Spirits All Around Us

"..their lights flickering like the stars, some drifting up to join the clusters of stars overhead, others, like graceful meteors slipping down from above to join the constellations underfoot..." (4).

David Abram, the author of The Spell of the Sensuous, notes that in our Western mentality we tend to define the spirit as something that is define in contrast to matter or "flesh" but that for the majority of indigenous cultures "spirits" are "primarily those modes of intelligence or awareness that do not posses a human form" (13). I believe that if Abram were to describe what the sixth sense is he would describe it as a hypersensitivity and awareness of the spirits of the world. He believes that everyone has this sixth sense but that, especially those is western society, do not open themselves up to all that surrounds them. Someone who he might say has perfected the art of the sixth sense are indigenous shamans. Abram defines a shaman:
  
 "the ability to readily slip out of the perceptual boundaries that demarcate his or her particular culture- boundaries reinforced by social customs, taboos, and most importantly, the common speech or language- in order to make contact with, and learn from, the powers in the land"(9).

It  seems to me that to Abram the sixth sense is not really a new sense but really the ability to be completely and totally aware of all of the other senses (sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing) and at the same time, not using reason, knowledge, and science to tell us that something cannot be happening or is not possible. I think as westerners who value proof and science we struggle with the idea that we should embrace our senses even though they may deceive us. Or perhaps accept that there are things that our senses cannot perceive so we must look for evidence or just acknowledge the "feelings" we get. I will admit that when he was talking about spirits and the life in all things all I could think about was the song "Colors of the Wind" from the Disney movie Pocahontas. She sings "every rock and tree and creature, has a life, has a spirit, has a name". Ah so many wonderful things to learn from Disney!