28: Languages, empathy and spirituality
Written by Linden Alexander Pentecost on the 8th of November 2023 and published as article 28 on www.bookofdunbarra.co.uk . This article or piece of writing is a little different from my other material on this website, but I feel it is important and I wanted to write this. Some more writing was added after the original writing on this page, the new writing was added on the 24th of July 2025 and has not been published elsewhere. This article originally contained 510 words, but now contains 1335 words.
For me personally, languages are quite mystical things. My interest in languages is inseparable from a whole range of feelings and instincts that I feel connect me to the world itself. I think this is true for many people who are interested in languages, but for some of us, like me, it takes a spiritual dimension as well.
Sometimes I have thought of languages as forms of magic. And that by learning a language, we are in a sense able to connect to a magic, to people, and to nature, and all things in nature described by that language. This “nature” aspect is of particular importance to me, and when it comes to the languages I feel most connected to, this connection is also present in how the nature of these places makes me feel.
When I was 18 years old I remember having my cat, a kitten at the time. And watching bits of Western films. Many of the landscapes in North America feel special to me, and I have tried, sometimes better than others, to connect to this and to learn at least a little of the languages spoken in those particular places.
And I wished I would be there, with my cat, staying in a cabin in the mountains of Montana, living out a simple life, fishing on the river, riding a horse, being friends with the indigenous people there and living honourably towards them.
Spirit seems to open us to a vaster and more coherent sense of our mind, imagination and universe, our dreams, our reality, and our true purpose, all of which are deeply connected, and play out in life meaningfully.
One thing that is really memorable here is when I was on a Scottish island once, and I was walking home. It was May time and windy, the shadows of mountains stood like sacred pyramids against the starlit sky.
And I remember looking into that sky, and for a moment, its shape and life became known to me, and I knew that all of creation was spirit and the origin of life, and that it was joyous. And so I realised that perhaps sometimes to see the Great Spirit is to see the world through the eyes of the Great Spirit. I think that our true nature as loving beings, guardians of the animals and the earth, is written in all of us.
We should listen to others for important moral advice and to develop a better understanding. But only we as individuals can know that exact thing of purpose, love and belonging, in its special forms, that reveals to us the true depth of our spirit and enormity of our love.
A note on how I use the term "Great Spirit": Many indigenous cultures in North America from my understanding, perhaps most? Are often described as polytheistic and animistic, although in terms of polytheism, the exact way in which an indigenous North American culture's "gods" coincide with common western ideas about "gods" does vary. This is also so for terms like "shaman", which is a Samoyedic word. Whilst many indigenous North American cultural and religious practices have traits that could be considered "shamanic" in a sense, not every culture can be said to have the same concept of "shaman", "seer", or "god". The way that I use the term "Great Spirit" is not in my opinion really comparable to the word "god" in our modern understanding of the word, or to Latin DEVS for example. I refer to "Great Spirit" perhaps in line with how certain indigenous North American peoples have a similar concept, but again this does not make those cultures monotheistic. My use of "Great Spirit" is to speak of that which is beyond religious ability and duty, i.e. seer, shaman, tietäjä in Finnish, noaidi in Saami, and to speak of that which is beyond "gods" as we understand them. The Great Spirit is not something that can be understood in terms of "this god is above all others" or "this is the only god to have authority and to be the creator of all things". Whilst there may be some truth here, these statements are trying to picture that which is beyond, inside a box. In the first example the box is the sense of lower and higher, in the second example, well, authority is something of our reality, and of the box. The Great Spirit is not the same god as that in the Bible, which again, attaches the Great Spirit to certain symbols and ideas of our reality that give a false impression of what the true parts are about, in my opinion. However, ironically, the English language does at its core recognise the true meaning of "God" to be "good", as the word God comes from Old English gód, which means "good". But this only really encaptulates the rough idea and the modern English word "good" does not really encaptulate the Great Spirit. No word can I think.
The extra part of this page, below, was added on the 24th of July 2025, and consists of a poetic, awen-inspired vision of the universe, the world and of life, the intent of which is to inspire hope in people, and to inspire people to truly listen to their hearts and what they whisper. This does play into this article/web-page generally as it also links to languages, empathy and spirituality.
“The secret power of language, is that words and sounds are keys. Keys to a reality beyond our current world, to the history and truths we have lost. For so long they tried to tell us how to speak, how to write, according to their limited philosophies, which always elevated them above us. But it is time to listen, to the power of words, to the power of song; to the voices of language, and to the voices of the storm, for within the eye of the storm, there is no time, only a neverending music. Find a place and hear it, be the centre of your own universe, not in a selfish way, I mean, be the centre of your own universe, by knowing that the music sings to you; that it speaks directly to you, that you, and all living things, are special, but that the true you is your only centre, and that as long as you let friends, society, the media, tell you which lights to follow or believe in, you will not know your own light. Your own light speaks gently, with recognition and love, a return to something you thought you forgot, a place where the past, future, and present exist simultaneously in your eternal self. Seek internally what always remains in your heart, and open the door, with the key that was always yours and yours alone”.
Thank you for reading this article, and may the Great Spirit bless all spirits. A lot of my publications do in different ways, and with different aspects thereof, relate to the spirituality of language, including many which I have already published this year, which are not the same as the article on this page you are currently on. And may the Great Spirit bless my cat Gmork, who passed away in autumn 2023, I will never forget you, and my love for you will burn always, and I will take it with me everywhere, and in our hearts and spirit I know we will never be apart.