Ecology, Shamanism, Science, and Christianity – Part 5

By: Dave Hunt; ©2002

There have been a number of attempts to heal our planet through enlisting millions of persons around the world to visualize peace and meditate upon ecological wholeness. Has the world gotten any better? Dave Hunt explains.

Deepak Chopra exemplifies naturalism’s failure to distinguish matter from mind and spirit, mass from morals. He goes so far as to suggest that human relationships are af­fected by the relationships between atoms and particles “at the quantum level.” ^[1] Such mystical foolishness flies in the face of common sense and experience. It is the natural outcome of the belief that “all is one,” that the earth is a living creature called “Gaia,” that the entire universe is one living being with a universal consciousness of which we are each integral parts. Says Chopra:

Everything in the universe influences everything else in the universe…. When you remember that every electron that vibrates causes the universe to shake, you become struck by the realization of the power inherent in your choices. And when we apply these insights to our personal and professional lives, we are making positive evolutionary change… that extends through the world. ^[2]

There is no evidence that the vibration of a single electron shakes the universe or that each choice of every individual has universal repercussions. Yet Chopra declares that we are each “holograms of the universe… all of the qualities in any relationship are also part of our own psyche.” ^[3] Though this delusion contradicts common sense, it has gripped the imagination of those in the ecological movement.

This mystical belief of the connection between all things furthers the shamanic fantasy that human consciousness can change the environment. Based upon that belief, there have been a number of attempts to heal our planet through enlisting millions of persons around the world to visualize peace and meditate upon ecological wholeness. These at­tempts go back more than a decade. Science of Mind magazine for November 1986 carried the following announcement:

On December 31, 1986, from 12 noon to one p.m. Greenwich Mean Time, millions of people around the world will gather in spirit and simultaneously send out their love and light in meditation, prayer, song or whatever form of worship is most meaningful for them. They will visualize the world as peaceful, harmonious, and balanced, with everyone having all they need to live a productive and fulfilling life….

It is our opportunity as individuals, and as a world body, to begin to heal and bring our planet back into harmony and balance—a worldwide nondenominational. nonpolitical, cooperative effort that will unite people in a common bond with a common goal: PEACE ON EARTH….

Turn within and seek and find and know the only Presence, the only Power, the only Cause, the only Activity of your eternal life. Be a totally open channel for the glorious expression of this infinite YOU. We at Science of Mind magazine hope that you—our readers—will join this Healing Meditation. We remind you that it deals with real energy, real power, and real possibilities for contributing to a more peaceful world.

In spite of the allegedly “real energy, real power” generated by this and many similarevents, conditions on earth have not gotten better but have steadily worsened. Nevertheless, these absurd efforts continue up to the present. Worse than abused, the God who created us is denied and “this infinite you” is deified in His place.

The Shamanic Connection

University of Texas Health Science Center professor Jeanne Achterberg points out what we all know: that shamanism is being embraced in the West. Part of the reason, she says, is that “something is generally felt to be lacking in the training and demeanor of the practitioners [psychiatrists]….” She adds that “shamanism has much to teach us, especially in regard to that most difficult lesson for those of us in the helping professions: learning to honor the uniqueness of each individual’s path.” ^[4] Again, Jesus Christ as the way is re­jected.

The practice of shamanism, which often is called New Age these days, is intertwined with the environmental movement. As we have already seen, shamanism involves contact­ing non-physical entities in order to gain special knowledge and power. Robert Vetter, an anthropologist, tells the story of John Tallhorse, alleged to be the last Comanche medicine man alive. Having been diagnosed with incurable cancer and having spent all of his money on hospital and medical bills, he “turned to the traditional ways of his people… [and] re­solved to go on a vision quest.”

Alone at night in an isolated place in the mountains, after fasting all day and having “smoked and prayed four times, following the ritual belief that tobacco smoke carries one’s prayers heavenward,” he was approached by something that terrified him. Tallhorse claims it was the spirit of Auannah Parker, a famous Comanche war chief, whom he recognized from his portrait. Says Tallhorse, “He breathed fire on me and paralyzed me. I was just lying there, dead, until he talked to me.” He continues:

He looked at me and said, “Son, what are you doing here? Nothing’s the matter with you.”

I said, “I’m sick.”

He said, “No… Morning is coming here, son. There’s a man out there that they say is real sick. They told me to visit him too before I go…. This whole world stands still for just a little while toward morning…. That’s when spirits come out.” ^[5]

This is an interesting case because John Tallhorse knew nothing of the use of visualiza­tion (the very heart of shamanism) for meeting a “spirit guide.” The spirit (impersonating demon) came to him uninvited and unexpected. The surprise element, as we have seen, is one of the marks of a genuine experience. What occurred, including the cure of cancer, was spontaneous and could not have been a hallucination created by his expectations.

For the shaman, these spirit entities encountered on the vision quest are connected with the Earth. Eagle Man, a modern shaman, commends the Native Americans for the great gifts they allegedly gave to the world as “a result of their deeply spiritual relationship with nature.” He then adds, “Getting back to nature will be the key to saving the planet.”^[6]

The return to nature is a basic message that comes through in almost all communica­tions from the occult world. Marilyn Ferguson says that “the new paradigm sees humankind embedded in nature.” ^[7] Ramtha channels through J.Z. Knight the same message of har­mony with nature. It is the common message of the entities that communicate through channelers, mediums, Ouija boards, and other occult means.

Billions of people around the world watched the opening ceremony of the 1994 winter Olympics in Oslo. They heard environmental concerns expressed in the speeches. Actors and actresses in exotic costumes played the parts of scores of traditional Norwegian nature spirits emerging from under the snow. The TV announcers casually remarked that Norwe­gians don’t build on a property without the approval of the nature spirits. It was suggested that communing with such entities would facilitate correct ecological decisions.

Down the Primrose Path

Although contact with such entities is claimed universally, their true identity, location, and purpose—whether “nature spirits,” space brothers,” “Ascended Masters,” deceased loved ones, “power animals,” gods and goddesses, etc.—is always beyond verification. This ought to be disturbing, yet it seems not to be. Medical scientist Andrija Puharich writes:

Considering that I have had two years of intermittent experience [of contact with them], I am remarkably ignorant about these beings.

On the other hand I have complete faith in their wisdom and benevolent intentions to­ward man and living things on earth. My lack of hard knowledge about them is the kind of deficiency that does not erode my faith in their essential pursuit of the good, the true, the beautiful and the just. ^[8]

Such trusting naiveté from a scientist is astounding! Yet one finds similar trust to be universal regarding the imagined forces of nature and the spirits which allegedly control those forces. In contrast, the Bible is rejected, even though its integrity is fully demon­strated internally and externally. The message the Bible brings is not the one mankind wants to hear.

We have mentioned Bill Moyers’ television series with Joseph Campbell, the world-renowned expert on mythology. In it Campbell referred to the remarkable “commonality of themes in world myths.” ^[9] To Campbell, mythology was “the song of the universe.” ^[10] That mystical view that the universe is a living creature has a winsome appeal, but it fails to explain the impersonal violence of nature’s destructive forces—or man’s moral conscience. In fact, the evidence overwhelmingly proves that there are evil entities who are leading mankind down a destructive path of delusion.

Notes

1. ↑ Deepak Chopra’s Infinite Possibilities for Body, Mind & Soul, November 1996, p. 1
2. ↑ Ibid.
3. ↑ Ibid.
4. ↑ Jeanne Achterberg, “The Wounded Healer: Transformational Journeys in Modern Medicine,” in Shaman’s Drum, Winter 1987, pp. 20, 24.
5. ↑ Robert A. Vetter, “Journey of Awakening,” in Shaman’s Drum, Winter 1987, pp. 47-48.
6. ↑ Ed McGaa, Eagle Man, Rainbow Tribe: Ordinary People Journeying on the Red Road (San Francisco: Harper, 1992), p. 3.
7. ↑ Jonathan Adolph, “What Is New Age?” in The 1988 Guide to New Age Living, p. 12.
8. ↑ Andrija Puharich, Uri: A Journal of the Mystery of Uri Geller (New York, 1975), p. 213.
9. ↑ Joseph Campbell with Bill Moyers, The Power of Myth (Doubleday, 1988), p. xvi.
10. ↑ Ibid.