Week 4 - Natalie Velazquez

The reading of "We Are Not Alone The Shamans Of The Worlds Tells Us" ties to this weeks theme of spirits and the natural world. The article discusses how intelligence isn't restricted to humans, all living things plants and animals possess intelligence. The ocean, soil, wind, the sky and stars all have conscious. The Earth has been around longer than man and many of Earth's creatures predate humanity, possessing greater wisdom. As stated in the article Shamans believe there is "deep wisdom in the rhythms of the Earth and an infinite variety of life experience stored by our fellow creatures and by spirits". Shamans tap into the natural world and communicate with

spirits to acquire knowledge. The article also points out that many of our ancestors practiced shamanism and we are all descendants of shamanic people. My response to that is, if many of our ancestors practiced shamanism why did the practices fade away through generations? Could it have been to a lack of faith created by a society flourishing in scientific methods and new directions of thinking? If it wasn't for science how many old practices could our generation have preserved? Overall I agree with the article and believe we have to "expand our vision to seek non-scientific alternatives". Expanding the mind can help one see the universe for what it truly is and thus uncover all of its beauty and hidden truths.