Thuiskomen

The Wild is the original feral community we have always been part of. We continued to survive by vritue of the abundance of the Earth and the wisdom of our ancestors to live in reciprocity with the land. Colonialism, patriarchy and industrialisation (relatively recent events in our long history) has made humankind uprooted, a displaced animal. Being at home is the intimate belonging to the earth you live on/with. We are all native to the Earth – we belong with her – and can find our deep home in the connectedness with the Earthmother and all her children. This awakening & reclaiming of our own wild nature is the essence of Rewilding.

By learning how our early ancestors lived, we explore and (re)discover inner and outer Wilderness – an authentic and untamed intelligence & state of being. Ancient & native survival/life skills are eco-regional, deeply animistic and creative in nature, and connect us directly with the old ways. They are: Fire making and cooking on fire; building shelter; basketry; making shordage, spinning and weaving from animal and plant fiber; natural dye and making clothing; working with earth – pottery, building and harvesting pigments; wild foods and medicine – working with wild plants and fungi; horticulture – planting, growing and saving seeds; sensual animism; hunting and connecting to death; ceremonies for cycles and rites of passage; wild parenting; wildlife tracking & understanding; befriending the dark; non-violent communication & tribe living; decolonization; woodworking and making tools from stone, wood and bone; working with skin; mythology & storytelling; building instruments and making music; ancestral movement.

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

– Mary Oliver