Nature Has Her Say

We felines perceive reality differently than humans.  We see, hear, and smell better than people, and our senses of taste and touch are probably as good, if not better.  But our perceptive powers go beyond mere sensory capabilities.  Cats have extrasensory capacities as well, which are well documented in the books of biologist Rupert Sheldrake.  I've blogged about Sheldrake's works before, so we needn't rehash here.  Suffice to say that you should not automatically discount others' extrasensory experiences simply because you cannot discern what is, to you, invisible but nonetheless existent.

Conversely, one shouldn't uncritically accept allegations that someone's awareness detects what others cannot see, hear, smell, or feel. Hallucinations occur with a variety of medical or psychological ailments. If somebody suggests that s/he, for instance, can sense elemental beings and nature spirits, we should maintain an open mind, but we must also use our critical thinking to analyze and scrutinize whatever evidence is presented before drawing any conclusions.

Cheri Barstow claims to perceive entities from the natural world.  These are the nature spirits, devas, elementals, and other beings that populate folklore from around the world.  In her book, Elementally Speaking: The Nature Spirits' Guide to Their World (Trafford Publ., 2006), the author listens to what these alleged living energies have to say.  Our book trailer sums up.

Is Barstow crazy?  Is she actually aware of beings that are invisible to most humans?  If so, is she transcribing accurately what they are communicating?  You'll need to decide for yourselves about all that.

Scowl-Face has an interesting trick he employs when reading "far out" nonfiction.  If, after delving about a third of the way into such books, he decides that he cannot accept the reality of what's being presented, he mentally transfers the writing from nonfiction to fiction.  That way, he can continue reading and enjoying the book as an exercise in creative imagination.  Some nonfiction reads better as a novel.

The world of nature spirits and elementals is no stranger to our book trailers, as you can see below.  We've covered this topic before.

MPL Book Trailer #94

Nature Spirits & Elemental Beings: Working with the Intelligence in Nature, by Marko Pogačnik (Findhorn Press, 2nd rev. ed., 2010) (ISBN 9781844091751). 

Whether or not you believe what these authors are saying, their works are interesting.  They're seeing the world differently, and that, if nothing else, can be entertaining.  At best, it may also be enlightening.

Finely Tuned With Nature, Moiself,

Cauli Le Chat

MPL Roving Reporter

Readers' Advisory News Beat

P.S.  "Mother Nature's Son," by the Beatles, appeared on the group's self-titled album, which is more commonly known as the "White Album" (1968).  Paul McCartney wrote this tune when he was practicing transcendental meditation during the group's India retreat.  TM is a cool way to feel connected with the world around you.