Wilderness Wisdom & Awareness
by Medicine Bear
Salmon-Are-Us
The life
cycle of the salmon is one of Natures wonders. They are born in a small fresh
water creek, sometimes more than a hundred miles from the ocean. They swim to
the ocean where they transform from fresh water fish to salt water fish and live for two years before returning to the place
of their birth. The return journey can involve swimming across a thousand or more miles of open ocean. Once in the freshwater rivers they swim upstream thru rapids and waterfalls that would seem an impossible
task.
This
book is that point in your life, where as the salmon, you turn to start your journey home.
You are living in an ocean of uncertainty and disconnection from your authentic self.
As the words from this book fill your life; you turn and actually smell the “creek” where you were born.
As a star child, the roots you have into the many dimensions are real and accessible. The rootlet of you that is physically
embodied on Earth is searching for its tree. No power on Earth can stop your
journey to fulfillment, peace and the knowledge of who you really are.
Forward
As we
become increasingly distanced from our mother planet, we become increasingly insane.
The road back to a balanced state of humanity on earth lies in Nature. The
human species evolved for millions of years to a place of tribal community connected to the earth. The events of recent human history, 10,000 BC to present, have led us to experiment with civilizations
and societies that are not in tune with our genetic code, our spiritual development and sustainable living practices.
Chapters
1) The Journey from Bill to Bwana to Bear
2) Shelter
3) Water
4) Fire
5) Food
6) Sit Spot
7) Thanksgiving Address
8) Journaling
9) Fox Walking
10) Wide
Angle Vision
11) Tracking
12) Woodland Aroma Therapy
13) Community
14) Medicine Wheels and the Directions
15) Tobacco and Sage
16) Ceremony and Healing
17) Prayer
18) The
Peace Principles
19) Love
20) God Doesn’t Know
Introduction
This
book is about the simplicity of connecting with Nature. This connection is in
our hearts, in our genes, in our souls and in our ancestral memories. In spite
of the magnitude of the problems we face, only a few small steps on our part can tip the scales towards a society in harmony
with this planet. It may be a high tech society or a low tech society, it doesn’t
matter to our Earth Mother. A sign that we are there will be when we can drink
from every stream and river on the planet; when the oceans are teeming with life again.
These
waters are the blood of our Earth Mother. I have heard this term for years and
its meaning is slowly sinking in. The Earth wears her biology on the outside
as opposed to us humans who have our biology under our skin; so it is hard for us to relate to the organs of the Earth. This is a new concept to me that I am slowly trying to understand. A living being with a molten core, layers of solid rock and a thin surface layer of biology. This biology is engaged in an incredibly interwoven sacred dance with itself. The organs of this biological being are exposed to the layer of air around the planet. To compare it with our bodies this air would be the skin, with the waters as the blood held in place by
gravity instead of flowing in blood vessels. But this skin works differently than our skin as it is also fluid and assists
with the dance of life by transporting oxygen around the world, and water vapor, etc.
At this exact moment you are probably breathing oxygen molecules that were released by trees in the Amazon, southern
France and eastern Russia. I can almost feel my mind twisting as I am grappling
with these new concepts and trying to get them into words: the slow combustion
of fresh ideas in an old brain.
The size
difference of the Earth’s organs is hard to comprehend. The Amazon Rain
Forest as a set of lungs is hard to picture from a human perspective. But it
is real. Take away the forests, the earth stops breathing, we all die. Quite simple. Did you know that it is literally impossible
to maintain a 24 % oxygen concentration on the surface of a planet? Oxygen is
a very active, unstable element and wants to combine with other elements, especially carbon, to make all kinds of neat hydrocarbon
molecules. The fact that oxygen can be continually regenerated on the surface
of a planet is a total miracle.
The Journey from Bill to Bwana to Bear
So how
did a simple, white, Upstate New York farm boy like me turn into Medicine Bear? It
has been an interesting journey. There is a quote from the Bible: “Many are called, but few are chosen”. This is
a misrepresentation of the real quote which is “All are called, but few choose”.
I guess for some strange reason I have made many choices along the way that have led to Medicine Bear. The Creator gave us the gift of free choice in this world. The
directions we go from our choices are complex and fascinating. Never would I
have dreamed as I was handed a diploma in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester in 1967 that I would be
Medicine Bear today. Never!! It
is amazing to be sitting here; typing this; pondering how that happened; and trying to explain it in a book. What was that spark, or is that spark in me? What were the
major choices? Why did I choose as I did?
One event building on another event until here I am. Was it a random process
that I controlled? Was it a predetermined karmic path that I swore allegiance
to before entering my body?
Shelter
……..Look
at the world that you are stepping into, feel the wind on your cheeks, what are the birds saying? Sense the difference in energy between the confines of your four walls and the freedom of Nature.
One of
the coolest things to do in the woods is to build a fort or a fairy castle or a lean-to or a hobbit hut. It is very rewarding to find a special place for yourself and build a simple structure that has a story
to it…… The act of building the simplest of structures and inhabiting
it will give you a taste of the freedom and connection that exists between your DNA and Nature.
Water
Water
is the blood of our Earth Mother; sometimes frozen, sometimes vapor, sometimes liquid.
In constant transition as it facilitates the web of life, lubricating the wheels of time. How limited is our understanding of this element, how vast it’s teaching. I have often wondered why there are only a few ‘great basins’ on earth where the water doesn’t
flow to the sea. My engineering mind would think that there would be hundreds
of ‘Dead
Seas’ if the water systems of rivers and lakes on the surface of the Earth were made by a random
process. As these water systems are a part of the living entity of Earth they
all flow and interconnect the way blood flows and interconnects in our bodies. The
Great Earth Being could not live without the flowing of these waters the same as we could not live without the flow of our
blood. There was a consciousness behind the formation of the rivers and lakes
and oceans; it was not a random process.
How do
you approach this element? How do you express your gratitude? You can only live a few days without it; dying of thirst is not pleasant.
Our civilization’s disrespect for water and misuse of water illustrates our complete lack of conscience. Our bodies are 75% water which means we are just some kind of a water balloon (with
an attitude).
Sit Spot
Sit Spot
is the first of the five core routines of awareness. These core routines will
accelerate your connection with the Natural World. They are easy and require
only a small amount of time each day to facilitate your growth in exponential ways.
This
practice is so simple yet so profound. Nature is just waiting for you to ask
and to show a commitment to learning. By going to your sit spot every day for
15 minutes and asking questions; all of a sudden you start to plug in. It may
take a few months to get rolling but when you do the results are mind boggling.
Wide Angle Vision
Wide
angle vision, also called owl eyes is another major tool for increasing your awareness in Nature. Wide angle vision, when
combined with fox walking, will greatly diminish your concentric ring in the woods.
It is another of those simplistic exercises with unlimited potential.
Tunnel
vision causes large concentric rings. It is like a laser beam shining all over
the forest, alarming every bird and animal. It is a focused beam of human thought
being projected wherever you look. Soft eyes or wide angle vision is the exact
opposite; it is one of the doorways to invisibility. Shifting to owl eyes puts
you in a gentle receiving mode so the energy of your surroundings comes to you without your sending out any energy. The combination of wide angle vision, fox walking and intent will take you to places you have only dreamed
of till now.
