JESSE WOLF HARDIN on Rewilding the Self /161
Painting by René-Antoine Houasse
In environmental spaces, we often speak about disconnection from the natural world, but within this framing, rarely do we voice the parallel violation of severance that has been enacted upon the self. If the shapes of clouds, the ground beneath our feet, and the song of birds sculpt the very elemental nature of our beings, then the trauma of separation starves the deep roots and blossoming expression of our emergent selves. This week on For The Wild, we turn to the acclaimed author, ecological activist, artist, historian, and folk herbalist Jesse Wolf Hardin to call us into the rich, dynamic ways of our earthly existence towards a reclamation of our embodied wisdom, resilience, and knowledge. How can sites of connection with the animated worlds of living ecology—plants, water creatures, grasslands, mycelial webs, tide pools & urban gardens—serve as healing terrain for both these inner and outer landscapes?
Jesse Wolf Hardin
Jesse Wolf Hardin has been a leading voice of and for the natural world for over four decades, was the first to coin the term “ReWilding,” and has been arrested and pepper-sprayed as well as applauded for his actions. Wolf has been a featured presenter at hundreds of conferences and universities, and - under the name "Lone Wolf Circles" - was the creator of cross cultural eco-spiritual collaborations appropriately called “Medicine Shows,” melding his powerful spoken word with live music, Indigenous presenters, and focused activism. He is the author of over 800 published articles in over 200 different publications, as well as of over 25 books, his work earning the praises of luminaries such as Gary Snyder, Joanna Macy, Ralph Metzner, Starhawk, and Rosemary Gladstar.
Wolf’s published books include: The Practice of Herbalism and The Plant Healer’s Path, covering the core whys and hows of an herbal practice; The Enchanted Healer, focusing on heightened awareness, the senses, plant spirit and the spiritual heart of healing; The Healing Terrain on sense of place, cultivation, and the healing power of nature; an inspiring historical novel for herbalists called The Medicine Bear, a book of herbs and empowerment for kids I’m a Medicine Woman Too! (Hops Press 2009); and The Traveling Medicine Show: Pitchmen & Plant Healers of Early America. A number of his books are available on the Plant Healer Bookstore page, while his most recent writings can be found both in the lauded Plant Healer Quarterly that he created with his beloved partner Kiva Rose, and in the free Herbaria Monthly that you can subscribe to on their website.
“You can extinct a species but you cannot take away its spirit, its insistence upon being itself.”
Joining us from the Anima Sanctuary, the land Wolf tends with his family in the so-called Gila Wilderness of New Mexico, Wolf shares stories of from his journey cultivating a “geography of belonging”—an active, balanced reciprocity with place. With great heart and tenderness, Ayana and Wolf explore folk herbalism as a green portal and agent of holistic wellness, the visceral personalities of place, tending unique bioregional cultures and ecologies, unbounding judgement from our mistakes, the potency of gratitude, and discovery within the weedy margins. Amidst the turbulent unsettling of climate chaos, we blow the perennial seed of truth that we have all that we need into the wind and await activation along the path of becoming our fullest, freest, most authentic selves.
♫ Music by Wildlife Freeway
Action Points from Jesse
Check out Wolf’s The Healing Terrain & other titles available on their website.
Check out “Enchantment HerbalCon event in Durango, Colorado in May to join in clases by Wolf & 50 other teachers and inspirituers: www.EnchantedLandsFaire.org
Develop real and applicable natural skills including plant medicines, that provide sense of connection to the living planet along with a more self empowered and healthful life.
Plant gardens, adopt wild places, consider creating or supporting a land trust, attend or organize bioregional events and networks, rewild yourselves, becoming more your natural selves and taking personal responsibility, working to keep the vital qualities of biodiversity and wildness a part a goal in times of increased homocentric focus and a polarized culture.
Remember to be present for life, enjoy being who you authentically are, and follow the path of your dreams no matter what.
Episode References
The Healing Terrain: Coming Home To Nature's Medicine by Jesse Wolf Hardin, Kiva Rose, David Hoffman, Dara Saville, Robin Rose Bennette, & Juliet Blankespoor
The Enchanted Healer: A Portal Into The Sensorium, Plant Medicine & Folklore by Jesse Wolf Hardin with Kiva Rose
“Edgewalker” by Kiva Rose
Herbalist Cascade Anderson Geller
Biologist Peter Berg on “bioregionalism”
Aldo Leopold’s essay, “Thinking Like a Mountain”
For The Wild Podcast is an anthology of the Anthropocene; focused on land-based protection, co-liberation and intersectional storytelling rooted in a paradigm shift away from human supremacy, endless growth and consumerism.