Spring is the time of renewal, and as I look around at the trees budding, the last remnants of my lilacs still attempt to perfume the air as I walk past, I realized it was time for renewal here at Feathermane Soul. Astute observers may note that I am now talking about Wild Spirit Storytelling(tm) as opposed to Sacred Storytelling. There’s a reason for that.
First, because while my interest in spirituality is not waning at all, I also knew the word sacred throws off a lot of people. I understand respect that, and what many of these individuals don’t realize is that the connection often felt with nature, that’s a form of connecting to the sacred too. In fact, I am more apt to use the word ecospiritualist these days rather than pagan. In part because pagan has been used in various circles to mean anyone not Christian, and while I would fit, I also don’t think including Shinto, Hinduism, or the various mythologies of Europe under that umbrella without their permission. But also, while I am a polytheist, my spirituality is very personal, a path that I’ve crafted for myself, and an umbrella term that I can tuck myself under one corner of.
I’ve never felt comfortable in groups. And honestly, I’m still processing quite a bit of the trauma that I experienced in pagan circles. I’m not sure I want to belong to any religion where a vast majority of the elders I have spoken with about my experience say “oh well we knew they were problematic” and then have done nothing about the situation. Even if the offending individuals have been removed from the national-level organization, that no one has reached out to the victims speaks loudly, I’m afraid. That’s a post for another day, I think. So I’m an ecospiritualist.
One thing that I have been thinking about, especially with the wild weather swings we’ve been experiencing, is just how connected to our planet we really are. And just how connected the planet’s creatures are to us. There’s a similar wild spirit inside us, too.
When I began with Chicken Yogi, I talked a lot about how we have domesticated chickens, created breeds which grow very quickly or lay more eggs than their bodies are safely designed to produce, often in over crowded industrial conditions for production. And this mirrors the way that many of us are treated and the way that neurodivergent individuals are stuffed into environments that really aren’t safe or healthy for them, all in the name of capitalism. Underneath it all, there’s still a chicken who remembers it used to be a t-rex and will chase insects, and there’s still an individual who has a wild spirit yearning to be free.
That is Wild Spirit Storytelling(tm), finding those stories, connecting with our innate, untamed nature, and reminding ourselves of who we are. I don’t want to be feral. Being feral implies that I was once tame. I never was tamed; I was suppressed. I want to be wild, free, living the way that is good for my mind and my body, and most of all, my soul. And I want to help you do that too.
As always, my door is open to helping you make that happen. I’d love to talk.
