how can we recognize the presence of the sacred and divine in nature?

Hosted By: Ida Covi, MA is an ecopsychologist and the CEO of iRewild Institute. She is the recipient of the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence from Pacifica Graduate Institute, CA.

15 minutes

TRANSCRIPT

How can we come to know the sacred and divine in Nature when our reasoning minds overwhelm our perceptions of the world? What happens when we neglect the sacred and divine in Nature?

The sacred in Nature is not just a matter of belief or faith, but a tangible reality that can be experienced and felt through our interactions with the natural world. The concept of the sacred or divine in Nature is deeply rooted in many indigenous cultures, as well as religious and spiritual traditions around the world. It is simply the idea that the natural world is imbued with a spiritual presence, a divine essence, or a sacred energy that connects all living beings and the natural environment.

For some, the sacred in Nature is the manifestation of a divine force that permeates all things, while for others, it is a reflection of the interconnectedness and interdependence of all life on Earth—that Nature is a living, breathing, conscious entity who possesses her own intrinsic value and meaning, and deserves our reverence, respect, and protection.

Our psychological and spiritual well-being is closely linked to our relationship with Nature, as the natural world is intricately connected to the human psyche. Through our experiences of Nature, which can evoke feelings of beauty, wonder, and awe, we can access deeper levels of understanding, luring us even further into our curiosity and encouraging us to reflect on bigger questions. The concept of the sacred or divine in Nature reflects our innate desires to connect with something beyond ourselves, a fundamental aspect of the human experience. By nurturing a deeper relationship with Nature, we can find greater meaning and purpose in our lives, connect with our inner selves, and achieve a greater sense of wholeness and well-being.

A psychiatrist and philosopher, Iain McGilchrist characterizes our modern way of thinking as being “enslaved to an account of things dominated by the brain’s left hemisphere,” a perspective based in logic, “that blinds us to an awe-inspiring reality that is all around us.”[1] This narrow focus can blind us to the wondrous reality that surrounds us, preventing us from experiencing the awe-inspiring beauty and sacredness of Nature.

Each of our brain’s hemispheres provides us with radically different perceptions of the world. In order to understand ourselves and the world, we need science and intuition, together with reason and imagination. These concepts are far from being in conflict. Typically, the left brain perceives the world through details, reasoning, critical thinking, and logic, while the right brain is best with creative, intuitive, and imaginative perception.

When it comes to interpreting the world around us, the left hemisphere’s tendency to view the world through a strict set of rules overshadows the more expansive, open-minded, and experiential perspectives of right-hemisphere thinking, which proves to be a superior guide to reality. Recognizing our brain’s role in shaping our lived experiences, and leveraging its collective abilities to perceive our world, can help us gain a renewed understanding of Nature.

Our current way of thinking, which heavily relies on the left hemisphere's compartmentalization of the world, may be responsible for climate change and species extinction. By embracing the right hemisphere's more nuanced and holistic perceptions, we can recognize Nature's sacred and divine aspects, and work towards a more sustainable relationship with our environment.

Is it possible that certain components of climate change and species extinction stem from a specific mode of thinking? If we view the world exclusively through the lenses of the left hemisphere, which tends to compartmentalize, we may be emboldened to exploit Nature. By neglecting the right hemisphere's sophisticated perceptions, which grant us a deeper understanding of the natural world and reveal its sacred and divine elements, we miss out on a crucial part of our lived experience.

By tapping into the collective faculties of both hemispheres of our brain to observe our surroundings, we become an instrument, a medium, for comprehending the deeper aspects of our world, opening a space where we can consider the sacred and divine in Nature. This approach introduces a more comprehensive understanding of the world that is not confrontational, and aims to appeal to those who value rationality.

All the aspects associated with both of our brain’s hemispheres are necessary, each element helping the other to dive deeper into the mysteries and reality of Nature.

While it may be important to differentiate between the different hemispheres of the brain, such distinctions should not result in divisions. Each aspect complements and supports the other, and they must be united to achieve a greater sense of wholeness.

Is there a chance that our understanding of the tasks assigned to the left and right brain hemispheres is incomplete? The current understanding of reason involves employing logical reasoning to make deductions from existing information, but this has not been the sole definition of the term, reason, throughout history.

The original concept of reason was to engage in clear thinking while maintaining a holistic understanding of the world. Reasoning cannot be performed in isolation. The essence of reasoning lies in the skill to combine logic with an underlying, intuitive, and embodied understanding of what it means to exist.

Reason comes from a life well-lived, experience, and the capability to think with clarity. The ability to think clearly involves understanding that there are boundaries to how much we can clarify certain things, and exceeding these boundaries can lead to the loss, destruction, and diminishment of them. The sacred and divine in Nature are no exception to this rule.

Each hemisphere of the brain focuses on the world in a unique manner. When they work together, we perceive the whole picture of what surrounds us. By using different types of attention, our perception begins to expand to encompass different things, which often includes the more beautiful and mysterious aspects of reality.

Our reality is influenced by the different types of attention we apply. As a result of the varying types of attention used by each hemisphere, it can be inferred that two distinct experiential worlds will be created. The left hemisphere tends to focus on specific and isolated details of familiar, defined, and recognizable objects, often excluding their surrounding environment. The view from the right hemisphere pertains to things that are partly known and partly certain of what we are perceiving. With the ability to detect what might otherwise be overlooked, the right hemisphere is inclined towards a questioning mindset that remains open to change and never settles into a rigid outlook. It recognizes the interrelationships among various elements, comprehends from an embodied rather than a disembodied viewpoint, and perceives the animate qualities of things.

The left hemisphere forms representations of past things we’ve experienced which may not correspond to the current reality, while the right hemisphere perceives the actual presence of what is being experienced in the moment. The right sees a world that is rich, complex, alive, and more challenging to understand due to its intricate nature. Although the left hemisphere prioritizes simplicity and upholds moral goodness, its limitations prevent it from seeing beyond the obvious. As a whole, the left hemisphere tends to view the world through a simplified lens, despite its intricate and multifaceted nature.

Further complicating the process, we overlay our certainties, judgments, emotions, social and cognitive competencies, creativity, and intellectual aptitude onto our observations, culminating in our understanding of what we are witnessing. Eventually, we arrive at a conclusion about what we are observing. Nevertheless, we need to grasp it, which requires the ability to comprehend and apply it. While the left hemisphere excels at comprehending and utilizing information, caution is necessary since it can lead us astray if relied on exclusively.

Each hemisphere reveals a distinct feature of the world. Instead of falling into the trap of assuming that we have incompatible differences with an-other, we can seek to understand the underlying basis of their perspective.

As humans, we yearn for the transcendent. The human quest for something beyond ourselves, something greater and more profound than our everyday lives, is what drives us to explore the depths of our existence and the mysteries of the universe. When we recognize the sanctity or divinity of our natural world, we are more inclined to develop a connection with Nature and treat her with consideration, care, and reverence.

Discussing the sacred and divine is a matter of utmost importance, yet it's an exceedingly challenging endeavor. On the one hand, remaining silent about them is a betrayal, but on the other hand, discussing them can also be a betrayal since we may dismiss their existence, trivialize their importance, or, through reasoning alone, lack a comprehensive understanding of their presence, scope, and relevance. The left hemisphere operates under the unconscious assumption that we possess god-like abilities to generate and govern virtually anything. Nonetheless, the sacred and divine energies are not focused on control or mechanics.

Endless and co-creative, the sacred and divine are collaborative energies that shape the entire cosmos, and make it an integrated whole, one that is marked by interconnectedness. Therefore, relationships are the foundation of both the cosmos and Nature. Our existence is intertwined with a universe permeated by a web of relationships.

For a meaningful comprehension and advancement of our world, it is important to employ rigorous scientific inquiry and reasoning that engages the collective abilities of both hemispheres. By adopting this perspective, we can renew our connection with the world and rediscover a more fulfilling way of living, a perspective that we must fully embrace.

To ensure the survival of our planet, we must fundamentally shift to seeing ourselves as inseparable from the world, including Nature. We need to rediscover and redefine our identities, the world we inhabit, and our relationships with it. We must embrace the inherent value of living in a complex, interconnected, creative world. We must reclaim a vision of the world that is not fragmented, lifeless, sterile, and meaningless, but one that is intricate, purposeful, conscious, responsive, and a precious gift to which we should respond with reverence.

So I ask: Do we owe it to ourselves and others to openly and without bias observe what exists, and then nurture its growth? Could this be the key to finding our own fulfillment?

Suggested Reading:

[1] McGilchrist, I. (2009). The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

iRewild would like to acknowledge the contributions of other writers, philosophers, and scientists for their inspiration, words, and research used in our podcasts. For a complete list of sources, please see our eBook, Rewilding The Senses: Bringing The Human Soul Back Into A Conscious Relationship With Nature.