The Mind in the Cave: Consciousness and the Origins of Art

Rating:
Summary: Are We Wired for Art?
Review: Are we wired for art? And for otherworldly visitations? This is exactly what author David Lewis-Williams proposes in his book THE MIND IN THE CAVE: CONSCIOUSNESS AND THE ORIGINS OF ART. The first four chapters deal with the history of man's thinking on antiquity and how theories of the 19th century such as Lyell's geology theory and Darwin's theory of evolution changed the way we think of prehistory. It also tangles with modern theories and the possible interaction of Homo sapiens with Neanderthals. Chapters 5 and 6 give more recent examples of rock and cave art from the San of Southern Africa to the Native North Americans. Chapter 7 weaves the discussion of shamanism into the picture as to what the images were. Chapter 8, the author compiles all his evidence and thoughts to propel his theory of art, shamanism, brain, mind, and states of consciousness. Chapters 9 and 10 deal with the caves themselves, their structure and their possible uses. The writing in this book is gorgeous and the thoughts are beautifully lucid. Anyone interesting in the beginnings of mankind and his relation to this world and the world of art and spirit will enjoy this book. It will also interest in anyone interested in shamanism. Many pictures, 27 of them in color, notes, a list of further reading and an index are also included. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Rating:
Summary: Anatomically and Mentally Modern Humans
Review: David Lewis-Williams has developed a unique insight into the early modern humans that painted the caves of Europe. He reasons that being modern anatomically, the function of their minds that were dependent on brain anatomy must also have been comparable to ours. He makes an excellent case that what we call "altered states of consciousness" were used by ancient shamans to access the spirit world and to interpret it to others in their culture. It is not the real world that is illustrated on the cave walls, but visions and halucinations obtained in various levels of trance. All members of the community could relate to those visions because of common experiences like dreams. For the shamans, this was a source of personal and political power and signaled a stratification of society. The author's ideas are communicated persuasively and interestingly. He makes us think without ever becoming ponderous.

Rating:
Summary: Stimulating & Thought-provoking
Review: The author posits a fascinating explanation for the origin of art and the creation of images by early mankind: the evolution of the human mind. He theorizes that the people of the Upper Paleolithic harnessed altered states of consciousness to fashion their society and used imagery as a means of establishing and defining social relationships. Cro-Magnon man had a more advanced neurological system and order of consciousness than the Neanderthals, and experienced shamanic trances and vivid mental imagery. It was important for them to paint these images on cave walls that served as a membrane between the everyday world and the realm of the spirit. Hallucinations were instrumental in personal advancement and the development of society. He refers to the pioneering psychologist William James who already in 1902 pointed out the different states of consciousness and to Colin Martindale who identified the following different states: Waking, realistic fantasy, autistic fantasy, reverie, hypnagogic and dreaming. The sense of absolute unitary being (transcendence/ecstasy ) is generated by a spillover between neural circuits in the brain caused by factors like meditation, rhythmic stimulus, fasting etc. The essential elements of the religious experience are thus wired into the brain. Two case studies are used in support of this theory: South African San rock art and North American rock art. Chapter 8 is especially fascinating since it offers possible solutions to certain puzzles of cave art, like the mixture of representational and geometric imagery. The author believes that the trail of images from the cave entrance to the dark, almost inaccessible recesses represents a connecting link beween the two elements of an "above/below" binary opposition. Physical entry into the caves reflected the entry into the mental vortex that leads to the hallucinations of the deep trance state. In other words, the trail from the conscious mind to the deep recesses of the subconscious. This book provides much food for thought about our earliest ancestors and about the evolution of consciousness. I would like to recommend William James' "The Varieties of Religious Experience," R M Bucke's "Cosmic Consciousness" and Rupert Sheldrake's "Chaos, Creativity and Cosmic Consciousness" as companion reading to Lewis-Williams' fascinating text. The book includes many figures and 97 illustrations of which 27 are in colour.