Dersu Uzala: The Hunter

This Natural Intelligence episode presents a classic Russian biographical drama about an indigenous hunter with extraordinary personal qualities on a journey through the taiga-forest. Full of challenges and dangerous adventures the meaning of this story goes far beyond the plot, it’s a story about the brotherhood of people and that we are all children of the same land.

Dersu Uzala: The Hunter is available at the Wildcraft Forest Channel on Roku and YouTube.

Peter Farb who wrote “Man’s Rise to Civilization” in 1969 said:

“No sooner did the first Whites arrive in North America than a disproportionate number of them showed that they preferred Indian society to their own.

Throughout American history, thousands of Whites exchanged breeches for breechcloths.

Why did transculturalization seem to operate only in one direction?

Whites who had lived for a time with Indians almost never wanted to leave. But almost none of the “civilized” Indians who had been given the opportunity to savor White society chose to become a part of it.

Nor does this problem relate solely to the American Indian. Some of the first missionaries sent to the South Seas from London, in the eighteenth century, threw away their collars and married native women”.

Dersu Uzala: The Hunter is a 1975 Soviet-Japanese biographical adventure drama film directed and co-written by Akira Kurosawa. The film is based on the 1923 memoir: Dersu Uzala by Russian explorer Vladimir Arsenyev.

The story is about Arsenyev’s exploration of the Sikhote-Alin region of the Russian Far East over the course of multiple expeditions in the early 20th century and his chance encounter with an indigenous trapper and hunter Dersu Uzala. Uzala lived from 1849 to 1908 and was from the remote Okhotsk–Manchurian taiga.

Uzala would become Arsenyev’s guide and their friendship would form as Uzala demonstrated extraordinary personal qualities. Their journey through the taiga-forest, full of dangerous adventures, is the plot of the film, but the meaning of the story goes far beyond the plot: it’s a story about the brotherhood of people and that we are all children of the same land.

 Together the two men would experience a clash between their two cultures which were defined by two very different world views.

This spectacular film is shot almost entirely outdoors in the Russian Far East wilderness which in 1975 was still very remote and for the most part held the same pristine landscape as when Arsenyev explored the region decade before.

The film explores the theme of a native of the forests who is fully integrated into his environment, leading a style of life that will inevitably be destroyed by the advance of civilization. It is also about the growth of respect and deep friendship between two men of profoundly different backgrounds, and about the difficulty of coping with the loss of capability that comes with old age.

This film provides certain lessons about the elements of first contact between cultures and how humans who lived directly in this landscape for thousands of years simply faded away into history largely without being noticed.

Dersu Uzala: The Hunter won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, the Golden Prize and the Prix at the 9th Moscow International Film Festival, and other awards. It was also a box office hit, selling more than 21 million tickets in the Soviet Union and Europe in addition to grossing $1.2 million in the United States and Canada.

Directed by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa and staring Yuri Solomin as Arsenyev and Maksim Munzuk as Dersu Uzala, the film was Kurosawa’s first shot in 70mm. The film’s success helped revitalize Kurosawa’s career, leading to the production of other films such as Kagemusha (1980) and Ran (1985). 

It’s important to place Dersu Uzala into context. Released in 1975, during the height of the Cold War — a period marked by deep divisions and global tension — ‘Dersu Uzala’ emerged as a collaborative effort between Japan and Soviet Russia. It’s at odds with an era where international cooperation was at an all-time low.

During the 1960s and 1970s, the Communist Party elite rapidly gained wealth and power while millions of average Soviet citizens faced starvation. The Soviet Union’s push to industrialize at any cost resulted in frequent shortages of food and consumer goods. Bread lines were common throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the period is often described as the Era of Stagnation. In the 1970s, the Soviet Union and the United States both took a stance of “detente”.

The movie for its Soviet audience may have brought about a cultural pondering about periods of transition, where the old ways transition to the new, and leaving one with an inevitable sense of loss for the past.

This sense of loss or at least a pondering can be found within all of humanity and it is timeless which makes Dersu Uzala valid for the ages.

We hope you that you enjoy this presentation.

Within this presentation we have also included additional commentaries and presentations that support the role of spiritual stewardship.

The Dersu Uzala: The Hunter can be found on the Wildcraft Forest Channel – on Roku and YouTube.

Here is the YouTube presentation.

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The First 100 Days: Alligators, TikTok, Commonwealth and the Gap

If there was ever a time to retreat into nature it might be now – but be strategic and know the issues.

Donald Trump is now president and drama unfolds but within this are certain clues as to what the future might bring. In this episode of the Wild Tea for the Soul Podcast with Don Elzer he covers certain interesting developments that will form the future and how Trump might try to navigate his presidency without a compass. Also in this episode is the unexpected awareness within TikTok users about the “Commonwealth.”

You can find this episode on Roku and YouTube, here’s the episode on Youtube:

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The Heart of the World: Exploring Spiritual Stewardship

Regardless of how challenging things might seem, we must remember that we evolved based on our ability to cooperate and build community while strengthening our kinship with nature. Join us for this two hour special, available at the Wildcraft Forest Channel on Roku and YouTube.

For many years now the Wildcraft Forest School has been sharing the message presented by the documentary called, “The Heart of the World”.

This documentary was the world’s primary introduction to the Kogi Indians and their crucial message about the serious negative consequences of modern humans’ way of existing on this Earth. It was originally released in 1992 by the BBC.

The Kogi message from the Heart of the World contributed to the original contemporary  groundswell of understanding that there was an indigenous and ancient perspective, that the Earth is sentient and capable of working with humans on a very intimate level.

Today, we understand this to be a form of Earth stewardship whereby humans have a working relationship with nature. However, our society and civilization continues to struggle with conflicting ideas as to how humans should dwell on the Earth.

The Kogi’s refer to us as the Younger Brother who does not understand their true connection to the Great Mother.

They refer to themselves as the Elder Brother who understands the tangible actions required to care for the Earth.

Within our civilization we have fears associated with the “end of days” which seems to motivate our need to be saved by something that will rescue us from ourselves. The idea of ascending to a heaven or even traveling to another planet creates a disposable Earth.

Why should we save the planet – perhaps we won’t be here?

But if the Earth is “heaven” like indigenous cultures suggest, not taking care of her would cause her to die, and there would be no other place for us to go.

And that truly would be the end of days.

As ancient humans we had a great understanding about nature and the cosmos.

Our role was one of navigating stewardship so that we could regenerate biodiversity within the Earth’s natural systems. We sought to retain high levels of life-force for both local ecosystems and the planet.

This natural presence of wild biodiversity provided us with food, shelter and medicine and became the original economy for humans.

Nature was our kin.

Eons later this wild kinship, this biodiversity, still provides critical support for our survival.

History has taught us that during challenging times we often lose our way.

We have forgotten that we can find our strength within nature. We can create our meaning and purpose by taking responsibility for nature and this planet. Plant a tree, restore bird or pollinator habitat; help to regenerate the plant and tree Guardian Guilds.

These actions will restore one’s soul and reconnect us with the Great Mother.

As an individual or community we will find ourselves within the greater design of the cosmos – we will each rediscover our child within.

Within this presentation we have also included additional commentaries and presentations that support the role of spiritual stewardship.

The Heart of the World on the Wildcraft Forest Channel

Ancient Wisdom and the Last Druid

We are living in a time of great transition where more and more people are seeking the ancient wisdom connected to the Earth. The “Guardian Spirit Complex” is an ancient phenomenon of considerable cultural, social and psychological significance for the great majority of indigenous societies throughout the ages. The Guardians take on many forms, they can be people, ancestors, spirits, plants and animals, even energies.

The basic premise is that all things or “beings” which are alive and have varying degrees of sentiency whether they be a stone or a person. All of these Guardians exist surrounded by an energy field that contains extraordinary abilities.

The ancient Druids and then later, Celtic Christianity regarded all of nature as spiritual and worshiped God in nature – and more accurately the Goddess or the Sacred Feminine. Unfortunately, Roman Christianity separated spirit from nature. This “Cardinal” mistake haunts us to this day. The de-spiritualization of man and nature is, to large extent, responsible for the destructiveness of modern man as well as the general psychological and spiritual despair in Western culture.

However, hidden in the background, spirit surrounded by nature continues.

In this episode of “Elementals” we have included a historical documentary called “The Last Druid” which describes the life of the late Irish druid, Ben McBrady who passed away in January 1996. Ben McBrady, known as “Brady of the Name” and “Herenach of the Two Kilmores”, was Aircinneac and Herenach of a pre-Druid Megalithic Order called “The Old Gaelic Order,” often referred to simply as “The Order.”

Ben McBrady is believed to have been the last member of “The Old Gaelic Order.” Because of this he was called “The Last Druid.” Ben McBrady was a descendant of Lugar MacLugair also referred to as Lughaid mac Loeguire, who was Chief Druid of Ireland and Druid to the High King Leary and the Kings of Leinster. Lugar MacLugair was also believed to have been a member of “The Old Gaelic Order.”

 This production was originally produced by Testbeeld and Directed by Jan Dewinter.

Check out this episode of “Elementals”. You can find more programs like this one at the Wildcraft Forest Channel on Roku, Substack or YouTube and please subscribe so that we can continue our good work.

Ancient Wisdom and the Last Druid on YouTube:

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The Edge of the Forest

Wild Tea for the Soul Podcast with Don Elzer

When we create fragmentation in nature we create fragmentation within ourselves. Our illusions prevent us from being good local and planetary stewards. We should be creating wild edges and old growth continuous forests.

It’s one minute to midnight so it’s time for the Wild Tea for the Soul Podcast with Don Elzer. In this episode he talks about why we should be exchanging the word “sustainable” for the word “responsible”?

Don Elzer shares a few strategies that could help rewild planet Earth on small place at a time. We can do it and is a good idea.

From the Wildcraft Forest Studios in British Columbia this is the Wild Tea for the Soul Podcast with Don Elzer where we discuss news and views from the natural world.

Find us at the Wildcraft Forest Channel on Roku, Substack or YouTube and please subscribe so that we can continue our good work.

Check out this episode on YouTube:

Wild Tea for the Soul Podcast with Don Elzer

Wildcraft Forest Channel Program Update

Our new YouTube Channel is live and we are uploading programs

The Wildcraft Forest Channel is now available on YouTube. Explore “The Forest” and get a taste of deep nature every day. Our programs include Deep Nature Meditations; Ancient Wisdom and Skills; Forest Mysteries as well as News and Issues related to ecology and the cosmos.

You can find us on the big screen as well. The Wildcraft Forest Channel on Roku is a free deep nature story portal which can be viewed by downloading our channel from the Roku Channel Store. It will appear on your channel menu as “The Forest”.

Check out our new features on YouTube:

The Incomappleux – A Documentary About an Old Growth Rainforest

The Incomappleux River is in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia, Canada. Entering the Beaton Arm of Upper Arrow Lake, the river is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The upper reaches of the Incomappleux Valley are home to part of the only inland temperate rainforest in the world.

As this region became threatened by logging, activists and documentary film maker’s went to work to try to save this area. One of them was the late Riel Marquardt whose work became instrumental in raising public and political awareness for protecting the Incomappleux. In late January 2023, the BC government announced the Incomappleux Conservancy after decades of grassroots efforts by local organizations. The 58,654 hectares of protections and additional 17,000 hectares saved from logging activity are an undeniable win for BC’s biodiversity and the urgently at-risk Inland Temperate Rainforest. 

Now the Incomappleux Conservancy protects the rich biodiversity of the Incomappleux Valley, this remote and rugged area is 500 kilometers from Vancouver and southeast of Revelstoke. The vast and ancient inland forests are home to old growth habitat as well as grizzly bears, cougars, spawning bull trout, and some coastal species rarely found in B.C.’s interior. This conservancy has no road access, trails, or facilities.

This film contains important archival footage as Marquardt navigated through this remote, rare and important forest.

Watch Riel Marquardt’s historical documentary “The Incomappleux”:

There is a shell game being played in our forests

Don Elzer does a media scan of articles linked to the over counting within Old Growth Forests in British Columbia and other regions. Our governments are not protecting the amount of forests as they say they are and inaccurate measurements are also evident as they measure how much carbon is being stored in forest and within lumber.

We also examine how different forms of forest management are taking place including more spraying of harmful chemicals on wild lands.

Watch this entire presentation on YouTube:

Riparian – A tutorial for protecting an old growth rainforest

An examination of an ecosystem held by an old growth forest located within an Inland Temperate Rainforest in British Columbia. This riparian area is now feeling the presence of clearcut logging as a road is built along its edge.

Don Elzer explores how this forest understory functions and why old growth riparian habitat is important for the wellness of the whole planet.

Watch this documentary to learn about old growth riparian areas:

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Riparian

Observations within an Old Growth Forest Riparian Area

We invite you to watch this 30 minute documentary which examines the ecosystem held by an old growth forest located in an Inland Temperate Rainforest in British Columbia. This riparian area is now feeling the presence of clearcut logging as a road is built along its edge.

Don Elzer shares his thoughts and observations within this footage that we call “Riparian which can be found on the Wildcraft Forest Channel on Roku and YouTube.

Now more than ever our Earth work is important. Pictured here is a massive spring runoff being influenced by huge clearcuts throughout this area. The disturbance in this remote forest is constant and the only places of sanctuary become the riparian areas….which are to small and to few.

These untouched riparian corridors we call Sanctuary Forests, and it is our goal to expand these corridors so that they will be more suitable for biodiversity to reside. Everyone wants to plant a tree, every celebrity, every government, company and organization. It’s become marketing jargon for recent months.

Should we be happy? Perhaps. Planting a tree is a good idea, but planting a forest where there should be one is a better idea. Sadly the excitement of planting trees is feeding part of our consumer “fix” and we are simply not understanding what we really should be doing.

We need to plant forests; this means that trees are supported by natural plant guilds that include an understory and a midstory. We’re not talking about a food forest which seeks to support certain human needs. We’re talking about a wild, native ecosystem that thrives for the sake of biodiversity.

If we are to be helpful, we must restore and regenerate wild systems and nature. Taking on this task requires, dedication, love and energy. If we simply plant trees based on an oxygen or carbon offset quota we will be deeply disappointed – the work that’s required is so much more than that.

This area feeds more freshwater into the Pacific than any other water drainage in the America’s so it’s very important that we regenerate and rewild this area. We believe that the forest and all of her species and guardians are sentient and it is our task to not only do the Earthwork required but to create a long-term relationship with this place.

Watch this documentary to learn about old growth riparian areas:

Perhaps you would like to join us as we set up Sanctuary Design Camp in order to help do this work.

You can find camp details at www.wildcraftforest.com

• Don Elzer

Find us at the Wildcraft Forest Channel on Roku, Substack or YouTube and please subscribe so that we can continue our good work.

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Firekeeping: The Roots of Alchemy

A story about discoveries and transitions as alchemy evolved into chemistry.

Check out our Heartstone Series Audio Documentary at the Wildcraft Forest Channel on Roku.

Most scholars might describe alchemy as being born in ancient Egypt, where the word Khem was used in reference to the fertility of the flood plains around the Nile. They might suggest that Egyptian beliefs in life after death, and the mummification procedures they developed, probably gave rise to rudimentary chemical knowledge and a goal of immortality. But in fact the roots of alchemy might have a longer story and one that is connected to our original concept of the soul, of God and of fire.

Imagine olden days when we wandered the edge of the steppes seeking shelter in deep dark forests because we were prey. We darted out of these forests and into the savannah because the food was richer where the Sun dwelled; however that openness proved dangerous for us.

In fact we were always in danger.

There was the dark, and without the light of the Moon our lives were gripped with fear. There were predators of the night, bugs and snakes, all them unseen; but we heard and felt them. Nightmares would have no end in the dark because there was no light to comfort us. There was no way to escape the darkness, and we were always very cold.

We lived for eons like this, and life was hard and very short, but we managed to stay alive as a species because we understood the ecology that we depended on for survival. If you are reading this today it means that your ancestors survived which is very much a miracle.

It’s difficult to imagine that we came from generations of people who were immersed in these dangers and challenges for hundreds of thousands of years and probably longer.

But one day two small children were pounding stones against an old wooden branch in a small grassy area, shadowed by a large boulder. To their surprise they created a spark. It was this spark that would change the human condition forever as it started a very small fire.

It was a chance event that contained just the right amount of chemistry, intelligence and incentive so that it could be defined as an invention. But at the same time so much of it was unexplainable that it could also be defined as some sort of spiritual intervention with both the elements and the elementals – it was alchemy.

Controlled fire would change everything as it burned through the night keeping us warm and able to keep predators, bugs and snakes away. It would allow us to escape our nightmares and it provided the basis for what would become known as alchemy, plus it provided us with a new diet which would transform us. But more than anything else it would lay the groundwork for our ideas about the cosmos and within that process, the power of stories.

Fire burned and it could kill so it carried respect, and those who knew the mystical character of fire were respected as well. There were those who would become the best storytellers as they interpreted the shadows and the sparks cast by the firelight which then served as a backdrop for ceremonies. Then there were those who knew how to feed and keep the fire; and what substances could be placed on it to fill the space with colour and aroma – this would become the seeds of alchemy.

These two beings would evolve along with tribal life. The storyteller would become the Shaman; and the Firekeeper would become the Smith. It is our journey with them that would set the stage for all of our spiritual and scientific escapades through history; and they pretty much mark the beginning of the civilization that we live within today.

The Shaman and the Smith would have an ancient relationship which lasted for hundreds of thousands of years. The Shaman would express the first ideas about the soul and would seed our first contact with God. The Smith would refine wisdom contained with natures elements and the spirit contained within those elements.

This week the Wildcraft Forest Channel has aired an extensive presentation that outlines the Story of Alchemy which provides a unique historical essence through the lens of 19^th century storytelling as it weaves through discoveries and transitions as alchemy evolved into chemistry. Here is a print excerpt from this production:

Do what we will, we always, more or less, construct our own universe. The history of science may be described as the history of the attempts, and the failures, of men “to see things as they are.” “Nothing is harder,” said the Latin poet Lucretius, “than to separate manifest facts from doubtful, what straightway the mind adds on of itself.”

Observations of the changes which are constantly happening in the sky, and on the earth, must have prompted men long ago to ask whether there are any limits to the changes of things around them. And this question must have become more urgent as working in metals, making colours and dyes, preparing new kinds of food and drink, producing substances with smells and tastes unlike those of familiar objects, and other pursuits like these, made men acquainted with transformations which seemed to penetrate to the very foundations of things.

Can one thing be changed into any other thing; or, are there classes of things within each of which change is possible, while the passage from one class to another is not possible? Are all the varied substances seen, tasted, handled, smelt, composed of a limited number of essentially different things; or, is each fundamentally different from every other substance? Such questions as these must have pressed for answers long ago.

Some of the Greek philosophers who lived four or five hundred years before Christ formed a theory of the transformations of matter, which is essentially the theory held by naturalists today.

These philosophers taught that to understand nature we must get beneath the superficial qualities of things. “According to convention,” said Democritus (born 460 B.C.), “there are a sweet and a bitter, a hot and a cold, and according to convention there is colour. In truth there are atoms and a void.”

Those investigators attempted to connect all the differences which are observed between the qualities of things with differences of size, shape, position, and movement of atoms. They said that all things are formed by the coalescence of certain unchangeable, indestructible, and impenetrable particles which they named atoms; the total number of atoms is constant; not one of them can be destroyed, nor can one be created; when a substance ceases to exist and another is formed, the process is not a destruction of matter, it is a re-arrangement of atoms.

Only fragments of the writings of the founders of the atomic theory have come to us. The views of these philosophers are preserved, and doubtless amplified and modified, in a Latin poem, Concerning the Nature of Things, written by Lucretius, who was born a century before the beginning of our era. Let us consider the picture given in that poem of the material universe, and the method whereby the picture was produced.

All knowledge, said Lucretius, is based on “the aspect and the law of nature.” True knowledge can be obtained only by the use of the senses; there is no other method. “From the senses first has proceeded the knowledge of the true, and the senses cannot be refuted. Shall reason, founded on false sense, be able to contradict the senses, wholly founded as it is on the senses? And if they are not true, then all reason as well is rendered false.”

The first principle in nature is asserted by Lucretius to be that “Nothing is ever gotten out of nothing…a thing never returns to nothing, but all things after disruption go back to the first bodies of matter.”

If there were not imperishable seeds of things, atoms, “first-beginnings of solid singleness,” then, Lucretius urges, “infinite time gone by and lapse of days must have eaten up all things that are of mortal body.”

The first-beginnings, or atoms, of things were thought of by Lucretius as always moving; “there is no lowest point in the sum of the universe” where they can rest; they meet, clash, rebound, or sometimes join together into groups of atoms which move about as wholes. Change, growth, decay, formation, disruption—these are the marks of all things. “The war of first-beginnings waged from eternity is carried on with dubious issue: now here, now there, the life-bringing elements of things get the mastery, and are o’ermastered in turn; with the funeral wail blends the cry which babies raise when they enter the borders of light; and no night ever followed day, nor morning night, that heard not, mingling with the sickly infant’s cries, the attendants’ wailings on death and black funeral.”

Lucretius pictured the atoms of things as like the things perceived by the senses; he said that atoms of different kinds have different shapes, but the number of shapes is finite, because there is a limit to the number of different things we see, smell, taste, and handle; he implies, although I do not think he definitely asserts, that all atoms of one kind are identical in every respect.

We now know that many compounds exist which are formed by the union of the same quantities by weight of the same elements, and, nevertheless, differ in properties; modern chemistry explains this fact by saying that the properties of a substance depend, not only on the kind of atoms which compose the minute particles of a compound, and the number of atoms of each kind, but also on the mode of arrangement of the atoms.

The same doctrine was taught by Lucretius, two thousand years ago. “It often makes a great difference,” he said, “with what things, and in what positions the same first-beginnings are held in union, and what motions they mutually impart and receive.” For instance, certain atoms may be so arranged at one time as to produce fire, and, at another time, the arrangement of the same atoms may be such that the result is a fir-tree. The differences between the colours of things are said by Lucretius to be due to differences in the arrangements and motions of atoms. As the colour of the sea when wind lashes it into foam is different from the colour when the waters are at rest, so do the colours of things change when the atoms whereof the things are composed change from one arrangement to another, or from sluggish movements to rapid and tumultuous motions.

Lucretius pictured a solid substance as a vast number of atoms squeezed closely together, a liquid as composed of not so many atoms less tightly packed, and a gas as a comparatively small number of atoms with considerable freedom of motion. Essentially the same picture is presented by the molecular theory of to-day.

To meet the objection that atoms are invisible, and therefore cannot exist, Lucretius enumerates many things we cannot see although we know they exist. No one doubts the existence of winds, heat, cold and smells; yet no one has seen the wind, or heat, or cold, or a smell. Clothes become moist when hung near the sea, and dry when spread in the sunshine; but no one has seen the moisture entering or leaving the clothes. A pavement trodden by many feet is worn away; but the minute particles are removed without our eyes being able to see them.

Another objector urges—”You say the atoms are always moving, yet the things we look at, which you assert to be vast numbers of moving atoms, are often motionless.” Lucretius answers by an analogy:

“And herein you need not wonder at this, that though the first-beginnings of things are all in motion, yet the sum is seen to rest in supreme repose, unless when a thing exhibits motions with its individual body.

For all the nature of first things lies far away from our senses, beneath their ken; and, therefore, since they are themselves beyond what you can see, they must withdraw from sight their motion as well; and the more so, that the things which we can see do yet often conceal their motions when a great distance off. Thus, often, the woolly flocks as they crop the glad pastures on a hill, creep on whither the grass, jewelled with fresh dew, summons or invites each, and the lambs, fed to the full, gambol and playfully butt; all which objects appear to us from a distance to be blended together, and to rest like a white spot on a green hill. Again, when mighty legions fill with their movements all parts of the plains, waging the mimicry of war, the glitter lifts itself up to the sky, and the whole earth round gleams with brass, and beneath a noise is raised by the mighty tramplings of men, and the mountains, stricken by the shouting, echo the voices to the stars of heaven, and horsemen fly about, and suddenly wheeling, scour across the middle of the plains, shaking them with the vehemence of their charge. And yet there is some spot on the high hills, seen from which they appear to stand still and to rest on the plains as a bright spot.”

The atomic theory of the Greek thinkers was constructed by reasoning on natural phenomena. Lucretius constantly appeals to observed facts for confirmation of his theoretical teachings, or refutation of opinions he thought erroneous. Besides giving a general mental presentation of the material universe, the theory was applied to many specific transmutations; but minute descriptions of what are now called chemical changes could not be given in terms of the theory, because no searching examination of so much as one such change had been made, nor, I think, one may say, could be made under the conditions of Greek life.

More than two thousand years passed before investigators began to make accurate measurements of the quantities of the substances which take part in those changes wherein certain things seem to be destroyed and other totally different things to be produced; until accurate knowledge had been obtained of the quantities of the definite substances which interact in the transformations of matter, the atomic theory could not do more than draw the outlines of a picture of material changes.

A scientific theory has been described as “the likening of our imaginings to what we actually observe.” So long as we observe only in the rough, only in a broad and general way, our imaginings must also be rough, broad, and general. It was the great glory of the Greek thinkers about natural events that their observations were accurate, on the whole, and as far as they went, and the theory they formed was based on no trivial or accidental features of the facts, but on what has proved to be the very essence of the phenomena they sought to bring into one point of view; for all the advances made in our own times in clear knowledge of the transformations of matter have been made by using, as a guide to experimental inquiries, the conception that the differences between the qualities of substances are connected with differences in the weights and movements of minute particles; and this was the central idea of the atomic theory of the Greek philosophers.

The atomic theory was used by the great physicists of the later Renaissance, by Galileo, Gassendi, Newton and others. John Dalton, while trying in the early years of the 19th century, to form a mental presentation of the atmosphere in terms of the theory of atoms, rediscovered the possibility of differences between the sizes of atoms, applied this idea to the facts concerning the quantitative compositions of compounds which had been established by others, developed a method for determining the relative weights of atoms of different kinds, and started chemistry on the course which it has followed so successfully.

Instead of blaming the Greek philosophers for lack of quantitatively accurate experimental inquiry, we should rather be full of admiring wonder at the extraordinary acuteness of their mental vision, and the soundness of their scientific spirit.

• Don Elzer

Visit the Wildcraft Forest Channel on Roku for this detailed Heartstone Series account about the story of alchemy from its start in the obscure mysteries to the dawn of chemistry and then to the development of modern atomic theory during the early part of the 20^th century.

Learn more about the Wildcraft Forest Channel: www.wildcraftforestchannel.com

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Learn about Alchemy at the Wildcraft Forest School: www.wildcraftforest.com

The Spirit and Soul of Stewardship in the Forest

We are not setting aside landscapes to plant or create new wilderness parks or preserves. In other words we are not designing old growth forests from seed. We are only trying to protect existing ones.

If we don’t plan and secure the future of new old growth forests we will eventually be without them because old trees will eventually die. We still have a very temporary view of the future.

When you get close to nature, when you touch it – it gets close to you. It touches you. Then everything changes within you and this experience opens you to discover the treasures hidden along the edge of the forest

In this photo we see a wildcrafter at the Wildcraft Forest providing support for songbirds nesting next to a trail. We perform a method called “trail browsing” where we place native plant seeds that will support winter feeding and for nesting material. We widen trails and prune back wild shrubs. We cut and shape the branches so that we can intentionally create strong and secure branch architecture so that birds can build a secure nest – this then attracts certain songbirds because we have created a supported environment for them. These songbirds prefer having secure well hidden nests beside wide trails or open areas, so that they may have effective escape routes away from predators.

You can observe this for yourself. A narrow animal trail through a dense forest will provide plenty of big branches where birds of prey can perch and wait close to the nest. The songbird has little opportunity to navigate around the threat. But with some open space, a predator is no match for the sharp navigation skills held by a small bird.

Humans are the only species that will be moved to do this sort of work. We are not creating a trap or any other purpose whereby we would achieve value other than the beautiful notion that we are helping another species to survive and thrive.

There is an inner voice that resides within us that I like to think becomes the expression of a human soul. This expression becomes unique within each of us and the process of how it unfolds is like a conversation between ourselves, our soul and nature.

For this exchange to happen there are certain elements that become self-evident. The beauty of nature itself becomes the stage from which this visit occurs; the quiet and the sensory infusions mixed with the air and biology that envelopes us, forms a place from which natural creativity occurs.

But what of the intimacy that might reside here. Will this place share its secrets with me – am I to be trusted?

Well I know the birds are on my side, and if I support the trees and the plants then they might see me as kin?

I believe this to be true.

As humans we can help restore balance in nature and we can do this in our backyards or in remote forests. It remains important to realize that community engagement, responsibility and stewardship will be the prime instrument for combating climate change and delivering conservation at a local level. Today this remains a challenge, there are fewer people engaged with backcountry stewardship than there was 20 years ago. This is primarily due to an aging population of volunteers and their work mission has not transitioned very well to a new generation.

There are also fewer local people working in the backcountry so there is a widening cultural disconnect which is resulting in the disappearance of trails, the recovery of wild habitat and an over-all lack of first-hand observation for how local areas are transitioning.

If stewardship is to occur, community engagement of wildland areas must be restored because it will take scores of people to do the work required as small places are impacted by Earth changes.

The question becomes what needs to happen for people to abandon their games, phones and cafes for even a short time in order to devote energy towards stewardship? The first thing we need to understand is that this isn’t for everyone. It will always be a small percentage of people who will embrace this sort of mission. But even with just these small numbers, incredible achievements can take place.

What needs to spread into the wider population are the ethics to support nature as a sentient intelligent agency. This then becomes a mission to support the spirit and soul of the forest as though she were our kin.

It took me a long time to be at peace with an idea about my own mortality. It did not happen until I came to understand my relationship with a Mother Tree and her forest. Contrary to popular common perspectives Mother Trees are not necessarily the oldest or most perfect trees in the forest, they are in fact trees that the wider forest designates to specifically expand a forest and carry the genetic diversity that is contained within that whole forest.

A Mother Tree holds an incredible amount of natural intelligence connected to a system that is pretty much a mystery to us.

Forests in remote places carry wild systems rich in biodiversity; and these are the places that still hold a natural balance required for our planet to survive. These wild places also carry the cosmological platforms which link our logical selves to the greater essence of our soul-self. Such places can teach us a great deal about ourselves and our connection to wild relationships. Here the elements of spirit, sentience, science, semiotics, stewardship and sanctuary are pillars, and they support an archway which becomes the architecture for all that is a sanctuary forest.

The foundation for supporting all of this is what we might call “love” – but nature might define it as having forms of mutualism which contain “connections” and “relationships”. For humans we have an inherent love for the natural world – but often we don’t know how to express this. This expression would become complete within us if we recognize that this love is driven by meaningful and tangible connections and relationships with nature.

What might make humans unique in the cosmos is this relationship we have to things that are driven by our love for them. To love someone or something more than we love ourselves, is agape love and it becomes a powerful emotional driver within acts of stewardship – it is what makes us extraordinary.

We really have a lot to learn about how everything works – and how everything is connected. Love becomes an activator for stewardship when humans become present in the natural world. Love is like a seed which triggers a natural reciprocity – it activates life-force.

As ancient humans we had a great understanding about all of this, and our role was one of navigating stewardship so that we could regenerate biodiversity within the Earth’s natural systems. We sought to retain high levels of life-force for both local ecosystems and the planet. This natural presence of wild biodiversity provided us with food, shelter, community and medicine and became the original economy for humans – nature was our kin. Eons later this wild kinship, this biodiversity, still provides critical support for our survival – however we seem to have forgotten this.

We can create our meaning and purpose by taking responsibility for nature and this planet. Plant a tree, restore bird or pollinator habitat; help to regenerate the plant and tree guardian guilds. These actions will restore ones soul and together we will find ourselves within the greater design of the cosmos – then each of us will rediscover our child within.

Even though human beings depend on wild biological relationships, our society continues to ignore them, and chooses to create industrial practices that will extract whatever it is that we need, without considering the great balance that the Earth and her life support systems depend on.

Clearcut logging, open pit mining and others forms of industrial resource extraction continue to plague our home. A significant proportion of drugs and nutraceuticals are derived, directly or indirectly, from wild biological sources: at least 50% of the pharmaceutical compounds within the US market are derived from wild plants, animals and micro-organisms. About 80% of the world population depends on medicines from nature (used in either modern or traditional medical practice) for primary healthcare.

And this represents only a tiny fraction of the wild species that have been investigated for medical potential.

This process of creating wealth by destroying nature has us forgetting our role as stewards. We are acting without love. We are acting without responsibility. We are ignoring our ancient soul and by doing so, we are placing ourselves and everything else at risk.

What continues to be clear is that politics will not solve these problems. Now more than ever you and I need to put together systems and tangible actions that will restore, regenerate and steward this planet….one small place at a time.

Humanity needs to embrace the long view. We need to make 300 year plans and put them into action. We must grow more old growth habitats because they become a producer of “living air”. It will not be long before scientists will be able to measure the amount of living microbes that travel in the currents of our air; much like they travel in the currents of our oceans, as part of communities of plankton.

Living air provides us with much needed nutrients.

“Living air” is being replaced by “dead air” as toxins poison it; and thus we are being deeply impacted…in fact the whole planet is becoming deeply impacted. It is our forests and wild environments that produce living air…and it’s up to you and I to retain that natural life-force process.

There is not enough money in the world to buy our way out of the problems that we have created.

The only way that we will be able to regenerate this planet and her ecosystems are through acts of love and connections with nature.

All of this begins with the expression of one’s soul.

• Don Elzer

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