INTRODUCTION:
In this weeks episode we have Skye and Miraz joining us.
We go deep into a number of themes exploring the culture of separation that plagues the collective sphere we all find ourselves in, the re-orientation of our perception to animistic worldviews, their many years in the amazon jungle studying amazonian shamanism, the frameworks that the indigneous shipibo people passed onto them to assist in the relating with a living breathing jungle, and extrapolating from that, a living breathing planet, and how this path interrelates into the work that they’re currently doing, known as deep ecology, aka, the work that reconnects.
Skye was raised on (and by) a farm on the edge of a wildlife reserve in South Africa. Her early childhood was spent wandering barefoot, immersed in the imaginal worlds that emerged between her senses and the touch of lion’s roar, river song, and rolling thunderstorms across the bushveld.
Her teen years were spent hand-raising and rehabilitating wildlife, she later became a wilderness guide, she trained in traditional Taoist healing practices for three years, became a qualified yoga instructor, and this was all before travelling to the Peruvian Amazon to undergo an in-depth apprenticeship in Amazonian curanderismo.
Miraz also grew up close to nature, but attempted to ‘civilize’ himself through higher education and for a few years as a corporate lawyer, but through the good fortune of an existential crisis he wound up in the jungle, where he and Skye met, and where there was a remembrance in what it felt like to belong to the world.
Along the way he trained as a counsellor, a psycho-therapeutic journey practitioner, alongside breathwork and bodywork practices.
They now apprentice themselves to the deep ecological movement arising in response to the darkness of the modern industrial growth culture, which includes the work of John Seed and Joanna Macy: The Work that Reconnects.
Their offerings are a synthesis of plant medicine practice and ecological awakening, including the facilitation of study groups, retreats and intensives, and one-on-one sessions.
EPISODE NOTES:
- Why is modern culture so disconnected and separated from the Earth?
- Understanding the complexity of gratitude
- Are personal development and social change two mutually exclusive things
- The dilemma of being a modern-day person who wants a deeper connection with nature
- The consequences of duality in the development of the Western mindset
- Skye’s journey from an existential crisis at 14 to living and learning in the Amazon jungle
- Miraz’s journey from meeting clients as a corporate lawyer to meeting plants
- Learning from the jungle
- What is a dieta like?
- Ayahuasca
- What is animism?
- Why animism is hard-wired into us
- The challenges of a modern-day seeker in the Ancient Ways
- The emotion work of plant medicine
- How do you bring the wisdom of the Amazon jungle into modern day life?
- Decolonizing our mind
- How do we become fully human?
- How does our society start to return to a greater connection with the world?
- How do we become fully human?
- Sitting with questions in the heart
- Dealing with the grief of working with the Earth
- Finding the joy in following your purpose and working with the Earth
TIMESTAMPS:
[5:14] Opening the Container: Skye opens the container with an acknowledgement of the beauty and pain that exists in the land and a gratitude to the world that supports us in this moment
[11:06] Going real with gratitude
[12:39] Disconnected perspective
[18:28] Personal development vs social activism
[25:32] Cultural duality
[33:25] Skye’s crisis
[38:30] Miraz’s journey
[47:35] The jungle apprenticeship
[51:54] A re-introduction to animism
[52:32] A new perspective on an oak tree
[53:40] Dietas
[58:49] Reconnecting to our wild senses
[1:08:49] Challenges on the path
[1:12:00] A beautiful passionflower story
[1:20:17] The emotion medicine in plants
[1:25:00] How do we become fully human?
[1:27:49] The Work That Reconnects
[1:30:29] Back to civilization
[1:39:30] Starting to reconnect
[2:03:00] Closing the Container: Miraz closes the container with a very interesting poem about whales…and you’ll have to see and hear it
QUOTES TO CARRY YOU / CARRY WITH YOU:
“A lot of circumstances have to be right for you to exist.” (Skye)
“The elephant in the room…is the fact that we’re living in this world that is kind of on fire.” (Miraz)
“As I grew up….the separate stories of our culture started to press in more and more…” (Skye)
“The world is not a machine.” (Miraz)
“I believe we are a species with amnesia, I think we have forgotten our roots and our origins. I think we are quite lost in many ways.” (Graham Hancock)
“We’ve lost our ability to sense the metaphysical, imaginal dimensions to our world.” (Skye)
“We are a product of the entire history of the evolution of humans.” (Miraz)
“Animism is essential for the fullness of my being.” (Miraz)
“To be fully human, to me, is living psychedelically.” (Miraz)
“If you really want to come into feeding a deep embodied sense of connection…then you need to be able to confront the violence..”
Deep Earth Dreaming 