Ecopsychology and the Revival of the Indigenous Mind of the Human

Lectures and courses taught by Tayria Ward, Ph.D.

As humans, we are naturally endowed with innate capabilities to be in constant communication with the non-human as well as the human world. Our early ancestors understood and participated in what eco-theologian Thomas Berry refers to as “the great conversation” that is taking place among all of our planet’s life forms – plants, animals, rivers, clouds, raven, wind, trees, stars, fire, soil. In modern times we have devalued and ultimately lost these capabilities, thinking of them as primitive, and of ourselves as masters over, rather than humble participants in the earth community of which we are merely a part. Berry observes that we have become “autistic” as a species; we are only talking among ourselves, only listening to each other. Scientist and philosopher Brian Swimme remarks: “Something sinister has happened to the human group.” Indigenous people would no more pour poison into the air or river than they would inject arsenic into their own veins. They would see no difference, and indeed there is no difference. It is suicide.

Our ecological problems are a result of, and a reflection of, a deep pathology, serious psychological problems that we have developed as an entire species without understanding what has happened to us. A little bit of water and energy conservation, feeble attempts to recycle, though necessary, will not cure us as a species, nor take care of the crisis on the planet that we have precipitated. As Einstein put it, you cannot solve a problem at the same level of thinking that produced the problem. We must un-think, and re-think, who we have become as a species at the deepest level. A deconstruction of our present psychological identity as humans must take place, individual by individual, before a functional reconstruction and repair can begin. It will be like going into re-hab as an entire human group, the addictions we have developed to consumerism and to the mass psychology call for profound healing.

I am heartened by a statement made by Laurens Van der Post when he said that, “the most significant discovery in the physical world of this age has been the fact that the greatest and most unimaginable power resides in the smallest organization of matter…. the invisible heart of the atom. The inner force, too, which, like the power of the atom, can either remake or shatter civilization resides in the smallest unit of society, the individual.” We cannot wait for nations and governments to find the solution to our collective situation. We, as individuals, one by one, are called upon to do the work.

What is the work? As Carl Jung puts it: “It is impossible to go directly on from our cultural state of today if we do not receive increments of strength from our primitive roots… to give the suppressed primitive in us an opportunity to develop itself.” This primitive mind might be called our indigenous mind, the mind that is shut down, like unused computer programs long forgotten, which can and must be rebooted and revived in order to recover health as individuals, and as a planet.

I have written a book on this subject that is near completion, soon to be presented to publishers, and would be pleased to give lectures and/or teach courses on this vital issue.