THE COSMIC DANCE: INTELLIGENCE IN NATURE
Intelligence in Nature makes the radical assumption that the Earth and all other life-forms are integral to the web of life. Everything is “animate” and thrumming with creative energy.This is a far cry from the “dead world theories” that pervades the Western culture today. The word animism comes from the Latin word anima which refers to spirit, soul or life-force. It is the oldest religion of humanity dating back as far back as 300,000 years ago. Within the animistic worldview all forms of life on this planet are engaged in a web of relationships. As Cheyenne River Lakota elder Tiokasan Ghosthorse notes, “Mitakuye Oyasin–all my relations actually means the universe is speaking through the energy of the relationship between you and I and all things, and therefore everything is related to everything else.” These relationships are central to defining one’s role within the community of living things.
In order to arrive at this deep sense of interrelationships, we must create a major paradigm shift, requiring us to form a constellation of concepts, values, perceptions, and shared practices which help us understand our shared reality within the community. Spiritual ecology (or deep ecology) is a major paradigm shift away from the influences of DesCartes, Galileo and Newton. It recognizes the fundamental interdependence of all phenomena and sees all things as embedded (and dependent on) the cyclical processes of nature.
RESOURCES
Intelligence in Nature: An Inquiry into Knowledge
by Jeremy Narby, 2006.
Anthropologist Jeremy Narby has altered how we understand the Shamanic cultures and traditions that have undergone a worldwide revival in recent years. Now, in one of his most extraordinary journeys, Narby travels the globe-from the Amazon Basin to the Far East-to probe what traditional healers and pioneering researchers understand about the intelligence present in all forms of life.
Intelligence in Nature presents overwhelming illustrative evidence that independent intelligence is not unique to humanity alone. Indeed, bacteria, plants, animals, and other forms of nonhuman life display an uncanny penchant for self-deterministic decisions, patterns, and actions.
Narby presents the first in-depth anthropological study of this concept in the West. He not only uncovers a mysterious thread of intelligent behavior within the natural world but also probes the question of what humanity can learn from nature’s economy and knowingness in its own search for a saner and more sustainable way of life.
The predominant way of knowing in the western culture is to prove a theory through measurement. It’s no surprise that empirical evidence has to be produced in order to “prove” nature’s intelligence.
Sand Talk: How Indigenous Thinking Can Save the World
by Tyson Yunkaporta, 2020.
In Sand Talk, Yunkaporta provides a new model for our everyday lives. Rich in ideas and inspiration, it explains how lines and symbols and shapes can help us make sense of our living, intelligent world. It’s about how we learn and how we remember. It’s about talking to everyone, observing other life forms, and listening carefully. It’s about finding different ways to look at things. Most of all it’s about a very special way of thinking, of learning to see from a native perspective, one that is spiritually and physically tied to the earth around us, and how it can save our world.
PDF supplement to Sand Talk
with a summary of what the symbolism of “sand talk” means.
Deakin University page (has web links & videos)
Also the videos below elaborate on Sand Talk.