In my humanity 105 class, we learned about creations myths and that there are many of them. Each of them has its own scenario of how humans came about. One myth that caught my eyes was the one from the tribe named Mohawk. It is from, A Native American Creation Tale, "How Man Was Created." In that tribe they believe that Sat-kon-se-ri-io, the Good Spirit, created the animals, plants, birds and other creatures first. However, after placing them on earth he saw that something was missing. Using pieces of clay that he found on the river, he made a little clay man that resembled himself. After he modeled it, he built a fire and waited until it baked. However, the bird's song made him fall asleep causing the little man to burn. They believe that that was how the first African American came about. Nevertheless, the Good Spirit was not satisfied with the little man so he decided to make another one. This time he was determined not to fall asleep but it did not happen. This time when he woke up the little man was half-baked, therefore making him the first white man. The Good Spirit was not satisfied yet so this time he decided to use red clay that he found and baked it. He took great care of it so we he removed it out of the fire it was just right. That little red man became the first Mohawk Indian.
After reading the Mohawk myth, I concluded that everyone uses his or her consciousness for everything even if we do not realize it. The Good Spirit used his consciousness when he realizes that his first man was burn, hence he made the second one, which was half-baked and finally made the third one, which in his eyes it was perfect. This shows that people see things differently from one another. This myth goes with what Adam Zeman said which was that consciousness is mind awareness and awake. I believe that the Good Spirit uses all of the three definitions. For the reason being that, the Good Spirit was aware that the little man was either burn or half burn, which made him make another one that was perfect. He also used mind because he knew how to shape the little man and he uses his knowledge to fix the first two in order to make his perfect Mohawk Indian. Lastly awake, he was unconscious when he fell asleep therefore; it cost his little man to be imperfect.
Consciousness also reflects on the experience that we have and on what we knows. The Good Spirit only knew about Mohawk Indian, which made him think that anything other than that was no good or imperfect. Unlike us that we know, that everyone comes in different color, sizes, and that does not make us less than what we are. Our consciousness could play little mind trick which could enable us to see things in a certain way. Even if it is the complete opposite, in what someone else sees. I believe that our consciousness is base on what our families (parent) thought us ever since we were little until now with our surrounding as well. I believe that is the foundation of our consciousness.
Response to Monica’s Blog
ReplyDeleteThe introduction of the myth into the discussion of consciousness was very interesting. It truly shows the universal theme of what consciousness. Through the use of the Native American myth you illustrated that man as a person creates stories of consciousness without even meaning to. The explanation of the creator intertwined with your views of consciousness and it was an effective example.
It is interesting to think that all cultures have a creation story where the creator is both conscious of himself, his environment, and has the mind to create beings to suit his needs. In your Native creation myth the creator had to be aware of himself when creating the figurines because he was looking within himself for inspiration on what the being should look like, act like and so on. He also had to be aware of his environment because this is necessary when deciding how to make a being. The creator had to take into account how the being would interact with the new unknown terrain. He also had to have a very conscious mind because he knew what he wanted and after two “failed” attempts he managed to create what he truly wanted.
It is interesting how you present the question of whether we are acting out the conscious of the people we are surrounded because to some degree we are acting on the conscious experience of the creator.