Welcome Duc!
(I jumped into posting and didnāt realize to post here)
My ReWilding name is Cordage (my other name doesnāt really matter), I was nicknamed that at Mashkodens (the Wild Moon camp at Teaching Drum Outdoor School) because of my love for making Cordage and have stuck with it. Iām 21 years of age.
I live to become a feral being and to see the end of this death-culture and for the wilderness to come back to the areas where she has been oppressed.
I live in Idaho though I am homeless (not as in not living in a house) within the city, only to be at home within the wilderness. I roam around in the desert, and mountains a lot, occasionally going into the forest when I can make the long trip to get there.
Iām an anti-civilization anarchist. I came to the conclusion that civilization must go mostly after reading the works of John Zerzan and Derrick Jensen and what they had to say about it all. Since then Iāve just been exploring all of the anti-civ literature out there from Kevin Tucker, to Chellis Glendinning, as well as others.
I practice primitive/earth skills most days to prepare for the collapse and because I enjoy doing them. I fish, and am trying to figure out trapping methods, getting into hideworking, and all of the other stuff that goes with all of that.
I write every so often because I want to bring awareness to people as to what this system brings, as well as its inevitable collapse. I donāt want to end up in jail so I write as opposed to doing illegal actions which could land me there, in hopes that it will have an effect on those who read, so that they can take action in the way they feel suited to do, and so they can prepare for the collapse.
I look forward to the collapse of this machine culture while at the same time fearing it and knowing that life wonāt exactly be easy immediately after.
I went to Teaching Drum Outdoor School in June to participate in the Wild Moon program which solidified my determination to become feral and live off the land, as well as my thoughts on this culture.
Not sure what else to add, so yupā¦
-Cordage
Hi all,
Annie here, but I go by āInkā (simply because ādigital inkā is all most people ever see or know of me on the net).
I know of this site because Iām Yarrow Dreamerās housemate and Willemās friend.
I jumped in to posting in the population dynamics thread when I couldnāt stay āshut-ed upā any more. I seem to be naturally drawn to the more cerebral debates about gender roles, economic collapse, and scientific theoryā¦ however, I know Iād get great value out of participating in the āhow-toā threads about herbs and other living skills.
What Iām hoping to get from this site is to be helped further down the path toward my goals. For the immediate future, Iād like to have the following ready to go in case things go to shit real fast (not what Iām expecting, but Iād like to be prepared).
- Get a place of refuge lined up for if times get hard quickly
- Assess my survival knowledge.
- Find other people that know stuff I donāt about survival (either already at that refuge, or going to go there)
- Have a plan to all get safely to the refuge.
Once Iāve got that in place, I can concentrate on more long-term goals that work for slower, more ādegenerativeā collapse.
- Exit economic slavery gradually and gracefully
- Co-purchase or buy shares in good land to set up thriving community (not just survivalism).
- Bring with me people or go to place with people willing to set up village life.
- Get a sustainable perma-culture and community system going (over a few years).
The second set of goals is FAR preferred to the first. I could totally see myself on some land near a national forest or BLM land somewhere in the NW (Willamette Valley, up to British Columbia). There would be a mix of near-by forest, streams, meadows and wetlands in which we could forage and foster life. There would be some gardening and domesticated animals, but no monoculture, and certainly not farming thatās almost no different than a 9-5 job. If a crop or an animal needs I high level of care to survive and provide, it doesnāt fit in.
Thatās about all I can think of right now. Talk to ya later!
Hello there! So I guess I posted elsewhere without the intro - shame on me! Anyway, Iām STarr, founder of the now-dead OurIshmaelVision group for Portland Ishmaelers. Still an interesting email list, but nothing close to this place - I love it! Iām thankful to the guy who started the Myspace Rewild group to bring my attention here. I am pretty sure Willem and I have talked on the phone, but it was most likely around 5 or so years ago.
I am happy to be here, and will try to keep up as much as I can. I am grateful there are some guidelines here to keep things (hahahhaa) ācivilizedā as they donāt usually stay that way on most internet groups.
That aside, if anyone is in the Portland area this Saturday, the 25th, please stop by the Portland Center for Spiritual Living at 1pm to be interviewed for a documentary being put together called āno one right wayā. Iām excited. feel free to email me with Qās. Iāll be there, as I am the one with the key!
to the Vision of Truth,
STarr
Welcome Cordage!
Heya Ink!
And good to hear from you again Starr! 
p.s. and welcome to Penney too. Good to hear everyoneās stories!
GāDay,
Iām a 24 year old bloke from Sydney, Australia. I am now finishing university, and am unsure what to do from here. I have always loved nature, I first experienced it through holidays with my grandfather then scouts, cadets, army reserves, and now through hikes and treks when i can. Other interests: heavy metal/ambient/folk music, powerlifting, drinking :-[
I am planning on building my skill-base which at the moment is basically zero. I canāt really see myself properly rewilding in the Australian bush, possibly permaculture farming or living there while working, but for whatever reason my wild soul belongs in the north whether that be europe or North-north america. I havnāt heard of anyone rewilding in Australia, although there are still semi-wild aboriginals in the north such as Arnhem Land. There are also alot of āferalā hippies in australia that live near or in the bush but do not subsist from it. To be honest I donāt identify to closely with these people although my girlfriend is pretty much a āhippieā.
I am at a cross-roads with rewilding or getting a career, I would like to combine it for a while somehow by doing something like working with the park service whilst building my skills until i can do something like live in the alaskan wilds with minimal outside help. I am not really sure how I should approach rewilding, something like teaching drum sounds good to me. Anyway, thatāll do for now.
Welcome, Ulverston!
I hope youāre able to find something useful here, especially in regards to figuring out how to proceed. Rewilding can take a lot of forms, so hopefully you find one you like.
[quote=āUrban Scout, post:1, topic:67ā]People call me Scout. I created this site because I have an addiction to the internet and would like to make that addiction at least worth something. I live in Beautiful Portland OR, where the rain always shines.
I started writing a book on rewilding a while back. Check it out: Born to Rewild[/quote] you should make a game called tiger quest
Hey. Iāve been here before. I like to read and make noise. Yes, those are the things I like, and I like to do them far away from the manifold atrocitys of cities. Should I believe I have something to write worth reading, I will. For now Iād like to put a mark on the intro map, ālook out website here I come!ā, and sound my gratitude for everyone doing this work. It is a source of repeated frustration to know that the dedications and diligence of those with the intelligence to recognize and continue rewilding might not conceive any fascimile of a worldwide revelation, but even the smallest ripples in the tidalpool of wild sanity are worth the cast stone, and as I go about doing my part in lightening the widespread miserys of abusive culture I must admit that the ferocious undertow of civilization excites me in all itās terror. This whole damn thing that my ancestors and brethern put together and pushed forward is about to fall apartā¦ I want to watch it happen.
Welcome to the club, konjurararkavalo!
I hope you decide that you do have something to contribute. Iām sure you do. We all have some bit of knowledge or perspective we can share, and generally itās a good thing when we do!
Hello.
My Civilized title is John. I live in the urban dwelling known as Philadelphia, PA. My age according to the Gregorian Calender is 20.
I, like most people on this forum, see huge flaws in civilization. I have for some time pondered silently to myself about how damaging, unsustainable, and oppressive civilization really is. It isnāt until recently that Iāve been seeking out those who feel the same and weening myself off of civilized life. I more then anything desire to rewild myself and to fully prepare myself for the day that Iām forced to live in the woods, or to hopefully move into the woods long before that happens. Most of my āfriendsā think Iām utterly insane for harboring such philosophies and ideas, so this forum is really uplifting and inspiring for me. I have always felt very much alone as an anarcho-primitivist. Most friends Iāve made as a child did not grow in the same direction as I did, and theres nothing more isolating then having your closest friends think your crazy and implore you to subside these feelings and to go along with the show like everyone else. I manage to keep an acceptable face around my āfriendsā but I know that that is not who I am, or who I wish to be. So in short this forum makes me feel not alone, and that is a very very beautiful thing. I love all of you in a way that I cannot love even those who I am closest with. And I look forward to getting to know every single one of you.
Iād also like to meet in person any of you who live in my area.
Hey Everybody, Iām sorry for the rudeness in posting several times without an introduction. My name is Brian and Iām really starting to love this site and all the people on it. I found this site by randomly googling āDerrick Jensen Daniel Quinnā Iāve been reading most of Daniel Quinnās works over the last seven years, and just started to read Derrick Jensen as well as the online Rewild materials. Iām 27 and work/go to school in the state I grew up in, Delaware. I lived in Portland, OR for the last year and worked at the Fred Meyer on Hawthorneā¦ maybe some of you saw me there. I am wishing I had found this site before I moved back home so I could have met up with some of the Pacific Northwesterners here. Anyway, Iām really grateful that you all started this site, and I look forward to meeting and sharing ideas with you all. Thank you.
Brian
Welcome, John and Brianā¦
John, I know the feeling. Hang in there, and youāll meet the right folks for you. (Unfortunately I live on the other coast, otherwise Iād invite you to a potluck or something.) Iāve found that a little pro-active initiative to make more/new friends goes a long ways. Itās hard, though, because itās scary to grow in a way that your oldest/closest friends cannot really understand or support. Without the support of the people Iāve known for years, who I know care about me, I am often left with strong emotional dissonance. Itās no small thing. I wish I could be one of those people who says, āI donāt need anyoneās approval to live my life the way I want to,ā but Iām not such a person, especially when it comes to the people in my life who I feel I can trust and count on.
Not only that, I feel like a liar/fake when I try to fit in with my older friends, against my values and beliefs.
But it gets easier. I hope it gets easier for you, too.
Brian, Iām really glad the forum inspires you so much. Lately (or maybe itās just my imagination?) weāve been having more and more U.S. East-coasters. Maybe itāll help you meet more rewilders in the place where you call home!
Welcome aboard, Brian and John!
Neither of you live exactly close to me, but we need all the people on the East Coast as possible. The success is slow with getting people together here in the New England area, but stuff is happening! Hope you both keep contributing.
Hey iām Noah. 20 years old.
Currently about 20 miles out of Vancouver washington, not the cool Canadian Vancouver.
Always hated society, always hated the general population. Learned about peak oil and the end of western civilization last summer and now nothing else really matters.
Learning the world was ending really simplified my life.
Ha ha, welcome Noahā¦ I know that feeling ;D
Hail!
My name is Jim. I am 24 years old. I live in Northern California (humboldt county). I found this site after typing āliving wildā into google and following a link I found off one of the search results.http://www.43things.com/things/view/508213/live-in-the-wild
I am overjoyed to find that I am not alone.
My journey to this site follows two paths simultaniously. One path was one of spiritual revelation, and the other was an intuitive understanding that civilization was basicly unhealthy.
I had a somewhat tramatic childhood. My father died when I was a year old, and my mother was ostricized from our family when I was seven. She became engaged to an abusive man and we moved with him to Iowa. I didnāt fit in at school, had no friends, and my home life was worse. While in Iowa my mother went to school to become a chiropractor, wich led her to alternitive medicine and different types of shamanic healing. When I was 13 we moved back to Michigan, where we were from, without the abusive boyfriend.
The whole experience left me very damaged and with the feelign of being on āthe outside.ā I was able, with time, to heal most of my emotional wounds. The shamanic āenergyā based healing that my mom is into was a big part of this healing. When I graduated highschool I went to Massage school. This too was very important to my personal healing. My teacher was a conspiracy nut, and my love of him led me to look into the fucked up things that our government is into.
For a long time I dreamed of bringing down or at least somehow fighting the oppresive society that was so unhealthy for life, human and otherwise. I saw civilization as an exploitation of the masses by the few elites. I ascribed to the āfight clubā mentality. I wanted to bring the system down because I hated it. I hated it because I hated my life, and blamed the problems of my life on the ills of civilized life.
At the same time I was involved with expanding my conciousness. My experience with āenergyā healing left me awed and inspired. I wanted deeply to become some sort of enlightend being. I spent alot of time with meditation. I spent alot of time reading metaphysical books. I wanted to āknowā what the hell was going on. The ocean of chaos that was my life needed to have some higher meaning. I could not have been through hell for nothing.
It was around the time I was 20 that I met my guru, Guyana Cealo. He is a buddhist monk who travels to America to open our hearts in exchange for money he uses to fund his orphenages in myanamar. He is an enlighted person. I can offer no proof, but those that have been in the presence of an enlighted person cannot deny it. It is beyond thinkingness, it something you have to experience to understand. If you have never been in the presence of an enlightend being, the whole idea seems like bullshit. I know, I am a skeptic to the core. I am not going to try and explain because itās impossible. If you cannot believe me donāt, blind faith is the invisible chain of slavery.
Cealo was the thorn in my mind I could never ease. He never said anythign profound. Basicaly his message is; āBe the love that you are/be your true self.ā It was his presence that I wanted, his unbelievable calm, confidence.
I never really persued buddhism or spirituality in earnest. I tried to be a good person. I attempted to find the truth in my life. Mostly tried to to understand what the fuck was going on in the world. I tired to understand the nature of god. I tried to understand the nature of love. These were mostly intellectual persuits. I rarely ādidā anything, I just thought about these things at great length, trying to fit them into some sort of structure that made sence.
I eventually abandoned my hate for civilization. I realized my powerlessness in the face of billions of zombies that believed in it so much. I realized that I would never be able to put a dent in the machine. I decided instead to try and find a way to survive it.
I love massage work. It is pure and real and human. I got a job at a local resort, in the spa. I was able to quietly do my job and survive, for a while at least. The economy of michigan is rooted in the auto industry, wich has been falling to shit recently, taking Michigan with it. It became ubundantly clear that I was going to be unable to support myself if things continued to decline. I attempted to find another job with little luck. I ended up working as a Kirby vaccum salesman for a month. The experience changed my life.
By working first hand as a sales person I would go door to door convising people to buy a $1700 vaccum on credit. I was very good at it, and I hated myself for it. I saw time and time again people gettign snowed by my boss into buying something they couldnt afford. It was disgusting and dispicable and I quit. Sales and advertising are the devil. Exploiting peoples weakness to take from them. Exploit anything you can, thier honesty, thier decency. Fuck em, get what you can. Itās nausiating.
I ended up moving to northern california where I currently live when I was 23. I was drawn her by the prospect of free college, and no snow. I was able to get a couple massage jobs and barely support myself while I went to school. I am still in college, taking classes towards an AA degree. It was my hope that as I attened college I would find something that would interest me. Something that would make me want to be part of the system. I never found it.
It was here that my ālifeā fell apart. The economy took a shit, and people could no longer afford to get massage. My car got reposessed. I was unable to find a job, despite an extensive job search. I even applied for possitions that I thought below me; everyone has to eat. Thankfully my girlfriend was able to help carry me through the summer and in the fall I would get my student loan money.
I felt like a failure. I felt horrible. I based my self worht on being āgood,ā on taking care of others. I became deeply depressed. I contemplated suicide. I contemplated the meaning of it all. I stopped eating. I blamed my mother. She had always made promises to help me make it through college, but always fell through. It had to be someones fault, and while I knew that I shared part of the blame, I knew also that I had always done my best.
It was a dinner at my uncleās how that changed everything for me. I was deep in despair, but hid it pretty well. I think my uncle sensed my depression, and wanted to cheer me up. He and my aunt had my girlfriend and I over for dinner. Thier care and concern revealed the truth to me. They had nothign to gain by helping me, but they did anyways. Why?
It was this act that completed my years of thought and meditation. It was something that my uncle said that unlocked the truth for me. He gave me the simple advice to āstop filling in the cracks.ā For so long I had been trying to understand how everythign worked by filling in my gaps in knowlage with speculation. It was folly. I had been trying to justify the world. It was folly.
I know it sounds weak when put into words, but the profound truth fell over me. For most of my life I had been trying to be something. At some point in my youth I had been convinced of the idea of indentity. The idea that I was a name, and that this name carried with it all the things I had ever done, everything everyone thought abotu me, and everything I thought about myself. That I could be good or bad. That I could be somethign other than I was.
The illusion of society fell apart. My invisible chains of slavery were cast off. I found myself. I found the human animal that had been me the whole time. I can never again be a āperson.ā Persons arnāt real. They are an idea of a human. A person is everything that everyone else thinks about you(including yourself). Itās not real. Furthermore everyone I know is just like me. A human animal trying to be a āperson.ā If you strip away this false identity you will find yourself. (we are all one mind experiencing itself subjectivly)
I walked around as if in a dream. A wonderful dream of freedom and beauty and life. But this dream is reality. The nightmare of society is the illusion.
I began to listen to myself. I trusted my feelings and urges. I now do only what I want to do. It was a terrifying thing to accept. I remeber distinctly the moment it happend. In my head there was a fear, the fear that I would be insaine. A crazy person. I persisted and said āfuck itā Iād rather be crazy than what I am now, and the whole house of cards fell down.
I spent the next couple days in dizzying bliss. I still feel the bliss, but now it exists as a constant peace. A one-ness of self. I no longer care what people think. I know they are the oneās who are crazy. Infected with this social sickness of identity. I deeply want to help them.
In listening to my heart I heard it calling out to leave civilization behind. To go out into the wild. To be a human being. To be a wild animal. Free and true.
It is so hard to put into words. Our language is deft at describing action, but so lacking in describing experiance.
It is my sincere hope that I will be able to go and live as a true human, to become one with the universe (in the most concrete fashion, I donāt mean any of the esoteric overtones that go with the phrase). I want, mind body and soul, to be alive and wild. It is my hope that with this wisdom I might return and bring the truth to those still enslaved by civilized life.
While I know most will turn a deaf ear, there will be some who will understand.
I have read the thirty theses and while I cannot know the truth in them, they seem reasonable to me. I often thought in the years of my youth about the comming collapse. It just felt imminent. I brushed it off as just a dream. I felt that it was something I wanted to happen, because I was unhappy with civilized life. After my revelation I was able to see civilization more clearly, and thought that it would most likely never end. There will always be plenty of food, I reasoned, and the economic woes that are going on are just the same bullshit as usual. The rich elite screwing the working class with debt to get more out of them. I figured the war in Iraq was to secure oil, not because we couldnāt survive without it, but because weāre fat greedy Americans who always want more.
After reading the thirty theses I see the precarious position civilization is in. I hope that something might be done to ease the suffering of the impending collapse. Ultimatly it isnāt really worth worrying about. What will happen will happen. I have no control over it. I will simply be myself and that is all there is. I donāt mean to be dismissive. I am glad for the knowlage. It will allow me to recognize the fall if and when it comes, so that I might make my escape and surive.
Thank you for providing a place where we can all share and grow together. I look forward to connecting with humans of like mind.
Love.
Hey Jim, Iām glad you found the siteā¦ Your life story is amazingā¦ You should lurk around and read as many of the threads and other information on this site as you can. These guys have posted a lot of good stuff!
It was nice to āmeetā you,
Brian
Thank you!
I did not intend to write as much as I did. I honestly was trying to be as concise as possible. I wanted to illustrate how I found the path of rewilding.
Iāve been lurking a bit, and Iām so inspired to find so many whoās heart calls them to live wild. Most of my life Iāve felt āon the outside.ā While I was able to come to terms with being ācrazyā, it is blissful to know that I am not the only one who is āawake.ā
Regards.
Hello,
I live around Southern Ontario, mostly in Waterloo. I just graduated university and in my last year I learned much more than in any of those that preceded it. I was challenged to try to live āhomelessā for the year and accepted. After staying on campus for a month, I moved outside and stayed there, including living in a quinzhee for about three weeks. Waking up to the birds and fresh air every day changes something.
After the year of voluntary houselessness and having finished all my university coursework in September '08, I went on a solo trip into the woods, intending a month-long stay, hoping to learn the kind of thing you canāt learn at school or from a book. I was only there for four days, but I didnāt leave because I was hungry. I didnāt leave because I was cold. I didnāt leave because of the bugs. I left because I was losing my mind with loneliness. That spot was incredibly beautiful and generous, offering up snake, frog, rabbit, fish, raspberries and more. Without anyone to share it with, though, my time there was reduced to an experiment in self-abuse.
I returned to the city and started writing a book about the experience while latently also trying to figure out what to do next. The answer came from an unlikely place, derived from a conversation with my friendās father the night of convocation, late October '08. He asked me, as Iāve been asked countless times, where I saw myself in five years. I demurred, using my usual metaphor of the leaf floating on the river. āThatās all well and good,ā he said, ābut think about it for a sec. Five years from now, what world do you want to live in?ā
āWell, I realize Iām not smart enough to know quite what that would look like,ā I said, ābut I think I can pretty concretely say itās a world where people participate in the community of life rather than killing it and selling it for money, a place where a Blackberry is something you eat and high fructose corn syrup isnāt. Where it would be unthinkable to horde while your neighbour suffers.ā
āWell?ā he asked.
āWell what?ā
āSo build it.ā
I almost said āWe canātā but caught myself. Of course we can.
āSo build it.ā How do I do that? Frankly, Iām not capable of adequately answering that question alone. But I do have an idea about where to start looking and Iāve come up with a proposal. May through August 2009 a group of relatively educated, high social status people like me will go to relatively undeveloped land in search of new ways to relate to each other and to the broader community of life, a way that strives to be in accord with rather than to dominate or to possess. Our mission in this first step of the journey is twofold. First, to explore the alternatives, to learn what might work and what doesnāt, and to share our results with the world. Second, to serve as an example that others can point to and say, āSee? We donāt need to ruin the ecology of the planet to live. They did it. They did it not because of poverty. They did it not because of exile or mental illness. They did it because they knew we could do better. And we can.ā
I have a lot to learn before this can happen and I am happy to join this community, which I think will provide a great resource - not just of knowledge but of support and the comfort of communicating with like-minded people.
My education is just beginning - I can make a variety of shelters, can identify an ever-increasing variety of local plants and I have a hunting education and licensing course in a few weeks - and I, of course, have plenty more to learn.
I first pitched the idea of this experiment in ārewildingā last week to a class at my alma mater - a former professor had invited me to speak. I have another opportunity next week and hope to travel around to the universities of southern Ontario, telling my story, talking about the destructiveness of the pervasive culture and asking that people think about whether and how we can do better. I hope to help people take the blinders off and also to build the community that will come with me in May to show - as well as tell - people that we donāt need civilization to live (and perhaps that we in fact need uncivilization to live).
Since it became clear that talking about and showing that this culture is not the best we can do (and in fact may be close to the worst), I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. Where there was angst, there is now drive and hope.
Anyway, thatās the quick run-down; I feel grateful to have found this forum and I look forward to talking to the community here while learning and sharing knowledge and ideas.
(Aside: Iāve created a site to connect with the people I talk to in person - for example, in these classroom āpitches.ā Itās a work in progress and the URL is http://escape.wikidot.com/)