If it ain’t on a rock, it ain’t rock art
The Lynx – ideal apex to help restore the Caledonian forests
In addition to being a charismatic addition to the landscape in its own right, the lynx – as an apex predator that can help disturb deer and reduce their numbers – could play a major part in a wonderful regeneration of the forests of Scotland, enabling very significant increase in biodiversity. Whats more, it invariably keeps away from humans. On this page, we explore how the lynx’s nature as a total non-threat to humans was even the theme of a myth of the San (hunter gatherer) people of South Africa…
Take a look at the blurb and vid
How the Pig became the Land: Wild Boar as Ecological Landscape Feature Creature
Ground-disturbing rootling is a feature of the ecological landscape in many regions; the wild pig is a keystone, a landscape creature feature, or, in terms of the totemic metaphor I explore in my Keystone Creations series, a Dreamtime being that became part of the ecological landscape. On this page a look at how the Welsh myth of the wild pig Henwen encapsulates the way the pigs can enhance biodiversity.
The Creation of the Eland : Cyclically Re-Wilding and Re-Civilizing Yourself
The eland is, like the goanna, an example of an intersection between nature (as an ecosystem engineer) and culture (as an important animal totem), with the latter – as it happens – able to work as a metaphor for the former. I explore on this page how the cultural associations of the eland are also connected to a process for both rewilding yourself (back to nature) and recivilising yourself (back to culture). Theres’ also a video below showing the rock art creation of the eland…
Read the blurb and see the vid
Herbivore Guild : Diversity creates Diversity
Continuing the overarching theme of cultural alignment with ecology, on this page I look at how the collection of animals in the Lascaux Hall of Bulls is the same as the guild of herbivores that, working together, form such a valuable collective for naturally engineering rewilded landscapes.
See the vid and check out my blurb
Spotted Goanna : Where keystone species and Dreamtime being intersect
This page explores the spotted goanna as ecosystem engineer and looks at how – conveniently, intriguingly, elegantly – this role is directly mirrored in aboriginal myth, showing how culture and ecology can align. There’s also a little video of me creating my own rock art yellow spotted goanna, making the goanna part of the rock as my way of affirming that this Dreamtime totem should remain part of the ecological landscape.
Making the World-making Bison
On this page, I uncover the paleolithic cave painter’s myth of the bison from whose blood and fat all the other animals were painted into being. I explore the key Rock Art 4 Rewilding metaphor in this context – the bison creates the space for a host of other animals because it is an ecosystem engineer, a keystone species. There’s also a little video showing my own rock art re-enactment of the creation of the bison, and a longer video going into my theory that the Lascaux leaning man and wounded bison painting shows Gemini and Taurus.
You should check out the vid and blurb
ROCK ART 4 REWILDING 