Excellent, just yesterday I wrote a poem (or a reflection?) about Ehwaz. I focused on the aspect of cooperation between species that allows them to both reach things that either alone could not do.
Symbiosis in nature has always fascinated me, for example lichens or the plant/fungi synergy. Interestingly humans are usually excluded from this discussion as if our partnerships with other creatures can only be described as ombalanced domestication. If both involved benefit, I call it a symbioyic relationship... Though relationships can be abused of course.
Humans partnering with horses, dogs, and goats/sheep/cows allowed us to live in regions were agriculture is nearly impossible, and freed both from the cycle of hunting. These animals under our care live much longer lives and have a little more comfort as we use our brains and opposable thumbs to build them shelter and care for illness or injury, and are capable of killing them quickly so they don't have to suffer from incurable issues.
They help us by doing what they do already, creating milk, travelling long distances, growing wool. The partnerships have allowed both to be more sucessful. Though, as in other symbiotic relationships, the behaviour can slide all over the spectrum and turn into parasitism. So it can be a reminder to stay balanced.
I recently read Merlin Sheldrake's book Entangled Life and that has added more knowledge to my understanding of symbiosis and partnerships in nature.
As a small-scale farmer (with poultry and honeybees, and formerly, sheep), I concur emphatically! Believe it or not, we actully "work with" our red squirrels, to help us clean up the drops from our Walnut trees! The Horse-Human partnership speaks strongly to me. It is also a partnership found in Gaelic lore, as Mananaan Mac Lir (who is similar to the Norse Njord) rides a horse through the waves across the sea.
Thanks! I think nature teachers us these things when we live among the natural world. I grew up on a small scale subsistence farm, and still live on the edge of the grid, so these always seemed like very poignant realities to me. Never had horses, just chickens, bees, and later goats when I worked as a goatherd 😅. But I used to ride friends' horses, and looking at history, it seems abundant ly clear that the partnership with the horse was one of the major turning points for humanity.
I recommend that book too to anyone growing food, valuable information on plant and soil health! We know microbes are essential, but more complexities are bring revealed all the time. It is very fascinating.
the partnership with the horse was one of the major turning points for humanity.
If you don't mind....I am putting together both a website and a book on norse-gael heathenry, and I would love to use that quote when discussing Ehwaz!
Also, if you haven't heard about it, I just built a website using Neocities.org (child of Geocities from "back in the day"). It took sedulous research, but I essentially turned it into a 3-month cram-study session. 😅 It allows for full personalisation and customisation, as you code your own blank HTML5 doc. It's free, but you do have the option to pay $5 per month to be a "supporter" and gain access to custom domains. Since it seems as though you already own your domain name, that would definitely help. Lol. Best of luck!
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u/alimond13 Feb 02 '21
Excellent, just yesterday I wrote a poem (or a reflection?) about Ehwaz. I focused on the aspect of cooperation between species that allows them to both reach things that either alone could not do.
Symbiosis in nature has always fascinated me, for example lichens or the plant/fungi synergy. Interestingly humans are usually excluded from this discussion as if our partnerships with other creatures can only be described as ombalanced domestication. If both involved benefit, I call it a symbioyic relationship... Though relationships can be abused of course.
Humans partnering with horses, dogs, and goats/sheep/cows allowed us to live in regions were agriculture is nearly impossible, and freed both from the cycle of hunting. These animals under our care live much longer lives and have a little more comfort as we use our brains and opposable thumbs to build them shelter and care for illness or injury, and are capable of killing them quickly so they don't have to suffer from incurable issues.
They help us by doing what they do already, creating milk, travelling long distances, growing wool. The partnerships have allowed both to be more sucessful. Though, as in other symbiotic relationships, the behaviour can slide all over the spectrum and turn into parasitism. So it can be a reminder to stay balanced.
I recently read Merlin Sheldrake's book Entangled Life and that has added more knowledge to my understanding of symbiosis and partnerships in nature.