This post is the result of numerous experiences throughout my long life. Some of those experiences have shown me the horror of what people are capable of. Some of the experiences have shown me the divinity of what people can become. And then there is everything in between. I have, from a very early age, asked myself what it actually means to be human? There is such a vast spectrum of humans walking the earth, and because of that it has been a long search for anything that feels congruent and satisfying as an answer.
Evolution would indicate that being human has to do with the development of the sizable brain that we posses. Hemispheres of the brain developed at different stages during the human evolution. We did not, for example, always have such a large frontal lobe. Thus, for thousands of years, we were limited to genetic or taught memory for survival; which plants were edible, which were poisonous, what herds of animals grazed where and so on. As the frontal lobe began to develop, we began to use more imagination and innovation. We began to imagine things that had not yet been developed; things like the bow and arrow. We began to weave grasses together to make baskets and such. Eventually we began to imagine things far outside of ourselves and create stories that correlated to the constellations of stars above us.
Once technology became invented and utilized, we began to do things like mapping the electromagnetic activities of the brain itself. As we have done so there has been somewhat of an over emphasis placed on the “science” of the brain, of which science still knows very little. During the pandemic we heard a LOT of stuff about “trust the science.” People were encouraged to do that instead of trusting themselves. I am not saying that one side was right and the other was wrong. What I am saying is that science has a tendency to belittle faith. Yet we were told to have faith in science. So what is more reliant on faith? Science or Intuition?
No matter how much we think we know about the activity of the brain, it is absolutely dwarfed by the activity of the Mind. In Shamanism, we tend to see the brain and the mind as two different things. The brain conducts messages to the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The mind, however, is not limited to the mere functions of the brain. The brain cannot comprehend most of what has yet to be discovered in our Universe. The mind, however, knows the patterns and energy flows of the Universe quite well.
The mind will bring us to the recognition of joy, or sadness. The brain does very little in comparison with that. The mind will help us to grasp hope instead of despair. The brain does not accomplish this. Some may contend that, if not for the brain, none of that would be possible at all. And those folks are welcome to their opinion. Shamanism, however, has the mind right next to the Spirit, which science still has no grasp of. Spirit will inspire us to reach higher. The mind creates ways to do that. The brain will take that message and invent what is needed in order to do that.
In the Tarot deck there is a card known as The Lovers. It pictures a couple (does not matter what gender) somehow entwined with one another, be it holding hands or embracing in some way, or even just looking into each other’s eyes. Usually, depending upon what deck one is using, there is also a spirit, be it an angel, spirit guide, or whatever, looking over them. For me, this indicates the hemispheres of the brain (male and female, or just left and right brain) having something more governing over it, and that would be the mind, or, depending upon perspective, the spirit.
The mind is that part of us that is acutely aware of our surroundings. Walking into a cafe and sitting at a table, it is the part of us that subconsciously observes everyone in the cafe. It is the part of us that knows which letter in the Exit sign has burned out, how many hats are being worn, the color of someone’s dress, whether they have sunglasses on or beside them on the table, and so on. The mind is more observant than we tend to give credit for. That observer within us has very little to do with actual brain activity. It is more about our intuition and instincts than it is about our intellect.
The mind is also what allows us to acknowledge that, although we are all individuals, we are connected to one another in deep and meaningful ways, even if we don’t actually know one another personally. That leads us to the ability to have empathy for one another.
And so, in conclusion, I would have to say that what makes us the most human is our ability to observe and to access hope, especially in perceived hopeless situations. And that hope gives us the strength to get through the experience that appears hopeless. We need to be able to experience life, but we also need to be able to access hope. And that is what makes us all human.
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