Hunting as a Rite of Passage

In the past the when they were deemed ready elders would perhaps send the young bucks away from the village to go through their transition from Boys to Men my friend Will Lord once shared such a story with me, it went something like this.

It was time, time for him to leave, a bot of 13 years, he was taken to the edge of the encampment, there he was given a flint and told not to come back until his flint was a highly polished axe head which had to be fully functioning as an axe.

OK, so what, that should not take to long for a well trained person. But, lets think about this for a moment not only does he have to turn this stone into an axe but in the process he also needs to take care of himself. He must be aware of the dangers of the wild and how to move within nature, he would need to understand nature, that's what all the training was for, even when he played games with his friends, they were all designed to help prepare him for this day. But the ultimate test was now beginning.

First he needed to find shelter, maybe a cave to start with, who knows it all depends on the surrounding environment. If there is no cave then he would need to build a debris shelter, this would be a good place to start, he would need to protect himself from the elements, just as we do today when out shopping on sunning day and it starts to rain without thinking we naturally head for a doorway, this is part Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Fire would be next, then water and followed by food, but of course he would be aware of all these things at the same time, no to do so could result in survival being at risk, this would require a connection unlike any other, a spiritual connection to his natural world he is not separate from it but an integral part of it.

This connection we still have today, however, the modern world has removed us from this connection outwardly at least. Because once we return to nature suddenly we remember what we have always known and that is here we belong. I have seen big hard men melt at the sight of Merlin, (my Eagle Owl) without words there is an instant understanding.

And, so the young boy continues on his journey searching for food, moving when the time is right and the seasons dictate, understanding the animals around him learning from them, connecting to his inner self, that voice that helps to guide him as well and all the while the axe head is taking shape. he has learnt by know to lay successful traps ones that bring him food and before laying such traps which can be indiscriminate he asks that the animal give up its life so that he may live and in so doing he must also honouring the animal he traps, otherwise its life would have no meaning, he would be taking for the sake of taking without regard, does he take all ten eggs from the nest or does he only take what he needs to live and in so doing embraces the new life of the other eggs yet to come...

To be continued

Asking Permission - Plant Meditation

What I tell you now is my truth and it may not be your truth, however I would like to ask you to keep an open mind, I ask you to trust and that you to take what you feel comfortable with and what you are not comfortable with just set it to one side, as with your beliefs, I ask that you also set these to one side for the purpose of reading this post, afterwards you can pick them up again.

Once while working with addicts, I ran a plant meditation session for which I was running late, so I ran into the garden to pick as many different plants as I could from Plantain through to Dandelion etc. Now normally I would ask the plant for permission to pick it, as I believe all things are individuals, for example no one tree is exactly the same just as with human beings, on this day I forgot to ask for permission.

After the guided part of the session was complete I asked each individual to share (if they wished) their experiences they had with the plant given to them.

As it happened on this occasion the first person to speak was immediately to my left (the feminine side) the first words spoken were “my plant is not happy that it has been killed” the next person in turn also said “yes my plant is p*%@#d off that it was pulled from the earth, surprise, surprise this theme continued for the next three people in turn, by which time I was getting the message.

“Stop I have a confession to make” I said.

I informed the group of the importance of asking permission before thinking or doing something, it is like if I came into your house or space without asking you, you would be very unhappy. I believe the plants were letting me know through the participants that I had not asked for their permission and instead of being annoyed with myself as I would have done in the past, I took this lesson and used it as a way of illustrating to the group how events can happen on an energetic level.

The sceptics present on that day found it hard to deny that five people in succession would be stating the same thing, and as such this raised many questions for them, which they attempted to seek the answers for what had happened from me. I encouraged them to process this for themselves before reaching out to others to give them the answers, which of course was only my truth; it was and is important that each person seeks their own truth.

The Young Man's Anger and the Chaffinch

I would like to share with you an experience I had while working with a young man in Spain while dealing with his anger issues.

Having completed a successful ‘Meet a Tree’ game which in it’s self is another story, a Chaffinch landed in the middle of the track about ten meters from us. The young man I was with looked at me and asked “Can I stalk it” my answer was of course yes.

He started to stalk the Chaffinch along the trail (see picture below). However, it only allowed him to get within twenty meters before flying off down the track and alighting in the middle of it again. He looked at me and again set off down the track to stalk the Chaffinch (a male), again the finch allowed him to only get within twenty meters before flying off down the track, only to land in the middle of it again.

Again he looked at me with a questioning kind of expression on his face. I said to him do you think something needs to change in order for you to get closer to it? He replied “maybe I need to change how I feel about this situation” I nodded in his direction and off he set again. This time I could see that his energy in fact his whole being had changed and guess what.

The Chaffinch this time let him get to within five meters before flying away altogether.

He looked surprised by what had taken place. I asked him “why do you think the bird let you get closer this time”? His answer was “because I changed how I felt about the situation”. I responded with “do you think that when you feel angry in the future and you are able to change how you FEEL your family and work colleagues will let you get to within five meters off them”?

His face said it all…

In this short version of what took place, is one reason why I love working with nature, she is a great and powerful teacher and all we have to do is be open to seeing the answers she is showing us about ourselves.

Our Modern Day Warriors

Someone once said to me that they could not understand how I could work in the care industry and was once was a soldier. The two do not add up. Since I left the Army in 1996 this has been a common question; "How could you kill and then take care of people?" I was once even called a murderer.

This still goes on today and many would not have had me down as a soldier, if I do not mention it to them. Why do I still talk about it? Well it's been 22 years of my working life were I have gained untold life experiences and skills, now I am in this world, the world of the civilian were I am gaining new life experiences and skills.

I explain to people for me personally the two worlds do work together, my reason for saying this is very clear. I believed and still do believe that as a soldier I was first a defender of those who were not able to defend themselves, regardless of their background, and secondly I had the ability to be aggressive, and not be the aggressor first, as the majority of civilians I come into contact with believe.

My one common thread through all of these experiences has been Nature.

So what’s going on today, are men and women being seen in a similar light, nothing seems to have changed. Many people identify with the warriors from native cultures like the Indians from the USA and dismiss our soldiers of today... However, I believe they ARE OUR Modern Day Warriors and should be acknowledged as such. Put the politics to one side for the moment and look at the human being who is doing a job that many would run away from. In fact I once met a guy who was doing a study on the homeless in London and he discovered that 22% of the homeless were ex-forces, is that not a crime in it's self not just in economic terms but in human terms (this also goes for the other 78% of the homeless).

Can I recommend a great BBC Drama called Warriors, it shows the British Soldier in the light of a human BEING and not a 'they killed Johnny the dirty rats' type soldier. I take my hat of to Ross Kemp for getting in there with the guys in Afghanistan, what better way of showing what our men and women are about and what they are made of.

I trained some soldiers recently in tracking and they too discovered the power of nature, through some of the nature awareness exercises I use as part of the course, as one man put it "I feel I have been given something deeply profound". In a small way I trust that I am supporting them on a practical level.

Do they NOT deserve our SUPPORT, instead of some of the abuse that is aimed at them? You decide.