Navigating Modern Chaos Through Ancient Practices at the Rewilding Summit
“These are the days of miracle and wonder
This is the long-distance call
These are the days of lasers in the jungle, lasers in the jungle somewhere
…Staccato signals of constant information
A loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires and baby.”
“Boy in the Bubble” by Paul Simon
These are indeed the days of “miracle and wonder” as our great poet and national bard, Paul Simon wrote in the long ago 1980’s in his classic song “The Boy in the Bubble”. And here we find ourselves today, our daily lives embedded in a matrix of technology, information, and artificial intelligence so vast, powerful, and swift-moving, it would have almost been inconceivable almost forty years ago when that song was released.
How do we find our bearings in a world that often feels untethered from reality? How can we touch a deeper wisdom and knowing in a storm of confusion and chaos?
I am reminded of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad:
"Lead me from the unreal to the real
From darkness lead me to light"
Where do we turn for guidance and wisdom? How do we touch what is real? How do we know what is true?
In this time of materialism and social media, we may look into distant space, or turn to the latest research and study, or look to each other’s social feeds for answers. Too often we find ourselves turning to the human world for the answers to our questions. King Solomon’s advice speaks to us across the ages, “lean not on your own understanding."
There is a “more than human world” of which we are a part. A mystery that speaks in its own language. An intelligence that yearns for us to come back into a conversation we knew as children when we climbed our favorite tree and knew the language of clouds, an intelligence that speaks in whispers on the wind and in our dreams.
Collectively, it’s long past time to put the phones down, log off the web, and go watch an actual spider weave it's wonder - don’t you think?
“There is a way that nature speaks, that land speaks. Most of the time we are simply not patient enough, quiet enough, to pay attention to the story.” – Linda Hogan
In times such as this, times of great complexity, uncertainty, and polarity, when anxiety and overwhelm are the norm, old ways can be a light of hope and comfort.
Sitting together in a circle around a fire and gathering wisdom in community is what is needed. More listening than talking. More stillness than movement.
There are times when the wind has a message that bears listening to, when a good fire has more to teach than an on-line course, when water and stone, the plants and the animals, step forward as our guides.
As my friend Lev Natan recently wrote:
"To see, hear, feel, taste and touch our collective social healing and well being;
Listening and silence must be at the center of our lives. More than that is needed, for sure, but without that, everything else is futile."
Join us for a very special gathering to honor the wisdom of “the more than human world” and be in community with leaders, Indigenous voices, change makers, and teachers both human and “more than human” as we navigate a time of great change on planet earth.
Learn about ancestral survival skills, sustainable agriculture, nature connection practices, traditional archery, council practice, basket weaving, supporting children’s relationship with nature and so much more.
The Rewilding Summit is a place to gather, learn, rest, share, and be inspired.
We hope to see you there around the fire.
Micah Mortali is lead Kripalu faculty, the Founder of the Kripalu School of Mindful Outdoor Leadership and author of Rewilding.
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