Ancestral Longings

A recent article in our local paper sparked my interest around an issue that until the past year and a half, has been a non-issue for most of my life. The article examines the declining trend of hunting in America today, with 33 states seeing decline in hunting license sales in the past two decades. I encourage you to read the article and make some assessments for yourself about hunting.

I've recently had this urge (ancestral memory if you will) to start hunting. Lots of things have propelled me to this state: my time at Wilderness Awareness School and Tracker School, being around more men who are avid hunters themselves, and reading From Boys to Men of Heart.

As I've mentioned before, I grew up in a family that did not value hunting. I had one uncle who did hunt but throughout most of my childhood I did not relate to him much. There was always this mixing of ideas when it came to the idea of hunting. I grew up in a pacifist religious tradition and when it came to the issue of hunting (specifically using guns), I tended to lump it in with the other issues such as gun violence and injustice. This was so impressed on me that I was not permitted to have toy guns when I was growing up. How I managed to talk my mom into a super-soaker is beyond me... I did always have a fascination with archery in-lieu of firearms. I even used to view my friends that were hunters as somewhat barbaric in my youth and early 20's.

Something profound has happened to me in the past 18 months.

I'm actually longing to become a hunter.

Alot of it has to do with me rethinking the spiritual and initiation implications that are found in hunting. It also has a lot to do with the re-wilding of my self, my community and my faith. I really am becoming the mythical wild man that I have so often read about. I really want to expand on this longing right now and I hope that I can give some more intentionality and focus to this desire to partake in a sacred hunt, harvest an animal and use every part of it as a way of honoring it's life. More to come... 

TV and Babies

Study finds that babies (2 and under) who watch a minimum of 60 minutes of TV a day have slower cognitive development than those that watch little to none. Read more by clicking here.

I always struggled with the language that a "TV is the best babysitter there is," now I know why. It seems that it is actually the worst kind of babysitter...

Inward Inklings

With the weather now permanently settling into the teens, I suspect that my time indoors will be spent writing: reflections in my journal, songs and blog posts.

So be on the lookout for more posts here as well as some possible podcasts as well.