The Grand Old Boar Breaks Free

No, that’s not the Grand Old Boar and it’s not me either!  I don’t know where that photo was taken, but it tickled me – I wonder what they are saying to each other and what is their story.

I wrote about our dose of Wild Boar Medicine in the early winter of 2023, after the wild boars came and dug up the new trees we’d planted, five times!  The Grand Old Boar asked me to tell their story, which I came to lear was our story too, part of the human story.  I told the story, but I knew it wasn’t complete, the Grand Old Boar was still not resting easy.

Mama Boar and her babies have been by several times since then and the trees were undisturbed, so a couple of days ago, April 16th 2024, I decided to remove the posts and netting we had put around the trees to protect them.  In the process, another chapter of the story, our story unfolded.

It was difficult to cut away the netting, the hazelnut leaved were entangled in it.  All the while I cut away the netting, taking care not to damage any leaves, I thought about all those whales and sharks, turtles and dolphins that we’ve seen, entangled in nets – how difficult, and dangerous, it must have been for the divers to free them.  I knew I could not use that netting again I couldn’t throw it away either.

That night, we had a ritual bonfire and burned the net.  Many ideas and structures that separate us from Nature went with it.  Yes, we do need to protect our trees from wildlife, while they establish themselves, but there has to be a better way.  We have to take into account the fact that wild animals are often hungry, so much of their habitat has been destroyed.

I’m not suggesting that we try and make friends with the wild boar, but we must respect them, understand their needs and what they stand for – the wild, indomitable spirit of these beasts and what we can learn from them about ourselves.  We have to learn how to live alongside wild Nature without having to resort to fencing everything in and killing animals because they are hungry.

This morning, the video below showed up.  I rarely watch videos and this says it was posted two days ago, the day we burned the netting.  The video is of a Russian man, who has a beautiful friendship with a wild boar.  I instantly felt the Grand Old Boar relax; Spider Grandmother has worked her magic and a new pattern is already working its way from Mother Russia, through the wild boar and the people here and there.

It was interesting to hear how spring has come early to the Russian woods.  It has here too.  The new Earth is regenerating along new pathways and energised by our love of Nature.