The Journal of Animal Consciousness Vol 1, Issue 2 Vol 1 Issue 2 | Page 22

our intellectual mind (discursive, analytical operation).
The nature of knowledge is that it is contained in all of the
parts and yet is not reducible to the parts” (Verspoor and
Decker 2008, pp. Introduction).
The mode of
consciousness we bring to bear on our daily lives affects
how we see things and events, which in turn determines
our reactions to various situations, relationships. Use of
only the intellectual mode of human consciousness creates
a sort of ‘sclerosis’ of the mind; unfortunately this is the
prevalent mode in society. Engaging in the process of
Goethean science helps us to see ‘old’ things in ‘new’
ways. Understanding lies not so much in the ‘facts’
themselves but in the consciousness that we bring to bear
upon them.
I propose that, instead of setting the patient up for a
response within the analytical mode, allowing the
unfolding of the sensorial process as it flows from the
synergistic practice of Goethean science is ultimately a
much more therapeutic and durable way of bringing the
patient (or client) to a place of wholeness. Is not one of
the primary goals of psychological therapy to help bring
the patient to a place where she can develop and use her
own intuitive senses to help guide her in all of life’s
relationships? This is exactly what Goethe spoke to when
he said:
“Every process in nature, rightly observed,
wakens in us a new organ of cognition” (Lehrs 1985;
reprint 2010, p. 42). Goethe believed that our senses as
well as our intellect are gifts of nature, and that at any
point they prove to fail us, we can again turn back to
nature to help us develop the proper collaboration between
intellect and the senses (Lehrs 1985; reprint 2010, p. 42).
As was said above, while our intellect is important, seeing
phenomenologically goes beyond that to involve other
organs of knowledge; as our ability to see outwardly
improves, so will our inner perceptions become more
sensitive. Many humans are sensorially naïve, therefore it
is the training and education of the senses that is crucial
and must be developed through “effort, practice, and
perseverance” (Seamon 1978, p. 242). Horses (and all
animals) are not consciously aware of the
phenomenological mode of seeing, they are innately born
with this kind of perception and do not require ‘practice’.
When we learn about nature, we learn about ourselves; it is
this kind of participation – this way of ‘being’ – with the
horse that, in my perspective, is by far more valuable to
the human patient/client in the long term and not
detrimental to the horse’s welfare in any way. In this way,
the horses can help cultivate in us this kind of
phenomenological perception – they become our teachers,
and a new way of being carries over into the patient’s life.

“He who beholds a phenomenon will often extend
his thinking beyond it; he wh