Lighting the Seventh Fire: The Spiritual Ways, Healing, and Science of the Native American

By F. David Peat and David Peat

Book Overview

Through Peat's insightful observations, he extends our understanding of ourselves, our understanding of the universe, and how the two intersect in a meaningful vision of human life in relation to a greater reality.

One summer in the 1980s, theoretical physicist F. David Peat went to a Blackfoot Sun Dance ceremony. Having spent all of his life steeped in and influenced by linear Western science, he was entranced by the Native American worldview and, through dialogue circles between scientists and native elders, he began to explore it in greater depth.

Blackfoot Physics is the account of his discoveries. In an edifying synthesis of anthropology, history, metaphysics, cosmology, and quantum theory, Peat compares the medicines, the myths, the languages the entire perceptions of reality of the Western and indigenous peoples. What becomes apparent is the amazing resemblance between indigenous teachings and some of the insights that are emerging from modern science, a congruence that is as enlightening about the physical universe as it is about the circular evolution of humanity's understanding.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1578633710
• ISBN13: 9781578633715
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Weiser Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Fantastic

I have only read chapters seven and eight for now because I am usuing them for my History of Native American Mathematics research paper. This book is so interesting that I forget to mark what I want for my paper and just continue reading. This is the BEST book I have ever read so far. I love F. David Peat's elegant writing style and usage of quotes. His scientific explainations are very thought provoking, but not extremely advanced and tiresome. I will definitely be finishing this one!

Blackfoot Physics

Being read with great interest by my Book Club in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. We are all, in the group, quite stunned by the conjunctions taking place here and in the U.S. with regard to the 2 arches of: (1) indigenous approaches to the world and (2) the findings of quantum mechanics and physics, getting nearer and nearer to one another. We would recommend it to any seeker or thinking individual. Our next book, because of the questions this book has raised, may be Karen Armstrong's, The Great Transformation. It was recommended by Paul Hawken at the 2004 Bioneers Conference, as a way to discover how and why we are where we are philosophically/spiritually/religiously speaking.

A good Paradigm Shifter

Grounds heady new understandings and observations in physics and quantum physics with the human sense of the sacred found within the human experience and wisdom of indigenous peoples. The child within you just might remember. Worth the time and expense.

Fascinating Stuff

It takes a while to get into this book because the first chapter is a bit boring (needs some serious editing, in fact). But once past that hurdle, there's not a dull moment. While one might take issue with the author's apparent attitude that the Native American version of science is superior to that of the Western world's, there's no doubt that the Western world has missed a lot of vital information about the nature of reality. The Native Americans were shoved aside by the Western invaders, who seldom had the sense to acknowledge the wisdom (not to mention the mathematics and the astronomy and the way to make a decent canoe) that the natives had to offer; now we're learning that much of what the natives believed is echoed in the new physics that is still being examined.

A unique and original work of insight

Blackfoot Physics: A Journey Into The Native American Universe is a melding of anthropology, history, metaphysics, cosmology, and quantum theory. Written by F. David Peat (a theoretical physicist who has also studied Native American ceremonies and traditions such as the Blackfoot Sun Dance), Blackfoot Physics strives to bridge the gap between diverse understandings of the universe, while crafting parallels between science and spirituality. A unique and original work of insight, Blackfoot Physics in a unique and strongly recommended contribution to Metaphysical Philosophy and Native American Studies.