Animá Lifeways & Herbal School

Thanks again to everyone who filled out a Reader Survey, it was great to hear from you.  Two more have come in recently, that you may enjoy reading as we did.

To Christine and Yael: Having the impact on your lives that we do, makes all the work of sharing a delight.

————

YAEL

3. What is your work, path or purpose? I am a mother of many, three that I have given birth to. I am a healer and feel very drawn to the Medicine Woman. My purpose, this I am currently learning about. I earn an income as a preschool teacher. I love learning with and from the children.

4. How did you find this blog, and what causes you to keep reading (or stay subscribed)? I first read about you in Sage Woman, which I happened upon at the Barnes and Noble two issues ago. I was so drawn in by Kiva’s writings; I felt she was writing to and about me. I can’t seem to get enough, I just keep reading. I am going through the archives, I have read all of Rhiannon’s posts, I have read the history and I still keep reading.

5. How has this blog influenced how you think or act? I feel a deep peace since I have been reading. Strangely enough the writings made me uncomfortable at first, but still I kept on reading. I have been searching and searching all my life, for what I could not have verbalized to you. But I feel a peace amidst the pain and chaos. I am learning to open my eyes, I am learning that pain is not ‘bad’. I a learning that to heal another does not mean you have to heal yourself first. I am learning more to respect myself , the earth, and others. Can you describe any particular instances of something you read here affecting the quality, tenor, depth and meaning of your day to day life? There was a recent article I printed out on “Hard Choices…” It was very painful to read, but I felt I needed to print it out. There is something I must learn here…something that is calling to me deeply.

6. Are you a subscriber? Yes

7. Which of the categories do you enjoy posts from the most? So far I am working my way through the archives. Rhiannon’s writings were wonderful, and I could not stop reading about the history of the Center. I enjoy Kiva’s writings very much also.

8. What topics might you like to see written about from an Animá/nature perspective, that haven’t appeared here already? I really enjoy reading about the canyon and I love the pictures.

9. What else might you like to see more of here? I am hungry for it all, so at this point whatever you post, I am going to read. Anything else that you’d like to tell us? Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I have been in such pain for so long and for the first time in a long time I feel like I am waking up.

———–

CHRISTINA

What is your work, path or purpose?  In the material world, I work at UNM’s School of Medicine, in the Human Patient Simulation lab.  I hang with manikins all day – it’s actually quite cool.  But that’s my income-work.  In my personal life, I’m an herbalist, a shamanic practitioner, and a Pipe Carrier in the Native American Tradition (Lakota, Cherokee, and Ojibwa).  My purpose, and the declared purpose of The Feathered Serpent Lodge (my teaching lodge here in Albuquerque), is the education and enlightenment of all peoples through intimate spiritual connection to the Mother Earth and honoring of the Sacred Feminine in each of us.

How did you find this blog, and what causes you to keep reading (or stay subscribed)?  I don’t remember how I found your blog/web site, but the exquisite posts I get from you – all of you – are what keep me coming back.

How has this blog influenced how you think or act?  Can you describe any particular instances of something you read here affecting the quality, tenor, depth and meaning of your day to day life?  Jesse’s posts on wild/wilding/re-wilding spoke to something very deep in me – I heard a psychic echo the first time I read one of his pieces – and I’ve been chewing on that subject ever since.  I’m an audial person, it’s all about how things sound (rather than look) for me, and it’s difficult for me sometimes to advance my thinking on a particular subject until I’ve found a hook to hang it all on.  Jesse’s writing often provides that hook.  I can only describe it as “nibbling around the edges of a subject” – the way you eat hot tomato soup, you know? taking little sips from around the outside of the bowl? – and then I’ll read something of his (and it’s not just him, really, you all do it in different ways) and suddenly I’m right in the hot middle and it’s all clear and I can proceed.

Are you a subscriber?  Yes.

Which of the categories do you enjoy posts from the most (see the Archives category list on the left side of this blog page)?  I’m interested in virtually everything you communicate – life in the Canyon is particularly appealing, and I LOVE the pictures.  You are living the life I began dreaming of for myself back in my 20s.

What topics might you like to see written about from an Animá/nature perspective, that haven’t appeared here already?  Nothing that I can think of.

What else might you like to see more of here?  Anything else that you’d like to tell us?  Just that I think you are grand, and have the greatest respect and admiration for you and what you’re doing “out there.”  I wish I could support you more regularly (I work at UNM, and you know what that means in terms of salary…), and I hope one day to visit in person.  “Seven rivers to cross…”

Share This

Hello on a SO lovely sunny Winter day, with the last of the snow quickly melting… it’s time to celebrate the second year of the Animá blog!  When we started posting we imagined that it was only for the close friends, students and supporters who we otherwise wouldn’t have time to write regularly about our work and lives.  It’s certainly filled that purpose, making it possible for us to share details that wouldn’t be possible without a blog, but it’s also surprised us by being subscribed to by people we have never met or talked to, who somehow share with us a sensibility or intent, and find inspiration and community here!  You’ve watched as we expanded to include posts of new and never before published essays, recipes from my cookbook in progress, Wolf’s latest artwork, inspirational tales from our 8 yr. old daughter Rhiannon, and all kinds of things!

It admittedly takes many hours each week to keep the posts coming, especially for Kiva and Wolf who do the bulk of it.  For this reason and others, we’d sure like your help in making this effort as relevant and helpful to you as possible by answering the following Blog Reader Survey that they wrote up for you.  Even if you are too busy or shy to leave comments here the rest of the year, we would LOVE to hear about you now, your preferences and your suggestions!!  You can answer all of the questions, or just focus on a few.  We sure do appreciate hearing from you, and will do all we can to give all we can!!

-Love, Loba

————————————
Animá Blog Reader Survey

1. Your name
2. Email address (private, and optional)
3. What is your work, path or purpose?
4. How did you find this blog, and what causes you to keep reading (or stay subscribed)?
5. How has this blog influenced how you think or act?  Can you describe any particular instances of something you read here affecting the quality, tenor, depth and meaning of your day to day life?
6. Are you a subscriber?
7. Which of the categories do you enjoy posts from the most (see the Archives category list on the left side of this blog page)?
8. What topics might you like to see written about from an Animá/nature perspective, that haven’t appeared here already?
9. What else might you like to see more of here?  Anything else that you’d like to tell us?
10. Do we have your permission to excerpt from your responses, for printing on the blog (by first name only, without your address)?

Please post your responses by clicking on the Comments button, or else download, fill out and return via email the attached Blog Reader Survey document:

anima-blog-reader-survey.doc

Share This

Today we’re posting Part 6 of Wolf’s seminal ReWilding essay, the conclusion of what we hope has been a revealing and inspiring read.  The material will be broken up and expanded for both the upcoming book, and the now developing ReWilding Correspondence Course with its related questions and assignments.  Those of you who have enjoyed this series – and some who have yet to read it – may find the following sample of Course questions interesting… a Reader Survey that can be a very useful tool for self exploration.  We encourage you to post your considered responses to the questions here, by going to the actual page and clicking on the Comments button.  If you find you are served by this process, you may want to consider applying for in a ReWilding, Medicine Woman, Path of Heart or Shaman Path course: student-application-form.doc  We wish you a wild and wonderful week!    -Kiva

ReWilding Self-Exploration: A Reader Survey

by Jesse Wolf Hardin (www.animacenter.org)
1.    What connotations did the word “wild” hold for you before reading this piece, and what does it mean to you now?
2.    In what ways does the wildness in you and around you frighten or threaten you, and in what ways does it feed, nourish, fuel, excite, embolden or deepen?
3.    In what ways do you allow the wildness of nature to inform and invigorate you?
4.    What characteristics or qualities of wild nature (such as alertness, self knowledge and self respect, authenticity, refusal to be caged or controlled, vigor, sensuality, eroticism, creativity,  balance etc.) do you sense and value in yourself?  In what ways are you able to express, utilize, maximize these qualities and traits in your daily life and interactions?
5.    When have you felt most wildly present, and what were the effects on you as well as on what you were doing?
6.    When has logic failed you most?  Describe how “being reasonable” has at times compromised your truth, spirit, needs and purpose.
7.    Describe any situations in which you may have perceived, evaluated and responded out of your wilder mind (such as wordless intuition, the throwing off of preconception or dogma, self authority, unbidden visions or unexpected creativity), and what the results, benefits and other consequences might have been.
8.    Describe your wildest vision of yourself, your ideal way to be, and what you might do if you were without obligation or restraint.
9.    Talk about how comfortable you are or are not in your own body.  Describe what makes you feel more at home there, as well as what causes you to feel embodied and happy with yourself.
10.    Describe how any bodily needs have affected you, whether discomforting or pleasing.  What is your relationship to your wild, unrepressed bodily self?
11.    Describe your sensual engagement with the world, with both what you find rewarding and what you find unpleasant.  To what do your senses awaken you?  What are the challenges that come with intensely sensing?
12.    What causes your senses to open up?  What seems to trigger your shutting them off?
13.    Describe what you do, or are you willing to commit to doing soon, in order to reward your senses (such as asking a lover wash your hair, savoring flavors or scents, indulging in the feel of silk on the skin, the sun coming through the window, the touch of a stimulating wind…)?
14.    Describe the ways in which your relationships are wild, free, conscious, discerning, responsive and fully expressed… and the ways in which they are not.  Explain the results of both.
15.    In what ways do you personally encourage a wilder society and economy (affinity groups, teaching, entertainment that motivates more than entertains, libertarian or bioregional politics, social or ecological activism, crafts, barter, community gardens, mending instead of buying and so forth)?
16.    What is the difference between obligation and response-ability?
17.    To what do you owe allegiance, and in what order of priority (government, spirit, earth, your self, beliefs etc.)?
18.    What conditions, situations or unhealthy patterns of your own have most contributed to stripping away your belief in your own authority, and what kinds of experiences have shown you the importance and value of answering to yourself first and foremost?
19.    Describe how insulating comfort, placation, avoidance, denial and distraction, habit and preconception have held you back from taking a further wild leap – taking risks to make changes in your world, awakening and tuning into your senses, meeting your untended natural needs, embracing the adventure of growth and the challenges of meaningful purpose?
20.    List at least 10 things that you are willing to commit to doing in the immediate future to rewild, reawaken, reconfigure, repair, restore, fully realize and pleasurably reward your self and your daily life (anything from pledging to not talk while eating so you can more intensely taste your food, to expressing your sexuality, taking lingering candle lit baths, reconsidering your job or your relationship, following what you thought was an impossible dream, refusing to be told what do do when your heart and instincts know better, getting out into nature a certain number of times per week or initiating a plan to find and then move to a place that frees your spirit and fuels your vision and purpose).

(Wild Strawberry photo (c) 2008 by Jesse Wolf Hardin)

Share This

We’ve so enjoyed the comments of our blog readers, students and supporters, that we’ve decided to invite your participation in periodic surveys. The process of replying can further self understanding, inspire commitments to new ways of seeing and being, as well as allow you to share your stories with others in the growing Anima community. We’ll start with the topic of nourishment, something we are quick to afford others but too seldom provide ourselves. You can upload your comment directly by going to this post on the blog site, or email us at mail@animacenter.org and we will compile the responses for publishing here.

1) What does it mean to you to nourish your body? Your heart, your dreams and hopes, or your spirit?

2) What are the signs or clues of you being undernourished in any of these ways?

3) What besides food nourishes and revitalizes you? Getting up before your family and enjoying the first light of day? Some special time in the garden, quiet moments with close friends, silent meditation? Relaxing yoga, walks in the woods, a certain kind of book? Immersion in – or the creation of – things of beauty?

4) Describe the last time you went all out to consciously meet your real needs, tend to your calling or cravings, or treat yourself to a special ritual meal.

5) Envision new or more intense ways of nourishing and treating yourself, that you have seldom or never tried before. Now do that for yourself, and then tell us how it unfolded, felt, and affected you.

We appreciate your participation. Now take care of yourselves… you deserve it!

-Wolf

(photo of Loba’s Strawberry Rhabarb Pie by J. Wolf Hardin)

Share This