Long the traditional means by which human beings have understood and thought about the world around us, shamanism and astronomy still have many things to teach us today. Indeed, many people around the world are finding that these two branches of thought have more relevance than ever in helping people to live their lives in accordance with their values.



What are Shamanism and Astronomy?



Linked throughout human history and prehistory, shamanism and astronomy have been major philosophical and scientific means to reach conclusions about the world around us, and how we should live and exist within that world. Astronomy, which traces itself back to the earliest of human writings (the first Greek writer along with Homer, Hesiod often wrote about astronomical phenomena as a means to teach farmers how to get the best livelihood from their crops by studying the position of the stars, for example), is extremely bound up with how we view the world. Our working days are based around the Earth rotation relative to the sun, while our period of rest and sleep is based around time when the sun's light is blocked by the Earth. Early hunter-gatherers and farmers would no doubt have associated life itself with the movements of the heavens.



Since seasons would have brought about various changes in food supply, particularly for farmers, the recording of the seasons and development of calendars would have been essential to survival. Those who could understand and document the movement of the heavens would have been given much respect in early human cultures; indeed, this tradition of respect for those who understand the heavens continues today with popular figures such as Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking, who deftly try to understand the cosmos around us.



Creating New Ways of Thinking About Life



While astronomy might be said to be the exploration of the world outside us, shamanism can be seen as the profound exploration of the inner life. By getting in touch with our deepest thoughts and emotions, we are able to enter into different planes of thought.



This practice can take on many forms. As contemporary life becomes ever busier and more complicated, taking time each day to reach a more concentrated form of thought can lead to a greater connection to the world and to ourselves. One form of deep thought, meditation, allows the body and mind to free itself of the cycles of thought and worry that define contemporary living and to foster a feeling of well-being and understanding.



In this way, shamanism and astronomy, so long connected to our deepest identity as human beings, are making comebacks. Because the connection to the wider world around us is so vital as we spend more of our time indoors and continuously distracted in our thought processes, taking the time to reconnect with nature and a deeper and more profound method of thinking may just become a standard part of daily life in the future, as our industrial society causes more people to crave a more meaningful existence.