The Perihelion is the time when the Earth is three million miles closer to the sun than at the Aphelion in July, and a perfect time for a celebration. The holidays are over and we take the time to gather together to gain strength and direction for the future--our future and the future of our home the Earth. We continually ask ourselves who we are and how do we fit in.

            We stand alert.  We are poised between trust and fear.  Trust that things will work out, and fear that they won’t.  We don’t know how much we are a part of the problem but we also don’t know how much we are part of the solution. We do know that we are a part of and not apart from the world and its life forms that share the earth with us.

            We live in a time that human activity on earth has impacted most of the other life forms, many of which may become extinct soon. What can we learn from them? What do they have to teach us? And what can we do for them?

            So close are we to the other life forms that over 80 different bacteria, fungus, and protozoa live in our belly button. There are more lifeforms if you have an inny rather than an outy because it’s a better hiding spot.  So close are we to other life forms that over 2,000 different critters live within our own bodies. Most of which are beneficial and necessary if we are to live at all.  Just in our gut, critters that were passed from our mothers protect us from harmful infections, make nutrients available, and provide balance and resilience to our intestinal flora. They produce nutrients such as vitamin K and biotin and produce hormones that regulate the ability of our bodies to store fat.  They support us and we in turn support them. I don’t think I would like to live in my intestine but it seems they are perfectly happy with their home.

            I think that this is a type of wild intelligence that teaches that we live in community of mutual support and interdependence.

            An oak tree produces far more acorns than is necessary to produce offspring. The deer eats the acorns and in turn provide nutrients from its waste for the oak. The ground squirrel collects the acorns and stores them by digging a hole and planting them so they will become next years baby oaks.  Relationships can become very complex indeed, all woven together to form an ecosystem. The oak tree also uses its wild intelligence. While not possessing a brain, it still makes many decisions concerning such things as balancing itself, deciding which branch to let die, and when to go dormant.

            We are a part of the ecosystem and not apart from it.  Not just because of our scientific understanding but because of the way we feel. We feel good when we see an oak savanna. The feeling can’t be measured but can be experienced as awe, love or spirit. When we are part of an ecosystem it isn’t just a one sided relationship, it is a sharing, giving, receiving, and maintaining.

     The theme for our 2012 Perihelion celebration was

    ENCOUNTERING WILD INTELLIGENCE

                The links below will take you on a journey....

The Creative Universe: a talk with Brian Thomas Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker

http://ttbook.org/book/creative-universe

Wild Insights from David Abram

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HRR4Mee8Ec

http://www.wildethics.org/essays/waking_our_animal_senses.html

WHAT DOES WILD INTELLIGENCE MEAN?  Here are some ideas from our participants:

Three ways to encounter wild intelligence:

• Direct experience

• Science

• Traditional wisdom

How many senses do you have?

http://www.naturemaking.com/inborn_senses.htm

Living Like Weasels by Annie Dillard

http://www.courses.vcu.edu/ENG200-lad/dillard.htm

Tree game

http://gen.uga.edu/documents/air/activities/How%20A%20Tree%20Works.pdf

We can relate to nature as a collection of objects, or a communion of subjects. Here is one man's journey from the former to the latter:

A FIERCE GREEN FIRE

            In 1909, Aldo Leopold was working for the U.S. Forest Service in New Mexico.  He loved to hunt, and part of his job was to kill wolves.  He believed, along with most conservationists at the time, that it was a good idea to kill wolves, who preyed upon deer, to increase the deer population for the benefit of humans who wanted to hunt deer.  But, one day, he had a powerful experience that changed him completely.  He wrote these words in his book, “A Sand County Almanac”:

            “We were eating lunch on a high rimrock, at the foot of which a turbulent river elbowed its way.  We saw what we thought was a doe fording the torrent, her breast awash in white water.  When she climbed the bank toward us and shook out her tail, we realized our error: it was a wolf.  A half-dozen others, evidently grown pups, sprang from the willows and all joined in a welcoming melee of wagging tails and playful maulings.  What was literally a pile of wolves writhed and tumbled in the center of an open flat at the foot of our rimrock.

            “In those days we had never heard of passing up a chance to kill a wolf.  In a second we were pumping lead into the pack, but with more excitement than accuracy: how to aim a steep downhill shot is always confusing.  When our rifles were empty, the old wolf was down, and a pup was dragging a leg into impassable slide-rocks. 

            “We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes.  I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes—something known only to her and to the mountain.  I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunter’s paradise.  But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.”

SUGGESTIONS FOR ENCOUNTERING WILD INTELLIGENCE

• Center yourself, breathe deeply, be present.  Allow yourself to be guided by your natural attractions.
• Find an area (with a natural feature such as a tree or stone or water) that feels attractive to you.  Ask the area permission to become involved with it.  If you still feel attracted to the area, assume the answer is “yes”.
• Place a gift on the earth with an expression of gratitude.  It can be a small stone, a flower, or anything natural that is meaningful to you.
• Direct your attention towards the tree (or other natural feature) and ask “What is your intention?”
• Assume that whatever happens is what’s supposed to happen.
• Using all of your senses, explore this being, and open your mind to the information you receive.
• When you feel you have received an answer to your question, thank the being.
• Write down the being’s intention.  Try to fit it into one sentence. 
• Write down what you learned from the experience, what good feelings or sensations you felt,  and if you would like to have more of these experiences.  What is your intention regarding the kind of relationship you would like to have with nature?

 To receive information on plans for Aphelion 2012, send an e-mail through the “Contact Us” page.