Pans Theory Help Required

[Dingo]

Many moons ago we used to have a magazine printed kindly for us (Bushcraft Magazine) and if you subscribed it was posted to your house lovely jubly, however it became untenable for lots of reasons and sadly stopped

Now then, for those among us who had the good luck to receive these little gems, I need your help, as my cleaning fairy seems to have misplaced my copies, or even..... yes you are right, recycled them! now of course, I need to reference from them, and they are no where to be found.

So, I thought I would turn to the oracles on this site in the hope of a little help.

Within one of the issues there was a piece about pans panic theory, I cant seem to remember it all and wondered, if by chance, someone's cleaning fairy hadn't recycled their copy, and could post me a screen shot, or even type the passage if not too much trouble, or send me a lanky thing for me to chase?

advice to self; ALWAYS ARCHIVE YOUR REFERENCE MATERIAL IN THE SAFE PLACE AWAY FROM THE CLEANING FAIRY!

Many thanks in anticipation folks.

Adam

 

[crosslandkelly]

I think the magazine is still around on line, and back copies may still be available.
http://www.bushcraft-magazine.co.uk/current-issue

 

[bikething]

I think the magazine is still around on line, and back copies may still be available.
http://www.bushcraft-magazine.co.uk/current-issue

wrong magazine - the one the OP means was actually published by BCUK

 

[John Fenna]

I have just scanned the article as PDFs - give me an email address and I will send them to you.

 

[Dingo]

thank you John, pm coming over.

 

[Toddy]

Nice one John

My own copies are around still too

M

 

[Dingo]

it was published by BCUK, it was a really good little treat for me, very informative, and as you can see I did take notice, I still remember the article and it struck a chord enough for me to remember where I had read it, even after all this time, I used to look forward to it coming once a month, but like all good things it came to an end, shame, but hey ho.

thanks people for your time and comments, all appreciated, and I am sure my grandson will appreciate the wisdom about to be imparted upon him

 

[crosslandkelly]

wrong magazine - the one the OP means was actually published by BCUK

Ah right, must have been before I joined.

 

[Trotsky]

So just what is this pans panic theory then? You lot have piqued my curiosity.

 

[Tengu]

Yes, me too.

Does it involve that sculpture from Naples?

(Classical scholars will know which one I mean.)

 

[C_Claycomb]

Ignoring for the moment that I have seen no sign of Tony giving permission to reproduce parts of his magazine and people seem remarkably unconcerned about breaching BCUK copyright, had we been talking about another magazine, book or DVD a bunch of posts would have been instantly deleted and warnings issued already...

From memory:
In a nut shell the Pan thing was explaining that human beings, particularly those from settled societies function as part of a collective. Take them out of that collective and put them alone in the wild and their mind starts to play tricks on them. Many cultures recognise this in some form and have stories about spirits in the woods that actively attempt to lead travellers astray and to play tricks to frighten or confuse them. The Greeks referring to the character of Pan as such a spirit, from which the word "panic" comes; the all consuming irrational fear created by the influence of Pan. One of the strategies suggested in some of these cultures was for the person to engage in some sort of mundane and fairly static activity such as chopping wood which would eventually cause the spirits to grown bored and to go off to find a more entertaining participant in their mind games. This flows into the article "Survival is all about a good cup of tea".

 

[John Fenna]

Ignoring for the moment that I have seen no sign of Tony giving permission to reproduce parts of his magazine and people seem remarkably unconcerned about breaching BCUK copyright, had we been talking about another magazine, book or DVD a bunch of posts would have been instantly deleted and warnings issued already....

Ooops - I just did not think....
PM to Tony and Stuart now with a big grovel begging forgiveness.

 

[Lithril]

The cup of tea article is on the front end of the site and like Chris said is the basis of Pans theory in the magazine. Tony is on holiday until tomorrow so won't reply straight away but we do need be careful about the copyright issues of this after the time and effort in publishing the original magazines. Having eCopies of these magazines is something on our radar but definitely won't happen until at least the new website is running. If you are interested in a back copy of the magazine though please email Tony or Shelly and they'll sort when back.

 

[C_Claycomb]

Cheers John.

Anyone who is interested in Psychology and the Satyr might also be interested in the book Deep Survival; Who Lives, Who Dies, and Why. It too discusses the amygdala (treeshrew brain) response and the great sense of having to just "DO SOMETHING NOW", as well as some risks posed by planning, expectations and experience when they stop you from taking in the actual situation.

 

[Tengu]

Thats very interesting.

I have read several very independent accounts of unnatural panic in the woods, from experienced woodsmen too.

There is a good one in `A Forest By Night` (cant recall the author) He spends an entire year overnighting with the badgers in Epping forest.

 

[Robson Valley]

BCUK: Load the entire collection onto a DVD that I can buy and you can make some money at.
I just pretend that those things are modern books.

Our copyright laws allow for "fair use." Meaning that I can make a single copy (eg from a book in a library) which I can hold at home for future reference.
Posting links on the internet is a great way to acknowledge copyright by sharing the location of the source.

I'm so old that I'd rather buy the document, use it and stash it in the appropriate shelf in my library.
Amongst the other 2,000+ titles, a chore to find some days.
THAT ROOM is forever off limits to the cleaning fairy. Come to think of it, haven't seen them in 25 years.

 

[Tengu]

Fred J Speakman

 

[C_Claycomb]

The UK is an interesting place to spend time out in the woods since we don't have much in the way of dangerous animals that pose a threat to humans. That means that most of the fears that one might experience are genuinely irrational. In other places, but I am thinking mainly of North America, it can be unwise to ignore nagging worries while in the bush, there are lots of accounts by ordinary folk saying they felt something amiss and it turned out that there was puma or bear in the vicinity, or actually following them. Much harder in such a place to hold on to the idea that fears are just Pan messing with your head.

 

[Tony]

I'm jumping on the end of this one, just to tidy up the copyright issue.

John has permission in this instance to share the pdf he's made of the pan article in issue 6 of the bcuk 'Bushcraft' magazine. Stuart I'm sure will be fine with what I've said.

On another note, I appreciate that people are trying to help each other out and I am grateful for that, I like people who help each other and put themselves out for each other, I know that in this instance there's a copyright issue that raised it's head and we all learn from that but I do appreciate that at it's core this is a thread that has someone asking for help and others helping.

 

[Andy BB]

The tea theory is just common sense (unlike the superstitious claptrap about forest gods and promiscuous tree nymphs...). Simply put, it's all about taking a bit of time to think about the situation you've unexpectedly found yourself in. A panicked reaction is rarely the right one!