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 Letter from the Staff
Welcome to our February Newsletter! Be sure to check out our new workshops and our Referral Listing for some outstanding practitioners.
Homo Sapiens Urbanus?
The volunteer naturalist passed around pelts, paw imprints and samples of scat as she spoke about the native Alaskan animals to our visiting group. She answered questions about the importance of hunting and fishing in providing for her family. Not only in terms of food, but clothing, shelter and preservation, effectively using the entire animal in a lifestyle that many of us thought was long forgotten. In Alaska, often regarded as the last frontier, living close to nature and the land is essential to survival.
A German tourist who had been keenly interested in the discussion suddenly piped up. “I wonder if you realize just how rare and magnificent your life here really is. Did you know that there are millions of human beings who have never lived or experienced anything outside of a city? We are evolving into a new race. Humanity is becoming Homo Sapiens Urbanus.”
His words really hit home with me as I realized how terrified many of us in the Shamanic practitioner program were about our upcoming Vision Quest. Going out into the wilderness, on our own to fast and pray for guidance, felt fine during daylight hours. But once the sun goes down, many of us would have felt safer at the prospect of walking through New York City at 3 a.m. This is because we know what we can confront in the city, but the forest is a place of mystery and magic, of storybooks and of legends.
Native peoples from all cultures were themselves a part of nature. They looked for and read the signs that the animals, plants and weather left behind. They could read messages in the leaves and in the clouds that drifted overhead. The animals were their partners and they trusted what they learned from them.
We have forgotten much of this as we have shifted towards learning the tricks of the trade in our industry, in our communities and in our churches. We know how to get by in business, how to read one another or how to read changing political climates.
But a lot of us have lost our way to nature, that great storehouse of ancient knowledge. From some of the oldest living things on earth, to the hidden corners of earth’s secret places, there is information and wisdom that is yet untapped.
Nature isn’t trying to hide her secrets from us. In fact, she welcomes our curiosity, our interest, as long as we remember to honor and respect her. It starts with paying attention to the world around us and taking opportunities for walks in quiet observation. There are messages all around us waiting to be acknowledged.
In the weeks ahead, we will have articles on animal messengers and understanding communications with nature. A good place to start learning about some of the key messages and metaphors would be with the animal totems found on our home page. Whether an archetype, a metaphor or something in between, our main objective is understanding.
Please pay us a visit!
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