Sensing Bodies
October 12, 2019
Our first day of Forest Trackers (Ravens) brought us together in gratitude and as we came into relationship with one another and the land. We established ourselves as the Forest Tracker Raven Cohort!
Our day began with song and fire. Our fire actually struggled to come to life and all together we crafted a tinder bundle to hold our coal and birth our fire. One of our elder students in our group worked in tandem with our instructor Nathan to create a coal from the bow-drill. Although our morning fires are generally succinct, we’re celebrating such wonderful symbolism that our first fire together was a communal effort!
From there we held a circle to establish our agreements of how we are going to be together. A conversation was held that worked to foster our communal relationships with ourselves, each other, and the land. That conversation led into what we are each hoping to harvest and learn in our year together.
Into the forest we went! Wandering along the trails all sorts of natural mysteries unveiled themselves. We went on a Sensory Scavenger Hunt searching for things that enticed our sensing bodies. We found beautiful decaying leaves, feathers from a kill-site, tracks of all sorts of four-legged creatures, and much more.
Our adventure guided us along, until several of our members decided to follow out an animal trail on the side of our path. As they followed this trail out, they discovered a magical space within the forest dwellings that opened up into a hollow in which we all could gather. In that space we dwelled for a time, eating lunch, and conversing about all things nature.
As we continued along we broke up into two different clans to discover our nature superpowers that lay dormant in our sensing bodies. We stepped into Fox Walking and Owl Eyes as gateways for awareness. We practiced these skills for a time and eventually made our way back to our central fire pit. There a story was told known as the Earth-Shapers, an Irish creation story.
What an incredibly full day we had! And that was only the beginning. What kind of wild adventure awaits us this coming Saturday... ?