Forgotten Truths Articles

Most of us are familiar with the mainstream religious practices. Islam has been around for about 1,400 years, Christianity for 2,000 years. Even older again is Judaism at around 3,000 years, and Hinduism stretching back some 4,000 years. These religions are well known, even if most people are not experts in them.

But there is one spiritual practice that has existed far longer — one that was gradually pushed out of Western civilisation by the Christian church and survives today mostly outside the mainstream, often dismissed as folklore or superstition. That practice is shamanism.

Evidence of shamanic practices can be found in Paleolithic cave paintings, such as those in Lascaux, France, which show shamanism to be at least 30,000–40,000 years old. That’s at least 15 times longer than Christianity has existed! In other words, shamanism may represent humanity’s oldest surviving spiritual framework.

And despite centuries of suppression, shamanism is still alive and well today. It continues to be practiced right across the globe. In Siberia and Central Asia, it is found among the Evenki, Yakut, and Mongols. In North America, among tribes such as the Lakota and Navajo. In South America, in Amazonian groups like the Shipibo, Asháninka, and Quechua. In Australia, it remains central to Aboriginal Dreamtime traditions, and across Oceania in the islands of the Pacific. Shamanism isn’t a relic of the past — it is a living, evolving practice.

So what is shamanism then? It is a spiritual and healing tradition found in many cultures around the world. Individuals called shamans act as intermediaries between the everyday human world and the unseen spiritual realms. Shamans enter altered states of consciousness through drumming, chanting, fasting, or plant medicines such as ayahuasca. From these states they seek guidance, heal physical and spiritual wounds, communicate with ancestors, and restore balance between people, nature, and the wider universe.

For centuries, these practices were branded heretical or superstitious nonsense by mainstream Western thought, largely because they contradicted Christian doctrine. Yet, in a striking twist, some of the very substances and techniques once condemned are now being revisited by Western science. Clinical trials with psilocybin mushrooms, MDMA, and ayahuasca show real promise in treating PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Researchers are beginning to acknowledge that the ancient shamans may have known something profound about the connection between mind, body, and spirit.

Of course, Western medicine remains far more effective when it comes to acute physical illnesses such as infections, broken bones, or organ failure. But shamanism excels where Western medicine often struggles — in addressing the deeper emotional, spiritual, and existential dimensions of suffering. Rather than competing, the two systems may be seen as complementary: one working on the material body, the other on the meaning and spirit of life itself.

Shamanism, then, is not just an ancient curiosity. It is a reminder that human beings have always sought connection with forces beyond the visible world. Whether approached as a cultural tradition, a spiritual path, or a therapeutic practice, shamanism continues to challenge the modern world with a simple but radical idea: healing is not only about the body — it is about restoring harmony between self, community, nature, and spirit.

Imagine, though, how different life might look today if, instead of condemnation and suppression, mainstream religions had chosen dialogue and exchange. If traditions like shamanism had been allowed to share their wisdom alongside Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and others, perhaps humanity could have built a more balanced worldview — one that honored both the body and the spirit, science and the sacred. Rather than centuries of conflict, we might have seen centuries of cooperation. The question remains: would the world be a better place if we learned not to impose our beliefs, but to teach, share, and integrate this ancient knowledge into our modern lives?

The biblical creation story is something many of us grew up with, especially in Western countries, and it’s often accepted without much thought. We’re taught the biblical account in religious education and the scientific version in another class, but rarely do we stop to compare the two. Have you ever considered the differences, or noticed some of the key inconsistencies?

For reference, here is the biblical text from the book of Genesis:

1In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. 3Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6And God said, ‘Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ 7So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. 8God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9And God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. 10God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11Then God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.’ And it was so. 12The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.’ And it was so. 16God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

20And God said, ‘Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.’ 21So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.’ 23And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

24And God said, ‘Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.’ And it was so. 25God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

26Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.’

27So God created humankind in his image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

1. The Earth Created Before the Sun
In verse 1, God creates the Earth. But in verse 14, the Sun appears. Science tells us the opposite: the Sun formed about 4.6 billion years ago, and Earth followed roughly 50 million years later. Today, astronomers can directly observe stars and planetary systems forming in the universe, giving us a much clearer picture of how our solar system began.

2. The “Dome” and Flat-Earth Imagery
Verse 6 describes a “dome” separating the waters above from those below. This reflects an ancient worldview more consistent with a flat Earth and a solid sky than with the spherical planet we know today. While the Church never formally taught that the Earth was flat (its roundness was accepted since Aristotle and Aquinas), the text itself strongly suggests that understanding.
Closely related is geocentrism, the belief that Earth was the center of the universe. Copernicus challenged this in 1543, and Galileo supported it with telescopic evidence in 1616. For that, he was condemned as heretical and forced to recant in 1633. It wasn’t until 1822 that the Church finally allowed books teaching heliocentrism to be published in Rome — nearly three centuries later.

3. Plants Before the Sun
On Day 3 (verse 11), God creates vegetation. On Day 4 (verse 17), the Sun is created. While plants could, in theory, survive a single literal day without sunlight, they could not exist for longer periods without photosynthesis — making this order scientifically problematic.

4. Animals and Humans Created on the Same Day
On Day 6 (verses 24–27), God creates both animals and humans. Yet the fossil record shows that dinosaurs and countless other species lived and became extinct millions of years before humans ever appeared.

5. Two Versions of the Creation Story
Genesis actually contains two distinct creation accounts:

• Genesis 1: plants → animals → humans (male and female created together).
   
• Genesis 2: man → plants → animals → woman (Eve from Adam’s rib).
  The sequences don’t align, suggesting different sources or traditions woven together.
   

6. Light Before the Sun
On Day 1, God says, “Let there be light.” On Day 4, the Sun, Moon, and stars are created. This raises the obvious question: what was the “light” of Day 1? Was it a concept, a divine glow, or something else entirely?

When these inconsistencies are raised, those who interpret Genesis literally often respond with alternative explanations:

1. “Days” Were Not 24-Hour Days
A frequent argument is that each “day” represents a long epoch rather than a literal 24 hours. While this might explain animals and humans being created on the same “day,” it makes other problems worse. If “days” were long ages, then Earth would still precede the Sun by an impossibly vast span of time, and plants would have to survive extended periods without sunlight.

2. The Sky Was Translucent
Another interpretation suggests that the Sun existed from the beginning (perhaps linked to “let there be light” in verse 3), but only became visible on Day 4 when the skies cleared. While this might allow some light for plants, it still struggles to fit if “days” are taken as long ages, since photosynthetic plants could not endure prolonged periods of dim, filtered light.

When read side by side with modern science, the Genesis creation story contains multiple inconsistencies — in order, timing, and description of natural phenomena. Some readers reconcile this by interpreting the text metaphorically, while others take it literally and defend it with alternative explanations. Either way, examining the discrepancies offers an opportunity to reflect on how ancient texts, human understanding, and modern science intersect.

Everything in the universe vibrates. From the smallest atom to the stars that scatter across our skies, existence is not fixed — it’s in constant motion. But what if our emotions, choices, and very states of being also vibrate at measurable frequencies? What if the difference between love and hate, peace and chaos, is not a moral judgement but a vibrational one?

This is the essence of the vibrational frequency model: the idea that all things operate on a spectrum of vibration, and where we exist on that spectrum determines the reality we experience.

Modern physics already acknowledges that the universe is made of energy in motion. Matter itself is just slowed-down energy, held in patterns of vibration. Cymatics experiments show that sound can shape particles into intricate geometric forms, hinting at how frequency gives rise to structure. The Earth’s own heartbeat, the Schumann resonance, pulses at 7.83 Hz — and studies suggest our brains respond to it.

Spiritual traditions, too, have long spoken in the language of vibration. Buddhist mantras, Hindu chanting, Gregorian singing, drumming circles — across cultures, sound and rhythm have been used to shift consciousness. The ancient knowledge seems to echo what modern science is only beginning to uncover: vibration is the hidden architecture of reality.

The vibrational frequency model suggests that emotions and states of being correspond to different frequencies:

• Lower vibrations: fear, shame, guilt, anger, violence. These contract our energy, isolating us and drawing us into cycles of suffering.
   
• Higher vibrations: gratitude, compassion, joy, love. These expand our energy, connecting us with others and opening us to greater possibilities.
   

In this view, heaven and hell are not places, but states of frequency. We tune into them by how we live, think, and feel.

Ancient civilisations often oriented their lives around vibrational awareness. The pyramids of Egypt, Mayan temples, and Vedic rituals all encoded sound and frequency into their sacred spaces. Music, geometry, and resonance weren’t just art forms — they were technologies of consciousness.

In our time, science has largely dismissed these practices as superstition, yet modern psychology quietly validates them. Gratitude journaling lowers stress. Laughter reduces pain. Meditation alters brainwave states. What was once mysticism is now being measured.

This model also extends beyond the individual. Entire societies generate collective vibration. Wars, riots, and propaganda anchor people into fear-based frequencies, while peace movements, music festivals, and shared rituals elevate groups into resonance. History can be seen not just as political shifts, but as waves of vibration rising and falling across time.

If vibration underlies all things, then raising our frequency is not just “self-help” — it’s evolution. Acts of kindness ripple outward, changing the collective field. Choices about what we eat, what we watch, how we speak, and how we love are not trivial: they are vibrational tuning forks, shaping the reality we inhabit.

Perhaps the greatest forgotten truth is this: we are not passive victims of fate. We are active participants in the symphony of vibration. Every thought, every action, every breath tunes the frequency we broadcast into the universe.

If our frequency is our true identity, not the body or the story we carry, then the real question isn’t what do you believe? but what are you vibrating today?