Jan. 6th Viking-Horned Shaman is Out of Jail


The whacko wearing Viking horns who broke into the Capitol and gave a prayer in the House Chambers is out of jail. Dozens of those who broke into the Capitol at the behest of Trump will be getting out of jails during the next few years. It will be entertaining to learn how they now see themselves and what becomes of them. One who lived near where I live had a wife and two small children. He had a job and was doing OK in life until he went around the bend in religion and politics.

The Viking horned "QAnon Shaman's" name is Jake Angelis. He is now in the Phoenix area. While the link does not explain how is earns money for food, housing and his car he is moving around the area trying to establish something like a spiritual consulting business where people would give him $500 for a week of seminars on "enlightenment." A reporter went with him to a meeting where he made a presentation but there were no takers.

The problem is no one seems to understand what he believes. In prison he says he studied the Bible and books about Budda. Combining these gave him insight into a spiritual life he wants to pass along to others. Apparently, his views sounded as unusual to the listeners as it does to me. The views were passed along to a professor of religion who said they were a little of "new age" and bits of Christianity, Buddhism and others. He still has his Viking Horn hat and wears it as a part of his self-appointed role of a shaman. He no longer wants to be known as the "QAnon Shaman." The word "Shamanism," however, is used often in his talks. 

Jake Angelis fits our times to a "T". Cobbling together pieces of religion and philosophical thinking from many sources and organizing groups to discuss them must happen somewhere every day. Some Christian pundits like to say that because many "nones" (no religious affiliation) say they are "spiritual" or "believe in a higher power" they should be classified with Christians. Jake Angelis seems to believe in higher powers and the spiritual world but does not fit "Christian." 

From what I understand of early history and prehistory, Jake Angelis and people like him are the "normal" world. The one deity world of Christianity and Islam organized across continents is not "normal." The unknown authors of the Bible referred to their enemies often as those who worshipped other gods. Monotheism has been an aberration in the human experience. It has been an experiment that seems not to be working out.

With the "QAnon Shaman" out of jail and preachers/priests crying out the injustice of Trump's indictment I look forward to some entertaining religious and political theater.   

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