PEGI EYERS
Chapter 27 - Ancient Spirit Rising
As diverse spiritual traditions and Turtle Island First Nations remind us, true knowledge is gained by thinking with both the head and the heart - a journey of emotion as informed by the mind. The heart-knowing, intuitive and magical faculties of our right brain are just as important as the intellectual, critical thinking and analytical masteries of our left brain. To utilize the powerful gifts of both heart and mind, we are constantly processing our feelings and thoughts back and forth in a necessary weaving. Both dynamics are required - the theory we obtain from deep reflection, research and analysis, as well as the agency to act on this information in sync with our creativity and intuition.
The figure-8 or infinity symbol, a mathematical and philosophical construct developed in the ancient worlds of India and Greece, is a great illustration of this process. If the infinity symbol is placed vertically and assigned to the human form, the bottom half represents the energy of the earth (the physical), the top half represents the energy of the cosmos (the spiritual), and both meet in the middle, which is the human heart. Balancing both aspects of mind and heart can mean recognizing that many of our thoughts are illusionary tricksters, and conversely, that indulging in emotional entanglement may not allow for the critical thinking process that can actually propel one forward. Empowerment and true knowledge come about when the radiant intelligences of our hearts, minds, bodies and spirits are entwined and work together, and “the essence of being human is taking the divine and the earthly aspects of ourselves and integrating them through love.” Marci Shimoff
The figure-8 or infinity symbol, a mathematical and philosophical construct developed in the ancient worlds of India and Greece, is a great illustration of this process. If the infinity symbol is placed vertically and assigned to the human form, the bottom half represents the energy of the earth (the physical), the top half represents the energy of the cosmos (the spiritual), and both meet in the middle, which is the human heart. Balancing both aspects of mind and heart can mean recognizing that many of our thoughts are illusionary tricksters, and conversely, that indulging in emotional entanglement may not allow for the critical thinking process that can actually propel one forward. Empowerment and true knowledge come about when the radiant intelligences of our hearts, minds, bodies and spirits are entwined and work together, and “the essence of being human is taking the divine and the earthly aspects of ourselves and integrating them through love.” Marci Shimoff
Reclaiming and co-creating ecological civilization today means rejecting and moving away from the over-emphasis on linear thinking which is the toxic legacy of Empire. The meme-carriers of western empiricism opined that “the birthright of our intelligence is calculation, not sensitivity,” and this patriarchal ideology has perpetuated the rule of all that is mechanistic, disembodied, material and subject to control. Empire has taught us to ignore the holistic connections, to sort things into the appropriate categories, and to divide and conquer our own reality.
The logic of domination views the land, elements and creatures in Earth Community as objects to be owned instead of kindred spirits, and the classification system of binary dualism has enabled conquest and ecocide all over the world. The misguided anthropocentric worldview of “man as ruler and pinnacle of creation” places human beings and their acquisitions at the center of the world, and renounces all care or responsibility to nature, natural processes or the other beings in Earth Community. In our time, challenging the insatiable entitlement and narcissism that this worldview has generated means including our hearts in the conversation, with a renewed focus on all that is intuitive and empathic. Becoming compassionate, loving and grounded, both in our physical bodies and the Earth, is a major part of our mutual re-indigenization process, and the emergence of holistic thinking in our time is a necessary rebalancing that is required after centuries of fractured, separatist patriarchal thinking.
The logic of domination views the land, elements and creatures in Earth Community as objects to be owned instead of kindred spirits, and the classification system of binary dualism has enabled conquest and ecocide all over the world. The misguided anthropocentric worldview of “man as ruler and pinnacle of creation” places human beings and their acquisitions at the center of the world, and renounces all care or responsibility to nature, natural processes or the other beings in Earth Community. In our time, challenging the insatiable entitlement and narcissism that this worldview has generated means including our hearts in the conversation, with a renewed focus on all that is intuitive and empathic. Becoming compassionate, loving and grounded, both in our physical bodies and the Earth, is a major part of our mutual re-indigenization process, and the emergence of holistic thinking in our time is a necessary rebalancing that is required after centuries of fractured, separatist patriarchal thinking.
 | “The Yup’ik elders in southwest Alaska call western society the reverse society, because we reverse the laws for living. The heart used to tell the mind what to do, and now the mind tells the heart what to do. These and many other kinds of reversals have put the life support systems of the planet on the brink.” Larry Merculieff “You’ve got to look at things with the eye in your heart, not the eye in your head.” Lame Deer |
Concurrent with the millions of hearts welcoming the paradigm shift to the values of love, unity and care, there also continues to be an appalling lack of critical thinking in spiritual practice today, which is endemic of a capitalist society having the wealth, privilege and entitlement to apply the principles of “fast food” consumerism to both our spiritual and intellectual lives. In these chaotic times, a multitude of strange ideologies and belief systems are being promoted, and the values of kindness, gentleness and love must be tempered by discernment, healthy scepticism and critique.
In an alarming tendency toward intellectual laziness and/or anti-intellectual bias, Empire has created an entire demographic that has no desire to read texts or expand their worldview, and prefer to obtain their information second-hand or from urban legends and the media. In the interest of promoting the timeless values of intellectual discourse and good scholarship, my “Entwining Heart and Mind” comparison chart outlines the heart knowledge and critical thinking processes, both beneficial and indispensable, both complementary to the other, and both equally important. We have an intellect for a reason, so why not use it? That is true mastery.
Ultimately, to gain true knowledge and wisdom-in-action is to weave our scholarship with our own insights, experiences and unique promptings of the heart. Without referring to both spheres simultaneously, and embracing the balance of our knowledge and experience equally, errors and misconceptions can occur. We understand with our mind (theory), but what we come to value and how we respond to important ethical matters (practice) comes from the heart. We can achieve spiritual wisdom from a confluence of sources, but connecting the intelligence of the heart to the intelligence of the mind is how we grow fully into our own lives.
As we learn from animism, rewilding, voluntary simplicity and our own ancestral practice, leaving the buzz of civilization behind and immersing ourselves in nature easily and effortlessly puts us into the intuitive knowing of indigenous mind. Opening to the natural world with interaction and appreciation, and stilling our inner dialogue enables the mysterious unfolding of our hearts. Simply from being in nature we can see the world through the lens of love, and come to know that the “Great Heart” is the connective force in all creation. Filtered through the harmonious and beautiful space of love, our thoughts become allied with Earth Community. Clarity replaces confusion, and our thinking becomes a joyful series of inspirations in service to furthering the goals of Gaia, which are to flourish and thrive.
Trusting in the balance, the wondrous gifts of the human heart and the human mind revolve as required, for nurturing and sustaining a good life for ourselves and all beings. Instead of identifying with the separatist and mechanistic worldview of industrial civilization in body, mind or soul, we find that we are at home again in the Sacred Circle of the heart. And in fact, we have never left.
In an alarming tendency toward intellectual laziness and/or anti-intellectual bias, Empire has created an entire demographic that has no desire to read texts or expand their worldview, and prefer to obtain their information second-hand or from urban legends and the media. In the interest of promoting the timeless values of intellectual discourse and good scholarship, my “Entwining Heart and Mind” comparison chart outlines the heart knowledge and critical thinking processes, both beneficial and indispensable, both complementary to the other, and both equally important. We have an intellect for a reason, so why not use it? That is true mastery.
Ultimately, to gain true knowledge and wisdom-in-action is to weave our scholarship with our own insights, experiences and unique promptings of the heart. Without referring to both spheres simultaneously, and embracing the balance of our knowledge and experience equally, errors and misconceptions can occur. We understand with our mind (theory), but what we come to value and how we respond to important ethical matters (practice) comes from the heart. We can achieve spiritual wisdom from a confluence of sources, but connecting the intelligence of the heart to the intelligence of the mind is how we grow fully into our own lives.
As we learn from animism, rewilding, voluntary simplicity and our own ancestral practice, leaving the buzz of civilization behind and immersing ourselves in nature easily and effortlessly puts us into the intuitive knowing of indigenous mind. Opening to the natural world with interaction and appreciation, and stilling our inner dialogue enables the mysterious unfolding of our hearts. Simply from being in nature we can see the world through the lens of love, and come to know that the “Great Heart” is the connective force in all creation. Filtered through the harmonious and beautiful space of love, our thoughts become allied with Earth Community. Clarity replaces confusion, and our thinking becomes a joyful series of inspirations in service to furthering the goals of Gaia, which are to flourish and thrive.
Trusting in the balance, the wondrous gifts of the human heart and the human mind revolve as required, for nurturing and sustaining a good life for ourselves and all beings. Instead of identifying with the separatist and mechanistic worldview of industrial civilization in body, mind or soul, we find that we are at home again in the Sacred Circle of the heart. And in fact, we have never left.
