Analysis Of The Spell Of The Sensuous By David Abram

The environment is significant to native peoples because to them, it is a living entity, which encompasses our life sources as well as our sacred sites and heritage. In fact, the environment is an important part of our lives and any threat to it affects our families, ancestors and future generations. Perhaps the greatest gift human and nonhumans were given, was the Earth and we have a responsibility to protect it. In fact, the main the difference between indigenous knowledge and modernized knowledge is our relationship to the environment. It is also apparent that as our world changes, it contributes to this detached bond. In, The Spell of the Sensuous, David Abram describes the time he spent with the shamans, people who were considered …show more content…
We do not engage in communication with nature - we do not act “with it” but upon it. Abram believes this is the root cause of our environmental problems. For me, the difference has a lot to do with the fact that we have become a “throw away” society. Everything can be disposed of, because we can just “get another” one. Indigenous people respect the world that surrounds them, they are a part of it, whereas the more Western people do not take a moment to recognize that we are not just bystanders, we are in the mix as well. If we continue to distance ourselves, we can have a deleterious impact on the environment.
The difference between how indigenous peoples relate to the environment and how modern people relate is how they actively participate in the world. If modern people try to dominate and control the environment, we are not living harmoniously with nature as indigenous people do. In the chapter named, “Turning Inside Out,” Abram explains how we are so caught up in our own world, the internal world, that we forget how to be “true” with the outside world. On page 264, he writes, “A civilization that relentlessly destroys the living land it inhabits is not well acquainted with …show more content…
How did we lose that primordial, sensuous awareness of the environment? He wanted to give us a chance to rekindle our love for nature so that we could perhaps prevent further destruction. He noted that the indigenous people did not waste or despoil, exhaust or extinguish because they had a core value to keep the environment and every resource fit for the generations to come. Abram writes that indigenous people feel that the air is sacred and it connected people to the environment. He felt that they were also aware that they were one with the earth and nonhumans. They were aware that without air, we could not exist and therefore not be able to breathe or speak. Abram