Modern scientists are cautious not to romanticize the practices of healers and shamans, for along with any real science they may have unearthed came distinctly unscientific practices, from astrology to voodoo. By refusing to separate themselves from nature, the rationalists argue, these amateur practitioners were unable to achieve objectivity.
This view was best expressed in the 1600s by King James’s famed advisor, Francis Bacon. He believed that nature held secrets in her womb, and needed to be forcibly penetrated to make her give them up: “Nature must be taken by the forelock . . . lay hold of her and capture her . . . conquer and subdue her.. .” In the unrepentant language of a rape fantasy, he argued that we must see nature as a feminized object, rather than as a larger system of which we ourselves are part.
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