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In Devereux's Book "Earthmind", about deep ecology, he mentioned the phenomenon of geomantic amnesia:
"Geomantic amnesia [is] a double forgetting wherein a culture forgets, and then forgets it has forgotten how to live in harmony with the planet. But awareness always leaves tracks through the sands of time. The literal tracks may be obliterated, but there's always a seed of perrenial wisdom which endures through the millenia like some mythic spore awaiting the time for its revival".
That time is now.
In Ralph Metzner's essay "The Psychopathology of the Human-Nature Relationship" (In Roszak's 'Ecopsychology') he takes it a step further:
"As an elaboration of the amnesia metaphor we might consider the possibility of a 'traumatic amnesia'. We know from studies of the effects of child abuse and rape, of combat, of accidents and natural disasters, that where the person experiencing the trauma is in a completely helpless position, the memory of the experience can be completely lost [in order to protect oneself from overwhelm]-- even though physical effects on the body and symptoms, such as nightmares and panic attacks, may remain." Western culture, with its relentless profit orientation and consumerist bias, re-traumatizes people, animals and the environment constantly.
The 'mythic spore' looks like recovering these memories, not of the ugliness but of our connection to Nature-- through the dreamtime, a state brought on by the shamanic rituals of old-- just as effective today if presented in an updated way. What are counsellors but modern day shamans or secular priests? Sure, there are just as many charlatans and con artists as any other profession, but as E. Fuller Torre pointed out systematically in his book "Witchdoctors and Psychiatrists", the role is the same: To return the Spirit to the body and mind of someone who had it stolen from them, whether by one's job, polluted environment, or exposure to toxic people. Peter A. Levine has now discovered how animals 'immunize' themselves to trauma and has found that dreamtime/ alpha state/ bodymind awareness is the key to immunizing humans. We have the means and have but to use them!
"Geomantic amnesia [is] a double forgetting wherein a culture forgets, and then forgets it has forgotten how to live in harmony with the planet. But awareness always leaves tracks through the sands of time. The literal tracks may be obliterated, but there's always a seed of perrenial wisdom which endures through the millenia like some mythic spore awaiting the time for its revival".
That time is now.
In Ralph Metzner's essay "The Psychopathology of the Human-Nature Relationship" (In Roszak's 'Ecopsychology') he takes it a step further:
"As an elaboration of the amnesia metaphor we might consider the possibility of a 'traumatic amnesia'. We know from studies of the effects of child abuse and rape, of combat, of accidents and natural disasters, that where the person experiencing the trauma is in a completely helpless position, the memory of the experience can be completely lost [in order to protect oneself from overwhelm]-- even though physical effects on the body and symptoms, such as nightmares and panic attacks, may remain." Western culture, with its relentless profit orientation and consumerist bias, re-traumatizes people, animals and the environment constantly.
The 'mythic spore' looks like recovering these memories, not of the ugliness but of our connection to Nature-- through the dreamtime, a state brought on by the shamanic rituals of old-- just as effective today if presented in an updated way. What are counsellors but modern day shamans or secular priests? Sure, there are just as many charlatans and con artists as any other profession, but as E. Fuller Torre pointed out systematically in his book "Witchdoctors and Psychiatrists", the role is the same: To return the Spirit to the body and mind of someone who had it stolen from them, whether by one's job, polluted environment, or exposure to toxic people. Peter A. Levine has now discovered how animals 'immunize' themselves to trauma and has found that dreamtime/ alpha state/ bodymind awareness is the key to immunizing humans. We have the means and have but to use them!
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