I’m really not so sure it’s stating the obvious to say that, over the course of the last two thousand years, we’ve increasingly distanced ourselves from a more grounded coexistence with everything that exists around us. If it were truly obvious, would we have sacrificed so much in the name of growth and progress before we reached the point where we are today? There are several who would also argue that this grounded coexistence was no coexistence at all, but rather, in the very word, actually illustrating our having lost appreciation for something much greater… interconnectedness.
In short, humans are just one part of a much larger “web”. Life is in everything around us, and, to be frank, despite our self-reward in proclaiming ourselves to be the highest of intelligence among the species of the planet, we are so nominal that our existence is dependent on that interconnectedness. Everything else is not dependent on us (though it can certainly suffer because of us). The Wild can go on without us, and, maybe, it might think… if it had a choice… it would do better to do so given the manner in which we negatively impact the overall. In fact, if you consider all the human efforts to see to the protection of nature, it is not because nature has failed itself but that we have failed nature. We have left carnage in our wake.
Saying all this, it’s impossible to proceed without raising the questions… “so, what are YOU… as the author… going to do?” “What are YOU willing to give up?”
As painful as it is for me to admit, like the majority of humans living in historically-advantaged portions of the world, I’m a spoiled brat. Most of us are far too comfortable with various modern luxuries. Ever aware of being singled-out as a hypocrite… our… MY… shame, though I doubt many are willing to do that form of shadow work, is that we are reluctant to make that great of a sacrifice. What “penance”, then, can we do? If we cannot commit to immediate and drastic change, then can we not still begin with small changes in the hope that the collective number of small changes makes for greater, more significant change? Of course, everyone would need to be on board with this… but don’t let that be another excuse for being part of even a small movement. To me, THAT is a critical part of “rewilding self”. Will making one small change lead to another… and then another… and, then, more? We can hope, and to that end, we can strive. We need a starting point, and we need to be self-aware, committing to these changes, and ever-reminding ourselves to stay on the path.
Is it, then, necessary to also be self-aware of “tribal roots”? To that, I’d say, “no,” but, living daily in that awareness that… as destructive as we are to the whole… we are but a small part of the interconnectedness of life. I’d say that we might look back at that which we have so egotistically declared “primitive”, and take lessons from it.
For me, looking back to my roots among the Pretanī (and, indeed, others) provides something more intimate within my interconnectedness with the greater web. History and ancestors have always been a part of who I am, and, being beyond the halfway mark in life expectancy, I really don’t see that changing… ever. As strange as it might seem to some, reaching back to the “voices” of forefathers and foremothers… looking for what little I can find among the fragments of history to make our world and myself better… and educating myself to know better what little I can of their world and them in it… that’s a very rich reward to my spirit.
On that note, the title of this post is a simple effort in linguistics to reconnect with a phrase actually rooted in Brythonic. It’s Welsh for “rewild self/rewilding self.”
Until next time, peace.
*Photo by The Wild Pretanī, taken at the Viking Grave Mounds, Midgard Vikingsenter, during Midgardsblot, Borre, Norway, 2023.
The Wild Pretanī 