A SHAMANIC READING KEY FOR THE DIVINE COMEDY

When you set out to read a story, the individual is well aware that the way they interperet it will be incredibly different from the authors original intentions and how others understand the story. Having stated this, some people may not agree with the interpretation that the author of this post has taken. Each reader is entitled to their own opinion, and this is one of them.

The content of what I will discuss in this article is closely linked to the underworld journey of Dante and the structure of the Christian afterlife.

The story of Dante is in fact associated with the world of the spirits of shamanistic culture; the lower world which is accessed through holes in the earth's soil, the intermediate world, a parallel world that we live in, and finally, a higher world beyond the sky.

When speaking of shamanism two things must be taken into account. Firstly, the locations in which the spirit shaman interacts with entities, and secondly the entities with whome he interacts. The shaman mainly interacts with animals and other supreme masters who accompany spirits as they journey through the new, undiscovered world. In this case, Virgil is guiding Dante through the underworld in order for him to better understand his life. At the end of his journey Dante will know the law of the universe, allowing him to ascend from human human to transhuman.

As it is described, Dante’s journey is revealed through allegorical transformation of an initiation ritual which is rooted in the discovery of self through exploration.

Even shamanic initiation, as is the case in the main ancient cults, provide an apparent death which is a symbolic requirement for every ascent. Shamans, in fact, say they went down into hell and struggled against animals that blocked their path, were beaten, and then be re-born.

An illustration of the 9 circles of hell as outlined in Dante's Inferno.

Even Dante undergoes the initiatory death several times in front of the Gates of Hell ( " I fell and as the man who ' seize the sleep ," Inf III , 136) , at the entrance of the third circle ( " and I fell as a dead body falls " Inf V , 142 ), and finally in front of Dite ( " I did not die and I was not alive, " Inf XXXIV , 25) .

The final appearance of “apparent” death is in the eighth circle when at the end of the climb a cry knocks him out.

The ascent to Heaven, from Purgatory, is done by a cingulum that Dante throws at Geryon enabling him to " climb " to the middle kingdom . A rope, tree, or a hill are also the means chosen by shamans to " climb " and reach the Higher World.

Mentioning the similarities, it should be noted Canto IX of Purgatory, vv. 1-3 in which Dante falls asleep on the door of the Ante-Purgatory, he dreams of being on Mount Ida when suddenly an eagle swoops down and brings Dante up to the ball of fire which will burn them together. He then wakes up because to the feeling of warmth and resume his journey.

Dante and Virgil being watched by the Eagle associated spiritual death

That Bird is in fact a recurring myth in shamanic rituals. The bird is presented on two different occasions, one being on the spiritual birth and the other being the spiritual death. The bird carries the soul of the shaman to the underworld, leaves it on a fir branch, and expects it to mature there. After, he dismembers the body feeding the meat to the evil spirits, it is returned to earth, the body is reconstructed and the soul awakens him.

Another shamanistic tradition states that the head of the selected has to be beheaded by the evil spirits and placed in front of the body so that he can assist with the dismemberment of his body and the sacrifice of his bones.

This shamanistic ritual is found in Canto XXVIII, vv. 118-142 about by Bertram de Born . Dante, in fact, said he saw a man with a severed head that holds the hair "like a lantern ."

We used these analogies with the Divine Comedy because they are the starting point to understanding the symbolic importance of the primal and popular religions. Therefore recognizing in them the true bearers of the traditions at the base of our civilization.