Wild Signs and Star Paths: Key #4, Orion's Belt and Wild Places

This series is an exploration of the works of Tristan Gooley. I’ll document my efforts to learn to read nature’s signs. If you enjoy reading, I encourage you to support the author by purchasing a copy of Wild Sings and Star Paths (UK) or The Nature Instinct (US). I’m in no way affiliated with the author, nor do I profit from sales of the book.

Last Week’s Work

To notice the sun as it beats down throughout the day. It tells us at every hour which direction we’re looking, if we can get it through our thick heads.

New World

This one seems almost too obvious to be worth calling a “sign.” The sun rises in the east, sets in the west, and hovers over south (for us northern hemisphere folks) at midday. A fair number of elementary kids know that. So what? Well, there’s a difference between knowing something intellectually, and having such an intuitive grasp that it’s simply a part of your background understanding. Gooley would have us build silent awareness about direction without ever having to look up at the bright ball in the sky and say, “it’s 5 PM, which mean the sun is southwest of west.” The goal with this book is to feel the signs. To know without even realizing that you know. ( Read more... )