by bosco

"Bosco" (Ben) was one of the central figures of alt.religion.shamanism in its active years — the keeper of the FAQ, a steady contributor of journey accounts and practical reflections, and a grounding presence as the group grew noisier and more fragmented. In November 2009, he wrote about the event that had set him on the path: a late-night encounter that made no sense by ordinary logic and that required years of research to understand. The group, he said, was where he started that research. This post arrived quietly, without announcement. It is bosco's calling narrative.

It was late one evening, between the hours of two and four in the morning, in the late winter.

I was out walking — a nightly routine I had developed, as I worked nights and needed something to do when everyone else slept.

Without warning there were three middle-aged men, and a younger man, perhaps in his mid-twenties, standing in front of me some feet away, with the young man a little closer. There was a dog with them, a German Shepherd.

One of the men told the young man, "Go ahead." The young man looked apprehensive, but determined.

The dog became excited — sort of hopping and jumping, coming a little closer each hop. The dog was also growling and barking, focused on me.

I didn't know what was going on, but I knew it was deadly serious.

I knew the dog was going to attack me. Within a second or two, it made one final hop and squatted down, staring at my throat.

It leapt from about eight feet away like an arrow in flight.

From behind me and to the side, a Lioness flew by me — leaping too — and caught the dog in mid-flight about two feet from my throat.

The young man didn't know what to do. I was stunned. And the three men were disappointed in the young man. They thought he should have done better.

That was my introduction to Shamanism. All I had to do after that was discover what the heck had taken place, and why me.

This group was my starting place.

— ben

Colophon

Posted to alt.religion.shamanism by bosco (Ben, [email protected]) on November 30, 2009. Message-ID: 2009113020033550073-boscopelone@yahoocom.

Bosco was a practitioner based in Colorado who maintained the alt.religion.shamanism FAQ for years and contributed some of the most widely-read posts in the group's history. The Lioness referenced here appears in several other posts as bosco's primary spirit guardian. The three men and the young man are not named or explained further — the post is offered as experience, not interpretation.

Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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