House of Shattering Light: Life as an American Indian Mystic

What is it like to be a contemporary American Indian mystic? What sequence of experiences come together to form a mystic’s path? How would you deal with the visions that come and carry you to alternate dimensions without notice and at the most inopportune times? In The House of Shattering Light: Life as an American Indian Mystic, Joseph Rael reveals how such questions shaped his life and his visions for the future.

"This House of Shattering Light — this perceptual reality in which we live and of which we are a part — exists only for the soul’s purpose of continuing its own livelihood."

—Joseph Rael

Very early in his new book, Rael’s message is clear — trust in the path. In The House of Shattering Light, Rael lays bare the main theme of his life, one with which many of us can identify: "Without realizing it, we are led in a particular direction. We are not always completely aware of the reason, but it takes us wherever we need to go, even when we don’t know that’s what’s happening. All we know is that in some way everything’s perfect."

Rael’s life has been pulled into virtually every conceivable magical, mystical and disastrous experience. Born a "split"—half Southern Ute and half Picuris Publan—he enjoyed the sweet embrace of Native American shamanic practices while also confronting the unimaginable bitterness of inter-tribal racism, which forced early feelings of isolation. Fascinated early on by sounds and vibrations, one of Joseph’s first experiments, at age six, was to lie with his sisters Corleen and Gloria, with their ears pressed to the train tracks. Mesmerized by their ability to capture the sounds of the oncoming train—Joseph’s sisters, ages seven and eight, perished on the tracks, and only Joseph survived. From this tragedy he went on to deal with the death of his mother and being placed with a foster family, where he found a mentor, Grandfather, who schooled him in the mysteries of tribal ceremonies. Here began Rael’s life as a medicine man and his exploration of the power of language, inspired by his study of the Tiwa language in which each word and sound is a metaphor expressing some aspect of the great mystery. Through his story, he leads us beyond a mentally-oriented way of perceiving reality to one based on intuition. One observation in particular is meant for this time:

"My experience is emblematic of what all of humanity is experiencing at this moment in our history. As diverse cultures come together and different ways of thinking clash, there’s stress, tension. Because of this there’s more capacity for the visionary to come forth out of that tension and to take the front of the world stage.

"The very tension of the masses of people in turmoil creates new insights for the overall population. Out of these insights new determinations are made as to how—socially and politically—we are going to develop in the next twenty-five or thirty years on the planet."

Rael describes his most powerful vision, in which he was directed to share his medicine with the outer world, beyond the Indians. He was told that non-Indian people need this information because they’re the ones who are going to save the Indians. In House of Shattering Light, Rael inspires us all to embrace the great mystery through his life story.