Wildness Within

“Wildness is often viewed as a bad thing, a state of being out of control. But this is not so, for it represents the primal state of natural things, beyond the reach of human interference. The Wild is a place of eternal elemental powers, which those who enter may contact. If we return to the wild periodically, either in reality or through an inner journey, we are offered the chance of deep inner psychic renewal. In the Wild, we can contact the ‘Wild Wo/Man’ within us, reconnecting ourselves with our inner instincts. Within the elemental powers of the Wild, the artificiality of the everyday world of human competition and banality is replaced by the possibility of communion with Nature, and the promise of fulllfillment of our true natural selves.”

-Nigel Pennick, Natural Magic

This Wildness Within NATURA Journey is threaded with core shamanic practices to guide us towards a deeper merging with universal spirit. Discover the many teachers within nature, the infinite voice of spirit and the messages they have for us through the ancient teaching of Core Shamanic Practices. United in ritual and diving deep into our own personal experiences, we learn to see, hear, feel, and know our world in a new way.
Our transformational experience takes us back to the practices of ancient spiritual traditions including ceremony, ritual, interpreting lessons from nature, the shamanic journey, song, dance and story. Prepare to meet and greet the spirit of the Osa Peninsula and her unbounded power while we take an inner journey to reveal our own wildness within. Discover the many teachers within nature, the infinite voice of spirit and the messages they have for us.

Our practice begins rooted in the eternal present uniting mind, body, and spiritual awareness. We explore myth and archetype, symbols and synchronicities, along with ancient beliefs and traditions. We walk an old path in a wild world, developing witness consciousness as we rekindle all our senses and learn to observe and feel through the lens of the sacred.

We learn to sing our soul song and dance ourselves into empowered ways of being. We interpret the teachings of Nature, guided from within, and explore the many ways she reveals herself to us. We open the faculties of the mind and explore the portals in between. We become the bridge, grounding powers unique to our own wildness within, and embodying them into the here and now.

Our journey takes us to the secluded nature wonderland of the untouched Osa Peninsula. This is where wildlife rules and we’ll be learning from it every step of the way. The Osa Peninsula is home to at least half of all the species that live in Costa Rica and declared “one of the most biologically intense places on earth” by the National Geographic Magazine! It is home to many of the country’s rare and endangered species including the puma, jaguar, Harpy Eagle and Scarlet Macaw.

The Osa Peninsula is a marine mammal mecca, being home to 24 different species of dolphins and whales, both migratory and residential. It is celebrated as the world’s best, both for whale watching and wildlife viewing. It is here that we begin our Wildness Within Journey, along the tranquil warm waters of Golfo Dulce. We will be diving into a flow of new insights, expanding perceptions and wild discovery as we come to know and experience the essence of the Osa.

Joining a team of local marine-life researchers who have studied the area for years, we journey into the heart and soul of experience itself. Imagine dolphins at play just beside the boat. Feel the swell and blow from whales breeching, surfacing, and swimming with their young. This is where magic is born and bred. This is where the wildness within rises up to breath.

To the humpback whales of the world, the Golfo Dulce serves as the legendary birthing bowl and protective nursing pool for whales from both Southern and Northern Hemispheres. Whales from the South journey up to 11,500 miles, some of them coming all the way from Antarctica, and can be seen in the Osa from late July to early November. Northern Hemisphere humpbacks arrive in Costa Rica waters around late October and stay until late April, making the Pacific and gulf waters of the Osa Peninusla one of the only places in the world where Northern and Southern Humpback whales co-exist.

With a large chunk of the peninsula forming Corcovado National Park, this area has the single largest expanse of a lowland tropical rainforest in Central America and is one of the tallest rainforests in the world. During our stay on the Osa Penninusla we’ll be joining a research team at El Chontal along the shores of Rincón de Osa to participate and gain insight with their study of the bottle nose dolphins that frequent the warm waters of the Golfito. Besides dolphins at play, we’re likely see the blow of humpback whales surfacing with young since the Gulf’s Caldera has been the birthing grounds and nursery for these gentle sea-giants for centuries.

After our initial stay at El Chontal Research Center diving into the Colfo Dulce’s whale and dolphin discoveries, we journey onward into the wild to Finca Exotica Eco-Lodge. Finca Exotica is the only beachfront property in this pristine area of Costa Rica, and the closest place to Corcovado National Park accessible by car. Corcovado is Costa Rica’s emerald gem. It is the pristine wild, abundant with a diversity of life, protected and preserved. Corcovado is alive in all ways. She is a land vast and varied, both pristine and rich beyond measure. Corcovado is home to some of the great mysteries of the wild like the Jaguar, Harpy Eagle, Tapir, Ant Eater, many wild cats, various monkeys, incredible bird life, and an array of insects that will blow your mind.

Check out NATURA Journeys for more information and stay connected with our Wildness Within Facebook Event Page. 

Keep it Wild!

Talk Amongst the Trees

I overheard on my walk today faint whispers through the trees.

I stopped to listen and all was still, even the falling of the leaves.

As I continued on my way, the grass again began to sway.

A gentle breeze blew by, and the limbs of the trees relaxed with a sigh.

I looked up and around then down, feeling in great company.

I heard a buzzing near the ground, and saw an insect hovering before me.

Its wings were purple, gold, and long, and it approached me buzzing a song.

Yet, I knew it was just a distraction, from the talking tree’s reaction.

The sun shone through to the forest floor,

and the surrounding foliage appeared to grow more.

I was rooted deeply where I stood, as if the earth below took hold for good.

I looked up towards the heavens and all I could see

was the canopy above looking down at me.

I felt a message, strong and clear,

As if the trees had whispered it in my ear.

I felt at home, safe, and free,

Like a little bird sheltered within a great tree.

And as I stood and listened, I heard the trees begin to say,

In a type of silent, mystery language, the trees began to pray.

What moment of pure reverence, complete serenity.

What delight, what great pleasure, what pure divinity.

I fell to my knees and listened, amazed by their symphony,

Rising tall throughout the forest, their branches dancing in harmony.

And so I began my dance with trees.

And wouldn’t you know I spread my wings.

They were purple, gold and long.

And soon enough I was humming along.

And to this day I say, we must walk through the trees and pray.

If we could all just talk to trees.

I know they’d pray for us and for our peace.

I know we would dance in harmony, becoming one with all divinity.

So if you walk through the forest and you hear a whisper stay.

For you might just hear the trees, and together pray.

Lady of the River

I know a lady of the river, who walks along the banks.

Her feet are bare and heartened from the river walks she takes.

With legs long and limber, and so nimble when we run,

we skip and hop from rock to rock, and in the mud we slide for fun.

She answers all my questions, with a ripple or a wave.

We swim and dance together, and in the waterfalls we bathe.

If you could hear us sing together, how beautiful it would be,

It’s the voice of my mother and sister, when they sing with me.

Her hair is long and silky slick, tied up with the bones from the fish she’s picked.

And in this mane she carries nests, for a humming bird and a frog to rest.

From her heart a lotus looms, and a serpent uncoils within its bloom.

Below her hips the river flows, singing along as it goes…..

And when we float the river, or swim it like a fish,

the current takes us under and together we both wish…

With mouths wide open under water, we bless the river with our song

and our prayer becomes the water as it flows along.

We wish and pray always, that the river will flow free,

with waters true and of brilliant hue, on its journey to the sea.

It’s once we’ve finished praying that we sit and simply be,

the mystery of life flowing around us is our spirituality.

I gaze into the water, and meet my eyes to see,

the Lady of the River staring back at me.

 

Message from a fairy…

I found a message from a fairy, written on this leaf. It was the star that caught my attention, the letter was intricate and brief. The white roots form an image, only visible to those who see, that the magic of the fairies is not fiction, but belief.