Nature Walks with my Son

Augury is one thing I am teaching him.

I am proud to say Rowan loves being outdoors among plants and animals (I think he'll do wonderfully when we finally have our farm). Today, it was unseasonably warm for early March- so we went for a nature walk.

He and I like to collect things from our walks and look for signs and portents in nature to divine future events.

 

Rowan is now 7 and has lots of interesting ideas about the world and how it works. My job is to teach him many ways of thinking- magic, science, and that oddity of all oddities, human behavior.

Honey Locust Thorns.

When we are on walks, we collect things. Nuts, pinecones, rocks. If we collect something living, as we did these thorns, we always ask first and make an offering to "pay the coin" after. We offered spit for a thorn today- Rowan is going to use his to write on candles. I am adding mine to my bone set.

I explained to Rowan how thorns, all thorn trees, are sacred to the fey. And how they can be used to work or travel to their realm, as well as to blast and curse.

To the river!

Look! A whirlpool!

I explain that the river has currents that can be dangerous. But it also gives life by keeping the water from being stagnant for the creatures that live there. I talk about possibilities of what a "whirlpool" (or a circle of current) could be in the river that he spots. I tell him science first, then what it could mean in terms of sympathetic magic.

We pass many interesting places and things on our walks. Homes for land spirits. Buds that are out too soon (damn climate change!). 

Rowan finds "forts" and cool things everywhere. While he is still learning to be quiet and still so we can birdwatch, he does have an appeal as a hike partner. Being with him is seeing with beginner eyes all over again. Being with my son is an adventure.

A fort!

Cool burr!