by Andrea Theisson

Created on: April 16, 2009   Last Updated: June 11, 2009

Awareness is a word defined as "knowing" and "being conscious." In the wilderness, this can mean a truly spiritual state of communication with nature. It can mean survival or not. It can lead to incredible creative revelations. It can be scientific.

Many of us live in the woods, some of us visit. Awareness is essential. I've backpacked and traveled, camped and canoed into places where there is simply nothing between a person and Wild-ness. The Native Americans and many indigenous peoples have a connection with Nature to which most western people must aspire for appreciation of real awareness. It is more than just observation, it is communicating with Nature. One First-American rite of passage is to have a young brave tie himself to a tree over-night, blindfoldedhe will optimally communicate with the spirit of the tree and surrounding beings until he has a vision. There are many variations on this, including the Australian walkabouts. Some of us still hug trees. This stillness and focus on the senses are important to understanding and forming a philosophy of awareness, a way of being in Nature. The Wilderness experience is transformative. And it is very demanding. We must obey the laws of Mother Nature, here, and they are invincible. You must be aware to survive, and to enjoy.

Many famous writers have explored and defined their philosophy of awareness in the wilderness, from Whitman to Thoreau to Annie Dillard and Rick Bass! Lewis and Clark learned a thing or two about awareness, also, mostly from Sacajawea and their guides, and maybe from some of the artists who traveled with them! One of my favorite quotes is from Rick Bass: "Wilderness is not just a place, but a state of mind."

That said, a philosophy of awareness of wilderness is also exemplified by the work of the Findhorn Community in Scotland. These people are communicating with nature and developing an intense awareness, with photography, of the spirits in nature. They are quite scientific and objective in exploring the phenomena of "Devas" or nature spirits reaching out to them. The intuitive side of the universe is beginning to receive much more validation by the scientific community. Wilderness is the original and now perhaps the last elemental frontier.

Survivalists rely on a totally defensive focus in their philosophy of awareness. Earth-sensitive types would be more intuitive and into a full immersion in nature, working with it. All these groups pay attention to the sun, the

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