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Post by Francis on Oct 5, 2010 9:48:23 GMT -1
A bit of an unusual post for me this one.
As those of you who are generous enough to slog through my ramblings will know the principal aspect of my path is developing relationship with the Spirit of Place. On the rare occasions that I deliberately "craft" (rather than the daily praxis of working in the woods and fields) the source of the energy I work with directly is the tension that forms at the boundaries between fields and woodland - that is between the more domestic fields and the wilder woods.
Over the last couple of years I've also been working with the energy of The Rut.
I know how this next bit is going to sound but please leave any prejudice or preconceptions to one side. Knowing me you may have guessed that I'm mostly concerned with the Sheep Rut. It's not such a common thing these days, with changes in farming practice, but it's something I think valuable. Different breeds of sheep vary in how docile (awake) they've been bred to be, but in Wales our sheep have much more of their animal nature and instincts intact - for the mainpart they live a much wilder life in the hills and retarded docility just wouldn't work - the common misperception of mindless sheep is way off the mark.
My "valley" sheep's ancestors are "Wiltshire horn" and "Welsh Mountain" which makes a very large ram - my breeding rams this year will weigh about 125-130kgs (280lbs or 20 stone!). At the moment they're down by the river on semi-natural rough grazing (in a field adajcent to the one those of you who came to the Beltaine gathering camped in this year). I'm blathering away 'cos I'm trying to paint a quick picture of the scene. So Twenty or so rams 4 fully grown the rest about a year and a half old (say 90kg). The sound, smell (fills the field!) and energy in the field is very dramatic.
The energy though is one I'm unfamiliar with attempting to work with - rather than just letting it wash over and through me. It's an explosive energy rather than the compressive "moulding" tension energy of field/woodland boundaries. I wondered if anyone had any experience of working with it - suggestions or ideas?
For any who haven't experienced it (I'm talking about Britain here!) then both the red and fallow deer rut are in full swing at the moment. I've been getting up early to witness this in Gwydir Forest these last couple of mornings - wherever you are though there are places you can easily get to, not just woodland but forestry commission land and deer parks - lots of links of where to go on to easily witness it on the internet etc.
There is suprisingly little difference in the "quality" of the energy between Rutting sheep and deer - I'd really appreciate hearing any thoughts you might have on this.
I think it would have been such a tangible and blatant change in the energy of the woods that it seems inconceivable to me that our ancient ancestors would not have recognised it, and acknowledged it or even worked with it in some way- If anyone has any clues or thoughts I'd be grateful to hear them?
P.S. My guess would be that the Abbotts Bromley Horn Dance is a red herring... ?
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The Rut
Oct 5, 2010 11:58:52 GMT -1
Post by potia on Oct 5, 2010 11:58:52 GMT -1
I've never consciously worked with this energy but I have had a little expereice of what you mean. As I may have mentioned before, at one time in the past my mum kept dairy goats including a billy. As she had problems with doing the hoof care (due to health concerns) I used to go down every couple of months or so and spend the better part of a weekend trimming goat hooves. Not my favourite chore I have to say Luckily mum's billy was a pretty good tempered one and actually quite affectionate but at this time of year he stank. It's not a smell that can be easily described or easily forgotten. Suffice it to say that this made me much more aware of that seething energy and I do think that both the stenches and sounds of rut connect to something more primal within us. Francis I agree that our ancient ancestors must have recognised this energy but how they worked with it I haven't a clue. Sex may well have been part of it. Perhaps it was the energies of the rut they drew on for many of the traditions surrounding Samhain and Nos Calan Gaeaf. Id on't know but fascinating topic to think on.
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The Rut
Oct 5, 2010 12:45:54 GMT -1
Post by Brochfael on Oct 5, 2010 12:45:54 GMT -1
That wild, focussed yet unharnessed energy is impressive, but I find it hard to imagine how (in the normal run of things) it may easily be applied to human activities.
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The Rut
Oct 5, 2010 13:00:48 GMT -1
Post by Lee on Oct 5, 2010 13:00:48 GMT -1
i wonder if the idea of Beltane babies who would then be born in jan/Feb at the lowest ebb of food supply is something that is given too much credance?
with this environmental sex fest going on around them you have to wonder if humans were really keen to go at it at this time f year too as it would mean babies born in june time which would certainly mean a time of increasing plenty.
it isnt something i have any experience of to be honest, not much in the way of wild herds where i grew up or in the cities i have lived in since and the farming bacgkround was limited to cattle and pigs where males were in limited number and little plastic straws of spunk were far more common.
REALLY interesting idea though and something worth looking into, i would be very interested to hear of what comes of this
Lee
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The Rut
Oct 5, 2010 16:01:47 GMT -1
Post by Francis on Oct 5, 2010 16:01:47 GMT -1
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The Rut
Oct 5, 2010 16:29:59 GMT -1
Post by arth_frown on Oct 5, 2010 16:29:59 GMT -1
Petworth park is another good place to go and watch it. The noise is fantastic.
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The Rut
Oct 5, 2010 16:45:37 GMT -1
Post by Lee on Oct 5, 2010 16:45:37 GMT -1
as keen as i am to now go see it - the thought of how early it is going to mean i have to get up and travel is horrifying.
looking into it now...
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The Rut
Oct 5, 2010 16:52:10 GMT -1
Post by potia on Oct 5, 2010 16:52:10 GMT -1
as keen as i am to now go see it - the thought of how early it is going to mean i have to get up and travel is horrifying. looking into it now... Think of it as a pilgrimage in time
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The Rut
Oct 5, 2010 16:57:46 GMT -1
Post by Lee on Oct 5, 2010 16:57:46 GMT -1
i will have to leave the house by 5:30 to aim to get there for gates opening at 7, which is just before sunrise and probably the ideal time.
we shall see!
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The Rut
Oct 5, 2010 17:59:27 GMT -1
Post by dreamguardian on Oct 5, 2010 17:59:27 GMT -1
Great thread BTW, Francis That wild, focussed yet unharnessed energy is impressive, but I find it hard to imagine how (in the normal run of things) it may easily be applied to human activities. I have to disagree here, Broch. Today, our society & social sensibilities teach us to dis-associate from our 'primal urges' and expect us to use our reasoning instead. Our emotions maybe not totally surpressed necessarily but certainly controlled. It is seen as a bad thing to let our emotions rule us, a weakness to give in to them & looked upon poorly at being a 'slave' to these feelings. I suspect to our ancestors this may not of been the case. Who here hasn't let themselves go & given in completely to their uncontrolable desire/emotions? Not just sex but fury or grief etc It is a very powerful thing as is the 'rut'.
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The Rut
Oct 5, 2010 19:03:50 GMT -1
Post by Francis on Oct 5, 2010 19:03:50 GMT -1
The Rut is very much an act of two halves. The first is all male. This is an aggressive male competition, an out and out all male thing. The outcome of all the displaying, bravado and fighting is the establishment of a pecking order. Obviously it gets more complicated in very large groups, but in essence with animals that rut the dominant male gets over 90% of the matings that follow in the second half. The Second half is of course the sex! It's the energy of the first half that I'm exploring at the moment, rather than Lee's sex fest - obviously the two are intimately linked, but they are qualitatively very different. (I won't be putting Rams in with the Ewes until the first week of November.) With deer (again gets more complicated with very large groups) even though the two sexes can reach each other the two aspects remain surprisingly separate) I think this is going to be one of the rare occasions where I disagree with Brochfael. I can imagine attempts to resonate with the energy being made in the past, that is to say classic 'Sympathetic magic' perhaps in terms of leadership, male energy and vigour. (All of course total speculation, but not inconsistent with much other 'sympathetic' sorcery that seems reasonably well attested?) I'll go into my own explorations with this energy later - at the moment I haven't got it focused very well in my head.
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The Rut
Oct 6, 2010 10:07:42 GMT -1
Post by Adam on Oct 6, 2010 10:07:42 GMT -1
I could see how that might work... a culture is at least in part describable by the symbols it uses to describe and reflect it's societal structure and its cosmology and, in many cases, the relationship between them. It would not be a ridiculous stretch of the imagination to see that social order might be understood as a reflection of a herd or pack hierarchy, and how the competition within the social order (the processes of selection) could be understood similarly as mirror of the selection processes within the herd or pack. My brain is half pulling at memory of something similar related to other cultures (even if not directly related to rutting) but not getting there yet
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Post by Brochfael on Oct 7, 2010 7:56:57 GMT -1
Today, our society & social sensibilities teach us to dis-associate from our 'primal urges' and expect us to use our reasoning instead. Our emotions maybe not totally surpressed necessarily but certainly controlled. It is seen as a bad thing to let our emotions rule us, a weakness to give in to them & looked upon poorly at being a 'slave' to these feelings. I suspect we'll have different opinions on this based on our personal experiences. I believe that one of the reasons my ex-wife and I separated and then grew to loathe one another was this issue of head ruling heart or not. I am absolutely convinced I would have got myself into a very great deal of trouble without practicing self control and I have witnessed several people cause a great deal of harm to others by acting on their emotions without thinking through the consequences. Who here hasn't let themselves go & given in completely to their uncontrolable desire/emotions? Not just sex but fury or grief etc When I have succumbed to rage in particular, no good has ever come of it. That said I suspect we all surrender to our sexual instincts at teh climax of love making and that, at least is no bad thing. Do not the French refer to orgasm as the little death? This however is momentary. Perhaps a momentary outlet of powerful emotion can be healthy but again in my case, this did once require polyfilla to repair the resultant hole in the wall. :-)
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The Rut
Oct 7, 2010 12:29:25 GMT -1
Post by Francis on Oct 7, 2010 12:29:25 GMT -1
I suspect we'll have different opinions on this based on our personal experiences... I going to sound a right arrogant prat now (resist Redraven ) but I think The Rut might be a very different thing to that which you imagine - I'm guessing you haven't experienced Being in the middle of it as opposed to thinking about / imagining it or seeing it on T.V. ? ... was this issue of head ruling heart or not. The head always rules the heart in The Rut. It most definitely isn't a mad uncontrolled frenzy. There are few actual fights. Males size each other up - they strut, stand tall, vocalise but above all they are calculating whether or not they are the most powerful of the two. Whether in sheep or deer a lot of damage can be done when two large males fight - and as breeding success in species that rut in the wild is pretty much all or nothing, then backing down will often be in the long term evolutionary genetic interest of the smaller male - who may have a better chance the following year of being bigger and stronger and becoming the alpha male- but not if he's been badly injured the year before. (Remember the dominant male pretty much gets control of the whole harem of females, the others can at best hope to band together to distract the alpha male and take it in turns to make sneaky copulations with females whilst he's engaged elsewhere - but the alpha male can typically expect that his genes will make it into 80+% of the young born the following spring) I am absolutely convinced I would have got myself into a very great deal of trouble without practicing self control and I have witnessed several people cause a great deal of harm to others by acting on their emotions without thinking through the consequences. Self control is everything in The Rut as I described above. The yearling males are completely wound up on testosterone in their first autumn - when I used to raise pigs at this time of year we'd run them for a few weeks in the fields where there were oaks to feed on the acorns we used to see ram lambs trying to mount the pigs all the time. But wound up as they are they wouldn't challenge a fit older larger ram - they might posture but at the first sign the larger ram might actually charge they would back down instantly. Fighting only takes place when after the posturing both realise they could win. That this moment could be their chance, that their year has come and that now it's time to put their foot in the water and cross the Rubicon. All or nothing. The 'dramatic' energy I spoke of is raw and masculine but it isn't frenzied or uncontrolled. It's directed, calculated and focused. It's very easy to find rutting deer even in large areas of woodland as they bellow very loudly. Last week I saw a large male (fallow deer) buck who had seemed to be the dominant male in the northern part of Gwydir forest lose in a fight to a younger, but slightly larger male (but with smaller antlers). There was a real sense of "The king is dead. Long live the king" - not dead in reality just defeated. The forest really fizzed and this strutting now dominant alpha buck really was the source of something intangible and powerful. I didn't get the chance to explore it much as I had to get home to take my daughter to school though - but I'm trying to get witness it either with deer or rams every morning at the moment. As I've said I don't know if or how it can be tapped, whether it ever was or to what end a human could work with it, but in the same way that humans have felt the energies of certain places, springs, rivers etc. and tried to work or harness that energy (whether successfully or not I wouldn't like to say i.e. healing springs/wells) I feel this is a very specific kind of energy, available seasonally, and it would seem surprising to me if it had been ignored throughout our history. The woods are very different at this time of year because of it. The energy is not that of uncontrolled frenzy but of a deliberate moment of seizing the day and an all or nothing rise of vigourous male energy. It does strike me that this phenomenon could be ridden and resonated with in the way much other 'sympathetic' magic was thought to work. The sexual aspect feels to me quite separate - even though people use it these days as a kind of slang (or perhaps poetic metaphor!) for just the sex part and do seem to go with the idea of frenzied, unrestrained and uncontrolled raw emotion. I wonder if that's to misread it? I really hope you get to witness it Lee (or anybody else?) No one's far from where it's happening and easy to find suggestion of where to see it on the internet- it would be good to hear whether your sense of it, or reaction to it, was similar to mine or not!
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The Rut
Oct 7, 2010 15:01:18 GMT -1
Post by Rion on Oct 7, 2010 15:01:18 GMT -1
As I've said I don't know if or how it can be tapped, whether it ever was or to what end a human could work with it, but in the same way that humans have felt the energies of certain places, springs, rivers etc. and tried to work or harness that energy (whether successfully or not I wouldn't like to say i.e. healing springs/wells) I feel this is a very specific kind of energy, available seasonally, and it would seem surprising to me if it had been ignored throughout our history. The woods are very different at this time of year because of it. The energy is not that of uncontrolled frenzy but of a deliberate moment of seizing the day and an all or nothing rise of vigorous male energy. It does strike me that this phenomenon could be ridden and resonated with in the way much other 'sympathetic' magic was thought to work. ^Interesting. Very interesting. Do keep us updated of your thoughts. No one's far from where it's happening and easy to find suggestion of where to see it on the internet- it would be good to hear whether your sense of it, or reaction to it, was similar to mine or not! Speak for yourself!
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The Rut
Oct 7, 2010 19:04:16 GMT -1
Post by arth_frown on Oct 7, 2010 19:04:16 GMT -1
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The Rut
Oct 7, 2010 19:09:11 GMT -1
Post by redraven on Oct 7, 2010 19:09:11 GMT -1
How do you see the processes of this Rut being driven Francis? Is it external, internal or possibly a symbiotic process? (There, I resisted! ) RR
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The Rut
Oct 7, 2010 20:06:02 GMT -1
Post by Lee on Oct 7, 2010 20:06:02 GMT -1
yeah i saw that Arth im thinking i might go on saturday morning. we shall see.
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The Rut
Oct 7, 2010 20:07:16 GMT -1
Post by Lee on Oct 7, 2010 20:07:16 GMT -1
How do you see the processes of this Rut being driven Francis? Is it external, internal or possibly a symbiotic process? (There, I resisted! ) RR i see it as an internal response to external stimuli. they are responding to the changing seasons.
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