Copyright 2002
Wilderness Drum, Inc.
All rights reserved

Closer to the Earth
Steve Beyer

Introduction Before you leave home Fears and prohibitions Beliefs Your senses Asking permission Sensory powers Camera walk Being something else Changing perspective "Artist Unknown" Thinking about nature On not naming things Gratitude Gifts from the wilderness Writing about nature Getting close Watching quietly One creature Decomposers Wilderness symphony Competency

Asking Permission

It is not our place to go barging into the wilderness. We are – we have become – strangers and newcomers. It is our lack of respect for the wilderness that has caused our exile. Ask permission from the places you will stay. Ask permission from the trees, the plants, and the animals you hope to watch. The wilderness rewards humility with gifts it withholds from the arrogant.

Find a good place. Don't just barge in, but pause and ask its permission to be there. Ask the place if it will help you learn. Wait and see if the place agrees to teach you and let you stay. Look for a sign of assent. Compare how you felt before and after you had been granted permission.

Find a wise and ancient tree. Ask its permission to touch it. Ask the tree to be your teacher. What is the wisdom the tree gives you? How do you thank it for its teaching?

Find a place. Are there any spirits in this place? What are they like? Are they kind and generous? Suspicious and distrusting? Malevolent? Tricky? Indifferent? How does the character of the spirits affect your sense of the place? Ask the spirits for permission to stay in the place. How do they respond? Ask the spirits to teach you. How do they respond? Do the spirits let you into the place or do they tell you to go away? How do you thank the spirits?

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