Den Schamanen in sich entdecken

by Eligio Stephen Gallegos

This is a profoundly important, provocative, and groundbreaking book – the first clear and comprehensive introduction to the four modes of human knowing. Dr Gallegos thesis – that there are in fact four windows, that they are of equal value and power, and that our survival depends on re-dressing are over-reliance upon thinking – appears, at first, to be a revelation. But then we settle into a deeper remembering that this is something we have always known, before we were taught and trained otherwise. Indeed, reading this book initiates our own Journey of Return to our original balance of knowing. It is a must read for all educators, all psychotherapists, all parents… Really for all human denizens of 20th-century self-destroying industrial-growth society. Bill Plotkin Ph.D. Clinical Psychologist. Steve Gallegos presents us here with a new approach and proof of its validity... The process is for the sake of reaching wholeness and with that liberation. One might say that he lets the divine in us have its say, because it is in us and manifests all the time, but we can hear it only if we listen and do not interfere with our analyzing minds ...One would wish that this book be widely read by educators and psychologists and used as a new and effective approach. Here is a true “revisioning” of psychology and a powerful means to understanding and respecting our depth. Edith Wallace, M.D., Ph.D. Author of A Queen's Quest“In this new book Stephen Gallegos has opened his conceptual windows wider than before, to include the four human faculties also discussed by Carl Jung. Thinking, feeling and sensation are presented similarly to Jung's system, but his new twist is creatively the fourth function is imagery, not intuition as Jung has it. (Gallegos envisions intuition as potential to all the functions.) Deep imagery, alive with its own suchness, as are the animals, is not just to be manipulated for our own ends as in some psychological systems of guided imagery, but respected for its own inner vitality and wisdom. It is a revitalization of the human soul from within that is the real goal of Stephen Gallegos' approach. The reader will find his prose clear and inviting while he reveals to us a new (yet very old) way of revisioning our minds. This book is a must for those interested in self-exploration, guided imagery, and the never-ending, self-transformative work of the creative shaman. Stephen Larsen, Author of The Shamans Doorway and The Mythic ImaginationThe Animals of the Four Windows presents an overview of the four modes of knowing; Thinking, Sensing, Imagery and Feeling. While it has certain similarities to Jung's ideas on the same topic, its major difference is that it distinguishes between Imagery and Intuition in a way Jung did not. The book describes how the ways of knowing have been distorted and how we have moved out of balance, with a strong bias towards thinking and sensing and a lack of value on Imagery and Feeling. It explores the possibility of a return by the Four Ways of Knowing to a balanced relationship with one another, in each individual as a way of healing and of accessing our deep inner wisdom.

Genres: Spirituality, Psychology

Paperback

First published December 1, 1991

Reviews

[Berengaria · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

Jungian cognitive theory states that there are four cognitive functions: thinking, feeling, sensing and intuition.

Personality typing methods, like Meyers-Briggs, grew out of this idea, placing thinking - feeling on one axis as a pair and sensing - intuition on the other as a pair.

Current statistics say that most humans are Sensors (about 70%) which means the intuitive function is not strong in many. Men tend towards favoring the thinking function - making the typical male an ST (sensing thinking) and women largely favour the feeling function - making the typical female an SF (sensing feeling).

It comes as no surprise then, that most modern societies heavily favour...you guessed it...ST ideas, methods and understanding of "truth". The near religious adoration of hard science and maths over the "useless fluff" of the humanities is an example of that.

And this is Gallegos' main contention point. We've forgotten to value and include all 4 of the functions in our world - especially the Intuitive function (which he calls Imagery). This throws society and individuals out of balance and creates trauma in those who do not conform to the ST ideal.

It's clear that Gallegos is an NF (intuitive feeler) with a decently developed T function. But he also comes from a NF background (Native American) and therefore finds far more value in dreams, mythology, vision quests and similar than your average non-Native American would.

He argues, for example, that the white suppression of the Native American way of life was an attempt to enforce ST "truth" on an NF culture. With devastating results that continue to this day.

Most of the book is an explanation, almost a defense, of the development of the Personal Totem Pole or Deep Imagery method of personal growth and therapy. As that, it's somewhat repetitive as Gallegos attempts to explain why he's developed and is promoting his discovery from many different aspects.

If, like me, you are already sold on the idea, then it seems like a lot of attempting to missionary the choir.

The only real information you get out of it is that there are more animals than just the chakra ones. There are animals for the senses, for bodily organs, you can even call out an animal for something like a headache. Indeed, you can "vision quest" just about anything affecting your physical body.

Just like in his other book Personal Totem Pole: Animal Imagery the Chakras and Psychotherapy most of the informative stuff is at the very end. Much more than in The Personal Totem Pole, this book is written in an NF style, which is sometimes rather spongy and hard to follow. Or, shall I say, as an NT, I had problems following what he was trying to say for most of the first half.

All in all, this book is for people who are sceptical of the notion that there are other "truths" besides those that can be tangibly assessed. For those who aren't, I recommend the Deep Imagery website for more and far better info.

[Sebastian Beltran · Rating 3 out of 5]

i didn’t really get it. like i could somewhat understand the ideas but it was a little unnecessarily jarongy. i learned that the 4 modes of knowing are sensing, thinking, feeling, and imagery. and the focus was on imagery but what exactly is it like dreams??

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four windows of knowing were introduced me 5 years ago. It has been a powerful and very meaningful tool, or actually way of exploring the world ever since. Sometimes I use it in my educational work to offer other opportunities to see our surroundings and ourselves. When it was introduced to me, there was no mentioning of the animals. I am not sure why. Maybe the facilitator was cautious not to make it look too spiritual for a group that is not used to more alternative approaches. It was the basics - explore a being (snail, tree, bug, blade of grass etc.) through windows of (hearth centered) thinking, sensing, feeling and imagery. And the more I worked on opening the windows of feeling and imagery, the more whole I become. There is a reason why we are able to think; to smell, hear, see, touch, taste; to feel such wide range of emotions; and there is also is a reason why we can see dreams, visions, imagined situations etc. Some windows are more open, some are more closed (because of conditioning, lack of examples, educational, clutural and other systems etc.). And it has been, and still is a wonderful exploration for me.

Now, the animals have entered the scene. Each window/way of perceiving the world can take a shape of an animal. This hasn't happened to me yet. That said, I also haven't invited them yet. I believe it can be a fun discovery and I am eager to continue this research.

As for book itself, it's hard to rate. The message is brilliant. The author also shares some deeply personal experiences, tragedies, and it is impossible to rate that.
Still, I want to share that there were places in book that were so difficult to comprehend. While there are also places that were flowing perfectly. Author shares that this book came easy for him, he did not need to contemplate too much about choice of words. I totally feel it in some chapters while others took be longer time to get through. 3,5 stars that goes to 4 just because I find it incredibly useful and important.

7 years ago I would call this spiritual read. Now I call it enriching, quality self-help, useful, wholing.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen Gallegos is a Native American born in NM, psychology professor, and clinical therapist. His work blends native shamanism with Jungian psychology. https://www.esgallegos.com/who-i-am/

Gallegos admires Jung but feels he made two critical errors:

(1) Intuition is not a function or personality type. Gallegos replaces intuition with imagination / imagery in the quaternio. Intuition is real, but it occurs in all four functions in those "aha" moments. Jung "was highly intuitive and his imagery was very powerful. Furthermore his intuition - knowing things ... for which there is no immediate evidence - came to him through his imagery. So it is not surprising that he didn't differentiate the two." For Gallegos, intuition is "a depth of knowing that emanates from the harmony of all four modes, and as such could appear in the guise of any of them."

(2) Individuation is not simply a matter of "making unconscious content conscious" in order to achieve "critical understanding" as Jung claimed. That process doesn't go far enough. Gallego believes it "gives the intellect the capacity to talk about elements that may have been unknown, but it does not promote true health" because it's generally limited to the thinking function. Jung talked about "annexing the unconscious" and "robbing the unconscious of its fire." Gallegos may be biased as a Native American, but he hears the language of conquest in Jung, not genuine partnership with the unconscious.

Gallegos believes the rise of science & rationalism has been a "period of sacrifice" - a necessary course correction after the superstitious Dark Ages. But we've reached the limits of science because it relies completely on two functions (thinking, sensing) while denigrating the other two (feeling, imagination). He praises Jung - and also Einstein - as among the few scientists who take imagery/imagination seriously, but he has some choice words for Descartes.

"The problem is not with thinking; the problem is that we are unaware of the thinking, and we think that our thoughts are true." - Stephen Gallegos

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reinterprets Carl Jung's four "functions of consciousness" as thinking, feeling, sensing and imaging (working with imagery). Jung's fourth mode was purportedly intuition, but Gallegos provides a strong case for believing that it should be imaging, rather than intuition. (Intuition works through all four modes) I think Gallegos book is groundbreaking and important.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmmm, very interesting. It was hard to wrap my head around.Truth be told, I haven't see my animals........yet. 3 1/2