Writer Between Worlds

“… since the dominant belief system of the modern West is psychology, Westerners want to know if the spirits of the traditional view are thought to have independent agency, because if not, they can be explained in psychological terms as aspects of our own mind—which makes most Westerners quite comfortable and prompts them to nod their heads wisely in understanding and agreement. We love to hear information that confirms and elaborates what we have already decided (or been programmed to believe) is true. Westerners feel very comfortable, if a bit lonely, in their entrenched belief that we humans are the only self-aware beings around and that there certainly are no conscious beings that cannot be perceived with the usual five senses. However, before dismissing all other possibilities, we should first ponder the fact that no traditional society that has ever existed agrees with this view. Further, we should note that only modern technological societies that are no longer intimately connected to nature hold this view. For the traditional human being, living in nature, the world is absolutely full of seen and unseen beings with whom she must live in a delicate and respectful balance.”

Christopher D. Wallis – The Philosophy, History, and Practice of a Timeless Tradition