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From Mensagenda - October 2002
Survival: Contact!
by Ray Voet
The young boy came up to me and
grabbed my T-shirt. I was wearing the
one with the wolves on the front, to remind
me I am said to be a Wolf Warrior,
one who goes ahead as scout, observer,
reconnoiterer, point man, to explore, and,
if I survive, I am to return to teach, mentor,
and guide. This means responsibility,
for I must be as accurate and precise
as I am capable.
Tom (alias) has some brain damage,
but he knows I am a Wolf Warrior. I knelt
down to talk with him and explain the
symbolism of my shirt pattern. I did need
to change my language so that, perhaps,
he could understand. We became friends!
My focus of late has been the study of
profoundly gifted children and adults. I
need to know about genetics, brain structure,
nutrition, biophysics, culture, and
the individuality of the person on the right
side of the Bell Curve. To understand that
level well, I also need to be familiar with
those on the left side of the Bell Curve,
and why and how one is at that level. I do
not and will not advocate any one thesis,
for I find my texts and mentors are many
and varied. I am able to develop conceptual
blending of ideas and sometimes I
find beautiful answers, valid for the immediate
question.
Michael Polanyi wrote, “The act of
knowing includes an appraisal, a personal
coefficient which shapes all factual
knowledge.” This means one needs experience,
mentors, guides, and training to
assist in understanding what is. And
“What Is” is dependent upon the society,
culture, individuality, religion, education,
and development of the individual.
In some cultures,
something does not exist, is not
valid, until it is named. In Genesis
2: 19-20, Adam named the
creatures God made. This story is
metaphorical for many cultures, for
if something does not have a name, it
does not exist and therefore can be ignored.
We deny that which we do not
know and that which we do not understand.
Without understanding, things become
evil, which I believe is a human
construct to explain ignorance, for we
need to seek cause and effect as a means
to find someone or something to blame
for what we have perceived.
Perception may be false: notice illusion,
delusion, mental aberrations, and
the refusal of the church authorities to
look through Galileo’s telescope and of
politicians to listen to the citizens. It is
a construct of European and other languages
that we name as nouns, to give
form to action. “Chair” vs. “a structure
to sit upon” are the same, but are noun
and verbal forms. Hopi do not have
nouns in their language, just verbs. They
use our nouns.
In some Native American cultures,
the shaman is one who has gone on to
the other side, beyond what we perceive,
to observe, learn, and return to
be the healer and guide. Some believed
that those who did not succeed are
those whom the hununpa washichu
(Lakota for two-legged white man, literally
he who reaches for all things or
he who reaches for the fat, the grabber)
call insane, but they may be revered
for they may have made the attempt to
become a pejuta wichasha or winan
(medicine man or woman).
I hope I am able to understand where
my perceptions come from. Even more
important, I want to understand how
other peoples’ thoughts are derived. I
once listened to a woman who was talking
about the “Third Eye,” which was a
problem for me. Then while listening, I
realized she was not talking about the
pineal body, the epiphysis cerebri, by
convention the third eye, but the effects
of the hippocampus in the brain. Then I
could accept the views she was presenting,
not as my truth, but as her truth.
Tom reminds me that I do not know
language, cultural psychology, alopathic
and alternative medicines, and much
more as well, as I wish to. I can only hope
for insight derived from my experience
and knowledge. Tom is one I must appreciate,
for this child is one of my teachers.
”Kasserian ingera?”—Masai for
“How are the children?” The response
should be, “The children are well!”
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