“Many ancient cultures, including Native Americans, had a very different focus than is found today in Western society. These cultures lived in harmony with nature. In fact, they worshiped the Goddess energy that we sometimes refer to as Mother Nature. Today they are often referred to as Earth Mother societies. In ancient times, such cultures were commonly matriarchal in orientation. Many of their symbolic rituals were expressions of their desire for attunement with the guiding forces of the planetary and cosmic environment in which they lived. They had a deep abiding respect for all life. Today we would consider them to be highly right-brain oriented because they lived their lives with a greater recognition of the symbolic and synchronistic nature of life. They paid tremendous attention to symbolic information that came from their dreams and often used such information as an aid in making important decisions. These societies were frequently guided by the tribal elders, who were often shamans or medicine men—keepers of the sacred wisdom. The shamans would attain mystical states of awareness to obtain symbolic guidance from waking visions and from the dream state that would assist them in seeing deeper levels of truth, especially when they were confronted with difficult dilemmas. Many of their communications and archives were through symbolic pictographs. Such ancient cultures nurtured creativity and growth in the individual. In contrast, Western societies are extremely left-brain oriented, analytical, and precise in language and communication. These societies tend to be materialistic by nature. Lives frequently become focused upon the search for power, control, and material acquisition. Happiness is often defined by the amount of goods and properties owned. This materialistic philosophy has been summed up rather appropriately by the popular saying “He who dies with the most toys wins.” Western societies have gradually weeded out mysticism from the experience of everyday life. Individuals have begun to pursue science as a type of new religion where technology is the fruit that the scientific priesthood has harvested. Western society is now guided by a sterile scientific philosophy that has become obsessed with an overly mechanistic, reductionistic viewpoint of life. Yet there are many who struggle to find deeper meaning in their lives.” —Barbara Hand Clow, Astrology and the Rising of Kundalini Excerpt from the current book I am reading.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 15:23:59 +0000
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