![]() His mystical approach to biology is intriguing, and his pointed critiques of the blind spots of science are spot on. He seems to seek some middle ground where both worldviews can be "true" in some (Western) sense - and in the process he does construct an engaging yarn, and has insights that may be meaningful for readers. ![]() Narby is honest about his struggle to believe in the spirits the shamans talk about, even though his own faith in Western ontological materialism had been shaken. ![]() ![]() Unfortunately, for the rest of the book the author breaks this promise, concluding that what the shamans really mean when they talk about cosmic snake spirits - unacceptable to Western ontology! - is "actually" DNA - acceptable within Western ontology! (even if the shamanic epistemology still can't be reconciled). If it happens enough times, you may actually find yourself liberated from your own personal and cultural metaphysical assumptions - but that does, in a way, destroy your world.Īnyway, after several experiences that shake the author's faith in the materialist ontology of his Western upbringing, he vows that he will thenceforth "take the shamans at their word" about how they gain their knowledge and healing techniques - which, they say, is directly from spirits. The book starts off promising, with the author recounting his personal narrative of an experience that happens to all anthropologists - the moment when an encounter with something incomprehensibly, seemingly impossibly, Other shakes your understanding of reality. ![]()
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