What The Woods Told Me
Lessons From The Land
Yesterday I took part in a rewilding day in the woods of the New Forest, surrounded by Scots pines, larch and birch, that filtered winter sunshine through their branches whilst the great tits sang of how they can teach ya, teach ya, teach ya. I had gathered with a group of friends for a morning of archery followed by an afternoon of bushcraft and firelighting skills.
Rewilding is not something that happens as a finite event, it’s something that needs practice. You can read about it, go for walks, sit in the woods, tell stories, write poetry, plant your bare feet on the land, but you need to do this often and consistently. It’s like any relationship, if we don’t nurture it we’ll lose it and yesterday was spent doing exactly that; nurturing our relationship with the land.
I have a fair amount of knowledge when it comes to the natural world and some fairly basic camping skills. I can set a fire (with a box of matches it should be said), boil a kettle on it, make a nettle soup, blackberry compote and elderberry rob, but the times that I’ve done this are surprisingly few and far between. As you will often hear me say, I’m a generalist not a specialist.
From a young age, when I was with a group of friends, I would often hear the phrase, ‘ask Dawn she will know.’ It’s true I do have an irregular amount of arcane knowledge in my noggin. When I reply, ‘I don’t know that I’m afraid’, I can see the disappointment in their eyes, hear it in their voice, but to me, it’s something new to learn. There are gaps in my knowledge, yesterday definitely highlighted that, but I live in those gaps and enjoy finding the knowledge to fill in the blanks. As a result I’m often doing: seeking, searching, learning and striving.
What I found yesterday was that not only do I crave this connection with the land and the lifelong learning I receive from it, but that I also need to just be. I don’t get out for walks as often as I would like, life keeps getting in the way. I know I need to make room for it, carve out the time and change the way I see that time.
That time is part of the work not apart from it. It sounds obvious, right? But in a world where we are taught to achieve, posses and consume, we no longer value just being. As someone who has spent over forty years being bombarded with this ethos, I find I have lost touch with the child who sat underneath the dining table at home and when asked what I was doing replied ‘just being’. And so it is, that yesterday the land reminded me of that child and how she is still there and that I just need to let her be.
How did this message manifest itself?
Having never picked up a bow before, ever, not even a Saxon reenactment bow, (I can hear you gasping) I chose a 16lb recurve bow and went through the stages of listening to and learning from our very patient, knowledgeable, and all round good egg, instructor Glenn. The reminder to just be manifested itself in the final challenge of this two hour archery session.
The challenge was to get all four arrows through an approximately 10 inch diameter wreath, hung in front of the target. I used all the skills Glenn had taught me, stood firm on the ground, went to a place of being not thinking and hit the target with all four arrows.
The land held my feet and the air held my arrows. It was what Glenn calls instinctive archery.
In the afternoon we gathered to learn where to source fuel for the fire and tinder to light it, as well as how to use a ferro rod to start your fire. We learnt to look for wood in places you wouldn’t initially expect but that makes total sense when you look at the land from within it rather than as a spectator.
We took a look at the many sources of tinder that can be found at various times of year, such as the seeds of rosebay willow herb, bullrush and thistle. Dried mushrooms such as King Alfred’s Cakes and Birch Polypore, and the bark of silver birch and paper birch. We looked at the earth, where it was safe to light a fire and where it was not. Where the fire would easily leave no trace and where it would burn with a hunger we would not be able to contain.
Next we learnt how to billet wood using a Swedish Moro knife and then built our fires. There were successes, there were failures, but fire was achieved and new respect for the land gained. 1
At the beginning of the bushcraft session, Glenn explained the difference between bushcraft and survival. With bushcraft you are a part of the landscape, aware of it and mapping it out for resources that are sustainable and will allow you live within the landscape for a prolonged period of time. Survival skills are more about conquering the obstacles the land gives you when you are part from it not a part of it. 2
As the sun set and the chill of the evening set in, I felt held by the land. I had reacquainted myself with roots I’d forgotten and as I drove home I missed that feeling. I have no intention of roughing it in the wild, I like my little brick box, but I want to practice being with the land more often and learning in a more instinctive way rather than through books, apps and television. They have their place and are invaluable resources in a fragmented world, but yesterday showed me that sometimes you just have to be.
I’ve been following the path to deeper land connection for over ten years now, but as I said at the very beginning of this post; rewilding takes practice. Along the path so far I have found where the wild garlic grows, where the last few ash trees stand, where to find King Alfred’s Cakes, where the wild cherries grow, where the buzzards spiral and where the raven cronks. I also know where the stories dwell, where the green women dance, where the king sleeps beneath the hill and where the nettle shirts can be woven. As I begin this next ten years, my quest is to deepen that knowledge, and feel my way through the landscape and to practice sacred listening and I mean listen.
The magpies have been gathering for a while now, I see them everywhere sometimes even ten at a time - ‘10 for a bird not to be missed’. I will hear the magpie’s message and the message the land gave me as I stood in front of the archery target, rooting myself in the landscape and trusting it. I will practice being, listening and not missing.
I will hear the stories of those who live with the land, those of Robin Hood, the Cailleach, Brigid and St Melangell. I shall take the time to be and allow it to sustain me as I do the air I breathe, the water I drink and the food I eat.
Lessons From The Land is usually a paid subscriber post, but this was such an important message I wanted to share it with you all. If you’d like to read more Lessons from the Land, please do upgrade to a paid subscription.
It should be acknowledged that throughout the day, Glenn showed us how to work safely, respecting the land, knowing our own limits and getting the best out of what we can offer.
If you’d like to learn more about the centre I was learning at for the day, you can find their website here. Their new rewilding day will be available to book very soon.
Great read. I picked up revive last year and shoot instinctive. It’s a meditative process with each shot. There are so many outdoor skills i need to learn with practice. Thanks for sharing and motivating.
Yes, yes and yes!!!