Kelsey Steven - The Individual and the Divine

In the book Original Visions: The Religions of Oral People by Denise Lardner Carmody and John Tully Carmody, the North American Indians' view of the individual and the divine is characterized by the more alone the person is the more connected he is to the divine. When in a group or within the tribe, their is less individualism. The shaman, obviously, has the closest relationship with the divine and became even closer through song. Singing comes from the core of the person and directly connects to the divine. The people also believed one could become closer to the divine through interacting with nature, since they believed the Creator could manifest itself into rocks, trees, birds, flowers, etc.. This oral people live with nature rather than by nature, like most of the modern world does.