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On my first day in first grade, I dropped out of line, lay down on the floor, and started crying. Intuitively, I understood that school would steal something vital from me, something I didn’t want to lose. I got up, brushed off my fears, did well in school, eventually earned a Ph.D. in chemistry, and became successful in this oil-soaked, internet-crazed, consumer-oriented world.
But then I wandered the world in my kayak and eventually ended up in a remote Siberian village. I stood naked, on one leg, in front of a Koryak elder, Moolynaut and together we flew to the Other World, to converse with Kutcha the Raven.
Back home, I studied the Stone Age past of humanity … and learned that our ancestors developed mythology, art, music, and dance before they invented sophisticated tools and weaponry. Apparently, Spirit journeys in the Serpent Cave were more critical to human survival than the bow and arrow.
A Siberian elder once told me: If you lose the magic in your life, you lose your power.
But we’ve turned things around in the modern world. The meaning and origin of power has been hijacked. So, let’s step out of line one more time, lay down on the floor, shed tears, and talk about what we have lost and what we don’t want to lose.