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June 5, 2024 34 mins

On a winter morning’s walk at the foot of the snowcapped Sierra Nevadas in California’s Owen’s Valley, host Shawn Berry ponders how we may have experienced our consciousness as it began to come into being. This episode of First Nature considers the human development of self-awareness and how our ancestors might have experimented with the use of sound and rhythm to communicate this burgeoning inner, solo adventure while also developing the fundamental elements of ritual and ceremony as a strategy to maintain community cohesion, as the rise of the individuated self pulled at the communal seams.

Meanwhile, the backdrop of the mountains keeps Earth in the dialogue. Through expressions of admiration and blessing for the majestic peaks of the Sierras and Inyo Mountains, the importance of a reciprocated relationship with the planet is brought to the forefront as an offering to deal with our present human dilemma. How might each of us come into a more authentic, "right-relationship" with nature as our ancient ancestors had lived, treating all aspects of it with the same reverence we reserve for human life?

Music in this episode by:

Red Centre Blues, by Brendan Gallagher
Listen to Overtones, by ArtEffectAudio
Drums Battle, by Alban Gogh
Soft Coming Spring by Syouki Takahashi

First Nature theme song by Shawn Berry
Podcast Artwork by Shawn Berry

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FIND OUT WHO YOU ARE INSIDE BY GETTING OUTSIDE!


You can reach Shawn through these links:

Email: shawn@ourfirstnature.com
Website: ourfirstnature.com
IG: @ourfirstnature
FB: FirstNatureFN

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