Latest / Random Heathen Ramblings / Random Heathen Ramblings: S4, EP42 - Reminiscing Memories Of Fire On The Mountain (feat. Papa Olofsson)

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Random Heathen Ramblings: S4, EP42 - Reminiscing Memories Of Fire On The Mountain (feat. Papa Olofsson) · Random Heathen Ramblings

• 0:01
  Hello everyone, and welcome to the Random Heathen Ramblings
• 0:04
  podcast, where we discuss all sorts of things Germanic
• 0:07
  Heathenry related. My name is Jesse.
• 0:09
  I'm your host. Let's get into it
• 0:36
  all right, folks. Here we are yet again, getting
• 0:40
  closer and closer by the minute, by the by the second, by the
• 0:44
  day, by the hour, by every increment of time fathomable to
• 0:50
  the end of 2023. We're a month and a half away by
• 0:55
  modern day reckoning, at least from the end of this year and
• 1:02
  the end of Season 4 of the random Heathen Ramblings
• 1:05
  podcast. So we've only got a small
• 1:08
  handful of of of shows left. So it's pretty wild to think
• 1:15
  about, you know? Season 4 Four Seasons for almost
• 1:19
  4 years of content coming out here on the On the Random
• 1:23
  Heathen Ramblings podcast in various formats.
• 1:27
  You know, most recently now thanks to my patrons on Patreon
• 1:31
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• 1:36
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• 1:39
  A very special thanks to my all of you all, all of the tier
• 1:43
  patrons, but a very special thanks to my Chieftain Skald and
• 1:47
  a seer to your patrons. You guys and gals are true rock
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  renew that dollar pledge. You're free to do that.
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  It's no problem at all. But to catch the video versions,
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  you'll You'll want to come over here on Patreon and pledge that
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  dollar and watch what we got going on here in the visual
• 2:26
  formats. One of the thing I do want to
• 2:30
  mention as we do approach the end of the year, you know a lot
• 2:33
  of folks are thinking about holiday gift giving, holiday
• 2:39
  gifts to provide to your loved ones, your friends, your family.
• 2:44
  And I just want to remind everybody that I do have
• 2:47
  merchandise available at Midgard Musings store.com.
• 2:52
  Not only that which it's, you know, it's available year round.
• 2:55
  I don't talk about it on every episode, but not only is it
• 2:58
  available year round, but it is available specially.
• 3:02
  At a. At a.
• 3:02
  At a discounted rate. So if you guys go over to
• 3:06
  midgardamusingstore.com today up to the end of this year, so the
• 3:11
  very last day that the special is running is December 31st.
• 3:16
  You have up until the end of the year to use offer code or promo
• 3:20
  code Yule 23. That's Yu LE23 at your checkout
• 3:27
  and you will get a 50% discount on your purchase.
• 3:32
  So if you're thinking about wanting to get some merchandise
• 3:35
  for yourself or for loved ones or you know there's other gift
• 3:39
  items there as well. It's not just apparel, but
• 3:42
  anything that is on my store now until the end of this year.
• 3:46
  If you use the code Yule 23 at checkout, you get a 50% off
• 3:53
  deduction on your order. So it's definitely a good idea.
• 3:56
  If you're thinking of wanting to to get anything now and you've
• 4:00
  been thinking about getting merchandise from me, now is the
• 4:03
  greatest time, if if ever, to to get yourselves hooked up with
• 4:10
  that because again, I'm running that special.
• 4:11
  So I just wanted to mention that.
• 4:14
  And what's today's episode going to be about?
• 4:17
  Well, today's episode is going to kind of ride off of the
• 4:20
  coattails of last week's episode where I gave they sort of
• 4:23
  rundown or summary of fire on the mountain.
• 4:27
  I told you this was all last. Week that the next episode or or
• 4:32
  upcoming episodes might include other folks who were in
• 4:36
  attendance at Fire on the Mountain this year.
• 4:40
  And this week's episode is going to be a sort of reliving the
• 4:43
  memories of certain things, certain highlights maybe.
• 4:47
  We're with Papa Olafson Co host of the event, Co founder of the
• 4:52
  event. He had you know, if it wasn't
• 4:56
  for, if it wasn't for Papa Oleson, I don't think fire on
• 4:59
  the mountain in it in this version at least wouldn't
• 5:02
  wouldn't really exist. You know, and I can say that
• 5:06
  with a surety because I was there when the first fire on the
• 5:10
  mountain took place just, you know, a visit between him and my
• 5:15
  family and his and his family, you know.
• 5:16
  So the the the fire on the mountain thing as it is today
• 5:20
  wouldn't have been a thing had it not been for that initial
• 5:23
  meeting. You know, So forever grateful to
• 5:26
  have Papa Olson in the position that he's in and and and working
• 5:30
  in the capacity that he works to to provide such a an auspicious
• 5:37
  and and meaningful event every year.
• 5:40
  This year being again the 3rd year, I guess technically the
• 5:45
  third year. But the second official fire on
• 5:48
  the mountain has its name. You know we we count the first
• 5:51
  year of us meeting as being kind of like.
• 5:53
  The, you know, the seed planted for fire on the mountain.
• 5:57
  But this, this year's event being kind of the, the official
• 6:01
  second return of it, hopefully many more to come.
• 6:06
  But yes, Papa Olson's going to be joining me here today.
• 6:08
  We're going to be talking about some things, some memories about
• 6:12
  firing the mountain and and trying to elaborate a bit more
• 6:16
  on some of the things that that stood out to to us.
• 6:19
  And I mentioned last week's episode that you know, we or at
• 6:24
  least I wouldn't share certain things at that time because they
• 6:30
  weren't brought up in in any other sort of form.
• 6:34
  Since then there there have been a couple of things brought up at
• 6:37
  least that you know, we might be covering today.
• 6:40
  I don't want to count the eggs before they hatch sort of thing.
• 6:43
  But I do know that at least in another forum there were certain
• 6:48
  topics talked about that I refrain from talking about on
• 6:51
  the podcast that now that they're kind of out there, feel
• 6:54
  like it'll probably be fair game to talk about it today.
• 6:58
  So there's more to come, more details to come about this
• 7:01
  year's Fire on the Mountain with Papa Orlison today.
• 7:04
  So stick around and be sure to before you go, check the
• 7:08
  description of this video if you guys are watching this on the on
• 7:12
  the Patreon platform or if you're listening, check the
• 7:15
  podcast Show notes for some other links that you can follow
• 7:20
  to not only support what I do, but also support Papa Olesen and
• 7:25
  what he does he. He of course has the Fialvetir
• 7:28
  Workshop and fialvetir.com that he does all of his crafting
• 7:31
  through and it's and it's amazing stuff.
• 7:35
  It's amazing heartfelt products that he puts his his his heart
• 7:41
  and soul into the crafting. So checked all that stuff out in
• 7:45
  the again podcast show notes or the video description down
• 7:49
  below. And then of course as always you
• 7:52
  know check out my stuff in in the link tree link that you see
• 7:54
  down there. So we're going to go ahead and
• 7:56
  welcome Papa Olafson in today from fialvetir.com.
• 8:01
  Fialvetir Workshop also the Co founder of the Sacred Trail
• 8:04
  Society might be talking a little bit about that today on
• 8:08
  the podcast too in case you guys are wondering.
• 8:10
  So again, it'll it'll all be linked down there or over here
• 8:13
  or wherever you find it. So check it all out.
• 8:17
  Yes, without further ado, let's go ahead and welcome in Papa
• 8:20
  Oleson and let's get into today's episode.
• 8:23
  Hope you guys enjoy. Here we go.
• 8:26
  And folks, we are here joined today on the Random Heathen
• 8:29
  Ramblings Podcast, a return guest, a return friend, and an
• 8:33
  always welcome brother Papa Oleson of fiolaviteer.com,
• 8:37
  Fiola, Viteer Workshop, and Sacred Trail Society.
• 8:40
  Welcome to the show, Papa. Thank you for having me back on.
• 8:44
  Always an honor, always a pleasure and it's great to see
• 8:47
  you of course long distance face to face.
• 8:50
  But you know coming off of our our recent fire on the mountain
• 8:54
  retreat and leadership summit, meeting you face to face once
• 8:57
  again, being reunited face to face, it's it's always welcome
• 9:02
  to to see your visage here in any sort of way that we can get
• 9:06
  it. So thanks for taking the time
• 9:07
  and being available today and come back here and kind of.
• 9:12
  Relive some memories. You know, revisit those
• 9:16
  experiences of fire on the Mountain this year.
• 9:19
  I'm excited to talk with you about it and reminisce.
• 9:22
  You know, I feel like if it was an in person thing, we'd be
• 9:26
  sitting around a fire doing this very thing that we're doing.
• 9:30
  Absolutely. You know you got to have a fire.
• 9:33
  Got to have the fire. I got, I got a little bit of
• 9:35
  fire going over here, you know what I mean?
• 9:37
  I keep that, keep that candle lit, keep that fire on the
• 9:39
  mountain, burning, as it were, you know?
• 9:41
  Got a little bit of one right here too.
• 9:43
  Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Well, I don't know if you saw
• 9:47
  it, but you know last week was kind of like A, a summary of
• 9:50
  events that I tried to capture from like point A of us arriving
• 9:54
  to point B of us departing and sort of captured some highlights
• 9:59
  that I thought were worthy to to revisit and in any sort of
• 10:04
  summary type of thing. And thanks to Sid from Inner
• 10:10
  Demon Media, who you partnered up with to do your guys's
• 10:13
  talking with Heathen Show every week we had a video that was a
• 10:18
  retelling a bit of the tales accompanied with some drumming
• 10:22
  and and stuff. So people got a chance to listen
• 10:24
  or or or see some highlights of of of that event, which I
• 10:29
  thought was pretty cool. I think you both did a a
• 10:32
  wonderful job. With your episode last week in
• 10:36
  that recap and then Sid's retelling of the event and
• 10:40
  picture and video sort of his Forte.
• 10:45
  Very wonderful work from both of you there.
• 10:48
  Yeah, he did a really good job compiling everything together.
• 10:51
  And I liked how the way that he put it together was, you know,
• 10:56
  chronologically or sequentially like.
• 11:00
  From when you know the the the Hut and then the hike and then
• 11:03
  the the river immersion. Like all the various things that
• 11:06
  happened, they kind of were shared in a very prose fashion,
• 11:10
  right from one thing that started at the beginning to the
• 11:13
  way things sort of ended, at least what we were able to
• 11:16
  capture. I thought it was really well
• 11:18
  done and appreciated his artistic approach to it and and
• 11:22
  and capturing in that way. But man, I I I haven't been able
• 11:28
  to stop. Thinking about Fire on the
• 11:33
  Mountain for for for 2023, ever since I've gotten back, it's
• 11:38
  it's kind of one of those for me at least it's one of those
• 11:40
  embers that keeps burning, you know, in my memory I think about
• 11:46
  certain things and I've. I've rewatched that video that
• 11:49
  he made countless times for that reason too, just to kind of
• 11:53
  relive the memories. And I I think one of the things
• 11:57
  that we wanted to do here today with you having you here is is
• 12:01
  to kind of you know relive the memories together and and talk
• 12:05
  about some some highlights or points that that you had that
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  when I talked last week on my episode on some of my
• 12:13
  highlights. You know, what were some of the
• 12:14
  highlights for you and you know just you know you you, you.
• 12:17
  One of the, I think one of the interesting things for you is
• 12:20
  you know you you live on site where Fire on the Mountain was
• 12:24
  hosted. So you know, for me and and for
• 12:28
  others that kind of arrived, experienced and then departed
• 12:33
  and and and relive those experiences, is the experience
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  of fire on the mountain for you, you know, different being a
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  resident of the grounds where it was hosted or you know, is there
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  anything that sticks with you or that?
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  You know, you can't help but maybe be going to a certain
• 12:53
  place or or walking to a certain area that kind of triggers some
• 12:57
  of those experiences or memories for you, being again a resident
• 13:03
  of the area full time. Start from the start.
• 13:09
  The the planning itself is a little bit different.
• 13:12
  You and I have been getting into this, what, three years now?
• 13:15
  Yeah, and. We work very well hand in hand
• 13:19
  and coordinating and planning and getting all of these events
• 13:24
  set up that we're going to take on during the retreat.
• 13:28
  And I know you guys throw go through a little bit of your pre
• 13:31
  retreat planning, you've got travel plans to make, taking off
• 13:35
  work, getting packed up, all of those things.
• 13:38
  Whereas mine's a little bit different.
• 13:39
  Like you said here on site, I don't really need to pack up,
• 13:42
  but I do some other things preparing the grounds.
• 13:47
  Setting up to host and receive guests, asking the blessing of
• 13:52
  the the land spirits here and letting them know that we're
• 13:57
  going to have some company and ask them to join me in bidding
• 14:00
  that company. Well, look out for everybody.
• 14:04
  Take care of everybody. Please give us the same respect
• 14:08
  that we're going to show you in our time here together.
• 14:12
  Yeah, I thought that was it, that.
• 14:14
  I'm glad you brought that up, because like when I mentioned
• 14:16
  last week, for all, for for all of us that were traveling,
• 14:19
  right, The the majority of the folk who attended this year's
• 14:23
  retreat arrived on a Thursday. But the day before the majority
• 14:29
  of us arrived, you had already done preparatory work like you
• 14:34
  just mentioned, you know? Welcoming the the land, viter
• 14:38
  the land spirits, the the local residents, the unseen residents.
• 14:41
  Perhaps you know you prepared an altar, you blessed the landing
• 14:45
  and did all those things. Would you care to talk a little
• 14:48
  bit about what that experience is like for you again, being a
• 14:51
  resident and sharing space full time with those spirits?
• 14:55
  Was it any different for you to prepare for our arrival than any
• 14:59
  other time? Not so much it would be.
• 15:04
  Just about. Like if we were to have any
• 15:05
  other event and if we were to host a feast or any other style
• 15:09
  get together, the land spirits are here.
• 15:12
  We're on borrowed land, We're going to be here and we're going
• 15:15
  to die and our bodies going to rest in the ground.
• 15:18
  But those spirits are here, they've been here, they're going
• 15:20
  to be here long after we're gone.
• 15:22
  We're just kind of here in between.
• 15:24
  So I like to include them in anything that happens here,
• 15:28
  especially in sort of changes. Sometimes the the land spirits
• 15:34
  can be almost like a cat spirit. They're they don't get happy
• 15:39
  about change or something different.
• 15:43
  It's a slower world, I think in the trees and the grass and the
• 15:47
  the plants and animals, everything's a little bit
• 15:49
  slower. So any sort of change that
• 15:51
  occurs is drastic in a way to prepare them for that change.
• 15:57
  Make them aware. Ask them to be included in that.
• 16:02
  So that they're a part. Not just something that's
• 16:04
  happening on their space, on their time, but an invitation to
• 16:08
  take part. A shared experience.
• 16:13
  Yeah, no, that makes sense, right.
• 16:15
  Because I mean when when we talk about space and time and our
• 16:19
  experiences within such constructs, I've talked a number
• 16:23
  of times on other episodes and other content that, you know,
• 16:27
  sacred space and time is different than profane space and
• 16:30
  time. But the profane space and time
• 16:35
  that we live and experience ourselves in kind of coincides
• 16:40
  with the the spirit realm, right They're still we're they're they
• 16:44
  still exist in profane space and time.
• 16:46
  Yet their experience of that space and time is different than
• 16:52
  ours being unseen spirit. So I I like the fact that you
• 16:56
  called attention to. You know the things that happen
• 16:59
  are a bit slower right. They they exist in the the the
• 17:03
  seasons the turn of the wheel that that sort of thing.
• 17:07
  When and then you got folks like us that come in and it's like
• 17:09
  wow you know we're we're setting up camp we're we're doing all
• 17:12
  these various things we're we're drumming we're we're consuming
• 17:16
  food we're fellowshipping we're having all these things that
• 17:18
  otherwise wouldn't have been part of their repertoire right.
• 17:24
  And and kind of letting them know ahead of time like.
• 17:28
  They're welcome guests right. We're we're all here to
• 17:31
  experience something beneficial and you know come join in this
• 17:34
  experience with us I think is a a great way to connect with
• 17:40
  those unseen spirits and some of them are seen right.
• 17:43
  They they exist. I feel in in some ways in the
• 17:45
  scene, right. They they inhabit some of those
• 17:50
  bodies as it were right. Whether it be the the Ravens
• 17:54
  that fly overhead or the chickens that.
• 17:57
  Come around and. You know, the chickens wanted to
• 18:00
  hang out for sure. But I do want to grab something
• 18:04
  real quick because I want people to understand a little bit more.
• 18:08
  When we're talking about me blessing the land that consists
• 18:12
  of me asking of the Land's blessing, I'm not blessing the
• 18:17
  land for other people. I'm asking the land for that.
• 18:19
  It's blessing. That's what a land blessing is.
• 18:26
  I appreciate you bringing that up.
• 18:28
  Yeah, 'cause like you said, you know, we're on borrowed,
• 18:30
  borrowed time, borrowed, you know, space.
• 18:33
  It's custodians. Would you, would you, would you,
• 18:35
  would you agree that in a way we are custodians or we have
• 18:41
  custodian ship of the land, right.
• 18:46
  It's it's it's not ours to own. It's, it's, it's our.
• 18:48
  Responsibility to care. Stewards and MM hmm.
• 18:54
  Yeah. And I think that we embodied
• 18:56
  that through the activities, through the, through the
• 19:00
  speeches, through the various orations, things that we, you
• 19:03
  know, the people, right, the men that that that came to, to
• 19:07
  experience this. Like we knew early on that this
• 19:10
  was not only a shared experience amongst the men, but it was a
• 19:16
  shared experience amongst us and the vague year, the spirits.
• 19:23
  And we invite them in to to experience that and I think it
• 19:28
  really I think we really you know through through your
• 19:32
  efforts right a prior to our arrival and and everyone's
• 19:37
  activities and and participation and things going forward from
• 19:41
  our arrival. I think that that was understood
• 19:44
  and it was respected again as as a local full time resident of
• 19:49
  the area. Do you feel that the Vaitir that
• 19:52
  the spirits that? Reside there accepted our, our,
• 19:59
  our presence favorably. I feel like I did.
• 20:02
  I just. I'm curious what you thought.
• 20:04
  Absolutely. Nobody.
• 20:07
  We didn't. We didn't have any bail, Nobody
• 20:10
  got hurt. There were no accidents and
• 20:14
  there was nothing amiss in any sort of way.
• 20:18
  And there was always, there's always ton of potential for
• 20:22
  accidents to happen. No matter how careful you are.
• 20:24
  Somebody could be walking along and just trip and fall.
• 20:28
  But you know we didn't, we didn't experience any of that
• 20:31
  and even pushed it a little bit. A lot of walks in the dark, up
• 20:35
  and down the hill, through the fields and out into the Meadow
• 20:40
  them. Yodies.
• 20:43
  Yeah, we were surrounded by coyotes just about every night
• 20:46
  of the retreat. That was a treat in itself, to
• 20:49
  be able to sit out there but know that we were safe and hear
• 20:54
  them all through the night, just cry out in the dark.
• 20:59
  It was a beautiful thing to just sit in the quiet and talking
• 21:03
  quietly amongst ourselves and to hear them having their own
• 21:07
  conversations going on out there.
• 21:10
  Yeah, I have a funny story too about coyotes.
• 21:15
  I may have told you guys. Yeah, I did.
• 21:17
  I tell you guys about when I was a kid, when I first moved to the
• 21:20
  to the house that my parents eventually created for our home
• 21:24
  and where my mom still lives to this day.
• 21:26
  You know, the land at the time, this is, you know, 25 years ago.
• 21:30
  It was like 97 when we first moved up there, You know, it was
• 21:35
  much more wild than what it is right now.
• 21:37
  It's been a lot of the a lot of the wild has been taken out of
• 21:42
  that area because of neighbors and and other factors.
• 21:46
  But when we first moved up there, you know, my, my dad,
• 21:49
  being from the East End of Long Island, didn't know the first
• 21:53
  thing about really like hunting or or pest control or anything
• 21:57
  like that. He just thought, well, I got a
• 21:58
  gun and I, you know, I got, you know, this kid meaning me, my
• 22:01
  son, his son, right. We're going to go out there and
• 22:04
  we're going to call up some coyotes.
• 22:06
  And we, you know, we went out there one night with a 22 rifle.
• 22:13
  And A and A and a. And one of those, like, rabbits
• 22:15
  in distress calls where you blow on it and it bleats and it
• 22:17
  sounds like a rabbit in distress, which sets the coyotes
• 22:21
  off, Right. That's like their song.
• 22:22
  They're like, heck, yeah, it's dinner time.
• 22:25
  So anyway, he thought it was a good idea to go out there in the
• 22:27
  middle of, you know, 17 acres of land that he owned at the time.
• 22:31
  And almost dusk, you know, the sun's going down, It's almost
• 22:34
  dark. And he's like, yeah, give a few
• 22:37
  rips off of this dying rabbit call.
• 22:40
  And there you go, man. The woods come alive and and it
• 22:42
  and it's like we're surrounded by by coyotes.
• 22:46
  And he quickly realized that this was a bad idea.
• 22:52
  Like we're in their territory now and all he's got is like a,
• 22:54
  a, a a again, a 22 rifle with you know a a small magazine like
• 22:59
  5-5 rounds. Maybe he's like what the heck am
• 23:01
  I even doing out here? Let's go back home.
• 23:04
  But it does. It puts into perspective like
• 23:07
  you know. What are you doing out here
• 23:10
  with, with these native spirits that and now you're just going
• 23:14
  to move what to come out here and play, try to try to mess
• 23:17
  around with them. I mean, it was a lesson learned,
• 23:21
  I think, and we never did it again.
• 23:22
  That was like a one and done sort of thing.
• 23:24
  Like he's like, no, we're not going to do this ever again.
• 23:27
  That was a bad idea, you know. I think there was.
• 23:32
  It was either the first night or the second night of the retreat.
• 23:35
  We were out and everybody was kind of just in fellowship at
• 23:38
  the time. We were in between ritual that
• 23:41
  we were doing and I was with Walsh and he was talking, but I
• 23:47
  could start to hear them come up and I asked him to to listen for
• 23:53
  a second and he said what is that?
• 23:55
  I said it's coyotes. And then he said, What are we
• 23:58
  doing out here? That's a question.
• 24:03
  That's a valid question. What are we doing out here?
• 24:06
  There's Coyotes, right? We're in our we're in our
• 24:08
  protected space. The group of us were all
• 24:11
  together. Nobody had gone astray.
• 24:13
  There was nobody out by themselves or we were there with
• 24:16
  the protection of the the fire light and just all of us there
• 24:20
  together and collectively we're a little bit bigger than a
• 24:25
  possum or a raccoon. So they've got so much out there
• 24:30
  to eat. They weren't too interested in
• 24:33
  US food wise. Maybe just curious, but they
• 24:36
  weren't about to come in to camp or.
• 24:39
  Yeah, anything like that. Everybody was safe.
• 24:41
  Yeah, there was, there was no, there was no imminent danger,
• 24:44
  you know with with seven of us like I say with the fire and
• 24:48
  just the, the presents, right. Yeah, definitely.
• 24:52
  Now Speaking of fire, one of the one of the one of the big like
• 24:57
  Pivotal. Moments for for for me at least
• 25:00
  was 'cause and I I mentioned this in the in the kind of the
• 25:03
  intro to this episode was you know this is this is year three
• 25:08
  of fire on the mountain. But technically, like we we
• 25:11
  calculate fire on the mountain in this iteration of it as the
• 25:17
  second one, because the first one was you and I and you and I
• 25:22
  met in person for the first time at a moment that.
• 25:27
  What has now we realize become the seed that planted the fire
• 25:31
  on the mountain retreat and the first year right.
• 25:37
  So technically first year but it was just between you and I and
• 25:40
  our respective harsh right. My wife came with me and I was
• 25:44
  obviously we were we were introduced to your, your clan,
• 25:49
  but we we participated in a in a space and then last year's we
• 25:54
  participated kind of in the same vicinity of the space.
• 25:57
  And then we carried fire from that space to this year's space,
• 26:03
  the ceremonious aspect of carrying fire from one place to
• 26:07
  another. For me, that was one of the
• 26:11
  biggest highlights of the event, making it so ritual ritualesque.
• 26:20
  It's not like we just parked our asses in the ground and lit a
• 26:24
  fire. In the new space, we we started
• 26:27
  from the old space and we carried that fire ceremoniously
• 26:30
  to the new space. I'm just, I'm, I'm curious like
• 26:35
  how how did that ceremony play out for you?
• 26:39
  Like how how did that strike you again, knowing from where things
• 26:43
  started with you and I to to where things are now?
• 26:46
  Like, how did that how'd that hit you?
• 26:50
  The very beginning is one of my favorite stories overall in all
• 26:54
  of what we've done over the past three years is that that seed,
• 26:58
  that initial effort and that work there.
• 27:03
  You and your wife were coming through weary travelers.
• 27:06
  That time you had another destination in North Carolina
• 27:10
  and we were talking and I said, hey, let me make you up a guest
• 27:15
  room and instead of stopping off for the night at a hotel, save
• 27:19
  120 bucks and just come bunk up here and get you some rest and
• 27:25
  finish out your travel. The next day we'll feed you a
• 27:28
  meal. You guys arrived.
• 27:30
  We got to sit down and eat together but then we're in a way
• 27:35
  compelled to go out and come into ritual together.
• 27:42
  We went out and we started that first fire under that canopy
• 27:47
  there and there were runes and we were barefoot in the dirt and
• 27:52
  the drumming and just the fire itself in that space.
• 27:56
  And it was really something special, special so much that we
• 28:01
  wanted to share it with others and continue.
• 28:04
  This has a tradition year after year after year.
• 28:08
  So here we are now in a year three based on that one meeting
• 28:15
  together there. Yeah.
• 28:18
  But as far as the the fire procession that carrying in the
• 28:22
  last few years, we've made some changes here on the property and
• 28:27
  new facilities and the Hut and new grounds and things that are
• 28:32
  great for us to utilize, especially for a larger group.
• 28:35
  So this year we decided to move from last year's location to
• 28:40
  that Hut area where we've got a big fire pit set up down there
• 28:44
  and seating and other facilities down by the ponds.
• 28:49
  It's a great area, very special place to me.
• 28:52
  But it was also very important to pick up where we left off if
• 28:57
  we're going to continue this year after year to pick up where
• 29:00
  we left off last year, where that fire was held and where we
• 29:04
  gathered around where we cooked that Oregon meat and shared it
• 29:08
  together and sat and spoke and spent time and fellowship.
• 29:12
  All that spirit is still there. We didn't want to leave it
• 29:14
  there. So we're picking it up and
• 29:17
  bringing it along with us, and we started that fire back in
• 29:21
  that same location from last year and in a procession or a
• 29:26
  parade, carried it through the dark by torch, through the field
• 29:30
  and lit the new fire and the new location to begin the official
• 29:37
  2023 fire on the mountain. Yeah.
• 29:41
  And if you don't mind, I'd like to kind of paint a picture for
• 29:43
  the viewers or for the listeners about what that procession.
• 29:47
  Kind of look like because that wasn't anything that got
• 29:49
  recorded in its moment. It it, it, I don't think it
• 29:52
  could have been recorded in any sort of valuable way through
• 29:56
  electronic technology, you know what I mean?
• 29:59
  But to paint a picture of it, you wanted the procession to be
• 30:05
  carried in a very specific order.
• 30:08
  You you know who was first, who was second, who was last and
• 30:12
  this and that. Would you mind?
• 30:16
  Maybe elaborating a bit on the reason why you chose to go with
• 30:25
  that order of things, right. Why did you want so and so here,
• 30:30
  so and so there, etcetera and the significance behind it, the
• 30:34
  purpose behind it, perhaps without getting into each
• 30:38
  position specifically, the reason for the procession order
• 30:42
  is to pay respects to our individual.
• 30:48
  Kindreds are our tribes or organizations.
• 30:54
  We all have a system in place or an order to our things, and the
• 31:01
  order for the fire procession was to pay respects to that.
• 31:07
  It was beautiful. I thought, you know, like to to
• 31:10
  give people kind of an idea. The fire that was led from the
• 31:15
  place of origin to the new location where we all assembled
• 31:20
  those torches were were carried by you and I respectively, which
• 31:27
  again pays kind of an homage to the origins of the retreat.
• 31:31
  What what? What has become the retreat?
• 31:33
  You know the two original the O GS first fire together.
• 31:39
  We started the first fire together on here with my men who
• 31:43
  wanted to participate in this year's Spiritual Retreat and
• 31:47
  Leadership Summit. You were here with your men
• 31:50
  participating in this year's. So sort of a theme that
• 31:55
  developed that I wanted to hit on was that lead by deed.
• 31:59
  So I couldn't think of a better way.
• 32:01
  It wasn't that we were in front of everyone else.
• 32:05
  It was our responsibility to lead those people who have our
• 32:09
  trust to make sure we get through the dark, where we're
• 32:13
  supposed to go, where we need to get to light that new fire.
• 32:17
  Yeah. And what, what a tremendous
• 32:19
  responsibility that thing is, right?
• 32:22
  That deed is to to kind of be on the forefront, right, the first
• 32:27
  amount of and like if if you want to look at it on a good
• 32:30
  deep level, right, leading a procession through the dark or
• 32:34
  leading anybody through the dark, right, any sort of.
• 32:39
  Danger, any sort of pitfall, anything that could potentially
• 32:43
  come up in the front to to you know injure or or hurt or deter
• 32:51
  anyone behind, it's going to come like we're we're going to
• 32:53
  be the first ones to to acknowledge that to to to
• 32:57
  receive it. It's a huge responsibility to to
• 33:03
  kind of be in the front right to to to take that.
• 33:07
  Position of you follow me and and I'm trustworthy enough we're
• 33:13
  trustworthy enough right to be followed and and they know like
• 33:16
  we're we're not going to be taken into some sort of
• 33:20
  detrimental space like the trust that the people that we've tied
• 33:26
  ourselves to and and and the trust that we share with them
• 33:29
  right it it's such a holistic experience I think it's you know
• 33:34
  it's hard to put into words in a way.
• 33:37
  You know, like you trust me enough to to carry this torch in
• 33:44
  front of you, To know that I'm not going to put you in a hole.
• 33:48
  I'm not going to take you down some inescapable path or
• 33:53
  anything like that. Yep.
• 33:55
  I'm not going to walk us off a Cliff.
• 33:56
  I'm not going to walk us into the briars and the brambles.
• 33:59
  I'm going to. If I see a root or a stick in
• 34:02
  the way, I'm either going to move it myself or give you a
• 34:04
  heads up. Hey, watch out.
• 34:06
  Yeah, we're going to be the we're going to be the first ones
• 34:08
  to hit that challenge and we're going to be the first ones to
• 34:11
  accept that challenge and then make sure that those that are in
• 34:15
  our trust are are equipped to to get through it together.
• 34:19
  Leadership is a position of responsibility and no matter how
• 34:24
  many people you've got behind you or following you that have
• 34:28
  your back in case you do need to fall back and it's your
• 34:32
  responsibility if you're going to take that point position.
• 34:37
  Yep. And we had strong and and that
• 34:39
  was the other interesting thing too is almost like how a pack of
• 34:42
  wolves kind of travel. You know you have, you have a
• 34:46
  strong person in the back too. Zeb, you know I think he took up
• 34:50
  the the tail end of the procession, rightfully so to
• 34:55
  kind of make sure that everyone was OK along the way.
• 34:59
  You know, you had people in the front to kind of illuminate the
• 35:02
  way and you had someone strong. In the rear to make sure that
• 35:06
  nobody fell behind and that if there was anybody that needed
• 35:09
  help you had someone strong there to to pick up where it
• 35:15
  where it needed to be, right? It was.
• 35:16
  It was a very calculated thing and I know I just, I just keep
• 35:20
  reflecting on that procession and thinking about how
• 35:23
  meaningful it all was. And Zeb is my other guy from
• 35:27
  offer who's that was with us for the retreat.
• 35:29
  And I approached him about taking that position to the
• 35:32
  procession. And so it was sort of a split
• 35:35
  responsibility between myself and him in our position of
• 35:41
  hosting here to take those positions in the procession,
• 35:46
  yeah. The procession was a beautiful
• 35:49
  thing, man. And I and I and I and I applaud
• 35:51
  you for presenting it the way you did and and and and for
• 35:56
  everybody who participated. I know that everyone that
• 35:59
  watches or listens to this podcast will have been there and
• 36:02
  know. What we're talking about because
• 36:04
  they were there, they experienced it, but huge, huge
• 36:07
  applause and and shout out to everybody that that was present
• 36:12
  for that procession and that was that was that was kind of the
• 36:17
  the the thing that lit it off, you know what I mean?
• 36:20
  The fire was set. The fire was brought.
• 36:23
  The fire was established in our new site and then we go from
• 36:28
  there like that night was a night of we we we drummed.
• 36:33
  Together we, we, we gave our respective orations, our
• 36:37
  speeches, our, our charges that we were all respectively charged
• 36:40
  with, you know, in the Hut, which I think is a beautiful
• 36:45
  representation of equality amongst leaders.
• 36:49
  You know, it's a circle, right? It kind of like reminds me of
• 36:53
  that old, you know, King Arthur tales, you know, the round table
• 36:56
  where we, we, we meet at this space as equals, as peers.
• 37:04
  Charged with certain things. Charged with specific things.
• 37:07
  Given the opportunity to speak. I loved your application of the
• 37:12
  of the the speaking stick or the talking stick which is an
• 37:17
  indigenous Native American practice.
• 37:19
  Right. You want to talk more about that
• 37:21
  and why you incorporated that into into the the retreat this
• 37:26
  year since that's kind of it's a it's a simple thing, but it's a
• 37:29
  wonderful tradition, especially when you've got a large group of
• 37:32
  people together, especially a large group of people that know
• 37:36
  each other and haven't got to see each other in person for
• 37:39
  such a long time. It's easy to get carried away in
• 37:42
  conversation, talking amongst yourselves, even in a circle,
• 37:47
  even in a gathering to talk to the person beside you.
• 37:51
  But in order for everyone to get the respect that they deserve
• 37:55
  and the attention that their oration or their speech
• 37:58
  deserves, that calls for everyone to pay attention and be
• 38:02
  respectful. And that talking stick is a
• 38:05
  wonderful tradition. And accomplishing that.
• 38:11
  Right. Because everybody who has the
• 38:13
  talking stick, it's it's all eyes on them.
• 38:17
  It's everybody shut up, listen to what the man or the person
• 38:21
  who has it says. And I believe that it's a it's a
• 38:24
  time honored tradition, especially amongst indigenous
• 38:26
  tribes in various. You know clans or various tribes
• 38:33
  like that. That's a universal thing.
• 38:35
  Like if you have the talking stick, it's your turn to speak
• 38:38
  and everybody else shuts up and listens.
• 38:41
  Because I can be going through something and right in the
• 38:43
  middle of it you think of something that you want to throw
• 38:45
  in there. Like, hey, hold on a minute, I'm
• 38:47
  going to. It prevents that.
• 38:49
  It lets the person speaking have their full turn, their full time
• 38:51
  to speak, and then after that's finished, then you go.
• 38:56
  It also helps teach patients, so if it was important enough for
• 39:01
  you to want to interject, it should be important enough for
• 39:03
  you to be patient with and be able to remember when it comes
• 39:07
  your time to speak. If it wasn't that important and
• 39:12
  you don't remember it, then that's just how it goes.
• 39:16
  How it goes? It reminds me a little bit of
• 39:19
  the the structure of symbol in a way, because depending on how
• 39:24
  strict you want to go with the order of symbol, I mean there
• 39:26
  are. There are some who will get very
• 39:30
  granular with the structure in the order of symbol down to the
• 39:34
  fact of where people get seated, who speaks first, how the order
• 39:39
  of symbol goes right. It can become a very structured
• 39:43
  thing which is great and it and it again it kind of echoes and
• 39:49
  and mirrors in a way that the the tradition of the of the
• 39:52
  talking stick is, is when that person, when that person has the
• 39:55
  horn. And that person has the cup,
• 39:56
  whoever it is, right? It is their time.
• 39:59
  And in the talking stick kind of echoes that responsibility in a
• 40:04
  way to me in the in the northern traditions of things, you know.
• 40:10
  So here are a little more, a little more relaxed.
• 40:14
  I've never really put a structure or an order to
• 40:18
  positions or spaces or seats. One thing that I will do is if I
• 40:22
  know someone's participating ensemble who has never done it
• 40:26
  before, it's their first time. I'll position them to the right
• 40:30
  side of me If I'm leading or beginning, if I'm going first in
• 40:35
  the first round because we go sun wise or clockwise.
• 40:38
  So that gives them a chance to hear me speak, hear the next
• 40:43
  person, the next person, the next person, the next person.
• 40:45
  Then it gives them an idea of how to go about conducting
• 40:50
  themselves ensemble before it actually gets to their turn.
• 40:55
  Yes, yeah. They kind of get a run of the
• 41:01
  run of the run of the what they call it, not run-of-the-mill.
• 41:03
  But like, yeah, they kind of get like a an understanding of
• 41:07
  what's about to happen. Because I think different
• 41:11
  groups, different collectives will if if they hold stumble
• 41:16
  right there, they they might do it different ways.
• 41:20
  And it's up to the host, I think.
• 41:22
  Yeah. Ultimately I think for anybody
• 41:24
  listening or watching, right. If you go to a a collective of
• 41:26
  people and they want to talk about doing Sunbel, I mean the
• 41:30
  the the the samba GIFA, the the sumble giver usually the Lord of
• 41:33
  the hall is is kind of the one that dictates the order of
• 41:36
  things. So in respect of of your hall,
• 41:40
  right we we we play by your rules.
• 41:43
  So how you know Papa Olufsen does sumble might be different
• 41:47
  than how? Myself and you know who are the
• 41:50
  folk does stumble, but it's ultimately up to the stumble
• 41:53
  giver the the Lord of the hall. However you might, you know,
• 41:57
  describe them as as as how that order goes.
• 42:02
  But again, like the the formality of it, there's a
• 42:05
  reason for it. There's a purpose for it.
• 42:07
  It's not just to be, you know, let's, you know, give everybody
• 42:13
  their positions, their titles. I, I I felt that titles and
• 42:18
  positions when we went once we opened up fire on the mountain
• 42:23
  in the last two years. I feel like titles and positions
• 42:27
  are honorary they they are acknowledged.
• 42:30
  But it it's kind of a loose thing you know what I mean.
• 42:33
  And I I remember your man Zeb. You know, I I would pop up here,
• 42:38
  there or whatever. Chieftain this, Chieftain that.
• 42:40
  I'm like, hey guys, you know, it was a neat acknowledgement.
• 42:44
  You know, of of the person, but at the same time it wasn't like,
• 42:48
  that's right, everybody stand up for the Chieftain or any kind of
• 42:51
  ridiculous thing like that. It was, it was a respectful
• 42:53
  acknowledgement, but it was also a very casual assembly in that,
• 42:57
  in that right, you know, we were leaders in our respective areas,
• 43:03
  assembled together in a summit for a reason and we met on that
• 43:09
  level. In a circle, in a in a round
• 43:12
  place, even the even the seating around the campfire was
• 43:15
  circular, you know, I feel like that was significant too.
• 43:21
  I don't know if that was specifically thought out with
• 43:25
  with with it all, but I feel like just thinking back on it
• 43:28
  and reflecting, reminiscing, you know, like the whole circular
• 43:31
  motif meeting on that level area but in a circular fashion was.
• 43:39
  Was right. You know, I like the word
• 43:45
  appropriate. I tried to be purposeful and
• 43:52
  everything setting up and I'm getting ready, being prepared,
• 43:56
  whether it be the fire procession or seating or other
• 44:00
  accommodations appropriate and with purpose.
• 44:06
  Yeah, and you and I've talked a lot about.
• 44:09
  Purpose, you know. Do you feel that the purpose of
• 44:17
  fire on the mountain stay out on the court 2023 Do you feel that
• 44:23
  we met the purpose for the retreat?
• 44:30
  Absolutely. Talking with everybody
• 44:33
  collectively after the retreat, and also on a personal level
• 44:37
  individually and hearing the feedback from each person's
• 44:42
  experience, I would definitely say that purpose was met on many
• 44:48
  different levels. I would agree.
• 44:53
  You know, I I got a chance to be reunited with kindred spirits.
• 45:02
  You know yourself, of course. My, my, my, my tribe who I
• 45:06
  travelled with. My lost speaker, my go, the
• 45:09
  Patrick Walsh who flew under our colors and arrived flying the
• 45:15
  flag of flirty folk. I blew the horn upon our arrival
• 45:19
  and and and and Walsh was was was tasked to kind of hold that
• 45:23
  banner out, right. Flirty folk has arrived I think
• 45:27
  at least from my end right. You know, speaking on behalf of
• 45:30
  my people, I think that there was a beautiful representation
• 45:34
  of of. Brotherhood.
• 45:37
  A fellowship of understanding what the obligations that we
• 45:42
  took between one another were. You know, you got to experience
• 45:51
  some things with some of some of my people that I didn't even get
• 45:54
  a chance to experience. You know you had a chance to to
• 45:58
  run down the mountain. That full, full force, you know,
• 46:07
  running down the mountain with my fool.
• 46:10
  What was that like for you? What was that whole experience
• 46:13
  like? That was a lot of fun.
• 46:15
  It was really interesting. I don't normally get to do that
• 46:19
  with a hiking partner. I've usually got Sun with me or
• 46:23
  the kids, and they've got smaller legs so their papers set
• 46:29
  a little bit different unless I'm out by myself and I usually
• 46:32
  don't get the gumption to go full speed back down the
• 46:36
  mountain when I'm out by myself. But I got a phone call while we
• 46:42
  were up at the top and I was needed.
• 46:46
  We had handled what we were up there to handle, so we had come
• 46:50
  to a point together where the rest was just enjoying the time,
• 46:53
  the space, enjoying the fellowship.
• 46:56
  We had all made it to the top by that point when I got that phone
• 46:59
  call, so I made the decision to take that out and come back to
• 47:05
  the grounds here. I know that Patrick likes to get
• 47:11
  out on the trails and he likes to run and he smoked us last
• 47:16
  year on our walk up Stone Mountain in that tropical storm.
• 47:21
  He was way up there, but he was in his element.
• 47:24
  He loves it and that's his way of connecting with nature.
• 47:28
  And so I asked him if he would like to come along with me with
• 47:31
  the understanding that I was not going to walk back down, but I
• 47:35
  was going to run it. And he said, yeah, sure, let's
• 47:39
  go. So we set our farewells and set
• 47:44
  pace and we're talking over 2800 something feet in elevation in
• 47:53
  under a mile in distance coming back down.
• 47:58
  We made pretty good time. I reckon so.
• 48:01
  I reckon so. Real quick for everybody
• 48:04
  listening and watching. You know, we're joined here with
• 48:07
  Papa Olafsson again, Co founder of what has become Fire on the
• 48:13
  Mountain. The Alva Tier Workshop and
• 48:16
  Sacred Trail Society got about a 32nd.
• 48:19
  Long thing here real quick that I'm just going to share with the
• 48:21
  listeners and the viewers about what Papa Olafsson does.
• 48:27
  So we'll be back in about 30 seconds.
• 48:28
  I'm just going to play a real quick 32nd clip for you guys to
• 48:32
  understand a little bit about what Papa Olson does, and we'll
• 48:36
  be right back after these messages.
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  Visit our online store at fialvetir.com and discover the
• 49:05
  beauty of mountain spirit. And that beauty of mountain
• 49:13
  spirit, my man, you guys can capture that wholeheartedly, you
• 49:19
  know, and that's that's one of the things that I just want to
• 49:23
  call attention to guys, I mean for the for the listeners and
• 49:25
  the viewers when I talk about Fialvetir.
• 49:29
  Workshop or if I if I mention Papa Olufsson or any of the
• 49:32
  things that he does, it's you know, yes he's he's a good
• 49:34
  friend. Yes, he's a brother of mine.
• 49:37
  You guys know when I talk about kinship titles, I don't I don't
• 49:40
  go all Willy nilly with that sort of thing.
• 49:44
  But the pieces that I own some of which you see in the
• 49:48
  background here and and the the pieces that you heard in in last
• 49:54
  week's video. Right the, the, the, the, the,
• 49:57
  the drum circle. I mean all of the all of the
• 50:00
  sounds that you heard are from pieces that he's created, he's
• 50:05
  crafted and I stand, you know, proudly behind the product.
• 50:14
  It's, it's, it's it's not to to be coy in any sort of way or to
• 50:18
  try to drum up business. I mean you do do that well
• 50:21
  enough yourself, Sir. But the fact of the matter is is
• 50:24
  is. You know what Papa Olsen does.
• 50:28
  Through, through through Violvitir, what he offers to the
• 50:32
  world through his craft is it speaks for itself and and you
• 50:41
  know you, you embody that on the mountain, on Stone Mountain.
• 50:46
  When you know you took, you took a group up one side of the
• 50:49
  mountain. Zeb took another group, myself
• 50:51
  and and my my go, the wolf up the other side.
• 50:57
  And we kind of met in the middle that was that was a whole thing
• 51:01
  in and of itself. I think that's worthy to to
• 51:03
  mention here at least or talk about at least you know what was
• 51:06
  what was the experience like from your end coming up that I
• 51:10
  think grade incline up the other side of Stone Mountain just real
• 51:15
  quick before we even get into that personal experience.
• 51:18
  This is one of those things that we schedule and plan for
• 51:22
  ourselves. There are obstacles as
• 51:24
  opportunity in facing that. Here's another O word, ordeal of
• 51:30
  doing something challenging, doing something to push
• 51:33
  yourself. It forces you to come into your
• 51:36
  spirit. When your mind says no, your
• 51:39
  body says no. You have to come down to your
• 51:43
  spirit to say yes and to see you through.
• 51:46
  And so we plan a lot of these difficult things.
• 51:50
  That hike is one that may not be difficult for some listening who
• 51:54
  have experienced it before, but it's not an easy hike.
• 51:59
  We did that split group to experience different sides of
• 52:02
  it. That one section it's under a
• 52:06
  mile long, but it's a climb in elevation of almost 3000 feet.
• 52:12
  Patrick is an avid hiker and trail runner and he talked to me
• 52:20
  a little bit about that trail and I wanted to give him the
• 52:25
  opportunity to experience it. I've talked a little bit about
• 52:28
  it with him before as we talk about different trails and their
• 52:32
  difficulty levels, and he got really excited for this one.
• 52:36
  I was telling him about the pitch, the grade, and there are
• 52:38
  some sections that the trail stops and it's just the bald
• 52:42
  mountain face, that granite Dome, and the only thing getting
• 52:45
  you up are posts driven into the mountain with a wire.
• 52:52
  He was super excited for that. He wanted to take that on.
• 52:55
  So we did. We split those two groups and we
• 52:58
  took on the one side and we had Patrick Walsh with us who
• 53:03
  challenged himself in that difficult, difficult side.
• 53:08
  And collectively we made it to the summit in under 30 minutes.
• 53:16
  We were rock. Pushing.
• 53:19
  And right there, nobody got left behind, nobody ran ahead.
• 53:23
  We did it together just the same as your group did coming up to
• 53:28
  the other side. You guys did it together.
• 53:30
  Yeah. And at the top?
• 53:33
  Yep. And that was the beauty of it,
• 53:35
  you know, being being together with a group on on that climb,
• 53:41
  you know that that that summit and being met with that feeling
• 53:46
  of, I don't think I can do this. And you know again prior to us
• 53:53
  taking that climb, there were, there were owes given and owes
• 53:56
  taken and and then understanding of that we're not going to give
• 54:02
  in to this fear or doubt mentality.
• 54:05
  We're we're going to be there for one another to get us
• 54:08
  through these challenges and get us through these things.
• 54:11
  And that was one of the things that OAF was facing upon that
• 54:15
  climb is, you know, we we. We reached the point where he
• 54:18
  looked ahead of himself and he saw that climb up.
• 54:24
  You know, this the switchbacks that would have been involved
• 54:27
  and he's like, I don't think I can do it, you know.
• 54:30
  And that wasn't an option. But we didn't.
• 54:34
  You know, I I talked about this a little bit last week and I and
• 54:36
  I wanted to expound upon it now. You know you can you can take
• 54:42
  stuff like that when when someone says.
• 54:46
  Or someone feels that they can't do things.
• 54:47
  You can take it one of two ways. You can you can take it in this
• 54:51
  sort of, oh, man up, quit, quit being a wuss, you know, you
• 54:56
  know, nut up or shut up kind of aggressive mentality.
• 55:00
  Or you can take it in this sort of I'm here with you, I'm going
• 55:05
  to be experiencing my own difficulties.
• 55:07
  You're not in this alone that you can take it any more of a
• 55:10
  holistic healing sort of approach.
• 55:14
  And I feel like if we had taken this approach of being this like
• 55:18
  hard ass about it, then it wouldn't have accomplished the
• 55:21
  thing that we were aiming to accomplish with fire on the
• 55:26
  Mountain. You know, this isn't about, you
• 55:29
  know, in in in some sort of ways.
• 55:31
  It's about finding your inner strength and and and digging
• 55:34
  deep and and abandoning this mental block or this physical
• 55:39
  block and and finding that spiritual strength to persevere
• 55:42
  and get through it. But approaching it in a way that
• 55:47
  is loving, you know what I mean? There's a there's a time and a
• 55:53
  place for There's a time and a place for tough love.
• 55:58
  And if you don't know when those are appropriate, you shouldn't
• 56:01
  be leading. Right.
• 56:04
  If it's just tough love all the way through, you're just an
• 56:06
  asshole. Do you really think these drill
• 56:09
  sergeants go home and order their wife and their kids
• 56:12
  around, or their husband or their family the same way they
• 56:14
  do the soldiers in training? No.
• 56:17
  There's a time and a place for tough love, and if you can't
• 56:20
  tell the difference or know when it's appropriate, you should
• 56:23
  probably step back. If you're in a position of
• 56:25
  leadership, that was not one of those times or places for tough
• 56:30
  love. It was a time for Brotherhood
• 56:33
  encouragement and giving that man the confidence, knowing that
• 56:39
  he had people that have his back to get up there on his own 2
• 56:43
  feet. And he did it, yeah.
• 56:47
  And there's not much victory that happens when you take on
• 56:51
  one of these obstacles, one of these challenges, and you
• 56:54
  conquer it. The personal victory in the
• 56:57
  collective. And that's what this retreat,
• 56:59
  this men's retreat, is all about.
• 57:01
  You get these personal victories, but then also get to
• 57:03
  celebrate victory with the men around you.
• 57:06
  I got up there and was happy. I was pumped.
• 57:08
  I was excited. You get up there and you feel
• 57:09
  the breeze, the wind coming through.
• 57:11
  You start hearing the Ravens, then you turn around and the
• 57:14
  person that came with you is right there.
• 57:16
  They're victorious. That other person's victorious.
• 57:19
  Then we get over there and there here comes the other group.
• 57:22
  You guys made it. We're celebrating that victory
• 57:25
  and then all of your individual victories coming up.
• 57:27
  It was just a great, great celebration.
• 57:29
  We were all feeling fantastic. Yeah.
• 57:35
  Yeah. I think that was one of the like
• 57:39
  exercises of you know building that trust between one another
• 57:45
  that and the immersion ritual. You know what I mean?
• 57:48
  Which was prior to the to the mountain climb cause the
• 57:52
  mountain climb kind of happened on the cusp of a pretty rigorous
• 57:56
  evening prior of of I being and and and all kinds of stuff,
• 58:01
  where the next day like half of us were probably like.
• 58:05
  I don't really feel like doing this like some some.
• 58:07
  I'm just going to be real like somebody another brother of mine
• 58:11
  like that. That that infamous picture of
• 58:13
  you kind of looking over me covered in reindeer fur on the
• 58:17
  bed was almost like the people laugh at that laugh at that
• 58:23
  photo more than they like heart react to it.
• 58:27
  They laugh at it because it's almost like you're you almost
• 58:30
  have this like you Papa. You have this almost look of
• 58:32
  like I'm not about to take my britches off and like.
• 58:35
  Clap some cheeks from this poor bastard laying here, you know,
• 58:42
  and I'll, I'll give it here. It's just it's a a regular
• 58:46
  posture. If I see someone there, I'm
• 58:50
  leaning over like this. I'm not leaning over like this.
• 58:54
  Right, right, right. You know, But I looked at that
• 58:58
  as, like, yeah, as funny as it is, right?
• 59:00
  As funny as 'cause if, you know, you know, Right.
• 59:03
  If you were there, you know what happened to me that led up to
• 59:06
  that moment of me being there? And so it's kind of like an
• 59:09
  inside joke sort of thing, right?
• 59:11
  But looking at it from the outside, it's like nobody took
• 59:16
  advantage of me. Nobody took advantage of each
• 59:18
  other in our maybe less than, you know.
• 59:26
  Admirable or honorable states right we we maybe have
• 59:29
  overindulged. We we we experienced some things
• 59:31
  and we were in a moment of vulnerability.
• 59:33
  And yet our brothers, our folk, who accompanied us on these
• 59:41
  various trials and and and obstacles our, our, our various,
• 59:46
  you know, ordeals and adversities, were there to
• 59:52
  present an image of support like.
• 59:55
  I'm right here with you. I get it.
• 59:56
  I know what we checked on and cared for.
• 1:00:00
  Right. And that was, that was more of
• 1:00:05
  what I felt this year than I think I felt in a lot of other,
• 1:00:10
  you know, experiences. I know last year's Fire on the
• 1:00:13
  Mountain was a totally different theme.
• 1:00:15
  There were different challenges, There were different
• 1:00:18
  adversities, different ordeals that we experienced.
• 1:00:22
  But this year's Fire on the Mountain was very like, where's
• 1:00:29
  my man? Where's my person?
• 1:00:31
  Where's my guy that I'm supposed to be responsible for, right?
• 1:00:35
  For me, it was Walsh, right? If I didn't see him around, or
• 1:00:40
  if I knew that he had gone off, regardless of what I was
• 1:00:45
  feeling, I was like, I need to go check on him, you know what I
• 1:00:48
  mean? I need to go find him.
• 1:00:49
  And then I wasn't the only one that went on that exodus.
• 1:00:54
  You know what I mean? I was accompanied by Zeb or you
• 1:00:57
  or somebody else that was like, where's where is, where is he
• 1:01:00
  at? Let's, let's find him.
• 1:01:01
  Let's make sure things are OK, right?
• 1:01:04
  We we had the presence of mind to know that as much as we're
• 1:01:07
  enjoying this experience, as much as we're having this moment
• 1:01:11
  of of enjoyment and fellowship, that we still share and
• 1:01:16
  responsibility to one another and are we all accounted for?
• 1:01:21
  There are times that. Between ritual and ceremony and
• 1:01:26
  the exercises, it's very personally intimate and it can
• 1:01:30
  be very emotional. And so if someone steps away
• 1:01:35
  from that circle or that arena at hand, they may be
• 1:01:41
  overwhelmed, they may be dealing with a lot that they're not used
• 1:01:44
  to dealing with inside emotionally or mentally.
• 1:01:48
  And so that's good to have that person.
• 1:01:50
  Right there with you, because you're used to stepping away
• 1:01:53
  from something and dealing with it on your own.
• 1:01:55
  When we experienced that here and someone stepped away, you
• 1:01:59
  were dealing with it but with that hand on your back, that pat
• 1:02:02
  on your back, that hand on your shoulder, right.
• 1:02:08
  And I think, yeah, and I think that that's AI think that's an
• 1:02:12
  important maybe theme or or or something to call attention to
• 1:02:19
  with the fire on the mountain, right.
• 1:02:21
  Because as we talk about it now, we're reminiscing about an
• 1:02:24
  experience that we had. But we're also at least I think
• 1:02:28
  between you and I, you know we're we're looking at future
• 1:02:32
  encounters, future experiences and that that theme, that
• 1:02:39
  understanding of responsibility to our fellow person, our fellow
• 1:02:43
  man will carry on in future iterations of fire on the
• 1:02:50
  Mountain, right. This isn't just some sort of you
• 1:02:53
  know let's get away and get you know effed up to the Max and you
• 1:02:56
  know and let us doing our own things.
• 1:02:58
  Like there is there is purpose behind it and there is one of
• 1:03:02
  those purposes is to build those bonds and to establish that
• 1:03:07
  trust and and that Frith that understanding of obligation
• 1:03:12
  between one another. And I think for those that
• 1:03:16
  experience this year fire on the mountain that it it it set a
• 1:03:23
  standard. It set a precedent in a way for
• 1:03:28
  future iterations of this. Right.
• 1:03:31
  This isn't just about me. This is not just about you.
• 1:03:33
  It's about us. Yes, there are going to be
• 1:03:35
  things that me and you experience individually, but
• 1:03:39
  there's the US factor, right. The shared experience.
• 1:03:49
  There was a big there were there were there were big ritual
• 1:03:52
  experiences that was about us. The if you want to talk about a
• 1:03:58
  little bit, Papa, the the the the weapon ceremony, the death
• 1:04:03
  ceremony, that was a that was a huge US thing.
• 1:04:07
  Right. And I've never experienced, I'll
• 1:04:12
  just say right now like I've never experienced it experienced
• 1:04:14
  anything quite like that And I've had a lot of us
• 1:04:19
  experiences, you know what I mean?
• 1:04:20
  And with with other people. But that that segment, that
• 1:04:25
  section of the retreat for this year at least the US factor,
• 1:04:32
  right, like man, I I I can't measure that up to anything else
• 1:04:40
  that I've experienced. I don't know about you, but that
• 1:04:44
  that that kind of that one kind of sets a sets a strong mark on
• 1:04:54
  the memory. And that that first bit that you
• 1:04:57
  had mentioned the weapon ceremony, it was a with
• 1:05:02
  meditation or who to set our setting out.
• 1:05:05
  We do this practice to go into a spiritual place, into that
• 1:05:08
  spirit world and. You encounter things you can
• 1:05:12
  summon things to face or to ask questions of in that time there.
• 1:05:18
  And a lot of people are able to go into this space to face
• 1:05:23
  traumas or fears that have been holding them back, or have them
• 1:05:27
  in a negative space and take that on or challenge that face
• 1:05:32
  that. I guess a lot of people might
• 1:05:34
  call it shadow work also, but a lot of people go into it empty
• 1:05:39
  handed. And get there and find that this
• 1:05:42
  problem is a little bit bigger than the what they were prepared
• 1:05:46
  to face or have the courage to take on.
• 1:05:50
  So we did this practice, this exercise with some of our our
• 1:05:54
  personal weapons or things like that.
• 1:05:59
  We each spent our personal time separate in that meditation, but
• 1:06:04
  taking those things with us in spirit for the experience to.
• 1:06:09
  Face those things that have been beating us down or holding us
• 1:06:12
  back or have caused trauma or negative issues that we've
• 1:06:17
  carried in throughout our life or our time as an adult.
• 1:06:23
  Later on into the night we got into another sort.
• 1:06:27
  It was a death and rebirth ritual that we took on.
• 1:06:32
  Very, very intimate, very very emotional to prepare yourself.
• 1:06:38
  For a ritualistic death, we had a platform set out for this
• 1:06:46
  experience and there was a a burial shroud that was involved
• 1:06:51
  to be covered for a period of time to allow the individual up
• 1:06:57
  during the experience that time to themselves to go through
• 1:07:03
  those emotions and go through those mental motions.
• 1:07:08
  To let all those old things die, those old fears, those old
• 1:07:12
  negative behaviors, those old things of self that aren't
• 1:07:15
  serving or moving forward in a positive, progressive way as a
• 1:07:19
  person and as a leader, and then to be brought back to life,
• 1:07:24
  reborn from that new, fresh and spirited, that was a very
• 1:07:32
  intense ritual. They were, they were all intense
• 1:07:36
  rituals. And I think one of the things
• 1:07:38
  that I took away from the weapons ceremony especially was
• 1:07:45
  this idea of we all face things right and and and you know,
• 1:07:49
  people face battles and struggles and and emotional
• 1:07:56
  trauma differently. And one of the things that I
• 1:08:02
  took away from that ceremony was, like you mentioned, you
• 1:08:06
  know, going into it empty handed, where we feel like,
• 1:08:11
  well, we just have to face it and work through it in a way.
• 1:08:14
  But how about we we approach it ritualistically, ceremoniously,
• 1:08:20
  and actually physically equip ourselves with a weapon of war,
• 1:08:26
  to battle the things psychologically, metaphysically,
• 1:08:32
  but carry with us a physical weapon of war.
• 1:08:35
  A blade of some sort of, you know, again, it could be a bow,
• 1:08:40
  it could be a staff, could be an axe, could be some sort of
• 1:08:44
  physical implement that represents our ability to battle
• 1:08:47
  against an enemy, putting ourselves in that position with
• 1:08:55
  that physical implement. It it it sets the stage, you can
• 1:09:02
  go about the. Whole thing entirely different
• 1:09:05
  when you're going in and feeling prepared to take this thing on.
• 1:09:09
  Yeah like I, I I remember going into that headspace right when
• 1:09:14
  when you and and and here's the thing guys like listening and
• 1:09:17
  watching. Everybody's listening and
• 1:09:19
  watching like the the the the preparatory work prior to this
• 1:09:23
  ritual. It wasn't like it wasn't just
• 1:09:25
  all Willy nilly again. It was.
• 1:09:26
  You are about to embark money on a journey, and you're about to
• 1:09:36
  face things that you need to face.
• 1:09:40
  Don't come back here. Don't come back from exposing
• 1:09:45
  yourself to these things. Don't Don't return back here
• 1:09:47
  until you have vanquished them. You come back a victor.
• 1:09:51
  You are equipped. Now you are empowered.
• 1:09:54
  Now you have the weapon of war that you need to face.
• 1:09:57
  These things. Go into this, seek them out,
• 1:10:02
  hunt them down if you need to. Don't come back until you have.
• 1:10:07
  That was powerful like that, that that preparatory speech,
• 1:10:11
  that that setting of the stage sort of thing for me was like,
• 1:10:17
  yeah, God damn it, I'm going into this thing and I'm going
• 1:10:19
  to, I'm going to kick ass. I'm going to win.
• 1:10:23
  And you know, not to, not to sound like, you know, you know
• 1:10:27
  all the the the bravado or whatever, but it it was, it was
• 1:10:30
  empowering. It was like, I have things that
• 1:10:33
  I need to face and now I'm equipped to face them.
• 1:10:37
  And damn it, I'm not going to come back to everybody else here
• 1:10:41
  until and unless I have vanquished those things.
• 1:10:47
  It was a time. It was time to.
• 1:10:49
  A lot of these things will haunt people for years, dog people for
• 1:10:53
  years. Then you'll make your best
• 1:10:55
  effort to face them. But often times we find that
• 1:11:00
  we're unprepared when we face them.
• 1:11:03
  We're caught off guard for some. They call it a trigger.
• 1:11:07
  We weren't ready to face it when it popped up.
• 1:11:10
  So now we're going to turn the tables.
• 1:11:12
  We're going to hunt that thing down.
• 1:11:13
  We're going to seek that thing out.
• 1:11:15
  We're going to face that thing fully prepared to wage war and
• 1:11:21
  win. It's no longer going to haunt
• 1:11:24
  me. It's no longer going to dog me.
• 1:11:26
  I'm going to defeat this and I'm going to be better for it.
• 1:11:31
  Yeah. And and that was the thing that
• 1:11:35
  sort of set the stage or that preface the death ritual, you
• 1:11:38
  know what I mean? It was, and I love the the, the
• 1:11:41
  order of things. This, the the, the, the
• 1:11:43
  sequential order of things. Again, it was so methodically
• 1:11:47
  planned out. I think maybe that when we
• 1:11:54
  approached those rituals that that that things were flipped a
• 1:11:57
  little bit. I feel like the the, the, the
• 1:12:01
  weapons ceremony and the death ceremony, at least initially,
• 1:12:05
  were planned differently than what they ended up being at.
• 1:12:11
  You know, that fire on the mountain, but it it happened in
• 1:12:13
  the way that it needed to happen.
• 1:12:15
  And I and I I love the way it happened because how do you go?
• 1:12:18
  How do you, how do you approach your own death, right.
• 1:12:25
  How do you, how do you go into that ceremony without first
• 1:12:32
  addressing the things that have been a like this demise or or
• 1:12:41
  something of your spirit prior to that, right.
• 1:12:44
  You got to address that thing first, and now you're prepared
• 1:12:47
  to take that journey to to to, to, to ride the road to hell, as
• 1:12:52
  it were. And this may sound goofy when I
• 1:12:58
  explain a little bit of that order, but even when you
• 1:13:02
  Vanquish your foe, your, your arch nemesis, whatever you want
• 1:13:06
  to call it, that greatest thing that you've ever had to take on,
• 1:13:10
  it can still leave that splinter.
• 1:13:12
  It can still leave that little bit of touch.
• 1:13:14
  It makes me think of when Gandalf and the ball rug on the
• 1:13:19
  bridge. Even though he defeats it, its
• 1:13:23
  tail like whips up right at the end.
• 1:13:27
  And so it's classic. It's a classic story all across
• 1:13:30
  the world in all mythology that these great battles between
• 1:13:34
  these two things, it always ends in obviously the victor being
• 1:13:41
  victorious, but then very soon after rejoining that Nemesis and
• 1:13:48
  death. So this was a chance to win that
• 1:13:52
  final battle, have that courage, have that pride, alleviate that
• 1:13:58
  fear, and then go into the death ritual With courage and no extra
• 1:14:05
  baggage, you can go in and be at peace and then come out with
• 1:14:09
  that completely gone. Nothing hanging on, Nothing
• 1:14:13
  residual, no splinter. No tail to come up at the end
• 1:14:17
  and grab you at the ankle to come out.
• 1:14:21
  Absolutely fresh, reborn, renewed and without that old
• 1:14:26
  bullshit. It's been tagging along for
• 1:14:29
  years. Yeah, that's an interesting
• 1:14:32
  analogy, you know, because Gandalf and and the Balrog,
• 1:14:35
  right, They are both, at least in Tolkien, more.
• 1:14:38
  They are both my yard. They.
• 1:14:40
  They are. They are equal on the energy
• 1:14:43
  levels, you know what I mean? Like they are peers.
• 1:14:46
  And as as it were. And and Gandalf had to face that
• 1:14:49
  demon, that that that darkness, and be victorious over that
• 1:14:55
  figure to emerge as Gandalf the White, right to to be who he
• 1:15:01
  became, to lead further the the the the the company and to serve
• 1:15:08
  the company of the Fellowship in the capacity that he did.
• 1:15:12
  Tolkien nerds out here listening and watching, they're going to
• 1:15:15
  know what I'm talking about. But it was it was a it was a
• 1:15:17
  moment of his existence as a my art to be destroyed and to be
• 1:15:22
  reborn, right. He had to face that demon.
• 1:15:25
  He had to face that darkness. He had to battle that thing.
• 1:15:31
  And he couldn't have done what he did without having that
• 1:15:34
  battle. Yeah.
• 1:15:37
  Yeah. How do you, If everything was
• 1:15:39
  reversed, right. It would, it would have been
• 1:15:42
  catastrophic, you know. And I don't know, like for the,
• 1:15:48
  for the folks that experienced the death ritual, you know, you
• 1:15:52
  and I are here talking about it. For those listening, watching
• 1:15:54
  that were a part of it too. Everybody's experience was
• 1:15:58
  different. Everybody's experience was
• 1:16:01
  profound in its own way. My experience.
• 1:16:04
  Personal it was. It was so personal again and
• 1:16:08
  again. I can't, I can't reflect more on
• 1:16:10
  that particular thing any differently than I have right
• 1:16:14
  now. It's like the the, the sound of
• 1:16:19
  the water, the the being carried on that boat, right going down
• 1:16:25
  the river, right on the road to hell.
• 1:16:28
  You know there's that river you know that that that that that's
• 1:16:30
  talked about even the northern traditions that separates the
• 1:16:34
  the the realm of the living from the dead and and and how Garm
• 1:16:37
  guards the bridge and all this sort of thing.
• 1:16:39
  Right. But but traversing that that
• 1:16:43
  canal right being carried along that space having already faced
• 1:16:49
  the things that you had to face reaching that end being brought
• 1:16:54
  back to life by the people that were there to welcome you.
• 1:16:58
  I I was. I was brought back to life and I
• 1:17:01
  faced the audience of brothers and I was embraced by my
• 1:17:07
  brothers in a way that I've never been embraced before.
• 1:17:12
  You know it it was I I I can't. I've I've walked the road to
• 1:17:20
  hell. I've I've gone through ritual
• 1:17:22
  experiences that have taken me to Hellheim, you know, and and
• 1:17:28
  this particular experience for Fire on the mountain was there's
• 1:17:33
  almost like the cherry on the top, you know what I mean?
• 1:17:36
  Like this was something that I couldn't have experienced any
• 1:17:39
  other way, by any other means. You helped facilitate that
• 1:17:46
  through the space that you sanctified, through the the
• 1:17:53
  agreement, the the, the collective experience that you
• 1:17:57
  that you shared with the Vaitir, right.
• 1:17:59
  We were all there, a part of it. It wasn't exclusive.
• 1:18:03
  They were there. A part of it too.
• 1:18:06
  The spirit of the water, the spirit of the wind, the spirit
• 1:18:08
  of the earth, Right. They were all there to accompany
• 1:18:13
  us on these various experiences, these these these individual
• 1:18:20
  experiences that collectively combined at the end provided
• 1:18:28
  something that I don't think could be experienced any other
• 1:18:33
  way. And not to brag or boast, but
• 1:18:39
  leading up to each year, the past couple of years, I've
• 1:18:43
  referred to this prestigious, esteemed event as Life changing.
• 1:18:50
  It's the experience of a lifetime you and I put.
• 1:18:54
  A lot of work into what we do and hosting here and conducting
• 1:18:59
  this men's retreat and I feel it's been very successful.
• 1:19:05
  And each of the people, each of the years that we've held it in
• 1:19:08
  their feedback, seeing them carry that fire forward after
• 1:19:13
  the retreat has come to an end and after that closing ceremony
• 1:19:16
  and as they go about their life and how they've lived since and.
• 1:19:22
  And seeing the changes in their leadership and in their person
• 1:19:25
  and their confidence and their spirit, yeah, I absolutely.
• 1:19:32
  Stand by that. It's the experience of a
• 1:19:35
  lifetime. I 100% agree and I'm glad that
• 1:19:42
  we got a chance for you know you to come on on this podcast this
• 1:19:46
  week and and share your thoughts and and your feedback on it.
• 1:19:51
  Again, being one of the core founding reasons why Fire on the
• 1:19:55
  Mountain exists, I'm excited to to see and and be a part of what
• 1:20:02
  the next version of Fire on the Mountain becomes.
• 1:20:10
  The wheels are already turning. Yeah, yeah, everybody.
• 1:20:13
  I mean, look when when the wheels were turning before we
• 1:20:17
  even hit the ground. You know what I mean?
• 1:20:21
  Like watching the planning for each year's event starts just
• 1:20:28
  almost right after the end of the previous year's event.
• 1:20:32
  A lot gets tossed around in deciding and making those final
• 1:20:40
  preparations for how we're going to conduct the retreat, you
• 1:20:45
  know, So almost a year's worth of planning goes into each one
• 1:20:48
  of these events. And I just got to say, you know,
• 1:20:55
  with with regards to the people listening and watching, you
• 1:21:00
  know, when, when the planning happens, you know what I mean?
• 1:21:04
  Like, if I have to, if I have to give a boast or whatever, you
• 1:21:08
  know, it's like Allstate, you know you're in good hands this.
• 1:21:15
  This isn't something that is just casually thought about by
• 1:21:20
  anyone in a position to think about it.
• 1:21:23
  It's it's well thought out. It's well prepared.
• 1:21:26
  It's well deduced 2024, whatever it's going to be, will be a
• 1:21:36
  thing of greatness, and I'll just put that out there.
• 1:21:45
  So I don't know yet if there will be a part three to fire on
• 1:21:51
  the mountain discussions in the form of a sort of live panel,
• 1:21:57
  live stream. I would like to think that there
• 1:22:00
  will be more to come on that. So for the listeners and the
• 1:22:03
  viewers and stuff, if you guys are following along and and
• 1:22:06
  curious about it, there have been talks of.
• 1:22:10
  Putting together a sort of virtual panel of attendees in a
• 1:22:14
  live stream sort of format to field your questions, your
• 1:22:20
  inquiries, right. If you're hearing all of this
• 1:22:24
  and you're watching all of this and you're wanting to know, you
• 1:22:28
  know what it means for you personally, I don't know.
• 1:22:31
  Like there's there's talks of of that to happen, whether it
• 1:22:35
  happens before the end of the 2023 year or whether it happens
• 1:22:38
  at the beginning of 2024 or whenever.
• 1:22:42
  I feel like something will happen.
• 1:22:43
  We have yet to determine those exact specifics, but I know
• 1:22:48
  enough of the grit of the people behind all of this to know that
• 1:22:54
  we want information to be available and accessible to
• 1:22:59
  people you know. And then we want to take this
• 1:23:02
  seriously and we want to approach this in the way that
• 1:23:05
  we've approached this in the last three years.
• 1:23:07
  Right, Papa? We we want to take this.
• 1:23:09
  Seriously. And we want to, you know,
• 1:23:13
  approach this with the, with the, with the amount of piety
• 1:23:15
  and benevolence that is due, the sort of thing we want to carry
• 1:23:19
  the tradition on strongly. We want to carry that fire on
• 1:23:22
  the mountain beautifully and and provide opportunities for those
• 1:23:28
  that need it, right. So I guess that's all I have to
• 1:23:38
  say. For this week's episode, Papa,
• 1:23:41
  do you have anything else that you want to add?
• 1:23:45
  Not a whole lot, other than to thank you for having me on to
• 1:23:49
  talk a little bit with folks about our experience at this
• 1:23:52
  year's Fire on the Mountain Retreat and Leadership Summit.
• 1:23:56
  I'm very much looking forward to the 2024 event and also hope
• 1:24:02
  that we can get that panel together.
• 1:24:04
  I think that would be a lot of fun and a great opportunity for
• 1:24:07
  those out there watching and listening that do have questions
• 1:24:10
  or would like to hear some of the other guys experiences and
• 1:24:13
  their their take on the various things that we've talked about
• 1:24:17
  or maybe even some of the things that we've missed.
• 1:24:21
  Yeah, 100%. And I'm inviting everybody
• 1:24:24
  that's listening and watching now if you have questions about
• 1:24:28
  this, you know, virtual panel of of the attendees of this year's
• 1:24:33
  2023. Fire on the mountain.
• 1:24:35
  If you have questions, if you have ideas, if you if you
• 1:24:39
  anything that you want to share. You have multiple ways of doing
• 1:24:42
  so. Best ways possible would be to
• 1:24:45
  to send an e-mail into the podcast.
• 1:24:47
  That's Midgard Musings tn@gmail.com.
• 1:24:52
  You have a written opportunity to to share all of your
• 1:24:56
  thoughts. If you want to call into the
• 1:24:57
  hotline 615-671-9832. You got a 3 minute limit.
• 1:25:05
  But you can call back as many times as you want and share your
• 1:25:07
  thoughts. But again, I think the best best
• 1:25:10
  way possible would be to compose your thoughts and ideas or or or
• 1:25:14
  questions and put it in written format.
• 1:25:17
  And stay tuned, because we'll be we'll be in touch with those who
• 1:25:22
  who couldn't make it to this week's episode, but that were
• 1:25:26
  nonetheless pivotal and important to the success of the
• 1:25:32
  2023 Fire on the Mountain Steer on the Court.
• 1:25:35
  Right Star map theme of the Azure Summit and we want to
• 1:25:40
  address your questions, answer your questions, talk about
• 1:25:44
  things that you have in mind, so send them our way.
• 1:25:47
  Midgard musings tn@gmail.com would probably be the best way.
• 1:25:53
  So everything that we talked about this week or or on this
• 1:25:58
  episode rather is is LinkedIn, the podcast show notes.
• 1:26:03
  There's going to be links there that you can check out.
• 1:26:06
  For those of you watching on the podcast on Patreon, check out
• 1:26:08
  the description area for you know, Fialvatir Sacred Trail
• 1:26:14
  Society. We alluded to it earlier in the
• 1:26:16
  podcast, but Papa, I mean sacred trail Society that's it's it's
• 1:26:20
  more of a a lifestyle, right. It it's, it's more of just going
• 1:26:23
  out and doing things, you know be a part of the custodianship
• 1:26:28
  of our sacred land, right? Take care of picking up.
• 1:26:33
  Trash, right? Like, just be a presence in that
• 1:26:38
  aspect, right? Yeah, we may not have been the
• 1:26:41
  person to throw that thing down on the ground or leave that
• 1:26:44
  trash behind, but neither was the person that's going to come
• 1:26:47
  after We do. So we can do our part to make
• 1:26:52
  that experience sacred for them. And the shared space that we
• 1:26:56
  have, it's dwindling. The natural spaces, the land,
• 1:27:01
  the trees, they're dwindling by the day as communities are
• 1:27:06
  developed and spaces are bought up and taken.
• 1:27:08
  And even now here in North Carolina, we're about to use so
• 1:27:13
  many acres of protected wetland that has now came up to stop
• 1:27:20
  being protected and will be sold to be developed.
• 1:27:26
  So even things that are under protection right now are being
• 1:27:29
  reversed and sold. We've got to take care of what
• 1:27:34
  we have while we have it and we owe it to everyone around us and
• 1:27:41
  ourselves and especially the land.
• 1:27:45
  Absolutely. We, we, we again, we are, we're,
• 1:27:48
  we're we're on borrowed time. You know, this isn't our land.
• 1:27:51
  This is their land. And we're we're blessed enough
• 1:27:54
  to have the opportunity to experience these things.
• 1:27:58
  So even if you didn't make the mess, pick it up.
• 1:28:01
  I I do it dozens of times on the river here near where I live.
• 1:28:06
  I see. I see you know messes left by
• 1:28:09
  people who I don't even know but they it ain't my mess.
• 1:28:12
  But I clean it up and it ain't your mess.
• 1:28:15
  You can clean it up nearby you right.
• 1:28:18
  Even if it's just a a small you know plastic bags worth of of
• 1:28:23
  litter, you know you can make a difference.
• 1:28:25
  And then that's what Sacred Trail Society is about.
• 1:28:29
  It's about. Taking custodianship of this
• 1:28:34
  sacred land. All these trails are sacred.
• 1:28:37
  All of this land is sacred. And step in, be a custodian.
• 1:28:44
  Pick it up. Even if you didn't make the
• 1:28:46
  mess, pick it up right. It's going to make for a better
• 1:28:49
  experience for those that come behind and after you.
• 1:28:53
  You can use a hashtag Sacred Trail society if you want to
• 1:28:56
  kind of catalogue that on your social media.
• 1:28:58
  I know that's a big thing. There are a lot of folks these
• 1:29:00
  days. Hashtag Sacred Trail Society.
• 1:29:03
  You can tag the Facebook page or Instagram Sacred Trail Society.
• 1:29:08
  Feel free to share pictures of your efforts, help us to
• 1:29:11
  motivate and inspire others to take action and lead by deed.
• 1:29:17
  We can talk all we want to about it, say all the pretty words,
• 1:29:20
  all the the grand speeches about conservation and protecting our
• 1:29:26
  wild spaces, but it's going to take action and it has to start
• 1:29:30
  with us. So yeah, feel free pictures or
• 1:29:34
  post those pictures of your efforts.
• 1:29:35
  You leading by deed and taking action, getting out there and
• 1:29:39
  doing the right thing. Help us to inspire and motivate
• 1:29:43
  others to join in on that. Hell yeah, brother.
• 1:29:48
  Lead by deed. The biggest thing that I could
• 1:29:51
  take away from in terms of just a quote or or or or a thing from
• 1:29:56
  far on the mountain, right? Lead by deed, do the thing, Be
• 1:30:01
  the thing, right And those that want to will follow.
• 1:30:07
  They, they, they, they'll, they'll pick it up.
• 1:30:09
  We all are a part of it, you know.
• 1:30:13
  So thank you Papa Olufsson, my brother, for for being here this
• 1:30:16
  week on the Random Heathen Ramblings podcast.
• 1:30:19
  I appreciate you and your time you guys.
• 1:30:22
  Be sure to check out the description and showing us of
• 1:30:24
  this podcast to follow this guy. On all of his stuff, get his
• 1:30:29
  stuff. It's it's the holiday season I
• 1:30:31
  mentioned earlier on you know, I I got merchandise you can buy.
• 1:30:35
  But more importantly make sure that this guy has has a has a
• 1:30:40
  lot of work to do. Make him busy because that's his
• 1:30:46
  livelihood, you know. Give him, give him the
• 1:30:48
  opportunity to craft wonderful things for you and yours.
• 1:30:54
  He does great work again. You see a lot of his stuff in my
• 1:30:56
  background. You've heard a lot of his stuff
• 1:30:59
  in my content, and we stand by it.
• 1:31:05
  So thank you, Papa Allison, for being here with me this week.
• 1:31:08
  And thank you all for listening and watching this week's episode
• 1:31:12
  of the Random Heathen Ramblings podcast.
• 1:31:15
  Until we talk to each other again.
• 1:31:17
  May the gods continue to notice you and may your ancestors smile
• 1:31:22
  upon you. We'll see you next time.