Sacred Predators

There is an old idea, once held by all people, that whatever we kill, harvest and consume for our personal benefit is forevermore under our protection and care. Not in an ownership way, but in an indebted, connected way. It is an understanding that we are essentially eating our own relatives (though most people now call them resources) in order that we ourselves may continue to live. For this reason, we owe these relatives our life, and are now in service to every single one of their kin. It is an ancient way of thinking that works to ensure the wellbeing of all future generations, both predator and prey.

As predators–and yes, we are absolutely predators, even if someone else is doing our killing for us– we can learn to exist in a harmonious way within our ecosystem by observing other predators. Wolves are a beautiful role model for just this, as they are known to make that which they hunt more healthy and robust by regularly taking the lives of the weakest and most feeble among any one species. Over time, weakness is continually selected out of that species, until we are left with beings as magnificent as the bison and the caribou. In turn, the wolves become more powerful and adapted, as well: leveling up in order to take down the strengthening herd.

But how do we practice this kind of stewardship in the modern age? Unless we are actively involved in the cultivation of these relationships through high-level hunting and gathering, this question can be deeply overwhelming to our modern mind. As many of us have no idea where our food really comes from…or perhaps, from what it has even been made. While we seek towards the best possible answer to this problem– one that may remove the burden of these questions from the lives of our grandchildren– there are so many ways to engage ourselves holistically as members of this web of life. Because of the immense disconnection inherent to our current food systems, however, each one will require much more of our creative presence and participation.

For those of us who gain the majority of our daily energy from the lives of animals– meat, eggs, dairy, honey, etc– there is no lack of work to be done in order to help these beings improve their standing in this world. For example, the amount of suffering taking place in factory farms and feed lots is out of control. Or in the pesticide-ridden orchards that our bee populations are forced to pollinate. Anything that gives us life should not suffer unnecessarily under our management and care. This is inhumane (un-human) behavior. Confronting such disharmony and injustice requires the full power of the sacred predator within us. Where is it that we are naturally pulled to create positive change? Which facet of this earth calls to us to help restore its balance? If we observe our lives, and follow the subtle patterns, the way will be revealed. For some, it will lead to larger-scale work, such as advocating for the preservation of oceanic fisheries, or teaming up with a rainforest restoration movement. For others it may mean implementing what we believe in our own backyard: starting a small family-run farm or garden that is focused on regenerating the soil and nourishing our people. Whichever direction the path my take, we must keep in mind that what we allow for today is what our grandchildren will inherit tomorrow. We must actively choose towards ensuring their health and vitality by choosing towards the health and vitality of all.

This pertains to those of us who eat strictly plants, as well. As the mono-crop fields that primarily feed this belief system are some of the most destructive expressions of human agriculture on the planet (no matter how ‘enlightening’ this way of eating may be for our consciousness). These monoculture operations are far more detrimental to our earth than any farm that holistically raises its animals. The proof for this can be found by measuring the biodiversity in each given system, including the fertility of the soil. Walk across the verdant pastures of a well-tended cattle ranch, for example, and you will see all manner of animal track and sign. Everything from the humble field mouse, to the sparrow hawk stalking it from high above. Walk across a field growing corn or lentils, and you will see very little besides corn or lentils. That is until harvest season, when the wildlife come to feast on the leftovers of this unsustainable food production. The yearly tilling of that soil also destroys all hope for building up a healthy soil biome (which is the true foundation of wealth underlying every economy). When we remember that these places were once thriving forests or rich grassland ecosystems– home to a myriad of living beings– we begin to understand how much our bowl of rice and beans truly costs. This realization can be extremely humbling, just as it is for those who finally wakeup to the nightmare sourcing of their factory-farmed hamburger. This realization is a great gift in disguise, as it allows us to step away from all ideas of moral superiority that we may be holding, and address the inherent burdens that exist with the devastating beauty of being alive, and needing to eat.

The reality for most of us is that we receive our nourishment from the entire garden of eden: animals, plants, mushrooms, minerals, earth, sea, and sky. In the old days, we could ensure the wellbeing of all beings by simply tending to our immediate environment, as this was where the exchange for our sustenance would take place. Now days, the average human–in this country especially– is dependent upon nearly every corner of the known world to exist in its current iteration. Though so much of this could potentially come from local sources, most people simply do not live within a system that makes this an attainable reality. So, it becomes clear to us here: we must change the system. As much as it is within our power, we must redesign our lives in such a way as to benefit all that feeds and gives us life. And not just for ourselves and those that we hold most dear, but also for those who do not have it within their power and privilege to make these necessary changes themselves.

This act of protecting and uplifting our relatives– however we are best able to do this– helps us to remember our potential as a force of harmony and balance upon the planet. Which is something many of us have never felt before…or have been conditioned to forget. Yet it is hardwired within our essential nature to be guardians and gardeners of this most beautiful, wild earth. In these deeply disconnected times, this is a profoundly courageous energy to embody, as it requires us to become acutely aware of the many forms of disease and disharmony that threaten our existence. Despite this, we must bring forth and utilize this highest evolution of our primordial predator energy: with clarity of vision, purity of heart, and sincerity of action.
Hunting down the hidden source of anything that threatens to destroy this web of life and light.

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I am forever grateful to each and every living being that has given its life in order that I may live. Known and unknown, seen and unseen. May that I always move with deep humility in the understanding that this earth was not put here for me, but that I was put here for it. That we were made for each other. And may this guide me to become the greatest expression of my own divine humanity, intimately interwoven with this entire web of life and light.

~Bless this day, and all who live it. Bless this life, and all that gives it~