Copyright 2003
Wilderness Drum, Inc.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Steve Beyer

What is the wilderness? What’s so special about the wilderness? What is wilderness survival? How does all this relate to survivalism? What are primitive skills? Are wilderness survival and primitive skills the same? Why bother? What is wilderness spirituality? What is animism? What is pantheism? Is wilderness spirituality pagan? What does this have to do with shamanism? What is a vision fast?

What is animism?

Animism is the belief that everything is alive, animate, conscious, possessing a soul, endowed with a spirit – not just animals and plants, but clouds and rocks and waters as well. Wilderness spirituality is deeply imbued with animism, and anyone who has spent much time in the wilderness – especially alone in the wilderness – will know just what I mean. In our everyday, urbanized, rootless lives, it is easy to maintain a distinction between human ”subjects” and natural “objects,” a conception of nature as a purely passive recipient of human attention, manipulation, and use. In the wilderness we become intimately aware of the personhood of the natural world. As David Abram says, in The Spell of the Sensuous, ”Only by affirming the animateness of perceived things do we allow our words to emerge directly from the depths of our ongoing reciprocity with the world.” He quotes these Lakota words expressing reverence for a rock:

unmoved
from time without
end
you rest
there in the midst of the paths
in the midst of the winds
you rest
covered with the droppings of birds
grass growing from your feet
your head decked with the down of birds
you rest
in the midst of the winds
you wait
Aged one.

If you have ever slept in the comforting shelter of an aged and moss-covered rock, you will understand these words.

For More Information

Wilderness Drum programs Schools of wilderness counseling and spirituality Wilderness ceremonies Sources of wilderness spirituality Magazines on wilderness spirit and preservation Wilderness videos Getting closer to the natural world The imaginal world Myths and symbols of the vision fast

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