charts. |
7 comments:
An interesting idea - the nature soul - I might have called it earth soul, as those other souls you mention come and go form the body. Do you think this earth/nature soul can incarnate FIRST as a forest or a mountain or a single tree, a bird?
It's the energy, I agree, that emanates from a person that makes them charismatic. For some of us, that energy burns in private. For those you mentioned, it burn on the outside as well. Perhaps we all do have a turn to burn brighter; perhaps we return in this form more than once just to get that chance. I wonder if it's a choice we make, somewhere, sometime, the memory of which isn't accessible to us in earthly form?
I think all souls are eternal - at least they are in the Reyaverse, so that soul has been many earthly formations before coming into human form.
I'm unclear that we choose much of anything in a way that's recognizable in this form. Do you?
I don't think that shining brightly and channeling the divine in a way that makes it attractive to the masses is a very fun life. It doesn't sound fun to me.
Did you ever read Illusions by Richard Bach? The main character in that book didn't think so either!
As for choosing, I don't know for sure either but it seems a likely possibility given the choice making opportunities we have here...
I think I tend toward invisibility too, which I actually really like. Sometimes being an observer is the best possible role. At least, I think so.
I was reading about this book yesterday and it DOES sound interesting. I'm especially intrigued by the idea that there were many other "messiahs" around at that time. Sometimes we romanticize the ancient world, but my god, what a crazy, brutal place.
As an observer of your politics from afar, it's interesting you've said of Michelle Obama "no matter how you feel about her as a person...". Is there anything not to like on a personal level from the citizens of the U.S. I wonder?
I always searched for a sparkle of charisma in former President Gerald Ford and couldn't find a speck of it, bless him. Whatever happened to him?
I love the first lady, but she's black. This is still a racist country, Pam, very much so.
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