Once upon a time we were animals alongside the other animals – before we
evolved the self-awareness that cut us off from the others, that got us
caught in our heads, in our bodies, in our civilizations; that got us
kicked out of Eden. Now we only have a dim memory of what it is like to be
the animals that we are. And so we seek out, through our imaginations and
our liturgy and our magic, the connection with the animal world that even
the ridiculous amount of DNA we share with other creatures can no longer
provide.