Only to the white man was nature a wilderness and only to him was the land ‘infested’ with ‘wild’ animals and ‘savage’ people. To us it was tame, Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded with the blessings of the Great Mystery.
– Black Elk, Oglala Lakota Sioux (1863-1950)
“Indeed, it has been argued animal metaphors reveal a deep sense of hierarchy in nature. According to the ancient idea of the scala naturae or “great chain of being,” humans sit one step above animals, who themselves sit above plants and then minerals. Just as we are on the third rock from the sun, we are on the third step from the top of the ladder, with God and angels above us. … To call someone an animal is therefore to demote them to a lower rung of existence, a more primitive state of being where they lack human virtues. … Animal metaphors shine a revealing light on that beastly reality.”
https://theconversation.com/why-its-so-offensive-when-we-call-people-animals-76295
What is ‘Feral Magick?’
Our earth is overpopulated with Homo Sapiens. We are in the process of destroying a majority of wild animals. We are causing the single greatest mass extinction of living creatures ever recorded. We have poisoned or water, air, earth and our bodies. Every nursing mother is passing on dozens of toxic chemicals to her child. The number of humans with autoimmune disease are skyrocketing as are the number of psychological and emotional disorders. Most people polled are not happy or satisfied with their lives and the more developed the country, the less happy they seem to be. Intercultural problems, tribal violence, intolerance and lies are on the rise. Real science and empirical data is being ignored or twisted or suppressed. More weapons are being made now than ever before and they exist for one reason, to kill each other. We are literally destroying ourselves and our planet and all the amazing variety of life around us. We have become insane, violent, self-centered miserable primates.
Why?
Because our ‘civilizations; have mostly agreed on a simple lie that places us above and thus apart from Nature and all the species we share this glorious planet with.
This is the lie:
We are not animals, we are above animals, god/gods gave us ‘dominion’ over all living creatures and over the earth to do as we will. ‘Our will’ is both confused and manifests as our worst self-indulgent impulses. We have told ourselves that animals and plants ‘have no souls.’ That they are ‘lesser creatures.’ That they ‘don’t feel pain like we do.’ That they exist for OUR needs, amusement, torment and caprice. Only animals that are ‘pets’ are included in our ‘families.’ As honorary ‘humans’ they are often treated well, if we ignore the cruelty, sadism and mutilation we often put them through.
This deep-seated social, religious and emotional lie that we are not animals and are above them and own tham is so deeply entrenched in almost every culture and religion, that we have forgotten that it is one of the most pernicious and destructive lies ever force-fed us. It is also possibly the greatest cause of our slow species suicide, obsessive apocalypse-obsession and the cause for our deep unhappiness and disconnection from the absolute origin of everything in our lives: Nature.
The peoples of most nature-based ‘tribal’ cultures were literally labeled and considered as ‘animals’ by invading ‘civilized’ cultures and as a result have been decimated, absorbed or made extinct. The invaders crafted a globally pervasive lie that that peoples who lived within nature we lesser-beings because they lived with and as animals. That is, their ancient norms emphasized flowing with the seasons and the natural way of life, respecting the beauty and abundance as well as innate spirituality of the natural world as well as venerating the Mother Earth. All who agree with this worldview feel blessed and grateful for everything received from Nature, This general attitude and spirituality was and is based on pragmatic survival instincts. The Earth offers water to drink, plants and animals to eat, caves and materials for protection and shelter, in short, everything. The animals, even the predators, were and are in most ‘natural’ cultures seen as spiritual entities that extended their presence and power into the ‘other’ worlds and offered guidance, magic and teachings on how to live and survive.
Many of us are awakening to out genetic heritage as animals within the Natural world, Feral Magick offers immense power and peace, joy and interconnecting ecological awareness and love. As we awaken to and remember our beautiful and deep ‘Animalself, we begin a Dance and become more authentic and more in the flow of being a nexus of Nature. Nothing is more potent.