A Glimpse of our Ancestral Origins

One of the most recent hunter gatherer cultures.

I recently visited the William Ricketts Sanctuary in the Dandenong Ranges.

William Ricketts developed a great and lifelong connection with the Australian aboriginal people.

He was deeply drawn to the simplicity with which they lived and their affinity and connectedness with themselves and their environment.

He was deeply affected by the devastating impact that the white man had on such a pure culture.

Ricketts was a sculptor by trade and created many beautiful sculptures that captured his experience of the aboriginal people and their culture and the deep sense of spirituality he felt personally and with them. His sculptures imbibe such energy that I felt very moved in their presence.

One of Ricketts’ sculptures include a quote that I loved:

“Beyond organised religion. Beyond all mans’ institutions, is the state of true being. Essence. That thou art. Tat tvam asi.”

In my work with health and trying to identify the root cause of illness, I have spent a lot of time pondering what we as a species are built for – based on our ancestral influences.

Recent anthropological and genetic research has suggested it takes at least 40,000 years for a change in our environment to be genetically assimilated. Meaning we have inherited the bodies we now occupied from our hunter gatherer ancestors, who lived a lifestyle that is very similar to the Australian aborigines did until very recently – or still do in some cases.From a genetic perspective, our bodies still think we are wandering the bush.

The Australian aboriginal culture is one of the only cultures on Earth that remained pure and unchanged until a few hundred years ago – in other words, one of the only cultures that lives/d in harmony with their bodies and with their environment.

Whilst I’m not suggesting that we go back to being hunter gatherers as the planet would not sustain such a population of hunter gatherers, there is a lot we can learn from these cultures about living – including health, our relationship with other animals and the environment, peace, happiness and love.

I have included some pictures of these beautiful and powerful sculptures that William Ricketts created.