Course Two: Nature 79
First, get a waterproof container, small enough
to fit into your pocket, but big enough to hold all this
stuff. Perfect ones with clear plastic tops are avail-
able in the fishing section of sporting goods stores.
Assemble the following items and arrange them so
they fit neatly together in the box: (1) mini-lighter;
(2) penlight; (3) emergency candle; (4) compass; (5)
magnifying glass; (6) whistle; (7) single-edged razor
blades or X-Acto knife; (8) nylon fishing line, 25-lb.
test; (9) fishhooks of various sizes, plus sinkers, flies,
and spinners; (10) wire, 5-10’, light and flexible for
snares; (11) adhesive tape, 1” wide, 16” long; (12)
small notepad and ball-point pen; (13) aluminum foil,
4 sheets 12” square, to make drinking and cooking
utensils; (14) bandages of various sizes; (15) iodine
tablets to purify water; (16) needles and nylon thread
for repairs; (17) several zip-lock sandwich baggies.
If you have more room, you might think up more
stuff on your own. For instance, I cut up some tin
cans to make little arrowheads, creased lengthwise
for strength. They took up hardly any space, and if
I’d needed to (which I never did), I could have made
a whole set of bow-and-arrows with them and the fish-
ing line. I also keep a little snakebite kit and some
Sting-Kill, separate from my first aid kit. Finally, in-
clude a checklist of everything in your survival kit,
so you can replace things you may use up.Lesson 8: Foraging
In the places where I have lived over the past 25 years,
wild blackberries grow in profusion, ripening in late
July and into the Fall. I dearly love to go out gather-
ing berries, which I find to be a profound meditational
experience. Given the heat of the season, I just wear a
pair of shorts and sandals. I consider it my own little
martial arts discipline to give the berries a sporting
chance to do me injury. My challenge is to maneuver
carefully, be aware of where each thorny branch awaits
a misstep, reach through the protective tangle of sharp
points, and pluck forth the juiciest, must succulent
treasures from the bramble dragon’s toothy maw. I
seldom emerge completely unscathed; I regard the
inevitable scratches as honorable battle scars.
You have heard romantic tales of “The Great
Hunt” in which bands of ancient hunters went out to
bring down mammoths, cave bears, seals, buffalo, wild
boar, and deer to feed the Tribe. Many stories and
movies have depicted these hunts as the greatest of
adventures, with the carcasses being carried back
slung on poles, and roasting on a spit over a roaring
fire. But there is another, far more important side of
those old “hunter-gatherer” societies that often gets
overlooked—the gatherers! Even in those cultures
most devoted to hunting, 80% or more of the food
actually eaten comes from gathering, not hunting!
Modern shopping styles of men and women areoften compared to hunting and gathering. Men go into
stores as hunters: They have a specific quarry in mind,
they go straight to it, they nab their prey, and arrive
home with a triumphant cry of “I got it!” Women, on
the other hand, tend to approach shopping as gather-
ers: They wander up and down the aisles, poking
through shrubbery, pulling up roots, turning over
rocks, looking for nothing in particular, but sticking
whatever looks tasty into their basket.
But I’m much more of a natural gatherer than a
hunter. After all, how did our ancestors learn which
plants, leaves, seeds, berries, roots, fruits, nuts, mush-
rooms, and even bugs were good to eat, or medicinal,
and which were poisonous? How did they learn to
turn inedible things like acorns or grains into food?
While the hunters were working on better spearpoints,
bows and arrows, bear traps and mammoth pits, the
gatherers were learning the foundations of agricul-
ture, herbalism, medicine, pharmacology, and al-
chemy. The gatherers—both men and women—be-
came the tribal Shamans, the first Wizards. They not
only discovered all the edible and medicinal plants,
but have passed down their knowledge through the
ages in guidebooks called herbals.Quest: Forage for Wild Foods
Edible wild plants are found all over the world, in all
seasons. There are fruits, nuts, berries, roots, grains,
saps, and greens—all ripe for the picking. All you
have to do is learn to recognize them and know how
to prepare them. Get a guidebook of edible wild plants
for your area, along with recipes. Any bookshop or
camping supply store will have guides to the edible
plants in your area. Then go out and see how many
you can find and harvest. Prepare them in a meal, and
serve it to your family or magickal friends. Foraging
for wild food is a real Quest—especially bringing
enough back to share with others, eat with cereal, and
bake into pies. Wear appropriate protective clothing,
and carry a bucket or basket. It’s especially fun to go
out with friends—chatting, singing, snacking, joking,
and laughing together as gatherers have done since
the dawn of time.
Personally, I love walking through the wilder-
ness at different times of the year and finding tasty
food growing all around me. As I forage for wild
things to eat (and bring home), I feel deeply connected
to my shamanic ancestors over these many thousands
of years. Some plants, however, are poisonous or in-
edible. An important rule is: Never eat anything that
tastes bitter or bad!Lesson 9: Predation
Many perfectly respectable and highly admired ani-
mals are natural predators, and our human history has- Nature.p65 79 1/14/2004, 3:33 PM