ABSTRACT
In early human cultures, and to some extent even now, there has existed what has been called “participatory thought.” People in such cultures felt that they were participating in some of the things that they saw — that everything in the world was participating, and that the spirit of things was all one. Eskimos, for instance, apparently had a belief that there were many, many seals, but that each one was a manifestation of the one seal — the spirit of the seal. That is, the one seal was manifesting as the many. Therefore, they could pray to this spirit of the seal to manifest so they could have something to eat. I think that some American Indians looked at the buffalo in that way. Such people felt that they were participating in nature, and in some way they were keenly aware of the participation of their thought.
