Once upon a time a spell was cast upon people across the land. The spell made people believe we are all separate beings with no connection to each other and no connection with nature or the rest of life.

    The spell continued with the belief that anything we could not see, hear, feel, smell, or taste with our ordinary senses did not exist. And the spell caused people to believe that only humans had a soul which a punishing God judged the nature of.

    Happiness only came from financial gain, collecting material objects, and having power over people, the animal world, and all of nature. The spell also set the belief that individuals were not creative and their role was to behave and conform to society.

    The effect of this spell put people to sleep. They forgot about the beauty of life and their own soul's purpose. The light went out of people's eyes as the old knowledge of how to talk to nature was forgotten. Empty gazes and looks of fear and desperation replaced the light.

    The veils between the worlds closed down. Magical thinking was replaced by reductionistic thinking. The magic was gone along with people's souls.

    These were dark times indeed.

Sandra Ingerman, Introduction; Yearning for the Wind: Celtic Reflections on Nature and the Soul, Tom Cowan, 2003.