Living Animism: They Grow Up So Very Fast...

A Western Kingbird (Tyrannus verticalis) & devoted parent.

Who are the persons in your neighborhood?


I woke some time around 2 a.m. While struggling to return to some semblance of sleep, I kept being disturbed by some sort of peculiarity with the laptop which keeps causing it to illuminate its screen despite the fact that I turned the screen brightness all they way down to off. Perhaps it is the nudge of a muse. Or a plaintive cry for attention from the abandoned. Or something.

So I shall take a short moment out of this night hour & return to the anecdotes I threatened but have yet to produce. But first, I must have a very-brief-rant. Very brief. Promise.

/run rant 

Late last night I sought out some small bit of minutiae which has no particular relevance here except that in the process of seeking this generally unimportant information, I stumbled across a piece of writing relevant to animism. Or was it "animism"? Regardless, the content, nay, the premise has been chapping my hide ever since.

The website author had a special tabbed section devoted to said "animism" wherein they described how they practice said "animism." In short, animism, or animistic practice, in that individual's worldview, consisted of sitting in their bedroom in the dark, drumming themselves into a trance state & waiting for visions of cliché animal spirits. With some groovy rhythms & healthy visualization, the usual sexy predator types that are so easy to anthropomorphize & airbrush on the sides of vans or silkscreen on t-shirts will come visiting that practitioner's psyche to verify & validate all that stuff they read about the human symbolism of said creatures. 

Velvet Ant. Self reliant.

What chaps my hide is this: No one EVER says, "Yeah man, I got into this super deep trance state & was visited by this velvet ant spirit who who taught me all about self reliance..."

And if animism is about relationship... it begs the question: when you want to be in relationship with your partner, children, friends, co-workers, team mates... do you go shut yourself in your room & drum them into your mind's eye?

I will call what the author described a highly modern/western-ized permutation of quasi-shamanic practices, but I won't call it animism. Unless they really went out & spent some quality time with those sexy predators & then went inside later & did the trance work to dial them in from home. Trance work is like long distance calling -- it's alright, but you need some face time too. Unfortunately, I don't really think that's how it happened. 

I could say more, but...

/end rant

Feeding younglings, June 19th.

The anecdote for this wee hour of the night/morning relates to the Western Kingbirds (Tyrannus verticalis) who raised their younglings in our carport this June. When we arrived, we quickly discovered their nest & found that we were something of a disruption to their already established routine. So, being the latecomers, we deferred to them, modifying our activities to keep clear of their household. That meant changing the door we used, walking around the house instead of through the carport, parking & re-parking the car several times a day to keep it out of the sun & sweltering heat, etc. 

But what a joy to watch those two devoted parents! What a delight to perch on the edge of the bathtub & peek through the bathroom window to see the babies grow & grow & grow! 

Unfortunately, our rhythm was interrupted by a sudden emergency & upon returning from yet another unexpected hospital stay, I was disappointed to discover that the babies had left the nest in the short time we were away...

But therein lies the simple, gentle lesson from the Kingbirds: They grow up fast. So very fast. Give them your best & cherish them. Every single moment you get.

Kingbird babe, June 23rd. They grow up so very fast...