Ancient Remembering & The Wild Wisdom of Nature | Jiro Taylor (2020)

Jiro Taylor joins us for Season 1 (2020) of Birdsong.

Jiro is a mystic, a poet, a storyteller, he facilitates wilderness rites of passage, he’s an artist, a creative, and a mentor to those seeking deep connection with their soul path and their wild wisdom within.

His work honours ancient wisdom and flows into modern life through art, nature based mentoring programs and wilderness quests, with the intention to help individuals remember who they are.

Jiro is the founder of Shambhala Warriors and the flowstate collective, and I consider him to be an all round great guy, stepping into the role of wise sage and seer in the larger community, and to me, he’s both a comdrade and a teacher in many ways.

We cover a lot of fertile ground here, from nature immersion, the domestification of humanity, remembering our roots, ways in which we can cultivate a deeper connection to nature, similarities between various wisdom traditions, we talk about soul language, language of the earth, we riff on shamanism, we explore how the mind is not exclusively a human possession but mind extends out to the entirety of our environment, and, a lot of other ideas, and ways of living and breathing.

 

EPISODE NOTES:

A powerful story to remind you about the incredible mystery of spirit

The importance of sharing your creativity

Honoring the Story inside of you

The mental traps of civilization-Disconnect, Individualism, and Mental Overdrive

Why our “Nature connection” needs to be more

How can I connect better with Nature?

Is our culture too obsessed with the “mind” and “mindset”?

Remembering our “wild” past Do we have a “flat” imagination?

Learning how to listen on a deeper level

Have we made “spirituality” too complicated?

Going deeper into the wisdom of Shamanism

Being comfortable with yourself...without labels, without justification, and without excuses

The pure ceremony and wisdom of fire

What does prayer mean to you?

Honoring the sun

Remembering the medicine and wisdom of plants

The wisdom and blank slate of a vision quest

 

TIMESTAMPS:

[5:23] Opening the Container: Jiro reminds us to reconnect with the wonder and awe of spirit in a story from “Women Who Run With Wolves”

[11:43] Honoring the Story

[18:49] Balancing the “high” of spirit with the “low” reality of living on Earth [20:06] Making a deeper “nature connection”

[25:06] Improving our connection with Nature

[34:18] Too much “mind” in the mix

[41:16] Remembering our wild

[42:00] What do we really know?

[43:56] Expanding your imagination

[44:17] The skill of story listening

[45:44] Communicating with society and ourselves

[53:51] The “Pathless Path”

[1:03:20} shifting from “knowing” to “experience”

[1:06:28] Shamanism

[1:11:00] Daily Rituals

[1:17:00] Prayer

[1:18:04] Honoring the life-giving powers of the sun

[1:21:05] Honoring the wisdom and medicine of plants

[1:23:42] Vision Quests

[1:30:08] Closing the Container: Jiro closes the container by reminding us to give respect and thanks for those who came before us (ancestors) and those who carry us now (plants, Sun, nature, and more)