can you explain the conept of everything has awareness?

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Ravenstar
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can you explain the conept of everything has awareness?

Post by Ravenstar »

In my Living the Wiccan Life course that I am taking one of the lessons talked about objects being aware in their own way. I think that is the word I am looking for. Can anyone please explain it to me? Like pieces of Wood has a conscious... I know plants and trees do but wood that has been cut is dead isn't? What about plastic etc., chairs, the sidewalk you get the idea. Please help me understand. Thanks. Blessings. :flyingwitch:
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Re: can you explain the conept of everything has awareness?

Post by Eve_Requiem »

I'm not sure about non-living things (such as plastic, the sidewalk, etc...) but most things in nature definitely have consciousness.
There's a fantastic thread on this very board about communicating with trees, and that will really give you an idea about how they are conscious in a very different (and beautiful) way.
It's a great exercise and experience to connect with a tree. Most are very understanding and empathetic, and I think you'll find that having tree-friends is one of the most amazing things you can ever do for yourself and the earth.

As for rocks and stones, I've felt a consciousness in many of the ones I've collected. Most of them want to have their own specific purpose, and are quite comfortable voicing what they think it should be (I find this very helpful, and most of the stones I've purposed are quite cheerful and powerful when you heed them). Another thing that every witch should try for the experience and friendship.

I think a good way to decide whether or not certain things have consciousness is to ask. Try to connect with it, speak to it, or just be with it. There aren't any set guidelines, and it can vary depending on the object. Some Chairs might be conscious, and some may not.
It's all worth trying and discovering.
I'm not an expert on any of this, but if felt that I might as well share my opinion. :)
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Xiao Rong
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Re: can you explain the conept of everything has awareness?

Post by Xiao Rong »

The idea that everything has awareness is called Panpyschism, where awareness to some degree or another is a property of everything in the universe. I've even seen it argued that individual atoms have some kind of consciousness or "feeling", which explains the uncertainty in the world, the things that can't be explained by pure scientific determinism:
Given certain stimuli, it can be predicted that 55, 80, or even 95 percent of all rats will act in a certain way. But there is always one rat that will turn left rather than right in the maze, though the apparently known consequence is hunger or an electric shock. Even when dealing with individuals as small as atoms and their particles, scientists have not been able to observe absolute predictability [explaining the] "uncertainty principle" ... Not only human freedom to react differently to stimuli but the freedom of rats to make choices in a maze and the freedom of atoms to act in unexpected ways. it is this degree of freedom ... that creates the grand adventure and risk of life in the universe.
-- from Carol Christ's book, She Who Changes: Reimagining the Divine in the World

Carol Christ makes it clear that the "feeling" that an atom might have is completely different from the feeling that we have as humans, but nevertheless they have some degree of freedom and creativity. So even something like a piece of wood or plastic has a bit of that agency, limited though it may be.

We can see a lot of these ideas expressed in older religions, like Shinto and other animistic religions that worshipped the spirits of rocks and tress, The Romans actually practiced a form of "extreme animism" in which they believed there was a deity (called numen, plural numina) for almost everything -- we know of deities like Iuppiter (thunder) and Fortuna (luck), but there were also deities for things like door hinges (Cardea) and brooms (Deverra).

(I should probably mention I am a believer in animism, panpsychism, and numina)
~ Xiao Rong ~ 小蓉 ~ Little Lotus ~
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Re: can you explain the conept of everything has awareness?

Post by Ravenstar »

This is fascinating. But this is over my head. Can you recommend any books that are like for dummies kind of thing? Lol.
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Re: can you explain the conept of everything has awareness?

Post by Seraphin »

As Xiao said, this is called Panpsychism and it's expressed in Animistic religions such as Shintoism, Totemism and Shamanism. I have already discussed my personal view about this before so I'm going to take the liberty to just post my previous response here:
My belief concerning this topic was influenced by some pioneering physicists, notably Max Planck and Arthur Stanley Eddington who had probed into the smallest particles of matter, have discovered to their amazement and initial disbelief that what lies behind matter is really non-material and incorporeal. Even the most avid materialist must somehow confront the question of what happened to any matter when it has been broken down into the minutest particle invisible to present scientific instruments. Is it still matter?

What if we say that matter is merely a more condensed form of spirit, in the same way that ice merely another state of water which in its other extreme form becomes invisible steam? As quantum physicists try to study the very core of matter, they inevitably come to a realization of this fact which some folk mystics such as those in China, India, Australia and have known all along: that matter and spirit are but different aspects of the same thing, that everything that exists in matter has a counterpart in another plane of existence and that this other plane is as real and tangible as the seemingly more material world we are used to in our physical state.

Like what I've said before, the way to perceive these spirit forces is through our mind’s eye, or through our inner sight or from a soul level. This is the how the folks know what crystals, herbs, objects and even symbols to use to address a certain issue.

Do you know what is this?

Image

This is called the God's eye. My fiancee made it for house protection. It's a traditional craft and spiritual and mystical symbol among the Huichol Indians of Mexico. But it's now used in Islam and some Hindu paths. This is also called "tsikuri" which means "the power to see and understand things unknown".

Perhaps you already know this that amulets, talismans, charms, mojos, and other magickal implements need to feed to sustain life (If there's a life, there's a spirit force). So as food for them, I usually make potions from herbs related to some specific Deities to anoint it with, every particular day.

Reality therefore can be looked at from an "ordinary" standpoint and from a "mystic" standpoint. Entering the world of mystic reality is like Alice entering in the Rabbit's hole and discovering Wonderland.

Anyway, the only thing I want to point out here is there is another way of perceiving the material things around us that will add greater meaning to our lives. It enables us to see why this particular herbs cure, why this symbol wards off dis-eases. I believe, there are no secrets in the universe. To one with mystic vision, everything is crystal clear, even the spirit force of this so-called non living things.
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If you have any questions, please feel free to PM me.
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Re: can you explain the conept of everything has awareness?

Post by Myrth »

As a pantheist, I believe the divine is in everything, spirit is in everything. So yes, I think some level of awareness may be in everything.
Myrth
Eve_Requiem

Re: can you explain the conept of everything has awareness?

Post by Eve_Requiem »

This is all great as reference!
Ravenstar, you mentioned not understanding it.
Maybe the only way to truly understand this concept is to experience it firsthand.
Try asking or connecting with something that you feel a draw to or just a particular affinity.
This can also be a great way to open your third eye, or improve spiritual sight.
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Re: can you explain the conept of everything has awareness?

Post by SnowCat »

I've had Earth, Air, Fire and Water all speak to me mentally. I don't know about artificial contracts having awareness. I don't think I ever really considered the question.

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Re: can you explain the conept of everything has awareness?

Post by AnaisStar »

In my beliefs "consciousness" represents the creator/divine/god whatever you choose to call it. That energy of the divine is infused in everything, as it is the creator of everything. We are all the same. The divine is in you, me, plants, trees, animals, stones, dirt, everything. Matter is consciousness/the divine.

My path is to connect to the Divine in everything, especially seeing and connecting with the divine in me, and being able to raise my awareness and consciousness in order to do so.
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Re: can you explain the conept of everything has awareness?

Post by SpiritTalker »

As a kid, I knew everything alive had awareness of it's environment. It was obvious that trees know when it is going to rain and flip their leaves over to better absorb the moisture. In the desert where I once visited, I saw those tall armed seguaro cactus auras leap several feet into the air and space around them just as the rain came. So it's a no-brainer that plant life is aware, has a level of consciousness. When a plant grows, it makes more roots to take in more of the minerals and moisture that sustain it. More roots, more food, more growth.

If you have ever worked with animals, house pets or for labor like horses and dogs for shepherding, you know they are more aware than we are. Wild animals survive in their environments because they are conscious of how it will respond. So there is conscious and calculating interaction.

The mineral kingdom...crystals are responsive. So is dirt. So are plain rocks, maybe more so if we learn their language by entering the mystical mind with which we are naturally equipped. Crystals respond to, and retain, thoughts directed to them. They hold a charge.

Water is aware, has memory and absorbs its environment.

And the whole matter of spirits interacting with the living...the only thing missing is a body but the awareness still functions. it’s more than physical sensory receptors. Maybe it’s an electrical frequency like color.

Everything we use in our civilized lifestyle as a tool is made up of former animals, plants or minerals, and water recycled. The dinosaurs are still here in another form. Everything but sunlight, ETs and meteors is from our planet. One source...multiple forms. One consciousness...multiple sensors.
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