--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But it was probably long before anyone…" description: "\"“But it was probably long before anyone thought of pottery that the river was first perceived as a metaphor of destiny, the \"clan river\" of eternity co..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/864/paul-shepard-31396_reincarnation_but-it-was-probably-long-before-anyone-t_2552836.png" --- # But it was probably long before anyone thought of pottery… ![“But it was probably long before anyone thought of pottery that the river was first perceived as a metaphor of destiny, the "clan river" of eternity connecting the three worlds. The bear signaled--perhaps seemed even to oversee--the arrival of the salmon. The salmon were human food too, which made…” quote by Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/864/paul-shepard-31396_reincarnation_but-it-was-probably-long-before-anyone-t_2552836.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/864/paul-shepard-31396_reincarnation_but-it-was-probably-long-before-anyone-t_2552836.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/864/paul-shepard-31396_reincarnation_but-it-was-probably-long-before-anyone-t_2552836.png) > ““But it was probably long before anyone thought of pottery that the river was first perceived as a metaphor of destiny, the "clan river" of eternity connecting the three worlds. The bear signaled--perhaps seemed even to oversee--the arrival of the salmon. The salmon were human food too, which made the first link in the man-bear-river-salmon system a tangible reality. We can only guess how the river's eternal flow, the upstream movement of the miraculous fish from the depths of a watery matrix toward the almost ethereal spring at the headwaters, or their fate in the stomach of the bear might have stimulated the concept of reincarnation. In time, the spiritual forces represented by the physical realities could be grappled with by a shaman, who would travel the river to the ancestral downstream and the immortal upstream in a trance instead of a boat.”” [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The river is used as a symbolic link among natural elements and spiritual concepts, suggesting that observing nature can inspire ideas like reincarnation and shamanic journeys. **In simple terms:** Nature symbols can inspire spiritual ideas. Key Takeaway Observe nature to uncover deeper meanings. Themes nature spirituality myth ecology symbolism Mood reflective inquisitive Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - anthropology research - creative writing - environmental education - personal reflection Key Concepts metaphor reincarnation shamanism Questions to Reflect On - How do natural observations shape spiritual concepts? - What limits arise when interpreting symbols literally? A Different Perspective The metaphor may oversimplify complex cultural beliefs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Concept Reincarnation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concept-reincarnation-1459217/) [Eternal Flow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eternal-flow-1537512/) [Metaphor Destiny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/metaphor-destiny-1537511/) [Reincarnation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reincarnation/) [River Perceived](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/river-perceived-1413698/) ## Related quotes > [If you think about the concept of reincarnation, it's essentially uploading yourself and your spirit into a new form, a new hard drive as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-oberst/if-you-think-about-the-concept-of-reincarnation-it-s-essentially/) [Conor Oberst](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-oberst/) > [Pardon me," I answered, as I placed a bundle of straw upon the fire and slightly stirred it. Then I turned quickly but already…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-laurent-d-arlandes/pardon-me-i-answered-as-i-placed-a-bundle-of-straw-upon-the-fire-and/) [Francois Laurent d'Arlandes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-laurent-d-arlandes/) > [In contrast to reincarnation and karma, all other views seem petty and narrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/in-contrast-to-reincarnation-and-karma-all-other-views-seem-petty-and/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [Unless you believe in reincarnation, this is your one shot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-sheindlin/unless-you-believe-in-reincarnation-this-is-your-one-shot/) [Judy Sheindlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-sheindlin/) > [He who fears death either fears the loss of sensation or a different kind of sensation. But if thou shalt have no sensation, neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/he-who-fears-death-either-fears-the-loss-of-sensation-or-a-different/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [I don't believe in reincarnation. That's a cop-out, I know. I don't really want to be reincarnated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/i-don-t-believe-in-reincarnation-that-s-a-cop-out-i-know-i-don-t/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [We're in the transition between birth and death. But the one that people often know about is the transition between the moment of death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/we-re-in-the-transition-between-birth-and-death-but-the-one-that/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [Why should it be thought incredible that the same soul should inhabit in succession an indefinite number of moral bodies? Even during this one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bowen/why-should-it-be-thought-incredible-that-the-same-soul-should-inhabit/) [Francis Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bowen/) > [“Precautions to be taken in the case Of freak reincarnation: what to do On suddenly discovering that you Are now a young and vulnerable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/precautions-to-be-taken-in-the-case-of-freak-reincarnation-what-to-do/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [I recognized you instantly. All of our lives flashed through my mind in a split second. I felt a pull so strongly towards you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-sterling-2/i-recognized-you-instantly-all-of-our-lives-flashed-through-my-mind/) [J Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-sterling-2/) > [Inequalities of Fate very curious. Should like, on this account, to believe in Reincarnation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-delafield/inequalities-of-fate-very-curious-should-like-on-this-account-to/) [E. M. Delafield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-delafield/) > [I am by nature the most intolerant and insular Englishman... If you happen to be a person like that and you learn from evidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-dowding-1st-baron-dowding/i-am-by-nature-the-most-intolerant-and-insular-englishman-if-you/) [Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-dowding-1st-baron-dowding/) > [We seal our fate with the choices we take, but don't give a second thought to the chances we take.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-estefan/we-seal-our-fate-with-the-choices-we-take-but-don-t-give-a-second/) [Gloria Estefan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-estefan/) > [To be successful, one must take chances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-stargell/to-be-successful-one-must-take-chances/) [Willie Stargell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-stargell/) > [I wish there was such a thing as reincarnation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evel-knievel/i-wish-there-was-such-a-thing-as-reincarnation/) [Evel Knievel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evel-knievel/) ## More by Paul Shepard > [The natural world is not only a set of constraints but of contexts within which we can more fully realize our dreams.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/the-natural-world-is-not-only-a-set-of-constraints-but-of-contexts/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [Men are born human. What they must learn is to be an animal. If they learn otherwise it may kill them, and kill life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/men-are-born-human-what-they-must-learn-is-to-be-an-animal-if-they/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [When men do not run they are likely to die prematurely from dysfunction of the heart and vascular systems or from disabling chronic disease.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/when-men-do-not-run-they-are-likely-to-die-prematurely-from/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [To the desert go profits and hermits, through deserts go pilgrims and exiles. Here the leaders of the great religions have sought the therapeutic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/to-the-desert-go-profits-and-hermits-through-deserts-go-pilgrims-and/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [Who would want to live in a world that is just not quite fatal?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/who-would-want-to-live-in-a-world-that-is-just-not-quite-fatal/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [All around us, aspects of the modern world - diet, exercise, medicine, art, work, family, philosophy, economics, ecology, psychology - have begun a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/all-around-us-aspects-of-the-modern-world-diet-exercise-medicine-art/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [ The human cardiovascular system evolved as part of the physiology of \[prehistoric\] hunters, who ran for their lives. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/the-human-cardiovascular-system-evolved-as-part-of-the-physiology-of/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [Careless of waste, wallowing in refuse, exterminating the enemies . . . despising age, denying human natural history, fabricating pseudotraditions, swamped in the repeated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/careless-of-waste-wallowing-in-refuse-exterminating-the-enemies/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [The desert sky is encircling, majestic, terrible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/the-desert-sky-is-encircling-majestic-terrible/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [There is a secret person undamaged in every individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/there-is-a-secret-person-undamaged-in-every-individual/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [Man is a distance runner as a consequence of hundreds of thousands of years of chasing antelopes, horses, elephants, wild cattle, and deer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/man-is-a-distance-runner-as-a-consequence-of-hundreds-of-thousands-of/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [“To the desert go prophets and hermits; through desert go pilgrims and exiles. Here the leaders of the great religions have sought the therapeutic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/to-the-desert-go-prophets-and-hermits-through-desert-go-pilgrims-and/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [Men ran after and ate horses for four hundred thousand years. The outcome is more than a love of horse flesh; it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/men-ran-after-and-ate-horses-for-four-hundred-thousand-years-the/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) > [“How are we to become native to this land?" (as quoted in Trespass: Living at the Edge of the Promised Land by Amy Irvine)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-shepard/how-are-we-to-become-native-to-this-land-as-quoted-in-trespass-living/) [Paul Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) [Explore all 15 Paul Shepard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-shepard/) ## More Reincarnation quotes > [I wish there was such a thing as reincarnation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evel-knievel/i-wish-there-was-such-a-thing-as-reincarnation/) [Evel Knievel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evel-knievel/) > [To be successful, one must take chances.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willie-stargell/to-be-successful-one-must-take-chances/) [Willie Stargell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willie-stargell/) > [We seal our fate with the choices we take, but don't give a second thought to the chances we take.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-estefan/we-seal-our-fate-with-the-choices-we-take-but-don-t-give-a-second/) [Gloria Estefan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-estefan/) > [I am by nature the most intolerant and insular Englishman... If you happen to be a person like that and you learn from evidence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-dowding-1st-baron-dowding/i-am-by-nature-the-most-intolerant-and-insular-englishman-if-you/) [Hugh Dowding, 1st Baron Dowding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-dowding-1st-baron-dowding/) > [Inequalities of Fate very curious. Should like, on this account, to believe in Reincarnation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-m-delafield/inequalities-of-fate-very-curious-should-like-on-this-account-to/) [E. M. Delafield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-m-delafield/) > [I recognized you instantly. All of our lives flashed through my mind in a split second. I felt a pull so strongly towards you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-sterling-2/i-recognized-you-instantly-all-of-our-lives-flashed-through-my-mind/) [J Sterling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-sterling-2/) > [“Precautions to be taken in the case Of freak reincarnation: what to do On suddenly discovering that you Are now a young and vulnerable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/precautions-to-be-taken-in-the-case-of-freak-reincarnation-what-to-do/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [Why should it be thought incredible that the same soul should inhabit in succession an indefinite number of moral bodies? Even during this one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bowen/why-should-it-be-thought-incredible-that-the-same-soul-should-inhabit/) [Francis Bowen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bowen/) > [We're in the transition between birth and death. But the one that people often know about is the transition between the moment of death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/we-re-in-the-transition-between-birth-and-death-but-the-one-that/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [I don't believe in reincarnation. That's a cop-out, I know. I don't really want to be reincarnated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-serling/i-don-t-believe-in-reincarnation-that-s-a-cop-out-i-know-i-don-t/) [Rod Serling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-serling/) > [He who fears death either fears the loss of sensation or a different kind of sensation. But if thou shalt have no sensation, neither…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/he-who-fears-death-either-fears-the-loss-of-sensation-or-a-different/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [Unless you believe in reincarnation, this is your one shot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-sheindlin/unless-you-believe-in-reincarnation-this-is-your-one-shot/) [Judy Sheindlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-sheindlin/) > [In contrast to reincarnation and karma, all other views seem petty and narrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-wagner/in-contrast-to-reincarnation-and-karma-all-other-views-seem-petty-and/) [Richard Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-wagner/) > [“If you do not believe in reincarnation then the word “prarabdh” (karma effect) should not be present in your vocabulary. Christian, Muslim, and other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/if-you-do-not-believe-in-reincarnation-then-the-word-prarabdh-karma/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [“In life, you have 3 choices. Give up, give in, or give it your all.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charleston-parker/in-life-you-have-3-choices-give-up-give-in-or-give-it-your-all/) [Charleston Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charleston-parker/) [Browse all 527 Reincarnation quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reincarnation/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“But it was probably long before anyone thought of pottery that the river was first perceived as a metaphor of destiny, the \"clan river\" of eternity connecting the three worlds. The bear signaled--perhaps seemed even to oversee--the arrival of the salmon. 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