Illusions

The Adventures of a Reluctant

Messiah
 Illusions Purpose

Purpose of the book?

Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah
To give the reader an insider look at what is means
to be a Messiah in order to compare this type of
religious leader with Prophets, Priests and Shaman.
 Illusions Characters
Main characters
● Richard Bach - Messiah in Training, Pilot
(takes people places), Author of the book
● Don Shimoda - Messiah (fixes people),
Mechanic (fixes things), Richard’s friend
 Messiah Defined
Messiah Characteristics:
Suffering Servant
Son of God (Male)
Divine, Works Miracles
Are these the same
characteristics as a
Savior, Redeemer
Prophet? Priest? Shaman?
Bears Sins, Final Judge
Teacher, Leader, Healer
Change Agent, Rejected
Violent Death
Messenger, Charismatic
Priestly Authority
 Messiah vs. Prophet
Messiah
*Suffering Servant, *Divine,
Bear Sins, *Male, *Son of God,
*Miracles, *Redeemer, *Rejected,
*Teacher, Priestly Authority,
Final Judge, *Salvation,
*Ushers in a new era (change),
*Messenger, Healer, *Leader,
*Violent death, *Charismatic
*same as prophet
Prophet
Suffering Servant, Personal Call,
Divine Commandment, Male,
Performs Miracles but does not
take credit, Rejected by the
Institutions, A Force for
Change, Teacher, Authority
Based On Revelation or
Message, Mission from God(s)
to teach and ‘save’ the people,
Leader, Violent death,
Charismatic
 Messiah vs. Priest
Messiah
*Suffering Servant, *Divine,
*Bear Sins, *Male, *Son of God,
Miracles, Redeemer, Rejected,
*Teacher, *Priestly Authority,
Final Judge, *Salvation,
Ushers in a new era (change),
*Messenger, Healer, *Leader,
Violent death, Charismatic
*same as priest
Priest
Suffering Servant, Divine, Bears
Sins, Male or Female, Teacher,
Authority comes from sacred
tradition and institution, Saves
People through the Institution,
Leader via the Institutional
Hierarchy, Influences Deities -
appeals & appeases, Presides
Over Rituals, Restrictions,
Maintains Institutional Status Quo
 Messiah vs. Shaman
Messiah
Suffering Servant, *Divine,
Bear Sins, *Male, Son of God,
*Miracles, Redeemer, Rejected,
*Teacher, Priestly Authority,
Final Judge, *Salvation,
Ushers in a new era (change),
Messenger, Healer, *Leader,
*Violent death, Charismatic
*same as shaman
Shaman
Divine, Male and/or Female
both or neither, Performs
Miracles & takes credit,
Teacher, Savior, Healer,
Doctor, Leader, Violent death,
Controls the Supernatural,
Maintains Balance in the
Community
 Illusions Religious Concepts
Concepts
● Self as God/Goddess
● Being vs. Becoming
● Self Awareness
● Choices & Consequences
● Fate vs. Destiny
● Power
 Self As God/Goddess
• Because a Messiah may actually include deity
status; what if you were a God/ Goddess?
• What type of God/Goddess would you be?
• Who would you be responsible for and or to?
–The people and things you create?
– Yourself?
– No one?
• Would you rely on people to believe in you in order
for you to exist? To have power? OR...
• Would your existence and powers be determined
by your belief in yourself?
• We will be coming back to this later in the
semester.
 Being vs. Becoming
Being at one with the sacred supernatural or becoming one (through rituals)
with the sacred supernatural is important in religious studies. Which
religious specialist is always at one with the sacred supernatural? Which
religious specialist is always in the process of becoming one with the sacred
supernatural?
• Shamans are at one with the sacred supernatural; in order to maintain
balance they must do rituals and transcend at will, they are being.
• Priests are always doing rituals to become one with the sacred
supernatural so they are constantly becoming. Remember between the
priest and deity intervenes the institution who teaches priests ritual.
• Prophets were at one point and may be again connected to the sacred
supernatural. It is thought that once connected with the message or
revelation; that they remain connected (being) until the message is
delivered or until their untimely death.
• Messiahs are at one with (being) and at the same time becoming at one
with the sacred supernatural. WOW! Transcending time and space.
 Self Awareness (1 of 2)
Why is self awareness important when you are a religious
leader?
Does it help to focus on your role and responsibilities?
Who are religious leaders responsible to?
Who are religious leaders responsible for?
• Shamans to themselves and people they heal
(sometimes)
• Priests to the institution, deity(ies), and people they
serve (sometimes)
• Prophets to the deity(ies)
• Messiahs to themselves and whomever else they wish,
or not
 Self Awareness (2 of 2)
Are you self aware?
Take a moment…
Do you exist?
How can you tell?
Are you aware of your role in the universe?
Are you responsible for your own actions or actions of
others? (Think parents/children/siblings)
If you consider yourself responsible for the actions of others,
do they deal with the consequences of their actions or do you?
If they don’t deal with consequences, how do they learn?
 Choices & Consequences (1 of 2)
Religious leaders fulfill roles in our communities.
• What choices do religious leaders make in whom
they serve and how they serve?
• Do they have a choice?
• What happens when we feel we don’t have a
choice?
– Are we vested in the outcome?
– Do we even care?
• Who deals with the consequences?
– Us?
Religious leaders are our connection to the sacred
supernatural. Without them, can we even connect to
the sacred supernatural to get our needs met?
 Choices & Consequences (2 of 2)
Shaman, Priests & Prophets all get a calling or have a
personal experience that sets them apart as religious leaders.
• Messiahs become aware.
– What if they don’t want to be a religious leader?
– Do they have a choice?
• Shamans & Prophets usually do not have a choice.
– If Shamans reject their powers, they can get sick and
even die.
• Once the Prophet hears the revelation, they burn to
divulge it to the people.
• Priests and Messiahs have a choice to serve or become
aware of their connection to the sacred supernatural (like
Don & Richard)
 Fate vs. Destiny
Fate & Destiny are often used as synonyms. Both mean an
inevitable or predestined or predetermined outcome. But with
fate, you often do not have a choice. Destiny can imply a slight
opportunity for choice, especially in the journey, although the
outcome may be the same. ‘Destined to become great!’
• What happens when you believe your are fated or
predestined to a specific outcome?
• Does this mean you have no choice?
• In having no choice, do you need to take responsibility or
ownership for your own actions?
• What about the actions of others?
• When people have a choice, are they more likely to take
responsibility for their own actions?
• What about religious leaders?
 Power
Power is defined as force; the ability to make
someone do something against their will.
• Who do religious leaders have power over?
– Shamans - sacred supernatural, natural,
people/communities, social control
– Priests - have authority not power, their
position is precarious
– Prophets - have authority not power, by
divine commandment
– Messiahs - have power over everything
supernatural and natural
 What does it all mean?
We have explored the roles of religious leaders
from many perspectives:
• self as God/Goddess (proximity to power)

• being vs. becoming (part of or separate from

the sacred supernatural)

• self awareness (role and responsibility)

• choices & consequences (responsibility for

self and/or others and what this means)

• fate vs. destiny (predestined role or choice)

• power (ability to impact)

 What About ‘The Golden Rule’
(Vampire or Wompire Example)
The Golden Rule is: Do unto others as you would
have them do unto you. This rule is to regulate
human behavior in a way that leads to our survival
because it is assumed that people to not want to be
hurt or die; so then you would not want to hurt or kill
others. But this is not always true. There is a
‘hiccup’ to this logic. Everyone is not going to be
‘nice’ and respectful to everyone else; and what does
it mean to be ‘nice’ and ‘respectful’ anyway? Isn’t
this subjective?
 Not So Much Golden? (1 of 3)
(Vampire or Wompire)
The Vampire or Wompire example in the book Illusions
challenges the golden rule. Richard is presented with a
dilemma because he thought that as long as everyone was
nice and respectful of everyone else, everyone could be a
Messiah with powers to do whatever they want; but is this
the case?
It wasn’t until Richard was confronted with a vampire who
wished to drink his blood and would wrythe in pain if
Richard didn’t share; that he decided that it didn’t matter if
the vampire was in pain or not. It was a matter of self
preservation for Richard. Which leads to the next question
• Who regulates human behavior and why?
 Not So Much Golden? (2 of 3)
(Vampire or Wompire)
Religious leaders often regulate human behavior. Why?
This relates to religion functioning as a social control
mechanism so that communities and societies can continue to
exist. People won’t have religions without societies to practice
those religions. So there needs to be a mechanism to control
the masses and religion and religious leaders are that
mechanism.
Shamans brings communities into balance
Priests maintain the status quo
Prophets brings needed change
All maintain the system.
 Not So Much Golden? (3 of 3)
(Vampire or Wompire)
• What about the role of the Messiah?
• Is the Messiah meant to help us self discover our own power?
• With great power comes great responsibility (Stan Lee)
• Is ‘do unto others as you would do unto others’ more
accurate?
• Do we already do this and not concern ourselves with the
ramifications?
• What about social control?
• Can we be trusted to control ourselves without natural or
supernatural interference? (prison time/ heaven & hell
incentive/ supernatural punishments)
• Does this go back to our roles and responsibilities, what is
expected behavior in our communities and societies?
 Messiah Handbook (1 of 2)
Some interesting saying from the Messiah
Handbook -
Learning is finding out what you already know.
Doing is demonstrating that you know it.
Teaching is reminding others that they know just
as well as you.
You are all learners, doers and teachers.
 Messiah Handbook (2 of 2)
Your only obligation in any lifetime is to be
true to yourself.
• Where were you born?

• Where is your home?

• Where are you going?

• What are you doing?

Watch these answers change through time.

 Take Away
Messiahs are an entirely different religious leader
than a Prophet, Priest or Shaman but are they really?
Messiahs combine characteristics of Prophets, Priest
and Shaman but why?
Think about what category in our chart Messiahs are
placed?
Why do we need Messiahs when we have other
religious leaders who serve the same or similar
functions?
Does a Messiah provide a better cross-over religious
specialist between Shamans, Priests/Prophets?
Theoretical Framework Contribution

Animism Animatism Science

Magic Religion Science
Shamans Messiahs Scientists
- Priests -
- Prophets -
- - -