...And We Will Have Snow

Chapter 6: Tengri

"I know you've been told part of the story of Walden Biodiversity Institute," Tengri began, addressing the newcomers. "And I am sure you've suspected more than you were told. Enough to bring you here. But there is more that must be said." He broadened his gaze to encompass the others present. "I've already shared some of this with the rest of you. But even that I now wish to put in a broader context. A shaman context."

Everyone in the room felt a sense of spiritual release when he said this. Even though Juan in particular was well aware of Tengri's shaman nature, and the rest had, as Tengri implied, at least suspected it, now it would be spoken of openly.

"My homeland is Suomi, Finland," Tengri went on, "But my cultural heritage is Sami, from the northern regions of Suomi you may think of as Lapland."

Dema saw Kore nod at this, evidently accessing some of Sedna's lore. Tengri took this in as he continued. "As you surely know, although shamanism as a path to spiritual awareness survives, it has remained culturally relevant longest among the most northern peoples; Siberian, Eskimo, and Sami. Even there, attempts to absorb the people into other cultures have long persisted. But while the Eskimos were scattered and have dwindled in numbers, and the Siberian shamans were actively suppressed by the Soviets and have only recently begun to recover, the Sami were treated relatively kindly by the Suomi people. So it is that I was born into a community where my shaman nature was recognized, and even encouraged.

"I learned the lore of my people, but at the same time I was exposed to Suomi culture, and educated in the ways of the broader world. Like some of you, I took degrees in biology and medicine to complement my shaman training. At the University of Helsinki I learned the marvels of medical technology. But I also learned how distorted the knowledge can become in the hands of those who are not sensitive to the spirit.

"From there I was drawn to the efforts being made in Africa. We were led to expect a cultural backwater where disease was rampant for the want of modern medical technology. Instead we found a vast wealth of cultural diversity, spiritual richness and native shaman lore, hampered only by the ingrained nature of the local cultural traditions, in which the shaman role was central but constrained to adhere to ancient patterns.

"I knew something of this from my own Sami training, and the difficulty of accommodating it to interpretations of various Christian traditions. Every African shaman I met, of whom there were many, was as aware of the spiritual richness of their land as I could be. Indeed it was often they who opened me to it. But they were next to powerless to influence their peoples' responses in any but the most rigidly accepted ways. They shared their own lore freely, medicinal and otherwise, but found it difficult to accept what I could offer.

"Frequently the shamans there were embroiled in their own conflicts, shaman to shaman, man to woman, tribe to tribe. These were generally treated as games, recounted to me jovially, whether they won or lost. If I offered to supply a new medicine, the first response was generally enthusiastic, in anticipation of gaining an upper hand with some rival. But then they would ask me to not offer the same to those rivals, and when I could not in good conscience agree to that, they lost interest. Finally I realized if I gave it to one and pretended to agree to withhold it from others, the word of this new 'magic' would spread, and the others would quickly find their own sources. Which I of course could not prevent." When he said this Tengri winked at Kore, who had appeared rapt throughout. She blushed and smiled.

"But I digress too much. These are stories for another time. I learned much in Africa, and when I was told about the Walden project and invited to join, I jumped at the chance. To me, it was clearly more than a chance to study biodiversity. As real as was the need to create a knowledge base of all the plant varieties we had learned about in Africa, and to expand it globally, there was also the need to follow through, and understand how to put such captured knowledge to use.

"Key to that was overcoming cultural resistance to change. As I had learned, every tribal shaman knows that the shaman role is dual, first to maintain tribal stability, and secondly to deal with change. Two faces of the same duty, really, as dealing with change usually means restoring stability. But sometimes a change is too destabilizing, the cultural center cannot hold, a shift is needed.

"Shift. Change. I know from Juan that you are all shaman adepts who know the deeper significance of those words, implying an advanced level of shaman ability. But what I had come to understand is, I hope, a yet more advanced level of that same ability. It is the ability to bring about a cultural shift, a cultural change, when the traditions of an existing culture have become unstable, and a new stable form is needed.

"Put in these terms, as a cultural challenge to the acceptance of new medicines, I was able to propose a broadening of the aims of the Walden project to the organizers. In the end, I was assigned as the director of the Institute, and given a free hand in staffing it and setting its goals.

"Our facilities are generously endowed. The organizers insisted on nothing but the best, on the chance we may turn out to be the best hope for many people of the world, especially if the present climate of planetary turmoil continues to build.

"Our staff, too, are remarkable, commensurate with the vision and the tools. I believe we could not ask for better support in the task ahead. You will soon have the chance to visit with them and learn for yourselves how talented they are."

As he said these words, Tengri enfolded them all in his Shaman dream. This time it was not a dream of an ancient oak forest, but of the Institute, the island, and its people.

"But you, my new friends, will become the Insitute's heart, its soul. It is you who will bring the deep understanding of the nature of change, at all levels of existence." As he said this the dream expanded, now encompassing all of them in his vision of the future of the world.