Making sense of the world
Today, we interact almost exclusively with humans and human-made technologies. It wasn't always this way, of course. We used to actively interact with nature on a daily basis. Living in much smaller communities and fighting to survive - and thrive - in a wilder world, we needed to be highly attuned to the land.
Our eyes, our ears, our skin, our tongue, our noses...were always ready to respond to the whisper of a tumbling stream, the warning of a flapping form, the minute shift of mood in the meadow, or on the mountain, that needed noticing. We were active sensory participants in a world that was exquisitely alive.
So, how can we revive this active engagement? Rekindle this state of awakeness?
Well, when we next step out to walk outdoors, we can switch on all of our senses.
We'll look closer at the cracks in the pavement, peer deeper into the green of the hedgerow. Pause, stand still and listen.
Switching on the senses is to begin rekindling that very special relationship with nature. Before long, you'll be asking which of these trees boost immunity in winter? Which spring flower eases stings? Which creature favours these spots in summer...and why?
Think about now, however. How awake are you when you walk? Do you slow down and allow yourself to encounter the outdoors in a deeply sensory way? Let me tell you a story...
A story for the senses: The Curing Fox (click here to read the story)
The story of The Curing Fox fires up our senses - we feel the laboured breathing of the little girl, we hear the crackling of the fire, we watch the fox sleeping in the snow, we reach out to take her in our arms and carry her back to heal the little girl. As the tale ends, we remember that we need nature, as well as nature needing us. Our heart beats in time with the tale.
The writer and mythologist Joseph Campbell speaks of humanity's goal in life being 'to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature.' What are we doing if it is not this, when we are sharing old stories such as these together?
Stories like this help us remember the relationship we had with the living world. We can have that again.
Storying the world
Stories can also help us understand ourselves and our place in the world. After all, humans are storytelling animals. 'Story is what brain does' (Will Storr, The Science of Storytelling). We make sense of the world through the stories. And also through our own bit of storying that often springs to mind when walking...
Let get briefly psychological and philosophical:
Academics talk about an 'imaginal world' existing inside our heads - sitting somewhere between abstract intellect and our sensing of the physical world. When we enter into this imaginal space, we can explore elements of the world as being alive; with agency and intelligence like humans. On a walk along a mountain ridge, suddenly 'a stone might tell us a story; the wind might sing to us; thunder might be the voice of a god' (folklorist and author Sharon Blackie).
Have you ever experienced that on a walk? Where your mind starts storying the landscape around you? It taps in to listen to something you can't quite explain? This tendency to story as we walk, can lead to incredible creative insights about ourselves and our place on the planet. We might even change our fate as a result of our 'imaginal perambulations'!
Time for another story, this time about a young girl who listens to the land as she walks...
A story for the mind: The Dream Makers (click here to read it.)
In this story, a deer leads us to safety, a cave contains a pool of dreams, smoked herbs flavour our dreams and birds carry our creations away. Tucked up on the mountain with the Dream Makers, we consciously and sub-consciously re-imagine the world, and our place within it. We explore the concept of being lost, found, taught by our elders, offered opportunities to choose our path and change our fate.
We've all been bilberry picking, no doubt. Next time, perhaps you'll be picking and thinking about the personal transformation that can come from one simple story and a walk outdoors. Thank you imaginal mind!
Rekindling our relationship with nature
That all got a bit philosophical and psychological. Perhaps we should return to a favourite tale of mine that feels good to share for the future. It is a lovely one to share on a walk, with queens eating forbidden flowers, princes fleeing serpents in the wild wood, old women appearing from oak trees...
A story for the future: Prince Lindworm (click here to read).
It takes us on quite a journey. From the safety - and sorrow - of her castle, one woman walks out into the wild wood and make a choice that sets everything in motion.
It's a tale with plenty of empathy, vulnerability and a clear lesson in the power of reciprocity.
We can all understand why the queen might risk that red flower, and why the serpent son would be so angry at everything that has happened to him. We admire the bravery of the young girl who steps up to marry an angry dragon, and wince with them both as he peels off his scales.
But it's obvious to all, that the 'radiant contentment' our characters enjoy at the end, is because their journey ends with their equal investment in each other, a reciprocity that means equal exchange for mutual benefit.
A lesson for us all when it comes to our relationship with nature.
Just like the Curing Fox story. In our first folktale, the fox needed the girl and the girl needed the fox. In The Dream Makers, the girl needed her elders and they needed her. In Prince Lindworm, both young people needed to commit equally. If there is one thing you take away from this talk tonight, let it be the importance of rekindling that reciprocal relationship with nature. Take, enjoy, revel in the sensory bliss that she gifts us...but give back. Nurture, nourish and seek to know better the natural world we need to keep safe.
At Hay Festival this year, botanist and writer Robin Wall Kimmerer reminded us all that, “action on behalf of life transforms because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.”
So, sharpen those senses, share plenty of stories outdoors, walk out with the rebuilding of this relationship at the forefront of your mind.
Reading recommendations:
The Science of Storytelling, by Will Storr
Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants, by Professor Robin Wall Kimmerer
Listen to Bill Moyer's with Joseph Campbell Myth Series
Botanical Folktales of Britain and Ireland, by Lisa Schneider
Woodland Folktales of Britain and Ireland, by Lisa Schneider
The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a more than Human World, by David Abram
If Women Rose Rooted, by Sharon Blackie
Foxfire, Wolfskin, by Sharon Blackie
Gossip from the Forest, by Sarah Maitland
Hag: Forgotten Folktales, by Carolynne Larrington