Adding animism to a primitive skills gathering
I did a lot of deep thinking about this subject and went into the archives of Urbanscout.org and read up on what Animism was. I even went back into my class notes from a Magic, Witchcraft and religion class I took a little while ago.
The more I thought about it and the more I conceived of ways to introduce this concept into a rewild camp, the more I started to realize that I’m not sure it can be brought out on any large scale. I came to conclusion as I considered all the reasons people came to the first rewild night here in Boise. Some people came just because these are cool things to learn, others came because they wanted better survival skills, and some came because they really want to rewild. If I went all woo woo on them I probably would just have people decide to never come again, and I want more people coming to the Boise Rewild camp, not less.
That doesn’t mean that we can’t introduce some of the more practical parts of animism to people. We don’t have to label it as animism. For example, I know that I talk quite a bit about responsibility. We have a responsibility to the land and to the animals etc. I am right now doing a lot of teaching on making cordage. (Even if I am quite new to it.) I warn people that it is a bad idea to strip a yucca plant bare so they can make LOTS of cordage. Not just because you may be taking it from someone else’s yard and they may notice you stealing from their yard, but also that it’s irresponsible to the plant. We need to take only what we need and not waste. While this isn’t directly animist, it is an animist behavior that I am trying to instill into people.
