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These findings of modern physics have come as a shock to scientists, who have only known about the quantum reality of the universe for 100 years or so, but it is absolutely no surprise to traditional societies, who have worked with the powers of nature for at least 40,000 years. Indeed, recent archaeological findings from the Rift Valley in Africa, suggest that human beings have known about this energetic flow of information from the universe since the dawn of consciousness, 400,000 years ago, when proto-humans walked the earth and modern science was not even the dream of a visionary. Finds from the Valley reveal ritual objects used in shamanic ceremonies to link man with nature and thereby access her secrets in a way that modern diviners would also recognise.
Shamanic cultures, not just in Africa, have always used divination in highly practical ways – to determine how to prevent or cure illness, for example, or to see which way the hunters should set out in order to avoid enemies and find food. These were life and death skills for people who could not just get into a car and visit the local hospital or supermarket – and the shamans of these tribes therefore became adept at using divination to ensure the survival of the communities they served.
One of the best-known methods of divination, using the elements of the natural world, is the stone gazing technique of the Lakota Sioux. The medicine man used a stone about the size of his palm, which had at least four sides or faces. Even the act of finding the stone was done in a reverential and sacred manner, in the recognition that all things are alive, sentient, aware, and offer themselves to us out of friendship and a desire to help. The Sioux