THE END OF LIVING AND THE BEGINNING OF SURVIVAL
In 1855 Chief Seattle warned the white settlers of America that "when the
secret corners of the forest are heavy with the scent of many men" it would
signal "the end of living and beginning of survival." Those settlers came from
a continent that has forgotten its native tradition in favour of a religion that taught
man he must "be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over every living
thing that moves upon the earth" (Genesis.1.26).
Now, a century or so later, Chief Seattle's words call to us with an even greater urgency.
We need to fight to preserve our forests and wildlife, and at the same time we need to
connect to our spiritual roots so that we no longer feel alienated from the earth. To do this,
we must turn to a study and practice of our native spirituality - which we are at last starting
to remember. The Druid animal Oracle represents one part of this remembering process,
one way that we can connect to a tradition which has never been lost - only forgotten.