Go to the ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise.
—Proverbs 6.6 (King James)
* * *
I recently read The Way of the Shaman by Michael Harner. I knew a little about shamanism but not much. One of my friends is a practicing shaman.
The book relates the prehistoric origins of shamanism, its common universal practices, and its potential for healing broken bodies and spirits.
I learned about the shamanic journey into the Lower World, an altered state of consciousness—often accompanied by drums or rattles.
I learned about the quest to find one’s “power animal” that can provide guidance, strength, and protection.
I learned that power animals are typically bears, wolves, panthers, eagles, and deer, but also smallish creatures like ants, bees, and mice.
And just like that, out of the blue, I said to myself: What about the dung beetle?
(Weird!)
I hadn’t thought of dung beetles for years, not since seeing them in a movie about the marvels of nature. I think penguins and eagles had roles in that movie as well.
I vividly remember the dung beetle scene. Two of them were rolling an enormous dung ball—one pulling, one pushing—over a really, really long distance.
The ball rolled merrily along until it bumped into a giant stone. It seemed insurmountable. But the beetles didn’t retreat or quit. It’s not in their nature.
Alas, thanks to evolution dung beetles are incapable of going around an obstacle. They must go through, under, or over. It’s how they’re programmed. They adhere to a straight line.
When their path is blocked, pairs of dung beetles coordinate their actions by sexual distinction. The male grabs the dung ball from above, and the female does a headstand to push the ball with her hind legs.
One, two, three—PUSH. One, two, three…
Dung beetles weigh about 50 milligrams and can push or pull 1,000 times their weight. They are found on every continent but Antarctica.
There are 6,000-8,000 species of them which means trillions and trillions of dung beetles. They eat four times their weight every day. Fortunately, there’s a lot of shit in this world. For example, the dung from a single elephant’s daily production can feed two million dung beetles!
Dung beetles leave no poop behind. They can’t. It’s what they live for. It’s what they live on. It’s their destiny.
The dung beetle is not my “power animal.” Nor yours, I’m guessing. But if it were, what could it teach us?
