In a town in Las Huastecas, a region of Pre-Hispanic Mexico, at the beginning of the last century it had an alley among its “urban weft” that had enormous popularity throughout the Veracruz region because it had a double name.
It was a alley to walk, like any other, but with that characteristic that made it different, because from the moment he took the first step the passer-by felt somewhat involved and confused, precisely because of the names that the alley outlined.
Don’t think that the person who entered it didn’t come out, or anything like that, but that everyone who walked along it came out satisfied with something they received during their walk along it. They were obliged – according to legend – to walk it in both directions. But one of them did not have the same effect as the other.
Their two titles insinuated something of what they would feel when walking along it; however, each individual – man or woman, child or old man – received different impacts on their person according to their personal experiences.
In order to be able to locate this alley, a novel fell into my hands and I transcribed one of its parts referring to the alley:
“In an early night looking for an inn that everybody had recommended to me, I came across an alley named ‘The novel’, it caught my attention and after asking once more how to orientate myself towards fancy food, I arrived at it and immediately asked for the special dish of the house which was ‘Estrujadas de chile color con camarones (Squeezed color chilli with shrimps)’. What a delight! The people who advised me on this place and this dish were right.
I was already tasting the shrimp and at one point, when the waiter was a bit relaxed, I asked him about that alley. He told me that a few decades ago a novel had been published that told of the tribulations of the priest of a village in the region and that some events seemed to have taken place there. He continued, almost without breathing, to explain to me that several neighboring villages had claimed to be the seat of that town, but as far as he knew it was never clear which one the author was referring to.
He added nothing more, as he went to customers (clients) that were demanding his service and that was all he told me at the time.
Two days later I met a couple who were wandering around in the alley area and I dared to ask them about that story and fortunately they knew it too. I was able to find out something else, for example that the real author of that book was not known either.
They told me that not far from that alley there was another one that had, curiously enough, two names. On one side you could read a plaque that said ‘Callejón de los Recuerdos (Alley of Memories) (Memories Alley)’ and if you approached it from the other end it had another one that said ‘Callejón de los Olvidos (Alley of Forgettings) (Alley of the forgotten)’. They told me: “that if you walk down memory lane you start to evoke things that you have experienced and that you had erased from your memory; but if you approach it from the other side, which you reach via a small stone bridge, you forget all the bad things you have done. That is why people who believe in this legend recommend that you take your girlfriend or your wife to forget all the things you have done that she did not like.
I think he was trying to prove something in that alley and she was trying to make him remember some situation. I couldn’t see that.
The restlessness caught me, because the seed of curiosity was sown in me. From that moment on I was so interested in that story that I later returned to the inn to ask the waiter if it was possible to get that novel, the origin of the plaque. He could only add that the name had been given to it 8 or 9 years ago, and there was quite a celebration when it was placed”.
Before the name of “La novela” (The Novel), there were other names: “Un callejón más” (One more alley), which was probably given to change all those legends that no one wanted to cross; “La libertad de caminar” (The freedom to walk), probably to give security to the users. The interesting thing is that one day in March 2014 I made a trip to find it and finally I was able to find it. The proof is that you can still read its plaques hanging on the different walls with the different names it has taken.
Any alley can induce us to transpose some form of being and modify our walk through life. Let us look for our own alleys -with one name or with a double name- and go through them with the desire to find answers to our walk.
I would like to introduce myself in this post by commenting on what I have conveyed in different ways about the reasons that led me to share this system. The main one was the importance of reading, writing and drawing while we walk, however, there are other reasons and one of them was the one that was spurring me on for years about what this walk produced when I read, wrote or drew. I felt that something new was being generated in my organism and more in the brain than in the rest of my body. There was a time when I solved the enigma by considering that the brain responded differently when I read or wrote, because ideas appeared in my mind that hardly came close to my SATORI (castalia, numen), when I was at rest. The intellectual capacity, imagination, memory and creativity are increased, and the potentialities to learn and process the data and information that we read and write are potentialized. The answer – I sensed – was that the brain was producing substances in greater proportions when carrying out these 4 activities, either simultaneously or separately, but always walking. I also commented – about 2 years ago – I just started to transmit these experiences, that “It’s difficult to scientifically demonstrate these possibilities that walking leads us to better levels of our mind. Nevertheless, the experience has been enough to consider it. Mental capacities increase when we walk, so it is advisable that we do the activities of reading and writing, plus drawing, during these walks. We must experience it ourselves and draw our own conclusions and also evaluate the results through these practices.”
Now, I have been able to increase the field of visualization of the WALK component towards other spheres of research and I am more motivated because everything I sensed was much more incontrovertible and with a greater impact on other parts of our organism.
By keeping us walking in a recurrent way, just by doing this activity -without incorporating any other-, we promote that our body, generates by itself, certain substances in our organism that are fundamental for its proper functioning. We should not refuse to walk, but periodically do so throughout our lives, as this propels and nourishes all our vital systems and organs.
I have already commented on the production of organic substances in posts THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I, and something else in post (future) THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE. I have expressed the following: “The coordinated movement that is generated in the walk causes the brain to produce several substances (ENDOCRINE SYSTEM) such as Endorphins, Catecholamines, Adrenaline, Enzymes, Pheromones, Glycogen, Immunoglobin, Interferons, Lymphocytes, Myoglobin, Neurotrophins, etc., which in turn stimulate the development and full functioning of the neurons, considerably increasing the number of connections between them (synapses) and the functional areas of the brain itself”.
Regarding enzyme production, it will be presented especially in the future Post ENZYMES AND THE WALK, as well as the analysis and importance of tears in future Post WALKING AND TEARS.
Indeed, these are the endocrine substances of the brain plus others, which together number almost a hundred (see table below), and are fundamental to the operation of the remaining systems of the body. The great thing is that we manufacture them ourselves and supply them to their different destinations, according to their needs and the messages from the brain and each of the other systems and organs, in perfect coordination.
We have called them substances but in other specialized documents they are called fluids, liquids, hormones, glandular products, chemical mediators, etc., and they all have different densities, as some are thick, condensed, dense, heavy or viscous; others are sticky, pasty, greasy, solidified or concentrated; while still others are diluted, fluid, liquid or light. Regardless of their viscosity, all of them are indispensable for the functioning of our entire organism.
In general, they are substances of the protein type – although not all of them – which allow various types of neurons to function better and to increase their lifespan. Protein and other materials that are generated by our own body are transported by the blood and the cells (the glands) achieve the required transformation, to generate other substances in turn, to feed other systems and groups of cells (neurons) so that they develop properly and support them in staying alive. However, some substances produced by our glands are beneficial but some are also de-stimulating. The gland is a collection of cells that, through the tissue fluid, produces replacement substances using materials obtained from the blood and from there they pass into the tissue fluid itself. The glands are classified, according to their type of secretion, into endocrines which secrete the substances into the same tissue fluid or into the blood; and exocrines which secrete externally. They are also divided, according to their structure, into epithelials and lymphoids.
In short, the blood and lymph ducts (tissue fluid) carry the substances produced in all systems, organs and glands throughout the body.
It is certain that some glands, in addition to producing certain specific substances, also have the function of having a certain influence – stimulating or not – on other glands (and organs), that of assisting or discouraging, that of controlling or disrupting, either directly or by means of their own substances, by having direct contact with the other glands’ own hormones. The specific levels and effects are not known for certain. The fundamental cases are those of the Pineal, Thymus, Thyroid, Pituitary and Adrenal glands.
Physical exercise (WALKING) keeps the brain active.
Physical exercise (WALKING) and mental exercise (READING, WRITING AND DRAWING) stimulate the brain in an intense way that in turn produces positive impulses towards other parts of one’s own brain and other physiological systems of the body.
We have already commented that the core issue is not only the harmonic development of the brain, but the creation of new ways in its functioning, which involves the use of brain areas that have been left unused (Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM ENCOURAGES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I); but they also impact the rest of the systems and organs of the whole human body.
The external environment generates stimuli that provoke actions and reactions in all orders of behavior and in the physical, mental and emotional functioning. Our reactions respond in a positive but also negative way. In other words, external stimuli generate in our organism the production of substances to activate certain physiological processes but also discourage the production of other chemical mediators.
We can affirm that through the system of walking and the development of the activities structured within it, it allows the stimulating and dis-stimulating generation of all these substances, according to the following schematic sequence. I want to make it clear that the dis stimulation (inhibition) is not a negative action, but also a “toning up” towards certain glands to balance some processes and counteract the effects of contraction (breathing, vasoconstrictor, cardiac pulse, etc.), discomfort due to some scratch or blow, bad footfall, or some emotional upset or disorder, etc.
As we said, an important part of the distribution of substances in the body is carried out through the circulation of blood (blood vascular system) and tissue fluid (lymphatic vascular system), along the systemic set of blood and tissue vessels, whose driving force is received from the heart by its contraction-dilation mechanism, as the main organ of the vascular system.
In general, the external environment has a determining influence, day by day, on our physical, mental and emotional responses and on the functioning of our whole body.
Human behavioral processes are chains of activities and negative habits are vicious circles that fortunately can be broken by incorporating the WALK-RWD system. “To eliminate a bad habit it is necessary to break with the respective chain in any of its activities; for which it will be necessary to look for the weakest and most accessible point or points to achieve a break with the chain of those activities, behaviors and needs”.
Let’s keep in mind that there is a very big variability in the generation of the organic type substances, because although all of them have their own process of production, regeneration and physiological administration, there are some that remain more stable than others, in terms of volume and quality. We mention them because all of them are supporting the good performance of the functioning of the different systems and organs, and in different ways they are interrelated.
Let’s talk about some substances. Of course, we will do so to better understand how each one is generated by a different gland or organ and also has totally different functions. We will do it in a very succinct way and each one of us will be able to investigate the one or the ones that we think we should know better because they may be related to some specific behavior, that we want to understand better or because we consider that they are not responding adequately in our organism.
The following paragraph is a quote from Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM STIMULATES CREATIVE THINKING. PART I, in which we talk about the convolutions of the brain, expressing: “In this whole period of walking, the brain seeks to ‘stabilize’ itself, giving instructions both to its own organic unit (brain gyros and neurotransmitters), and to other systems, glands and organs; […] and also other important parts of the brain (brain circles or neurotransmitters) which are vicariant and come into operation (new and different functions, not the traditional known ones) to reactivate and re-establish the parts that intervene in the search and achievement of a stabilization to be able to replace them. […]Catharsis can be improved by applying the WALK-RWD system by causing the brain to constantly seek to preserve and restore its balance – during the period of walking – by rebalancing itself mechanically, psychically and neurologically with the well-known propagation of nerve-neuronal impulses to the other functional (dormant or lethargic) areas of the brain itself (gyrating and neuro-mechanisms of the brain) and other organs, systems and glands of the whole organism”.
I have decided to quote this text for the sole purpose of underlining the brain’s convolutions which are linked to the Ridges and Furrows and which make up the cerebral cortex; Perhaps the grey and white substances, which make up these three brain elements, are one of the most important, and because these areas when stimulated by the Walk-RWD system, since as we specified in previous paragraphs – I repeat – “the central issue is not only the harmonious development of the brain, but the creation of new ways in its functioning, which involve the use of brain areas that have become unusable”. The practice of the walking system and the development of its structured activities (reading, writing and drawing), allows us to stimulate the production and regeneration of these two substances – grey and white – by the brain itself.
Of course, apart from the substances we are analyzing, the WALK-RWD system also stimulates the neuronal production of brain cells, but we detail this in a future post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE NEURONAL SELF-GENERATION OF THE BRAIN.
One more thing, the cerebellum, made up of both white and grey substances, also has the function of maintaining the body’s posture and balance. The cerebrospinal fluid is generated by the vascular epithelium (gland) and is located inside the ventricles of the brain and in the meningeal spaces of the medulla and the brain; it has a buffer function but mainly as a reconstituting, repairing and nourishing element for the neurons.
From this first group of substances produced in the brain itself, we can deduce that these are the main ones that promote the optimal functioning of the brain, and beyond. However, from this moment I would like to point out that there are probably other substances that directly impact on neurons and “sleeping” areas of the brain that we do not really know their impact or what they are. I mention this because I have had such experiences and perhaps in addition to this previous group, some others are involved in this task of stimulating and invigorating the mind.
Thyroxine or Thyroid Hormone: balances the metabolism and normal growth of the human being. It also works as a catalyst that increases the oxidation of the cells.
Cortisone (Adrenal Glands, Adrenal Cortex): regulates the metabolism of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Stimulates glycogen production. It also partly helps in stress management.
Dermcidin: it is a protein-based substance that is generated in the sweat glands located throughout the epidermal surface of the human body, and the generation of sweat is the means we use to distribute it over the skin. It is a natural broad-spectrum antibiotic that works as an antimicrobial on the skin, defending it from the attacks of certain bacteria and fighting epidermal infections.
Epinephrine or Adrenaline generates the so-called “emergency situations” or stress: it regulates emotional situations and creates favorable states that allow immediate emergency or stress situations to be dealt with.
Estrin or Follicle Hormone: regulates the changes generated in the menstrual cycle in women.
Progesterone or Progestin: stimulates and controls the uterus for egg implantation in a woman. Promotes the growth of her mammary glands.
Somatotropic Hormone (STH): Stimulates and regulates the growth of bones, muscles and viscera. It participates in the regulation of protein metabolism.
Aqueous humor and vitreous humor: they partly support the Crystalline and the Retina.
AdrenocorticTropic Hormone (ACTH): regulates the metabolism of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. It also participates in the regulation of the absorption of some substances by the kidney.
Thyrotrophic Hormone (HTT): stimulates and regulates the metabolism and the Thyroid gland itself, in terms of maintaining its structure and secretory activity.
Parathyroid hormones (HPTT): regulates the metabolism in general.
Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH): stimulates and regulates the follicle, the maturation of the gland. Controls seminiferous secretion. Regulates sexual activity in general. It is responsible for the immune system.
Lactogenic Hormone (LH): Normalizes the activity of the secretory cells of the testicles and ovaries. It controls lactogenic secretion.
Antidiuretic Hormone (ADH): controls the absorption of water by the kidney. It regulates the water and electrolyte balance of the liquid volumes of the whole body.
Prolactin or Lactogenic Hormone (LH): Normalizes the activity of the secretory cells of the testicles and ovaries. It controls lactogenic secretion.
Adrenotropic Hormone (ATH): stimulates and regulates the activities of the Adrenal Glands
Anti-Hueretic Hormone regulates the absorption of water from the kidney; it maintains the water and electrolyte balance of the whole body.
Oxytocin or Oxytocic Hormone: controls and regulates the contractions of the uterus during childbirth.
Pituitary stimulates and regulates the movements of certain muscles in the body. It increases blood pressure and as a reflex it slows down the heart rate. It dilates the cerebral and renal vessels, it also contracts the pulmonary and coronary vessels.
Intermediate Hormone: restricts the evacuation or elimination of water.
As you can see in this reduced selection, the functions entrusted to the various glands and organs, with their respective substances, are sufficient to make us realize the importance they have in their organic and physiological participation, and essentially mental and cerebral.
I would like to point out that some of the substances that I have mentioned are produced by glands that I have dedicated a specific publication to them, because of the importance that I consider them to have within our WALK-RWD system; so we can refer to the corresponding (future) post, this with the aim of not being repetitive; namely
Pineal Gland, Post ANOTHER ENIGMA: WALKING, GENDER AND PINEAL GLAND
Thymo Gland, Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE THYMO GLAND.
Thyroid Gland, Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE THYROID GLAND
Pituitary Gland (hypophysis), Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE HYPOPHYSIS GLAND
Adrenal Glands, Post THE WALK-RWD SYSTEM AND THE ADRENAL GLANDS
Now, what happens with the WALK-RWD system in relation to the production and regeneration of organic substances.
The practice of the walking system and the development of its structured activities (reading, writing and drawing), allows us to stimulate the production and regeneration of these substances. As far as possible, we will be able to communicate and explain, in separate posts, about each of the substances that our own body produces and that have a close relationship with walking.
For now, what we have to do is to start walking and take a book and a notebook, to enjoy a magical journey, which will also put us in a healthy position, because our whole body will work to harmonize – as only he knows – all their organic systems.
Although it is a title that sounds philosophical and in a way it is, its overall conception also contains very concrete and practical aspects about walking and other topics, which as the blog and reflection have developed, I have been able to correlate with the WALK-RWD SYSTEM, such as Abstraction, Meditation, Concentration, Relaxation both physical and mental, Ecstasy, Contemplation, the Unconscious, Synchronicity, Archetypes that are intimately related to the theme of emptiness (in Sanskrit: Sunyata), which are an important part of the Indian philosophical-religious mentality.
In this case it is a matter of identifying and valuing the concept of Emptiness with the WALK-RWD System of walking, reading, writing and drawing. And that it has a close relationship with our external senses, as I will explain later.
Emptiness as an Indian (Hindu) concept, is a path that we can use for a better awareness (application and use: utilization) of the WALK-RWD system.
Let us first try to understand this term from the conceptual point of view of Indian philosophy, in its origins.
The Upanishads texts -from the most remote centuries, 8th century b.C.- The Indian philosopher and monk Nagarjuna (2nd century A.D.) took up the concept of Emptiness and began to use it in a more profound way, affirming that the human being could awaken in such a way that he would be able to observe and understand the reality that surrounds us.
I must point out that the qualifier of empty, vacuous or vacuity does not represent trivial, futile or obtuse aspects, but it means one of the greatest conceptions that Hindu philosophy (Brahmnism, Buddhism and Jainism) has ever conceived and established. We are obviously not referring to that kind of emptiness that we experience and feel when, for example, we watch television, without seeing it, or when we listen to the radio, without hearing it; that we do not separate ourselves from those electronic devices – because we do not want to and cannot – for 1, 2 or more hours and without being attracted or interested in seeing and listening.
On the contrary, that power of observation – seeing, thinking and imagining – through the lens of the Sunyata (Emptiness), about all the things that surround us in an empty way, allowed the person an absolute awakening.
Master Nagarjuna suggested that in order to achieve this power of liberation and awakening it was indispensable to live a special way of life; to move and remain in a differentiated existence (in Sanskrit: Samsara) to the traditional one, and appropriate to the new way of observing the world (external and internal reality).
The Sunyata works by creating and allowing the observation of new worlds (external reality and internal reality) by allowing the unveiled enquiry (seeing, thinking and imagining) through meditation, creating different forms of thought, which will be empty elements to reach the absolute awakening.
To achieve this awakening, a path must be followed, the path of the Sunyata or Emptiness, an empty path, a path of detachment and munificence (generosity and altruism). It is a path that must be travelled and in which there are no exaggerated extremes, but which is sown with moderate demands and actions.
This moderation is the qualification that must be arranged so that actions under the guidelines of the Mahayana or Nagarjuna school of emptiness are at the midpoint of human behavior, centered within the extreme limits of the human condition.
Extreme actions are cancelled as a functional demand of the Sunyata, however, if for some reason the “sunyatins” (adepts) had – or have – to relate to exaggerated actions or ideas they can always cancel or avoid them by rejecting them. Nagarjuna’s School flourished precisely because it responded to this moderation in demands and condemned the obligatory nature of behavior in exaggerated extremes; hence it included the way of the Middle Path, or the Middle Centre or the Middle Way (Madhyamaka) in its philosophy.
The world is empty. Things are empty. Concepts, like words, are heard empty. These are the fundamental philosophical propositions of the Mahayana or school of Emptiness. What we present in this post is one more of the dozens of interpretations that have been sought on the stipulations and foundations of Nagarjuna’s school of thought of Emptiness, the Mahayana.
1247. ALEPHIANO TOUR
For our western conception to imagine that our existence is a void and that it is surrounded by empty things is quite confusing, however, we should not understand it as an absolute and unlimited vacuity; we would better understand it as a Metaphysical Emptiness.
For Nagarjuna this philosophy was a creative process that she used to achieve the Awakening.
This objective could be equated to a philosophical rebirth that involves the mental, the emotional and the spiritual.
In order to achieve this, it is essential to walk on an empty path, the path of emptiness. This goal is achieved through imagination and fantasy, and upon reaching this empty place, the awakening begins, which in turn, impacts our own imagination and fantasy because of how disturbing the concept of Emptiness is for us.
How and what is this path to Awakening?
How can we take the right path to Awakening and not make mistakes?
Emptiness (Sunyata) is the characteristic nature (proper and real) of all things, of all beings, of all existence. There is nothing that is not empty.
Nagarjuna’s instruction and teaching was a path that had to be travelled by rejecting extremes; that path had to be followed through the middle points, without touching the extreme limits of the human condition.
That walk along the middle way must be done with defined and precise (concrete) actions of the being, conditioned or not, voluntary or involuntary, generated by necessity, by desire or by instinct.
In order to be able to lead ourselves along this middle way, we must use meditation, leaning creatively on imagination and fantasy, avoiding falling into extremes (passions, hatred, greed, etc.) with the purpose of seeking to make Karma lose its capacity to reproduce itself, and thus be able to reach liberation from all suffering and from reincarnation, by achieving Nirvana.
Now, all those sensitive (the 5 senses) and thinking forms are empty, and it is precisely the realization and recognition of that Emptiness – awakening – that makes us walk through that empty reality – an apparent reality – and that only in this way can we remain in the sphere of Awakening.
In the WALK-RWD system, the precise, specific and delimited path that we define with our walk, by fixing our footprints on the floor of the path we choose, is unique and unrepeatable, because it is impossible to duplicate it, in the same way that Heraclitus explained in his conception of becoming: a person can never bathe twice in the same waters of a river, because they change and flow permanently. To paraphrase him we would say: a person can never make a journey twice in the same way on the same chosen path.
These are the traces of our journey, along a defined path.
I would like to mention a passage from Borges in one of his essay-reports, although it refers to a questioning of the Holy Scriptures (Borges would certainly deny this, and I add: with good reason). I wish to comment on it because I do believe that our steps (physical and in allegories) do describe some form of our feeling and thinking, not to mention our attitudes, and why not? also our future, since to walk, to advance, is to define “a path of the future” or meaning of life. Borges says: Those people thought that a Creation prescribed by the Holy Spirit was a categorical discourse […] That wonderful premise of an enigmatic book to chance […] Their apology is that nothing can be casual in the work of an Infinite Intelligence. And he comments that every theologian will always be willing to explain it. Borges prefers to give an example and that is precisely what I want to emphasize. He explains: The steps that a human being takes, from the day he is born until he dies, draw in time [and space] an inconceivable figure; and the Divine Intelligence perceives that figure immediately, like that of men a triangular figure. And he adds: This figure has its own motive and function in the construction and economy of the Universe.
I observe it more concretely: it is not necessarily a complex filigree, it is the first step of any day, the direction we take, the sense of our steps, … and of course, it has a personal purpose – encrypted – or a function in the economy of the universe, as Borges points out.
604. I PLASTIC
Using my theory of Dintornism, and making an analogy with a painting, we can say that the physical limits of the path we are travelling, which are on both sides of it, is the frame of the painting; what is represented in the painting plastically with lines, shapes, colors, etc. (conformation, configuration, organization), is equivalent to those traces of the route of our journey, throughout the whole of the journey. The interpretation that is achieved from the pictorial work is an equivalence referred to our path and walk (line and body expression).
We can walk as we please: forward, backward, zigzagging, slowly, hastily, etc., with the observation that these traces specifically mark a personal and unrepeatable route.
Our walk (the complete line made up of the traces) is conditioned to not leaving the path, just as the painting is done within the frame.
Here it is indispensable to mention something so that oriental thought on Emptiness can be clarified a little. When reference is made to the fact that all things are empty we must understand – as we have pointed out in our essay on Dintornism – that they are empty because we are directing (using) our senses towards formations (creations, structures, works) that we do not perceive. In the Dintornism system we have called these empty structures “Absence Ensemble”. We are directing our sight towards a space where we cannot see; we are wrong where we think we are going to observe something; simply what we suppose to be in a space absent to our sense of sight, is in another place; our vision is misdirected. We try to hear something where there is no sound; we are wrong to direct our ears to a point where we cannot hear anything; our sense is misdirected because the source of sound is elsewhere. And in both cases we can assure that there is an Absent Set, which allows us to become aware of the apparent reality and re-discover the true one.
Returning to our theme of walking, one difference between the functional principles of the Walk-RWD system and the philosophy of Emptiness is that the latter, through its path, leads the individual to a final place: Nirvana, where he attains freedom from suffering and reincarnation; and in the WALK-RWD system his achievements are obtained throughout his journey, from the beginning to the end; and when he reaches the end point, we have already achieved all the satisfactions and benefits that the Walk-RWD system grants and favors (Future posts THE IMPORTANT IS NOT TO REACH THE END and THE “HOW” IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN “WHAT”).
Taking away the philosophical and religious part from the Hindu concept of suffering, we can say that the WALK-RWD system is equivalent, as it also seeks to eliminate suffering within the physical (body) and emotional (mind/psychic) conceptions; and on the other hand, we can definitely state that it has no relation to the spiritual situation (religious belief) of reincarnation.
Now, the path of Emptiness leads us – very appropriately and certainly – to balance and awareness of the aspects outlined in the table below:
All these aspects are also the practical underpinnings of the Hindu philosophical building of the Mahayana, the religious-philosophical current of Emptiness.
On the other hand, our WALK-RWD system leads us, also in an effective way, to balance and become aware of the aspects that are related at the end of the post.
We try to walk the path, in both systems, to discover and appreciate the absence of things.
In the Mahayana (Hinduism), Nirvana is reached and all these “actions” are interrupted, specifically by being able to achieve liberation from all suffering and reincarnation; while in the Walk-RWD system the relationship is not lost and continues to flow, it is an inexhaustible regime.
For example, in both ways a healing THERAPY – on some physical and emotional ailments – is achieved.
In the Middle Way (Madhyamaka), applied in the Mahayana, we are strengthened physically and mentally, by generating, through various states and conditions, a transcendent reflection, which leads us towards the interior of a light, which has its own and real nature – all things have that natural characteristic of being empty – and by an infinite illusion (maya) that is impossible to escape from, and that furthermore, one does not wish to escape from it, because one is receiving a healing generated by the Mahayana system. In the Walk-RWD system it is not necessary to “enter” into an infinite illusion, but simply to follow the natural behaviors of the human being, the paths of the human condition, such as walking, and all the results that will be obtained, of the extraordinary type, are not super-natural.
We can face the ordered or the disordered, the positive or the negative, the good or the bad, the corrupt or the uncorrupted, the just or the unjust, the true or the false, the healthy or the unhealthy, etc., by setting ourselves to walk as an active and yet reactive operation.
Returning to sensory perception, in both healing currents, actions are a consequence of our perceptions, of what our senses perceive, of what our organism (body, mind and spirit) feels.
In the Madhyamaka (Eastern thought and feeling) the stimuli and reactions are oriented more by the sensory channels and less by reason; whereas in the WALK-RWD (Western thought and feeling) system, both – the stimuli and reactions – are oriented more by reason than by the sensory channels.
A fundamental element, common to both processes, is the walking of the middle path; in both, actions are carried out that encourage and stimulate each other, and each of these actions (activities, mental-emotional aspects) serve as a motor to invigorate and move along the whole path, and always keeping away from the extremes. In both methods, too, time is usually ignored, i.e. they are so dynamic and efficient that one arrives at and remains in the total abstraction of external circumstances and stimuli (agents), keeping one focused on the respective purposes of one or the other process.
In the Mahayana, as one moves through and advances in the process of preparation and learning (doctrinal training and formation), one comes to know and understand Existence (Samsara) and this training-learning is achieved through a continuous practice of sensory perception, knowing things and the interrelationship of all of them, but always through the middle way (Madhyamika), that is, without touching or experiencing the extremes.
Some thinkers say that the practice of Mahayana leads to the fact that it can be achieved or not, that it can happen or not, that it can result or not. However, our interpretation leads us to believe that the Mahayana leads unfailingly, through training and education, eliminating ignorance, to achieve Nirvana and Awakening, because it is possible and achievable, there is no doubt about it, and the possibility of not achieving it must be eliminated.
According to these forms of correspondence and identity that exist between the Mahayana and the WALK-RWD system, we will be able to emphasize the 3 activities structured within it (reading, writing and drawing, while walking), developing them – as we have expressed in their respective posts – in a moderate way and none of them should be placed in extremes, but should be within a path, way or middle way, that is, “the most important or main activity” and “the less important or trivial activity” are omitted; It is not necessary to live in the past and in the future, only to live in the present; the past is false and the future more so, the here and now are true (Post THE “HERE AND NOW” WITH THE SYSTEM); that is to say, time does not experience these two extremes, the past and the future, both do not exist, except in our minds as memories (already lived) or expectations that are not yet realizable; therefore, to live in the past or in the future is not to live, at most it is to use our mind to remember or to desire illusions or fantasies, that is why it is advisable to go through the middle way, through the present. In everything related to the WALK-RWD system, we must avoid and eliminate all extremes, so that the “walking” must be done by that middle way, within the extreme limits, and the 3 structured activities (reading, writing and drawing) must be kept also by that way.
Finally, I would like to comment that, just as we have condensed the aspects of the Mahayana school that we believe allow us to reach a balance and become aware of them all, we also list below those aspects where the WALK-RWD system has shown (proven) its real and positive effectiveness.
(*)One theoretical graphical-analytical way to better understand how these confronted processes work, is by using vector theory; I emphasize: just to understand it better (Essay in progress on Emptiness using Vector Analysis).
So let us achieve this Western-type awareness by putting the WALK-RWD system into practice and observe its relationship to those aspects of Eastern philosophy that are locked into the Mahayana system or Nagarjuna’s school of VACUITY.
Loya Lopategui, Carlos, Dintornism. A plastic-philosophical theory of reality, EMULISA, México, 2012. Available on Amazon, Kindle Edition: https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0D6C18SS9
At the beginning of any day -talking about walking- we have the option of repeating the same routine of the previous day, or changing it, we can choose a new path, and when we reach it, we have the option of walking to the right or to the left, in one direction or the opposite, etc.
In the same way, living can be with joy or with sadness, with love or with hate, with self-criticism or approving us, with order or with disorder, with humility or with competition, with love or with contempt, with fatness or with thinness, with health or with sickness, in short, we can continue with the analogy and observe more closely both stages.
We said in the first part that when we decide to repeat our walk along the same path, it is an analogy to our own existential behavior, since we are having the same performance within our circumstantial environment, and this should lead us to reflect on our walk in order to carry it out for the sole pleasure of doing it, that is, of accepting and loving ourselves. In this regard, I would like to comment on what three thinkers have said.
Butler says: “The introduction of subtly new elements in our way of acting gives us certain advantages: the new then merges with the old and this helps us to endure the monotony of our action. But if the new element is quite alien to us, there is no merging of the old with the new, because nature seems to be just as horrified by any too great a deviation from our ordinary practice as it is by the absence of any deviation at all.”
It is necessary to be aware that progress must be made with our own emotional and intellectual development.
Poupnel says: “The idea of progress is logically associated with the idea of resumption and repetition. The habit already possesses in itself the meaning of progress; by effect of the acquired habit, the act that is restarted is started again with greater ease and greater precision; the movements that execute it lose their excessive amplitude, their useless complication; they are simplified and shortened. Parasitic movements disappear. The act reduces the expense to the necessary minimum, to sufficient energy, to the minimum time. And at the same time that the dynamism is improved and made more precise, the work and the result are perfected”.
Finally, Bachelard, to have an opinion on what we have sometimes heard about routine, comments: “The habit is a routine simile of a novelty”. “Habit is a synthesis of novelty and routine”. “The organ is built by function, and for organs to be complex, it is enough for functions to be active and frequent [routine]. Everything is then equivalent to using an increasing number of the instants that time offers” (Future Post WALKING AND FREE TIME. PART II). “A particular habit is a sustained rhythm, where all the acts are repeated equalizing in a quite exact way their value of novelty, but without ever losing that dominant character of being a novelty”. And finally, he clarifies: “We recognize ourselves in our character because we imitate ourselves and because our personality is thus the habit of our own name”. In other words, we repeat ourselves when we are routine, because we accept ourselves with satisfaction.
Artwork # 369 MAYAN DANCE OF LIFE
We must meditate on the defenestration that we sometimes hear that routine is pathetic; for according to this thought of Bachelard’s we could say: That I repeat myself recurrently, because I accept myself as I am, and this means great mental health. In our metaphorical analogy, we would say As I love my body, that’s why I exercise it by walking; I appreciate myself as I am and that’s why I advance in life. I like to walk, ergo, I accept myself.
In another analogical scenario, we can say that when we walk we do so in the sense of “forward” never backward, and if we ever experience it that way, there must be a reason for it, for which we must be aware and careful, because we could fall or lose our way (Future Post WALKING BACKWARDS; Future Post BRAIN GYMNASTICS WHILE WALKING); in the same way it happens to us in life when our thoughts and attitudes are denials, resistances or protests. I propose that we walk in life with a positive sense, that is, with joy, love, approving ourselves, with order, with humility, with health, and throw forever out of our being, into the trash, and set fire to sadness, hate, self-criticism, disorder, competition, contempt, disease.
Let’s make our walks every day, advancing in the right direction, normal, let’s not do it in the wrong direction, because we will lose our balance and fall down (Unless it is a special exercise like what is proposed in future Post BRAIN GYMNASTICS WHILE WALKING).
In normal life it is more difficult to be guided by the right sense, we go astray and return, again and again, to negative thoughts and attitudes; but let us think that walking on our feet, in the natural sense, forward, has no problem in orienting us, and so must be our acting, thinking and feeling for life by having attitudes and thoughts always positive, always in the right sense. Let’s do it this way, let’s try and observe that everything is composed, accommodates and renews us. Let’s remember that even behaving in a routine, repetitive way is to advance and progress in life. I can be myself by accepting myself, because every moment of my existence can be an opportunity to be reborn with my own being, with my own self, with our approval and our acceptance of ourselves. Let us be guided by our own sense of life.
Artwork # 669 CONSPIRACY OF LIFE
Now, let’s keep on walking on the path, trail that we choose, avoiding the stones and obstacles that we encounter along the way. Many times we recognize some stretches where we can imagine some problems, so we must be more careful where we step. In the same way, we must observe very carefully in order to make as few mistakes as possible.
Every nook, cranny or sinuousness in your walk is a new source of knowledge, observation, contemplation, admiration. The new replaces what was seen in the previous bend. Every day is a rebirth, even when we choose the same path of the previous day, we must not look back and if we do it will be to feed the new options and decisions. You don’t have to look for what others have found or achieved, and you don’t need anyone’s approval to move forward.
Now, if you continue to walk on the chosen path, the experiences about the pitfalls that you observed during the journey, you must keep them as what they are, simple experiences and never assimilate them in a traumatic way, because you could become paralyzed and not be able to continue walking, or you would do it in a zigzag or with fears; unless you have suffered a very strong fall. (Future Post THE CONCEPT OF EXPERIENCE AND WALKING). Always remember: you have chosen the path yourself and you will continue to do so! In everyday life with no one you have to look good, nor do you have to ask anyone for their approval. In work activities it’s different (Future Post WALKING AND FREE TIME. PART II). Your experiences are yours alone and no one is to blame for your steps, good or bad, right or wrong. All your past decisions serve to shape the meaning of your life, consciously or unconsciously; but no negative experience should inhibit your next decision making.
Artwork # 952 INNOCENCE IS LIFE
You want to stay on your chosen path, Good! No one is forcing you to walk in any way, nor are you required to take a certain speed, you have dressed as you have decided, and if it gets dark it is for your own pleasure. You can’t blame anyone if you get lost on the path.
Every decision that we make, from adolescence onwards, is and will be self-conscious. The accumulation of them allows us to advance in our existence and we always wish to break down our physical and intellectual limitations with the purpose, conscious or unconscious, of transcending in life. (Post THE WALK AND THE INSTINCT TO LEAVE THE PLACE OF ORIGIN).
Let’s go for a walk imagining that this 30 minutes walk will be a representation of what we will be able to experience vitally during the day that begins.
There are many researchers who have dedicated themselves to investigating into totemism. The following list falls short: Sigmund Freud, James George Frazer, Bronislaw Malinowski, Andrew Lang, John Ferguson McLennan, Claude Lévi-Strauss, Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt, Franz Uri Boas, J. Long, Emile Durkheim, Marcel Mauss, Alexander A. Goldenweiser, Wilhelm Stekel, and as one might expect, there are discrepancies between some of their hypothetical considerations and the conclusions they reached; however, I must thank them all for their efforts and intense work, because they allowed me to outline a new perspective that has contact with their research. The central part of my thesis lies in the origin of Totemism and the observation (contemplation) that the Totem was a spiritual effect that was generated in the transition from nomadism to sedentary life; in other words, I consider that this representation was related to the natural activity of the human being’s journey, an exposition (hypothesis) that I will present below, in this first part which is a study of this relationship, in its anthropological aspects, and later, to complement it with a second part, which is analyzed from a psychological perspective and interpretation.
To address our project, I would like to say a few words about the difference between the spiritual and religion, as far as I am concerned. In several past posts I have conveyed what I have personally experienced as I walk. Its effects are far-reaching and I believe it is no longer necessary to repeat them; if not of the knowledge of all humanity, then of a significant part.
However, I have failed to clarify some ideas about what I have been able to ascertain about the soul and the spiritual, for it also exerts a relevant stimulus, and perhaps the most important, for it produces a generalization, in turn, about all the other functions of the human being.
I would like to mention at this point, on this level of the blog, that when I use the word “spiritual” I am not referring exclusively to the religious concept; of course they are intimately related, but they are not equivalent. Religion is an evolved phase of Magic and Totemism, as James George Frazer rightly mentions, and spirituality is the sensitive and dynamic force, which escapes the rational and the senses for its quantification, dimensions and power, through which the human being develops certain forms and religious aspects, but also dozens of other functions and soul operations, which we can only achieve with this ethereal energy, which constitutes the being.
On the other hand, the soul, like the other intangible forms of being, is always in motion, not to mention the body and other physical and material parts of the human being. Everything indicates that the soul does not die when the body dies, and the spirit remains in a latent state; however, these last two statements belong to matters that have not yet been scientifically proven.
After these clarifications, I continue with our central theme. The Totem is a “material” representation of an animal, vegetable or thing, which is the object of veneration by a primitive group of human beings. It can be a three-dimensional or two-dimensional figure, which bears a resemblance to what it represents or can bear no resemblance at all. The Totem is not a fetish because it is not a unique object, but is widespread in the species of animal or vegetable or was selected as such; nor is it an idol because it does not represent a god or goddess.
The socio-anthropological conception of totem is the image of an animal, vegetable or thing, which a group of people, large or small, be it a tribe, clan, etc., value and venerate for various characteristics, and it is linked in an almathetic or spiritual way with all the members of that human group. Different categories of Totems have been defined, but the one that should really interest us is the one that belongs to a whole social group (Tribe, Clan, etc.), with the Totem by Sex and the Individual coming second in the present exhibition.
384. DA SOMO
In primitive peoples, two characteristics, among others, are important: one, the totem is considered the progenitor of the group, and two, the soul relationship makes it, for all individual cases, that if something happens to the totem, the same thing will happen to the person; that is, if the animal dies, the person will die soon after, and conversely also, if the person dies, the animal will die. In certain specific cases this relationship is also extrapolated to the entire human group on the totem pole.
Totemism in its historical development has manifested itself in 3 cultural spheres: spiritual, social and religious, the latter being the last phase of it. From our approach, its spiritual practice was the most important, giving rise to the other two human manifestations.
From the point of view of its configuration, both social and religious, Totemism is a socio-religious cultural institution that has left its primitive traces in the later universal religious formations and organisations (institutions) within its rituals and dogmatic forms, so that even today, we find social customs and rituals that are reliable – or at least have a relationship that is easily identified as being correlated – to both the social and religious environment, in our day. There is an analogy between the gifts and gifts obtained by the totemic relationship (animal, vegetable or thing) in remote times, and those granted by the gods in the current religions, in full force: the cure of diseases, the achievement of divine help in dozens of human activities, positive and negative omens, etc.
There are also other definitions, according to the disciplinary specialty, which maintain elements common to the former, but which have other approaches and perspectives, for analysis.
One such element in common with these other definitions is that the social group invariably adopts the name of the chosen animal. Thus we have the “Wolf”, “Deer”, “Eagle”, “Hawk”, “Beaver” tribe, etc. One way of observing the spiritual impact that this animal imitation brought with it, is the adoption of the name of the animal to that of the human group. There is no doubt that the name we bear – either because it was given to us or because we chose it voluntarily – implies part of the essence of our being, for we identify ourselves fully in the course of time, intrinsically with it, we form a unity, a unity of the self with our name, a conscious but fundamentally subliminal identity, which is none other than the union of the soul with the self. The name is part of the human soul. This is analysed by Stekel and described as the “Compulsion of (the) Name”: The crucial and determining importance of a person’s name in their unconscious inclinations and behavior.
Everything indicates that Totemism is a universal stage of evolution through which the human being has passed, so this system is found in a very wide diversity of peoples, from the most remote times, so it is considered an archaic (pristine) institution, generalized in humanity, and for the same reason, Psychology considers it as part of the collective unconscious. (Future PostTHE WALKING AND THE ARCHETYPES-THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS). Surely several archetypes emanate from it – which we could not analyze here – or it is built within the archetype “Magic” (Post WALKING AND THE ARCHETYPE “MAGIC”. PART I) as a human-spiritual need (perhaps also as a reminiscence) and other elements of an unconscious and instinctive kind.
Thus, totemism is a purely spiritual institution -or system- through which early human groups revered a totem (animal, vegetable or thing), usually engendering a social organization around that totem, and which very subsequently led to religion.
Any definition of a cultural institution, such as the Totem, must consider in part the explanation of its origin and the causes of its genesis. The definitions we have given previously – taking into account the disciplinary (socio-anthropological) approach – incorporate some of this; however, I would like to be more explicit, since this will allow us to find and understand its own process of evolution in order to accept it as an important phase of personal and group development, which will allow us to glimpse part of its hereditary images (transitive, transmissible through inheritance), both in behavior and in current customs, in all of humanity.
The totem is a collective projection and starts as an imitation and results in the “entrenchment” of the archetype “Magic”, when the human being starts to transform from a nomadic to a sedentary being. The spirituality projected on the chosen totem allows the community that worships and values it to overcome certain habits rooted in its being, such as the eternal need – like others – for nomadism. This is a natural – or forced – transition from nomadism to sedentarism, which inclines him to the practice of totemism, imitating the chosen totem animal, and mainly in his posture and walk. In this respect, we must bear in mind, for this consideration, that in its pristine origins of totemism, the Totems that were selected (chosen and used) in a totemic way, were only animals; This was the 1st phase of totemism, the Totem-animal, and later – in the following phases – vegetables were incorporated (Post WALKING AND CAPSICUM; Future Post THE WALKING OF THE ANCIENT MAYAS AND THEIR TOTEM “CHILE”; Future Post HE WALKING OF THE ANCIENT MAYAS AND THEIR TOTEM “CORN”) and “inanimate” things, in general. We commented in Post THE WALKING AND THE ARCHETYPE “MAGIC” that: “The displacement that is achieved through the archetype Magic, the soul or spirit of the individual – or group – that is involved in the process of archetypal images, usually participated disguising itself with animal or vegetable clothing, with or without a mask, and with (dance) rhythms and movements that resembled the animals that he wanted and needed to be present in the ceremony or magic ritual, for this reason there is always a relationship between the clothing (or the cave painting we mentioned earlier) which is generally called totemism and the archetype of ‘Magic'”.
523. TREE PSYCHE
Totemism is a spiritual system that originated from the need and transformation that human beings had in their transition from nomadism to sedentary life. A thesis that no one has analyzed… at least I think so.
The element that we are interested in analyzing as part of that archetypal genesis, is the innate walk in the human being, and that places us in a perspective that starts two million years ago (Post HOMO-ITER : MAN WALKER, PART I, Post HOMO-ITER: MAN WALKER. PART II) when HOMO SAPIENS stood up and started that innate process, walking only on his 2 lower extremities.
Totemism is not only important for the knowledge of the history of primitive man, but also for the understanding of the present history of present day man, and above all for “programming” the history through which the man of the future will have to pass, walking on foot; it is an intermediate step that the human being takes from the stage of Magic to that of Religion; it is the magical ascendant that, in different regions of the world, transforms to give entrance to most of his spiritual needs.
Totemism, without becoming a religion, laid the foundation for the conformation of all the religions of the world, as their spiritual preamble. It was one of the institutions, in addition to magic, witchcraft, spiritualism, and others, into which animism (belief in the soul) was projected, and into which it took shape and structure to lead to religion, the animistic form in which humanity now finds itself. Belief in the soul and in the devil is still in force, and these are still its main characteristics, which have prevailed up to the present. Each of these characteristics, however, and others, represent attempts by the human capacity for spirituality – the human spirit – to substitute acts, activities, actions, practices, manifestations and functions of being that have diminished over time, or have been disrupted by factors external to it (physical and social environment,) or by repetitive acts of human consciousness itself, which have been suppressed in lifeless forms and which need to be recovered by means of other substitute representations (forms, practices, arts, ceremonies), which are usually not analogous, however, others are imitations that have similarity or equivalence, or are supported by homologous expressive manifestations in parallel.
78. STARK LAMENT
So, Totemism is that period of transition, where one of its main structural components that make it up, gives an answer to the decline of nomadism in the human being, encouraging it spiritually in its great loss, replacing its pedestrian development, by other spiritual and movement manifestations and actions, which were combined with percussive and rhythmic sounds, structured with music and dance. As a fundamental complement, as we have mentioned, was the imitation of different sacred animals in their ways of walking and in their ritual and action movements, using stems, branches and hollow trunks from trees and bushes selected as sacred to produce music (drums and flutes).
Specifically, it was the imitation of the walking of their sacred animals and the dance that flourished with the spiritual development of the Totem, which could reach that stage of animism.
The walking allows us, in that historical totemist stage, an interpretation of the anthropological behavior of the human being; that function played as a spiritual mechanism in the primitive groups, as a fundamental basis of Totemism.
Of all the paths that we have travelled to analyze, investigate and obtain knowledge of the things that surround us, the one that we have left behind is the human activity of walking. The analysis of its performance – of walking – in Totemism leads us to reveal certain religious behaviors in today’s society. The renunciation of nomadism (or turning away from it) is the germ of the human need to “communicate” -spiritually- with the spirits and later with divinities.
The question must be asked: Did this spiritual need create sedentarism or did the renunciation of nomadism create this spiritual need?
Walking was preserved analogically as a spiritual practice within the Totemist system. This imperative need to walk in a wandering way, which started 2 million years ago, was spiritually satisfied by imitating the animals in their walk and with the dance; a rhythmic and cadenced dance, which communicates with a percussive beat to the body with the external natural environment, in a spiritual and somatic (corporal) way: Spiritual Walking. The more sedentary we become, the greater the need to ask for help from the spirits, from our inner spirituality. The primitive man of those times, is inclined to invoke the spirits – his spirituality – because of his new sedentary state that reduces his capacity to have contact with his unconscious and with other mental functions. How much does it prevent us? We will leave the answer to this question, because of its high complexity in its scientific demonstration, to the researchers of the generations to come.
370. MAYA DANCER
During nomadism the soul of each individual, man or woman, walked alongside him; in the beginning of sedentarism, and specifically in totemism, the soul flows from the being to identify itself with the totem animals, takes possession of that totem and “learns” to walk like the animal itself; that is, it walks spiritually. The representation of the soul, in those totemic origins, was the soul of the animal selected as the personal totem. That totemic soul was an image – and replacement – unconscious – and also conscious – that flowed from one personification and incarnation, from one body to another, with an absolute and complete mobility, leaving one body and entering the other, and this totemic mobility conferred sustenance to the unconscious of the individual, urgently in need of it, because it had diminished – almost eliminated – its motor function of walking, and therefore its spirituality (Future Post WALKING: AN ANIMIC-SPIRITUAL “MOTOR” or WALKING: AN ANIMIC-SPIRITUAL “MECHANISM”). From here is born, but above all flourishes, a new way of invoking human spirituality, and perhaps also, is the genesis of the conscious repression of certain stimuli from the external environment, with which belief in the natural environment – to trust in that objective reality – begins to be replaced by the spirits and very later, by the gods (religion).
A relevant aspect that we observe in Totemism – from our perspective – is that in the performance of some rituals, all the members of the totemic group, of a totem-animal, gather around a ceremonial center where the physical representation of the Totem is located, with the purpose of venerating it and imitating it in its movements (and gestions), fundamentally in their walk – and according to the animal selected – also in other characteristic and outstanding forms of their mobility, walk, circulation and movement (which showed their speed, slowness, dynamism, as well as the different times they use in their different activities of pre-spawning, hunting, feeding, etc. ). Surely this imitation of the Totem-animal was transformed into rhythmic movements that gave rise to the dance (Future Post THE WALKING AND THE DANCE), which was incorporated into the totemic ceremonies as an inherent part of them to the beat and musical rhythm of percussive and wind instruments. Thus, the totemic ceremonies developed into other stages of development, which were accompanied by their initial phase imitating the walking of animals and dance as an extension of that totemic mimicry. In this way, both the man and the woman, of these primitive times, were unconsciously involved in a spiritual process that gave way to the gradual transition from nomadism to sedentarism.
A spiritual need for which they surely identified with those who preserved – in their opinion and through their observations – an innate and natural way of walking, which inclined them to select them because they also maintained some forms of movement [that in the opinion of the primitive man and woman], which resembled their past behavior in various important circumstances (environments, conditions, scenarios): moving from one place to another, hunting prey for food (Future Post WALKING WITH UNCHAINED PROMETHEUS), collecting food, feeding, pre-mating, mating, defending themselves from predatory animals, fleeing from danger, etc.
To the question that has been asked by several thinkers, scholars of Totemism, of: How did it happen that primitive man adopted a Totem-Animal? The answer lies, to a great extent, in this transition from nomadism to sedentarism that I have briefly explained.
Was it a renunciation, an impediment or a natural transit from nomadism to sedentarism?
We leave the answer to part II, TOTEM AND WALKING, PSYCHOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION.
For the moment, let us prepare ourselves to think about this answer, while we walk.
