The documentary film “Mentawai – Souls of the Forest” about indigenous people in the rainforest of Sumatra inspired a conversation between director Joo Peter and the author of the book “We are creatures of the forest”, Wolf Dieter Storl. In the culture of the indigenous people we find the deeper roots of mankind, a deep relationship with nature, which the conversation explores with passion and rich knowledge of anthropology and personal experience.
Wolf Dieter Storl is an anthropologist who grew up as an immigrant in rural America, lived with Native Americans, spent years researching the ancient history of India, and reconnected with his European roots in a communal farm project in the Swiss Alps before settling in southwest Germany as a writer and farmer.
Watch the film talk for free here Link Germany/Indonesia 2023, Cinemate Studio, 53 Min (Send a message to contact (at) joopeter.de to watch the full film about Mentawai).
Table of Contents
Introduction – Meeting with Wolf-Dieter Storl for a film conversation Life of the Indigenous People on Mentawai Indigenous culture, life without modern technology, medicinal plants
The Wandering Soul – The soul in dreams, trance, and illness – rituals of the Sikerei (healers of Mentawai)
Animism as a Worldview – Everything is ensouled: nature, plants, animals, humans
Parallels with Other Cultures – Native Americans, Bali, Indonesia – universal concepts of the soul
The Tree of Life – Kayonan in Bali, the World Tree, cosmic order, the Christmas tree
Dualism vs. Animistic Worldview – The cliché of good and evil, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, the ambivalence of nature
Art and the Ensouled World – Artists as shamans, colors and images with soul
What We Manifest Technology – Mechanics, artificial intelligence, conscious creation of reality
Trance Without Drugs Dance – Music, and community as spiritual practice
Rituals, Drumming & Ecstasy – Natural expansion of consciousness through sound and movement
Medicinal Plants & Turmeric – Healing knowledge in Mentawai, India, and other cultures Plants as Spiritual Beings Cheyenne traditions, rituals before harvesting
Syncretism & Cultural Evolution – The merging of myths, religion, and nature
Ancestors & the Soul in Nature – The ancestors in nature, not in an abstract afterlife
The Soul as a Collective Being – Animal spirits, plant souls, guardians of the forest
Limits of Understanding – Translation, simplification, cultural depth
The Lost Sacred Plant of the Cheyenne – Rediscovery of the original shaman
Where Is the Soul in the Body? – Solar plexus, heart, breath, chakras
Multiple Souls & Spiritual Siblings – Balinese and Siberian models of the soul
Forgotten European Myths – Sacred places, dragons, Christian legends
Back to One’s Own Roots – Indigenous cultures as mirrors, not as copies
The Soul of Nature – Today Animals, research, destruction of sacred places
The Journey of the Soul – Transformation, interconnectedness, new worldviews
Cultural Diversity as a Treasure – Every culture as a flower in the garden of humanity
Conclusion – Shiva in Everything The world as a living, ensouled whole
Thanks to Wolf-Dieter Storl for this conversation.
http:://sukumentawai.org
Books by Wolf Dieter Storl in English: https://www.storl.de/shop/english-books/