Shamanism and Footy?

I bought an indigenous themed footy jersey of my favourite AFL team this year and was fortunate enough to wear it and watch them play a game at the MCG in Melbourne  against the  Richmond Tigers on my last road-trip on the way back from Tasmania, when I spent the weekend in Melbourne to sight-see and watch two different codes of football while I was there -
Reflections and Refractions of Richmond

The Red Lion on the Tasmanian state flag;-)

I specifically went down to Tasmania for the winter solstice celebration of Dark Mofo, which is all about the sun being at its lowest point of the year and its rebirth into spring (time of the footy finals in Australia) -
Dark Mofo Winter Feast 2016
Ironically the Brisbane Lions would finish in one of the lowest positions on the AFL ladder that they ever have since the Brisbane Bears became the Brisbane Lions. 

The Melbourne Cricket Ground

I had never been to the MCG in my life before, so it was great to see a game involving the team from my hometown that I had been following since they were the Brisbane Bears, even though they lost on the day.

The Bears merged with the Fitzroy Lions and became the Brisbane Lions in 1996. 

The years of our 3 grand final wins in a row

The final placings for the 2016 table

The club has had some great years, but this year wasn't one of them:-(

My view at the MCG on June 25th, 2016

The day I was at the MCG the Lions were playing the Richmond Tigers.

It was the clash of the big cats, and the Tigers were led on to the field with the beat of live drummers and the Guns N' Roses song 'Welcome to the Jungle'.

The MCG was the home of the
  1956 Olympic Games

Oddly enough, although we didn't know it at the time Guns N' Roses will be playing a concert here at this ground in early 2017.  
When I heard the song 'Welcome to the Jungle' I couldn't help thinking just how shamanic like football is with its tribes of supporters and totem animals and themes of power that the fans seem to take on with some fans even painting their faces to look like a lion, or tiger.

I was reading a book titled, 'The Book of Secrets' and there was a chapter on animals and spiritual beings, and there was a section about the lion as a solar figure.

Which is interesting when you consider that the only other team from my home state of Queensland (The Sunshine State) is the Gold Coast Suns.

Seems there's a solar theme going on in my home state, which makes sense if you watch the Halfasheep video below about the lions and solar imagery in plain sight around the streets of Brisbane. 

Getting back to 'The Book of Secrets' and indigenous themes on my footy jersey, I couldn't help but think of the shamanic themes in Peter Weir's film 'The Last Wave' when I read this page below.

Watch Weir's movie starring real indigenous tribal shamans and see how many of those powers and abilities are hinted at in his movie. 
Someone has uploaded the whole movie in the You Tube below, so if you want to watch it be quick, as they don't seem to last long on You Tube.

I wonder just how much of those shamanic abilities those tribal indigenous Australians really do possess when it comes to real life magical abilities.

The Melbourne Storm's home ground AAMI Park 

My view at AAMI Park on June 26th, 2016

The other football game I went to was on SUNday between the Melbourne Storm and Wests Tigers at AAMI park, which is right next-door to the MCG.

This time I was going for the Tigers ironically enough, not that they are my team though, but the Melbourne Storm rained on my parade and won the match. 
To become a shaman lightning strikes are usually a prerequisite before starting on that journey to become one, so I couldn't help thinking of the shamanic themes here either.

And what's with all the fire in the no-smoking areas of the 

stadium?-) 

AAMI Park

And why does the stadium look like exotic mushrooms at night, too? 
Welcome to the jungle, I guess?-)

The current champions in the AFL for three years running is another sun themed team in a way, and the only team I couldn't bear to see win this year is Hawthorn for obvious reasons (if you follow the AFL) with me being a Brisbane Lions supporter.

"Horus, the hawk-headed lord of magic and war, was arguably the most important god in the Egyptian pantheon.
He is closely identified with the sun and is the avenger of his father Osiris's murder by his brother Set.
Horus is the central deity worshiped in the rite of modern magicians, as the sun who does not die, and the falcon whose eyes are the sun and moon"
The above passage is from, 'The Book of Secrets', by Daniel Pineda.  

UPDATE: 17th September, 2016
I don't have to worry about the hawk-headed lord of magic (Hawthorn) pulling a fourth premiership in a row out of his hat, as the underdogs ... or should that be undergods(?) ... ended Hawthorn's season with a 23-point win last night -

Western Bulldogs celebrate 

their win over Hawthorn

Western Bulldogs end Hawthorn Hawks' AFL reign, winning semi-final by 23 points
"The Western Bulldogs have ended Hawthorn's quest for four straight AFL premierships with a 23-point semi-final triumph.
The Bulldogs mauled the Hawks in the second half on Friday night at the MCG, kicking 10 goals to five and winning 16.11 (107) to 12.12 (84)."