daily rituals

For the most part in secular, young, drastically changed, recently immigrated and culturally flux societies, we may grow up with hardly any moon or sun cycle-based patterns, habits or rhythms.

The following are some routines, based on the movements of our favorite planetary bodies, which might help a person move with rhythm. From a variety of teachers, records and cultures, here are pieces that might make up your average day... (maybe throughout most of human history?) :


greeting the day


sense meditation/ body scan meditation/ Vipassana Buddhist-like meditation 

(breath and inner body awareness)

dream recounting and discussion

being barefoot

(in many human cultures, to wear shoes is seen as a loss of connection to the earth)

walking like a fox

(a manner of walking which can be silent, less unbalanced, enabling one to maintain meditative state while moving, not to disturb living things nearby, and move as part of one's environment)

using owl eyes/ wide-angle vision 

(rather than focusing on objects or specific areas in vision, constantly taking in all that the eye sees, from side to side and top to bottom of the area of vision: a way to see movement)
(personally I'm a bit suspicious that this may be slightly hunter-bias, in part because a lot of wilderness skills learning is dominated by male/hunter types: Is another way of seeing the kind we do to recognize plants by what makes them unique?)

practicing skills/ playing games that are directly tied with survival, subsistence, making a living

interacting with members of all generations

listening to bird language 

(birds as great indicators of changes in surroundings; awareness of the most distant bird, and the tone of their calls)

fire-making and hearth tending 

(by hand, maintaining a village center fire)

food: growing, harvesting, preparing

(pretty much every member of a community has something to offer, participates in the sacrifice of the lives of plants and animals, that give us life) 

gratitude expression 

(words or songs of thanks before/after meals, anytime; creation of artistic objects or prepared foods or other objects given as offerings; recognition of all those with whom we share the world)

sit spot 

(sitting meditation, through all senses, on surrounding environment)

song/ collective music making 

(not just a band, but a whole group of people create and share music that transmits knowledge together)

storytelling / story of the day

hand craft  

greeting the night

acknowledgement of the spirit world/ death/ ancestors/ the past

Sources: Wild Earth, Art of Mentoring, Vermont Wilderness School, Tom Brown and his teacher Grandfather the Apache Sioux, Tracker School, Jon Young, Flying Deer, Camphill Copake, biodynamic farming, Indian Boyhood by Sioux Ohiyesa/Charles A. Eastman, Dhamma Dhara Vipassana, traditional knowledge of individuals

Might elaborate and offer resources on all of these in future posts.

liver

My good friend, Aviva, taught me: DO NOT BE AFRAID OF LIVER.

"Throughout most of recorded time humans have preferred liver over steak by a large margin." *

"In general, organ meats are between 10 and 100 times higher in nutrients than corresponding muscle meats."

The liver stores nutrients (not waste, as often thought); consequently it is very high in:

• Vitamin A
• B12
• Folic acid
• Iron
• Copper
• Omega-3s
• CoQ10      ....and... to treat tiredness, fatigue, lethargy:
• "Liver’s as-yet-unidentified anti-fatigue factor makes it a favorite with athletes and bodybuilders" *

Liver tastes gross! How do I make it not?

Easier than you think.

Liver Pate, or Liver and Onions Recipe

1. Defrost liver in fridge. (To defrost something fast / 10-15 minutes: place a wide pan of room temp water on top of it, then flip.)
2. Optional: Marinate it overnight in refrigerator with apple cider vinegar or other mild vinegar. Increases digestibility and acidity helps flavor.
3. Slice white onion (proportional to liver, say max... 1:1 ratio).
4. Mince garlic (again, your judgment # cloves).
5. Heat some oil that is solid at room temp, ideally rendered animal fat (future post), butter or ghee (clarified butter) in a cast iron pan.
6. Cut liver into pieces, around 1x2"
7. When water sprinkled on the pan sizzles, saute liver pieces so they get a little darkened and crispy on both sides. Set aside.
8. Saute onions. When translucent add garlic and teaspoon or two rosemary and/or thyme. Continue until onions are soft, golden, caramelized. Return liver to pan and saute all together.
9. Add dashes of salt and vinegar (apple cider, balsamic)
10. You CAN just eat it now, OR.... Put it all in a food processor or otherwise mash it together. 

Serve pate cold or room temp. Often spread on crackers.

Pate

"Some cultures place such a high value on liver that human hands can’t touch it. Special sticks must move it."  *

Eleanore seen spreading pureed raw liver onto parchment lined pan.

Liver Jerky:  look it up.  Snacks for later.   




(Ever wondered how you can be good to your own liver? There will be a future post. "You're such a bitter liver!" ~Heylan)

On a scale of land-based CO2 sequestration, pastures for animals are pretty darn good;
on a scale of delicious, just, and ecologically sound: eating pastured or wild animals can be very good.


 * Weston A. Price Foundation. "Recipes and Lore About Our Most Important Sacred Food"