The Indigenous World View and the Physics of Consciousness

If there’s one thing that few will argue, it’s that Indigenous people have a closer connection to the Earth and all living things than the science-based white man. They repeatedly tell us we are all related, including the animals and all other living things.

Book cover for "The Making of a Healer" by Russell FourEagles

Even what a geologist would consider an inanimate mineral can have a story to tell, as conveyed in “The Making of a Healer” by Russell FourEagles. In that book he found a stone that was shaped such that it had apparently been the head of hide scraping tool. Using his Indigenous healer gift of perception, which inspired him to pick it up in the first place, he discerned its history, from when the rock was found by a young girl, to its evolution to a tool when it was secured in a young tree to grow around it to form it’s handle.

Book cover of "The Physics of Consciousness" by Ivan Antic

Many supposed “scientists” would undoubtedly think that this was nothing short of some elaborate hallucination. Except, perhaps, a man named Ivan Antic whose book “The Physics of Consciousness: In the Quantum Field, Minerals, Plants, Animals, and Human Souls” I recently finished reading.

Yeah, that’s who I am. I read weird stuff like that. But I must admit that much of this went over my head, but what I did absorb was remarkable. And right in synch with Native American beliefs regarding the unity of all existence.

I have a bachelors degree in physics. Thus, I’ve had college classes in quantum theory. I’ve had my own thoughts on that over the years. Years ago scientists thought that light needed to propagate through some medium and theorized the existence of the aether, that permeated all of creation, including outer space. Then, when this couldn’t be detected and proven to exist, it was dismissed, the term declared verboten, and space declared an empty vacuum. Then a few decades later, they come up with dark matter, which to me, is the same thing with a different name. And Mr. Antic agrees.

The quantum world is nothing like what we experience day to day. Its weird and loaded with mystery. Gradually, science is admitting it doesn’t know everything. Big surprise! In my mind the most laughable scientific period of time was “The Enlightenment” where we were supposedly beginning to understand how the world operates.

Yeah, right.

Instead, the true essence of existence was dismissed if it couldn’t be proven in the lab in a repeatable manner. Sadly, too many people still believe that today.

Like Antic states in this book, “Since our current stage of evolution has not gone past the monkey phase, obviously that explains why we are so imperfect, incapable, and destructive, and appear to be on a collision course aimed at destroying the whole planet we live on.”

He describes the world of quantum physics as the very foundation of nature where there is nothing solid. “There is not a material world as such, it is rather a universal energy field, a big information field where everything is interconnected in one unity outside of space and time, in which  all the subatomic particles communicate with one another currently and irrelevantly of space and time.” [Emphasis added]

Well, well, well. Imagine that.

He goes on to explain that the infamous Maxwell Equations that I learned in college were actually modified by mathematicians after Maxwell’s death because the world was not ready for what the originals contained. Indeed, they blasted the “Enlightenment” out of the water by recognizing the aether as well as both Hertzian and non-Hertzian waves, which are separated by the speed of light.

He notes that “There is a common belief that the earth we walk on is a conscious being.” He notes that water has “physical properties that are a characteristic of the quantum world: it reacts to thoughts and neighboring frequencies, it remembers all the shapes and informational influences it was exposed to, both physical and mental, and acts the way consciousness would act in its most elementary form. Water unites consciousness with the elements, making it the foundation of life that is present in all living beings….”

I cannot count the times I’ve seen the statement “Water is Life” in Native American context.

Antic notes that “Plants adapt to their environment showing creative consciousness in their forming…Plants live on water and sunlight, sense and perceive, have non-local communication, bond emotionally with other beings, and feel the states of living organisms in their surroundings, especially in people.”

Is it any wonder that Indigenous people have certain plants they consider sacred?

He points out that “Tree trunks are antennas connecting the earth to the cosmos; they communicate with the stars. They communicate with people who are aware enough to have communication of this kind, those who can sense in their bodies the mild signals containing simple messages, always amicable and full of affection. [Emphasis mine]

The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon book cover

I was delighted when I read that since that’s exactly what Charlie did in “The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon” in the chapter entitled “The Aspen” where the tree that witnessed the accident that killed his best friend gave him a clue on where to find evidence. When I wrote some of these scenes I wondered if they were realistic. My Cheyenne coauthor, Pete Risingsun, assured me that they were.

And there it is, in a book about the physics of consciousness.

Out-of-body experiences, such as near-death experiences (NDEs) have an important message in that they teach individuals directly that they are not their body but immortal consciousness. Per Antic, “For as long as we remain identified with the physical body as the only reality, we cannot know the true nature of consciousness and existence.”

This explains the reason why people who have had NDEs often are changed upon returning to their bodies. In the Dead Horse Canyon trilogy, both Sara and Charlie are different after going through NDEs. In many instances I’ve read that one is necessary for one to become a medicine man or shaman because it opens up their perception to other dimensions.

Star Ancestors book cover

Shona Bear Clark in Nancy Redstar’s book “Our Star Ancestors” states, “I had been dead for seven minutes. I was in pure light. I didn’t see or hear anyone in the light, but ever since then I have been able to hear people thinking. I can see a person’s spirit floating above his head, which tells me a great deal about the person.” She goes on to say, ” I have lived a long life, continually aware of the existence of other realities and of strange, magical beings who can traverse the dimensional barriers and enter my world. These are things Indians rarely speak about to White men. But we are changing all that now.”

I found it profound, satisfying and gratifying to find the phenomena depicted in mine and Pete’s books to be validated by a book that describes the “physics of consciousness.”

Undoubtedly what is commonly called our current “civilized” world is a gross overstatement.

Antic’s book, of which this is one of many, is not an easy read. I think I underlined a substantial percentage of it due to its wealth of fascinating content. Many paragraphs I had to read several times before I could grok what he was saying. It’s a book I will definitely read again. If you’re interested in what consciousness really is and its amazing implication, then you might want to pick up a copy on Amazon here.

If you enjoyed this blog be sure to subscribe so you’re notified when a new one is posted. I plan to do several more posts on this subject in the days and weeks to come. I also invite you to read “The Curse of Dead Horse Canyon” trilogy, which is loaded with examples of Indigenous culture and their connection to dimensions most people cannot see and some claim don’t exist.

Like Antic noted, sadly too many are still at the monkey stage.

Medicine Men: Then and Now (Part 1)

AI Generated image of a traditional medicine man shaking hands with a modern woman doctor

Healing is something we all seek at one time or another. In these modern times, many turn to their physician, who then sends a prescription to their chosen pharmacy. If you can afford it, you take it as directed. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Yet the human race survived for thousands of years without pharmaceutical companies. Probably the most questionable thing about them is how they did all in their power to suppress natural cures.

Why?

A natural substance cannot be patented and thus assure income.

Of course it’s becoming more apparent day by day that the pharmaceutical/healthcare industry isn’t about helping people get well–it’s about profits. While this subject is ripe for discussing any number of conspiracy theories, that is not the point I want to make.

Rather, I’d like to illustrate similarities between methods used for thousands of years by indigenous healers (i.e., medicine men or, in some cultures, shamans) versus “new” alternative medicine approaches that eschew drugs for other means for optimizing health, both physical and emotional, which are more connected than most people realize.

Cover of Louise Hay's book "You Can Heal Your Life"

That is one of the most fascinating “breakthroughs” in relatively recent times. Much of this began with Louise Hay’s book, You Can Heal Your Life. A similar book that was my first introduction to the possibility is Feelings Buried Alive Never Die by Karol Kuhn Truman.

In his book, A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle states, “Suffering or negativity is often misperceived by the ego as pleasure because up to a point the ego strengthens itself through it. For example, anger or resentment strengthen the ego enormously. . . If you were able to observe the physiological changes that take place inside your body when possessed by such negative states, how they adversely affect the functioning of the heart, the digestive and immune systems, and countless other bodily functions, it would become abundantly clear that such states are indeed pathological, are forms of suffering and not pleasure…”

Cover of Eckhart Tolle's book "A New Earth"

He goes on to say, ” The remnants of pain left behind by every strong negative emotion that is not fully faced, accepted, and then let go of join together to form an energy field that lives in the very cells of your body…The pain-body is a semi-autonomous energy-form that lives within more human beings, an entity made up of emotion. It has its own primitive intelligence, not unlike a cunning animal, and its intelligence is directed primarily at survival…That’s why it thrives on negative thinking as well as drama in relationships. The pain-body is an addiction to unhappiness.

Cover of "The Making of a Healer" by Russell FourEagles

Here is what Russell FourEagles, a modern-day Native American healer, has to say about such emotions:

“We humans tend to hang on to too much baggage such as anger, guilt, and pain. We tend to keep inside the hurts and sorrows from losses of family and friends. We also hang onto other life losses such as money and material things. That little place the Creator gave us to store our hurts was meant to be used for just a short while, until we were ready to let them go. But instead, we stuff our heart boxes with more and more hurts and traumas until we learn from our life’s lessons or die. We may often carry this baggage for many lifetimes if we don’t learn to let it go…

“The addition of the new trauma has caused the heart box to swell, so that it presses uncomfortably against the heart and lungs. But then, in an unconscious ability the Creator gave us, we have stolen energy from our own cells to build a wall around our heart box… One way to unload our heart boxes is through the Oneida Fire Ceremony. The ceremony’s main function is for us to give all our painful memories and traumas to the Creator. We do this through writing things down and offering them up in prayer. This ritual helps us to heal and get stronger. In the process, we uncover ever and ever deeper old hurts.” (The Making of a Healer: Teachings of my Oneida Grandmother)

Cover of Dr. Bradley Nelson's book "The Emotion Code"

As far as the Heart Box is concerned, modern researcher and chiropractor, Bradley Nelson, states: “Trapped emotions can create a wall around your heart that can block you from living life to the fullest…Your subconscious mind–which knows no limitations–will sometimes use the energy of these trapped emotions to create a barrier or shield around your heart. Literally, it creates a wall of energy around your heart, to protect it…

“When you have a Heart Wall, you are not able to give love as well as you might, because that love energy that is in your heart cannot get out as well. (The Emotion Code: How to Release Your Trapped Emotions for Abundant Health, Love and Happiness)

Cover of Karol Kuhn Truman's book "Feelings Buried Alive Never Die."

The heart is not the only place that emotions can be trapped. As Louise Hay, Karol Kuhn Truman, and Dr. Bradley Nelson each explained, different feelings get stored in different organs. If you have specific health problems, its origin could lie in some past emotional trauma.

I invite you to check out one or all of these books for details.

Watch for more on this fascinating subject of how ancient beliefs about everything from healing to the true meaning of consciousness are coming full-circle with modern science.

Lakota Healing Song

This morning a beautiful Lakota healing song showed up in my YouTube feed. I didn’t understand a word, but it brought tears to my eyes. If there was ever a time when many of us–the entire planet, actually– needs it, it is now.

It also had special meaning because it fits perfectly with a scene in book 2, “Return to Dead Horse Canyon: Grandfather Spirits.”

 In Chapter 19, Leaping Elk, an Oglala Lakota medicine man, performs a healing ceremony for Charlie. You will meet Leaping Elk again in book 3. Here’s the excerpt:


BELTON MEDICAL CENTER

July 15, Sunday

1:50 p.m.

Charlie sensed a presence. Opening his eyes failed. The soul-crushing weight remained, confirming he was alive, like amasani told him. Surely it didn’t hurt this much to be dead. Every breath filled his lungs with pain soaked in suffocating fire.

The realization someone was speaking in a grandfather voice stirred within his soul. The reverent, beseeching tone indicated prayer, but he couldn’t understand the words. Not Diné or Tsetsehestaestse, and certainly not English or Spanish.

Who was it?

Why was he there?

Mysteries and ceremonies came to men like Sweet Medicine from within the earth. Was that where he was?

Why else were some sounds muffled, others not? Though distinct, the man’s speech came as if from a great distance.

Perhaps he was within the earth. Swallowed by an angry Earth Mother.

The prayer ended and the man began to sing, accompanied by the rhythmic swish of a rattle. Even without understanding the language he recognized it as an honor song. Its healing effects settled upon him with an unexpected sense of peace.

The singing faded.

Again all was deathly still.


Here’s the song. Close your eyes and feel the words, even if you can’t understand them.

Some of the comments on YouTube explain the song is asking the Creator to have pity on us, that we understand our suffering is a vehicle to teach us something, and to please heal us.

There is so much to be learned from this beautiful culture. Teachings that we need today, more than ever before.


Image by Aline Berry from Pixabay

First-Hand Account of Someone Raised by a Medicine Man

This short video captures the essence of the indigenous spirit. Some of the comments are worth reading as well. I stumbled upon it quite by accident and it touched me so deeply I wanted to share it with as many as possible.

Indigenous people get a lot of bad press, mostly from history books written by their conquerors who knew little of their beautiful, compassionate culture. There is much to be learned from their wisdom. The world would be a better place if more people embraced their values of family first, hard work, connection with nature, independence, generosity and kindness.

I hope you enjoy this short (about 10 minutes) video and it brightens your day with hope as it did for me.