Adapted/mostly copied from Nick Hunt’s Task 3 instructions
for Dark Mountain Project’s Labyrinth & Dancing Floor Course to fit my
experience. Feel free to adapt to your experience.
Find a place in in the natural world where you feel
comfortable, a park, a garden, a patch of woods.
Within that place find an area where you can spend time undisturbed
exploring as the sun sets.
Take a guide line with your – a ball of string, twine, or a
length of rope and maybe something to cover your eyes, a hat or blindfold.
Find a threshold to step over: a stick or stone, a pile of
leaves, or whatever.
Tie the end of the guideline to a branch, tree trunk, rock
or other stable point near the threshold.
Step over the threshold very slowly and begin field sensing
your immediate surroundings. Relax and
let your vision go soft, do not focus on a fixed point ahead but aim for
peripheral awareness (if you stretch your arms out either side you should just
see the tips of your fingers). Step forward as slowly as you can, one foot
after the next. You should aim to move so slowly that a casual observer would
see a person standing still. Bare feet are preferable depending on
temperatures.
As you walk, let the guideline stretch behind you, and anchor
it along the way to create a return path.
It will be used once you finish your walk to find your way back to the
threshold or starting point with your eyes closed/covered.
As you walk and stop, concentrate on the other senses that
kick in as time slows – feel your feet against the earth, hear the wind, smell the
trees, taste the snow.
Also be aware of the other beings that perceive you as you
pass: plants, trees, insects, birds, mammals, fungus – and sense them. As you enter the unknown, you are the unknown
for countless other intelligences. How do they notice you?
It should take you at least 10 minutes to slowly walk and
stop to reach a return point. Move very slowly
so you don’t need to travel far, or bring a lot of guideline.
When you come to a place that feels right, (or you run out
of guideline) stop. Secure the guideline to an end point.
Turn around three times, a symbolic disorientation.
Stay in this place as day turns to dusk, feeling and
watching the light change. Keep in mind those two things: your other human
senses and how they change, and the other intelligences and spirits that are
perceiving you. Deep - listen, smell, taste,
feel, and be aware. (Don’t take notes or record experiences!)
Feel the right moment to return, and when it feels right to
go. Don’t outstay your welcome!
Close or cover your
eyes and keep them covered until you return to the threshold.
Grasp the guideline and follow it back to the threshold. You
don’t need to field sense your way back, but you should still walk slowly with
your non-visual senses active. Feel and
sense the things you encounter on your return.
When you reach the threshold, uncover your eyes, untie the
guideline, and take it home with you.
Enjoy the twilight and your return home!
On return make a record of something you experienced: a map,
words, a poem, a picture, or anything else.
No comments:
Post a Comment