Summary

Chapter 7, “The Forgetting and Remembering of the Air,” notes that air is both ubiquitous and invisible. Humans can see its effects, but not the air itself. For many indigenous cultures, awareness or mind is not inside the body but a quality where one resides in, like air. The native people of North America considered wind a sacred power. This Wind gives life, movement, and awareness, supports communication between all beings, and allows for language and conscious thought. The winds split into four, the directions along the horizon of the world. The existence of little winds provides communication between beings; for example, animals will know what we are thinking because our thoughts ride on the winds.

A being is an active participant in the Wind, and one’s thoughts can influence the Wind that appears around one as well as the land and community...