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The Shan and the Immateriality of Existence
"Shan", in the ancient language of the autochthonous European peoples, was the name given to Nature. It was a "Nature" seen not only at a level of forms and season cycles, but also as existence in its totality, including the human presence. It is a vision of "Nature" that goes beyond the daily dimension and that is manifest in an immanent, mystical Mystery in all things.
The title of the film, Shan, is inspired by the philosophy of the archaic Druidic shamanism. The term Shan defines the immaterial nature of existence, which can be traced back to the meaning of "empty", that is, the absence of concepts that can define it. An invisible dimension where, however, according to the traditions of the natural peoples, lies the true reality of things, beyond the illusory dream perceived by the senses and by the mind. This dimension for the natural Peoples reveals knowledge that is the source of harmony and well-being, and it is accessible through direct experience to every individual.
Shan is the ancient name of the Grail, a symbol common to all natural Peoples even if defined with different terms. It is the Yemurraki (or Dreamtime) of the Australian Aborigines, the Wakan Tanka of the native North Americans, the Mbog of the native Africans.
Shan is Silence
The immaterial dimension of Shan, represents a mystical and at the same time a pragmatic level of existence, and it expresses secret knowledge that the individual can use for his well-being and for his spiritual evolution.
According to the philosophies of the natural Peoples, the individual lives his relationship with the Shan through the body, the mind and the spirit, this last understood as the real state of consciousness. Usually the individual relates with existence through the subjective interpretations of his mind, confusing these with his own real state of consciousness. Only when the individual frees himself from the subjective truths of the mind, can he acquire his real nature and attain the consciousness of the Shan.
Experience is aware through the "Vision", understood as direct experimentation of the immaterial nature of existence. For the natural Peoples, this Vision is attained with the experience of interior silence, a dimension that brings them into contact with the reality of the Shan. Interior silence is a common practice among all the natural Peoples of the planet. In all these beliefs, a mystical path exists based on silence, which is developed with appropriate techniques of meditation.
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