A spiritual side to bushcraft can we be more open in this type of discussion?

[m.durston]

Is that were the shaman type came from, so he\she(?) could deal with that side of things while everyone else got on with providing for them selves?

sounds about right to me. you see these programmes of indigenous tribes etc cracking on with every day life, men folk out and about looking for the next walking big mac to trap/kill and the women back at the village foraging for the greens and doing general housekeeping etc. and in the background is the shaman (covered in so much colour he looks like a he's been attacked by the local playgroup) tending to whatever the current seasons spiritual events are in his calendar.

personally i like the idea that aboriginies have down under in the sense that no man owns the land but in their eyes they belong to it. i have said to my mate in the past when we were camping with the kids that i felt a greater sense of belonging when we was in the woods than sitting in my house.
i am an atheist but is this a part of me that is in some way spiritual? who knows!

 

[Retired Member southey]

no,..

the shaman is the guy who discovered special herbs and fungi in the woods,

then wore an animal skull on his head and waved a stick in an attempt to induce enough fear to ensure no one messed with his "stash"

You my friend have just cheered up what was looking to be a rather carp Tuesday,

 

[Paul_B]

Some people have argued that Buddhism is not strictly a religion as it has no god/spirit/higher being involved in it.

Anyway, religion is a personal thing and best kept off forums, however since the OP brought it up. I have no room for meditation or religion in the outdoors as I am doing stuff all the time I am awake in the outdoors. I don't sit at the top of a hill meditating but I enjoy the view the sights around me the animals in the woods, the birds in the sky. That is nothing to do with meditation or religion. If you want religion then most people have a special place for that, say a church, Bhuddist centres, synagogue, etc. Having said that there was a little Buddha somewhere on the side of Snowdon. Now I wonder what the Aetherian Society think of that with Snowdon being one of their sacred mountains and all.

Still whatever floats your boat. Now we are not at all spiritual not like others. Take Bhutan the whole population sees the mountains as sacred. We in the west only have the Aetherian Society who thinks some hills are sacred. Of course religion has had links to hills throughout the ages. Did you guys know the person who founded the society of friends (Quakers) was passing Pendle Hill so he stopped the carriage and climbed up by the steep side (Great or big end I think). He was so moved that it affected him, kind of formed his views on religion up there so PEndle Hill could be said to have helped fomr the Quakers movement.

However in Western thought hills and mountains were bad places to be in the past. In Christian traditions that is. Perhaps that is why a lot of us don't get into the religion in the outdoors thing.

 

[ex-member Raikey]

i have said to my mate in the past when we were camping with the kids that i felt a greater sense of belonging when we was in the woods than sitting in my house.
i am an atheist but is this a part of me that is in some way spiritual? who knows!

Bang on!!

i think this stems from the fact that as a race, or at least a civilised race, we are very young and new at the whole thing,....

our evolution has taken us to a point but i bellieve this is a thin veneer and not as established as we think.

i speculate a lot on how humans would adapt to the, albeit unlikely, occurance of a "situation" whereby nature has to become our friend again,....

and not "some green stuff in the way of progress"

i think we would adapt virtually instantly because we are part of it all,.,..like the Aboriginal thinking, we are not something IN nature but ARE nature

no matter how hard we fight agaist it, the homeostasis (?) is that of a natural state,

and if we metophrically stopped for a second, we'd end up dressed in animal skins, and eating real food, instead of worrying about next months figures and how the Ftse is doing....

Obviously this is just my opinion,...

 

[ex-member Raikey]

You my friend have just cheered up what was looking to be a rather carp Tuesday,

why, were you planning on goin fishing?

hahah sorry mate, could,nt help me sen,.

i,m spose to be working from home today,...

hahaha BCUK has been the sole recipient of my efforts ,...

oops ,..next months figues will have to wait,....lmao...

 

[Nonsuch]

Four hours to find food.......and then time to prep it, cook it, feed the elderlies, the babies, deal with shelter, deal with clothing, fix the ouches, offer the comfort, feed everybody again, cuddle the babies, talk, sing, discuss, squabble..........all the social cohesion of family /clan/ tribal life

They don't spend 12 hours a day free time to just talk about religion or spirituality.

cheers,
Toddy

It seems to me in most primitive societies that the women work all the time, the guys go hunting for a few hours and then come back to camp and loll around, straightening a few arrows over the fire and gassing. So maybe the men have the time for reflection etc . Mind you if they don't come back with a few kills I bet they get an ear-full....

NS

 

[durulz]

Why, just because I like being out in the natural world, should it follow that I have to believe in 'spirits'?
I quote Douglas Adams: Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe there are faeries at the bottom of it?
Quite.

 

[telwebb]

You know where I think this thread goes wrong? ("No tel, and we don't care") - I'm going to tell you anyway....line 1 - post 1. Why is it that every time someone with a set opinion sees others with a different one they see it as being in denial? Its not shyness, its not embarrassment, I just don't buy it......carry on peeps.

 

[Toddy]

Good point

cheers,
M

 

[wattsy]

i have to agree with the views of durulz and telwebb here i don't buy agree with any religion or 'spirituality' claims. if you feel more at peace in the woods is that not because its quieter? it might comfort some people believing in a higher being or spirits controlling aspects of their life but i've always held to the existentialist view that you define yourself by your interactions with others

 

[Retired Member southey]

I don't think spirituality has to do with any kind of higher being or being told you must believe in something, it is just the word i attribute how i feel when in a place i enjoy, I personally think it a word that can be used in many different ways, like holistic(sp) I chose not to take a course with an outdoors sport company as they said they have a holistic approach, i took this to mean some kind of crystals and chanting stuff, no i know it can simply mean an all encompassing approach, sort of covering all aspects,

 

[demographic]

The natural world is brim full of amazing things that I would have never managed to dream up in my wildest flights of imagination.
Over the years great people like David Attenborough have shown us that these things exist and demonstrated their behaviour through a box in the corner of our room.

Sometimes we get to see these amazing things for ourselves but we do at least know they exist.

Spirits and gods dreamt up by man are pretty mundane in comparison.

 

[British Red]

I don't think spirituality has to do with any kind of higher being or being told you must believe in something, it is just the word i attribute how i feel when in a place i enjoy, I personally think it a word that can be used in many different ways, like holistic(sp) I chose not to take a course with an outdoors sport company as they said they have a holistic approach, i took this to mean some kind of crystals and chanting stuff, no i know it can simply mean an all encompassing approach, sort of covering all aspects,

Trust your instincts.

Anyone who uses the word "holistic" is likely to turn up in a kaftan, and massage you with crystal energy. Stay clear or you risk being inducted into their non gender specific all embracing karma - or swallowing their bullsh**.

 

[Paul_B]

Yes Demogrphic, totally agree and Attenborough's film Gandhi was good too!

Seriously Southey its not spirituality you feel its just that you are appreciating the qualities of the place. You can call that spirituality or anything you want but it isn't spirituality in the true sense. You might feel attuned to your environment at home in it but that is because you are in it. No spirit in that!! Bad choice of words. It might be relaxing, exhilarating, entertaining or whatever but I think that word spirituality only really applies IF you have something else going on (in your head - there I've said it) with a "spirit" of some kind. Then it is not so much about the place but the spirit you are feeling or believe in.

Anyway, Southey's comments on spirituality's meaning to him goes to show that we all have our own definitions. Just goes to show the outdoors is what you make of it! In my case its entertainment, exercise and art. I don't see religion or spirituality in it. Oh its also my mental health. Its my place to think things through or to not think about things I;ve been thinking too much about. Either way I put my world and my head to rights in the hills. If some call that my spirituality then please do not say it to, my face.

 

[_mark_]

All together now... "ॐ"

 

[Paul_B]

BTW does anyone (probably with a scientific mentality) find crystal healing funny? I mean you have all these crystals that impart different healing properties but if you look at the actual composition of these crystals there is a lot of similarity. I mean Quartz is SiO2 in its simplist form it is also amerthyst, rose quartz... Jeez I could rattle off a long list here. Still it is almost completely SiO2. Why does rose quartz do different things to quartz? Ho-hum! Perhaps I need to get in touch with my spiritual side.

BTW If my comments are offending anyone here who does hold strong views on spirituality please take these comments as someone who doesn't or won't understand. To those who don't take it how you want to. Just bunkum it how I take a lot of the spirituality or new age stuff out there. Of course spirituality has different meanings so depends onthat too.

 

[Paul_B]

***?

"ॐ"

***?

*** does that mean?

 

[Paul_B]

Sorry? Shouldn't swear. <embarassed smillie that doesn't work for me on here>

 

[John Fenna]

***?

"&#2384;"

***?

*** does that mean?

Om - the start of the well known mantra....

 

[John Fenna]

OK - so now we have various folk attacking other peoples belief systems, swearing and taking the rise out of what some people hold dear...just as I anticipated from the start!
That is why I think that this is not the place for such discussions!