Latest / Random Heathen Ramblings / Random Heathen Ramblings: S5, EP20 - Craftwork In Paganism (feat. JM "Bright Spirit" Olofsson & Blake Russell)

Transcript

Random Heathen Ramblings: S5, EP20 - Craftwork In Paganism (feat. JM "Bright Spirit" Olofsson & Blake Russell) · Random Heathen Ramblings

• 0:00
  Hello everyone and welcome to the Random Heathen Ramblings
• 0:04
  podcast where we discuss all sorts of things Germanic heathen
• 0:07
  re related. My name is Jesse and I'm your
• 0:10
  host. Let's get into it.
• 0:32
  The Yaldehyer Workshop is dedicated to the old ways,
• 0:36
  offering a wide selection of animus, ritual supplies,
• 0:39
  divination tools, altered goods and home decor, including
• 0:43
  premium reindeer hides imported from traditional herders in
• 0:46
  Northern Finland. Whether you're just starting
• 0:48
  your spiritual journey or looking to expand your
• 0:51
  collection with a custom drum, we have everything you need.
• 0:55
  Visit our online store at the yaldehyer.com and discover the
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  beauty of mountain spirit. All right, everybody.
• 1:07
  Halen, welcome back to this week's episode of the podcast.
• 1:12
  Hope you're all doing well and staying healthy and strong out
• 1:14
  here. Got a couple of guests lined up
• 1:16
  for us this week who have been on the show individually at
• 1:22
  different times, but for the first time we'll be both on the
• 1:28
  same stage with me today to talk about an interesting topic that
• 1:33
  was kind of given to me as a as a as a something to consider a
• 1:38
  few months ago from Blake Russell from Skaldic Works.
• 1:43
  Skaldic Works is his musical project.
• 1:46
  He does, you know, instrumental stuff on the Tangleharp, some
• 1:51
  drumming things. He's a local heathen in the
• 1:55
  Northern Alabama region of the country here in the US and he
• 2:01
  had emailed me a while ago asking if you know, do pagans,
• 2:06
  including Heathens, have to be crafty or artistic.
• 2:11
  And I thought, you know what, what better person to bring on
• 2:14
  this show to talk about something like this would be
• 2:17
  someone who has also been again a guest on this show a number of
• 2:22
  times. My good friend and brother JM
• 2:24
  Bright Spirit Olafsson, who is the Craftsman behind the
• 2:28
  fialvetirfialvetir.com Fialvetir workshop, Bright Spirit Art.
• 2:34
  Now, there's a line of crafts that he makes that is
• 2:38
  specifically geared toward the, you know, native animistic
• 2:44
  nature. I mean it's all animistic if you
• 2:46
  want to really get down the brass tacks I suppose.
• 2:49
  But yeah, so we gotta, we're going to have these two
• 2:53
  artisans, these two Craftsman, because if you think about it,
• 2:56
  music and the performing arts, I mean that is a craft for sure.
• 3:02
  I am not crafty in that way. I don't have the the skills or
• 3:06
  the crafts for for that type of of of thing.
• 3:10
  But it is an interesting thing to consider its presence in the
• 3:16
  Pagan and heathen circles or communities.
• 3:20
  So I think it's going to be fun to talk to these guys and you
• 3:25
  know see if it's something that you know, they feel that it is a
• 3:28
  as as Blake had asked, you know, is it something that is like a
• 3:31
  requirement? Do they have to be, do we have
• 3:33
  to be, is it mandatory? You know, and there's there's
• 3:36
  more to that that we'll get into once we bring them on the stage
• 3:40
  here to to talk. So, you know, in consideration
• 3:45
  of them and supporting them in any way that you can, all their
• 3:47
  information is going to be LinkedIn, the show notes or down
• 3:50
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• 3:53
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• 3:56
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  along with it. So you know, check all that
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• 4:39
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• 4:50
  you know my e-mail contact information should be LinkedIn,
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• 4:55
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• 5:00
  call into the what do you call podcast hotline or whatever.
• 5:02
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• 5:10
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  You can remain anonymous if you have a thought or something that
• 5:17
  you'd like to hear, you know, discuss between either myself on
• 5:21
  a on a solo show, you know, or if or if I have guests coming on
• 5:25
  and you just would like to, you know, get other opinions about
• 5:28
  it. Feel free to leave your thoughts
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  and your and or your feedback through that method as well.
• 5:34
  So again, it's 615-671-9832. It's a Google Voice number, you
• 5:40
  know, so standard rates and all that stuff do apply.
• 5:46
  So that's all about the, you know, the housekeeping stuff
• 5:49
  that I've got to to tell you guys.
• 5:52
  Be sure again to check out Skaldit works and if you all
• 5:54
  have, it's here.com. All that information is
• 5:57
  LinkedIn, the show notes or the video description of the show
• 6:00
  and show your support in all the ways that you can.
• 6:03
  So without further ado, let's go ahead and welcome on to the
• 6:06
  Random Even Ramblings podcast. Mr., Blake Russell of Skaldit
• 6:09
  Works and JM Bright Spirit Allison offialvitir.com Bright
• 6:15
  Spirit Art. Let's get into it.
• 6:19
  And folks, we are here joined. Like I said before, return
• 6:23
  guests from different episodes, but for the first time sharing
• 6:26
  the stage with me today is to my to my right, your left,
• 6:31
  whatever. To my to this side, to the side
• 6:33
  with the green background. This is Blake Russell of Skaldic
• 6:35
  Works. Welcome to the back to the show
• 6:37
  Blake and beneath him and beneath me is my good friend,
• 6:42
  brother and esteemed colleague Mr. JM Bright Spirit
• 6:45
  olefsonfialvatir.com Bright spirit art.
• 6:48
  Welcome to the show, gentlemen. Thank you.
• 6:53
  It's great to have you first of all it's great to have each of
• 6:55
  you, you know back. But it's it's, I think it's even
• 6:58
  greater to have you both here together on the show at the same
• 7:02
  time. This is, this is awesome.
• 7:04
  I'm looking forward to getting into our our topics this week so
• 7:08
  thank you both for being here at the same time.
• 7:13
  So Blake, real quick I'll I'd just like to give you the chance
• 7:16
  to let people know that are new listeners or or newcomers to the
• 7:20
  show who you are, what scalded works is what you do.
• 7:24
  I mentioned earlier you're a musician, but maybe just give a
• 7:28
  quick intro about yourself or the people please.
• 7:32
  Yeah, so I run Scholar Works, which is my my my own personal
• 7:38
  entity for sharing my music. My any just any music that I do.
• 7:46
  I also, again, I play tagle harpa, play different drums, I
• 7:50
  play any instrument I can get my hands on.
• 7:53
  Basically, I have a bucket list about Mow Long that I'll never
• 7:57
  get to Nice for instruments. I have heard some of your stuff.
• 8:02
  You got you. Have you have music online
• 8:05
  still, I believe on at least on YouTube and maybe some other
• 8:08
  places, right? Yeah I I'm having difficulty
• 8:11
  with my with Facebook right now but still I had to arrange
• 8:17
  rearrange it to where I can get a new page set up.
• 8:22
  That whole. But.
• 8:25
  I said, uh oh, did you get hacked?
• 8:27
  Yeah, my original Facebook account got hacked.
• 8:30
  It has everything you tied to it.
• 8:33
  So that was that was about a couple months ago and I've been
• 8:37
  trying to rebuild since, but I still have the Lee Tree.
• 8:40
  So that's that's the basics of everything to where you can find
• 8:43
  me is through that and my Instagram is still up and
• 8:49
  running, which that's what happened was it tied it to the
• 8:53
  Instagram. That's a short long story but it
• 8:56
  it said that disconnected from my my Instagram where I could
• 9:00
  not access the IT said to dispute it so.
• 9:05
  That's where this That's a bummer.
• 9:07
  That's a good. I took the loss.
• 9:10
  Yeah. So I I'm also again, I'm a I'm a
• 9:16
  musician. I do tackle Harpa.
• 9:17
  I do some lessons on there on like YouTube.
• 9:22
  I carry some things over the Instagram as well.
• 9:25
  I have a a little merch store or from Teespring account that I
• 9:31
  remember Shadow and then I also have let's see trying to think
• 9:38
  of things I do. I also in my local community,
• 9:41
  I'm also like a little do some type of like energy healing
• 9:46
  work. I'm a Ray K2 practitioner.
• 9:50
  Oh, very cool. Yeah, I remember.
• 9:52
  I think the last time you were on this, Yeah, last time you
• 9:55
  were on the show, you were talking about getting into stuff
• 9:58
  like that. So that's cool that, yeah.
• 10:02
  I'm sort of, I'm actually certified in that right now and
• 10:06
  I'm still I'm still trying to run clients right now.
• 10:09
  So it's kind of hard to find clients here that's willing to.
• 10:13
  It's it's either I'm having a problem with my messages or
• 10:15
  something. I don't know.
• 10:16
  It's. I haven't.
• 10:19
  I've had a couple of inquiries and no response backs, all
• 10:24
  right? Well, we'll keep an eye on stuff
• 10:27
  and for folks that are wanting to keep track of that or your
• 10:30
  musical project Scald, it works. They can follow your link tree
• 10:33
  and and anything that you've got update wise will I'm sure will
• 10:36
  be linked to other platforms there through through that
• 10:39
  method. So all that'll be linked down
• 10:41
  there. So yeah, good, good deal.
• 10:44
  And then you know we got JM Allison here, Bright Spirit, you
• 10:48
  guys are are very well aware of him, but if I do have any new
• 10:51
  listeners or viewers, JM, tell us a little bit about yourself
• 10:57
  there brother. Behind Filveteer Workshop,
• 11:03
  that's going to be Norse type ritual items, drums, runes,
• 11:10
  things bright. Spirit dot Art is a little bit
• 11:13
  more of my personal project sharing my animistic journey
• 11:17
  here in Appalachia. The spirit of the land, the
• 11:21
  plants, the animals, everything here.
• 11:24
  Also sacred Trail Society. It's environmental awareness and
• 11:29
  conservation movement that I'm very proud to have Jesse on
• 11:33
  board with as one of the founders.
• 11:36
  We're out there in the communities, putting action to
• 11:41
  that conservation lead by deed, getting out, cleaning up,
• 11:46
  maintaining the shared space between US and the wild.
• 11:53
  Yeah. Thank you.
• 11:54
  Yeah. All very beautiful.
• 11:56
  You know I say business is is obviously you know the the
• 12:00
  Fialvetir side of things but you know it's it's all I think
• 12:03
  labours of love ultimately. You know, it's it's where our
• 12:05
  hearts lie and it's where we find our our purpose And and
• 12:10
  when you find that and can, you know, do stuff that helps kind
• 12:14
  of keep the lights on, then then then that's even better, You
• 12:17
  know, that's a that's a blessing.
• 12:19
  But and I don't know, I own a number of of the Fialvetir,
• 12:25
  youknow.com, fialvetir workshop. A lot of J Ms. work is is seen
• 12:29
  in some of my backdrop. You know, lighting's a little
• 12:31
  bit dark right now, but there's drums, there's rattles and he
• 12:36
  has helped kind of, you know, shape my, my, my animistic
• 12:42
  views, you know, of the world as it were.
• 12:45
  So we are actually going to be talking today about a little bit
• 12:49
  about stuff like that, you know, the the, the crafting side or
• 12:52
  the craftsmanship side of our practices, you know, or or if
• 12:58
  there's any side to that in our practices.
• 13:01
  So this, this question or this topic actually came to to us
• 13:05
  here on the podcast through Blake here.
• 13:08
  You had emailed me a couple of months ago and you had asked a
• 13:14
  question based on a past experience that you had had in
• 13:18
  in a group or something, right? So why don't we start off with
• 13:22
  that, if you don't mind? Because I feel like the best way
• 13:24
  to tell the story is is straight from you.
• 13:27
  Yeah, well, it's actually was two group, both of my last two
• 13:32
  groups that I was a part of. I was one I was worthy into and
• 13:34
  the other one I was kind of like already a part of just forming
• 13:38
  by ourselves. But what happened was what
• 13:43
  happened is to explain things. I have AI have a friend of mine
• 13:48
  who it was also my previous Githia of the group that we were
• 13:53
  trying to form and put together well, she told me back when the
• 14:02
  first kindred I was trying to join.
• 14:06
  They had a Worthing period about say six months.
• 14:11
  And they said that one of the requirements I believe was to
• 14:15
  craft something. I was thinking like physically
• 14:18
  craft something, you know, like like carve or something in that
• 14:23
  nature. And I like I was saying to
• 14:27
  myself that what about people are not so that do not have a
• 14:30
  crafting bone in their body? I mean, do you expect them to do
• 14:34
  this by themselves? You know, and that's what arose.
• 14:38
  And the question is whether or not we should require people to
• 14:46
  do something outside their comfort zone just to join or
• 14:50
  prove worth. I see.
• 14:55
  So this was so do you remember if like the the the the
• 15:00
  specifics behind that requirement?
• 15:02
  Was it like you have to craft a rune set or you have to craft a
• 15:05
  God pole? Or was it like a specific type
• 15:08
  of crafting? Was it you know, you have to sew
• 15:10
  something, carve something, build something, write something
• 15:15
  'cause there. I mean craft can encompass so
• 15:17
  many different specific types of.
• 15:19
  Of work I didn't, I she didn't specify exactly, but I was
• 15:23
  assuming it was of the tangible sort, like crafts that like like
• 15:30
  carve something, Draw Something, you know, because it's kind of
• 15:34
  hard to see like music as a craft in a way.
• 15:39
  Like, it's more of an art form than a than a specific craft
• 15:43
  that's tangible. That's interesting that you say
• 15:48
  that as a musician yourself, that's interesting that you have
• 15:52
  an opinion. On it.
• 15:53
  It definitely takes a craft to to compose music and to write.
• 15:58
  That's a it's a craft and an art.
• 16:00
  I think both. Yeah.
• 16:04
  It takes a special mind. Like you were just saying you
• 16:08
  felt like you didn't have a crafting bone in your body.
• 16:12
  I don't feel like I have a musical bone in my body.
• 16:15
  Either. I can.
• 16:17
  I can drum a beat, I can keep a rhythm.
• 16:19
  But outside of that, it's still music.
• 16:22
  I can't read music. I can't write music, I just.
• 16:27
  I dabble with different instruments as a hobby, but
• 16:30
  mostly percussion, like in what I craft drums, rattles, shakers,
• 16:35
  bells, pieces like that. Yeah, well also, as I'm not much
• 16:41
  of A lyricist either. Like me, it's all about the
• 16:46
  music and stuff. All my stuff, if you listen to
• 16:48
  it, is basically instrumental in nature.
• 16:54
  And not I have. I cannot do the poetic meter
• 17:00
  stuff very well. There's a skill to that.
• 17:05
  I mean that's that's definitely a craft I think that some people
• 17:08
  possess. You know obviously any like like
• 17:11
  almost any craft I think you can learn it you know AM or you know
• 17:15
  if we want if we wanted to learn how to read and write music we
• 17:19
  could we could apply that you know time and effort to to
• 17:23
  learning it. Some people really do just have
• 17:26
  an inclination and a gift when it comes to certain things.
• 17:29
  You know, like it's it's what is they, it's like what they were
• 17:32
  meant to do. Yeah, and sometimes it takes a
• 17:36
  lot more people, a lot more time to get good at that craft as
• 17:41
  well because like, give them somebody like a time frame, for
• 17:48
  instance, to do something that they have never done before, you
• 17:53
  know, they need to take their time with it.
• 17:56
  Yeah the I think like hearing you're you're you're talking
• 18:01
  about you know making somebody do something before they can be
• 18:07
  considered as part of this group 'cause you were talking about
• 18:11
  how the the the the spirit behind making someone do this or
• 18:15
  or charging them to do it was in a way this sort of Worthing
• 18:20
  process you know can you can you see this thing through.
• 18:24
  So again like without knowing like this all the specifics
• 18:27
  about it I I I don't think that that's necessarily a bad way to
• 18:34
  you know test how some how much can be is committed.
• 18:41
  Again, it would it would have to almost be like, well, what are
• 18:44
  the specifics 'cause if you're gonna be like a type of person
• 18:46
  that's like, well, in order for you to be a part of our group or
• 18:49
  our kindred or our tribe or whatever, like you have to be
• 18:52
  able to, you know, speak, you know, old Norse in a
• 18:56
  conversation for at least 5 minutes or you have to be able
• 18:59
  to carve an 8 foot tall God pole to Odin or something.
• 19:02
  That's kind of Nicholas, you know?
• 19:04
  But you know. Yeah, expect expecting to do
• 19:07
  something in a time in a certain time frame that this happens out
• 19:10
  of their comfort zone and not actually even offering aid.
• 19:14
  Probably like I can understand if you're like saying, OK we
• 19:18
  can, we will have you craft something, but we will help you
• 19:21
  with that as well. When I was first listening to
• 19:25
  the story, it did sound a little strange to have that
• 19:29
  requirement. But then I thought to the words
• 19:32
  of Eric, you know, not my hall, not my call, if that's the way
• 19:35
  the community wants to base entry.
• 19:39
  And then I got to thinking about it a little bit more as you guys
• 19:42
  were talking. A lot of groups now are looking
• 19:45
  to form that community and pay homage to the way communities
• 19:50
  were set up before where everyone did have a craft,
• 19:53
  everyone had a skill and looking what do you have to contribute
• 19:57
  to the group? We can do these things.
• 19:59
  What do you bring to the table? Sort of like and also just to
• 20:03
  see if the person would be willing to try or to make the
• 20:06
  effort in this charge. Yeah, so I get both sides of the
• 20:11
  coin there. Yeah.
• 20:13
  It's like it's, I think it sometimes may be put off putting
• 20:17
  to some or kind of overwhelming to some that is new to like a
• 20:22
  like A to the whole belief system or even to the what what,
• 20:29
  what's the word I'm looking for to the group itself.
• 20:33
  And they don't. They're not expecting to craft
• 20:36
  anything or they don't. They don't have that.
• 20:39
  They don't have that natural ability to craft, or they don't
• 20:43
  have never even picked up a drawing tool or a or a yeah wood
• 20:50
  carving tool or wood burning tool.
• 20:53
  And the only thing they know how probably how to do best is
• 20:57
  probably go gather firewoods, yeah, or or help out in the
• 21:04
  kitchen or something. Yeah, yeah.
• 21:07
  And I think that the no go ahead.
• 21:11
  Go ahead, go ahead. No, I'll just say I think I, I,
• 21:14
  I think that the the the the reasoning behind something like
• 21:18
  we're talking about should be more geared towards like
• 21:22
  understanding what the, you know, these old communities were
• 21:26
  like, right. Everybody had a purpose.
• 21:28
  Everybody had something that they could contribute, OK Not
• 21:31
  everybody was the blacksmith. Not everybody was the seamstress
• 21:36
  or or the the the Weaver, you know, not everybody could make
• 21:39
  clothes. And everybody was like, you
• 21:41
  know, sure there were certain like basic survival and life
• 21:44
  skills that everybody had because that's how society was.
• 21:47
  That's how life was like you had to know how to keep your house
• 21:50
  dry in the wet seasons and warm in the cold seasons and all
• 21:54
  these, you know, grow your food, husband your farms to, you know,
• 21:56
  livestock and all that. But like in terms of you know
• 22:00
  who who was the blacksmith of the village, right?
• 22:03
  Well, there was there was that person.
• 22:04
  They had that skill, not everybody that came or or
• 22:07
  whatever. It was like, can you throw a
• 22:09
  shoe on a horse? If you can't, you're gone.
• 22:11
  Like you can't stay here. Like it wasn't like that.
• 22:13
  It's just like not not everybody can't be either, because if if
• 22:17
  not, everybody will go broke like they're like there would be
• 22:21
  nothing to trade for something that they needed.
• 22:24
  Yeah, that, that exactly. You know, like it's looking like
• 22:27
  if everybody was a blacksmith, then who would be trading for
• 22:30
  goods? Yeah, you can't all have the
• 22:33
  same skills and expect to be a device, A diverse enough of a
• 22:38
  community or or a group to, you know, Yeah, exactly.
• 22:43
  You know, what are you going to do?
• 22:44
  Trade, you know, bartering was a thing back in the day, you know,
• 22:47
  well, you can shoot my horses and I'll, you know, make your
• 22:49
  clothes or something, you know, like that was a thing.
• 22:52
  But I feel like there's. Dirt.
• 22:57
  It's like or or this lay the grass.
• 22:59
  What's what's more unique here? It's like, oh, this unique
• 23:01
  Pebble. Yeah.
• 23:05
  But I think I think that the the the the idea behind it is is
• 23:11
  it's worth considering because again like you know there
• 23:14
  there's so many people now realizing kind of the the
• 23:18
  benefit of having that close knit community to be a part of
• 23:22
  because you can't rely on so much.
• 23:27
  You know like you you you can't depend on so much.
• 23:30
  There's there's there's very little honor outside of you know
• 23:36
  the stuff like what we're talking about.
• 23:38
  So you know if even if even if you live next to people right
• 23:41
  like my my quote UN quote neighbors.
• 23:45
  I don't know them hardly at all. Like I know the people across
• 23:48
  from me because my wife grew up with with them you know at least
• 23:52
  with you know her her friend's husband, right.
• 23:56
  They they grew they went to church together when they were
• 23:57
  kids years ago but like and my my my in laws live a few doors
• 24:02
  down from me and and I know them of course but like the people
• 24:06
  directly in front of me where I live I I don't know them at all
• 24:11
  And that was that's a very different lifestyle now like so
• 24:14
  you can't rely on your neighbor like you could years ago maybe
• 24:18
  not even all that long ago you know you could you lived in a in
• 24:22
  a way and and and the community was was built as such that you
• 24:26
  were dependent on one another because if you weren't you could
• 24:29
  die you know you could starve and it didn't matter if you
• 24:33
  could sew a button or you know whatever like there were some
• 24:36
  there were more important things at hand.
• 24:38
  But in in in an effort to kind of cultivate that mindset I
• 24:43
  think there's there's there's more attention being put now to
• 24:48
  yeah. Putting putting our effort into
• 24:50
  the whole thing. Right.
• 24:51
  What can we contribute? What can we provide as a as a
• 24:54
  skill, as a as a as goods? As what can we do?
• 24:58
  What can we the just like? Yeah, just like in my old the
• 25:05
  old tribe that we were a part of, we were only about 3 strong.
• 25:09
  But I will always go and help clean up the property and help
• 25:16
  keep the fire going and stuff like that.
• 25:19
  And I always brought foods, help, prepared foods, all kinds
• 25:24
  of stuff, yeah. Despite all our modern
• 25:31
  conveniences, I believe still has an affinity for the old
• 25:35
  ways. Oh yeah, to pay homage to those
• 25:39
  practices, self-reliance, but those things all go into the
• 25:45
  community as something to offer. And even, just for example, a
• 25:53
  deer, one person is going to be really good at going out and
• 25:57
  hunting that deer and bringing it down.
• 25:59
  Another person is going to be better at dressing it.
• 26:02
  Another person is going to be better at cooking the food that
• 26:05
  comes out of that meat. Another person is going to be
• 26:08
  better at crafting the tools from the sinew, the bones, the
• 26:12
  other pieces. Another person is going to be
• 26:14
  great about making clothes with the hide or tanning the hide.
• 26:18
  So you've got all these things, all these skills, all these
• 26:21
  crafts, all in just this one thing.
• 26:24
  And I think that's what makes community work and I think
• 26:27
  that's what a lot of groups are after.
• 26:30
  And that's actually something I would absolutely like to learn
• 26:33
  how to do is tan, because I don't see a lot of Tanners in
• 26:38
  the heated community locally here.
• 26:42
  I think they'll have to come on up to Appalachia sometime, yeah.
• 26:47
  That's something I would like to learn how.
• 26:48
  I like to do a lot of things and learn a lot of things.
• 26:51
  It's just like I just have not been been.
• 26:53
  I've never done it before and that's that's what I would love
• 26:59
  to do. But my my main goal now is about
• 27:04
  the whole question was if it would've been too off putting
• 27:09
  for newcomers if if we did require them to just make
• 27:16
  something off the cuff. Like, like if you like.
• 27:24
  If you say like, you're expecting to carve a even a
• 27:28
  small godpost. Well, I go back to the purpose
• 27:34
  behind things. You know, this is one of the
• 27:36
  things that from talking with like jam over the years, right?
• 27:39
  One of the one of the things I really value from learning with
• 27:43
  from him was what purpose is, you know, what is the purpose
• 27:47
  behind what we're doing. You know you can have the best
• 27:49
  intention, which you know having somebody worth or prove worth,
• 27:53
  you know, and and having this whole dynamic set up, like
• 27:56
  that's a good, you know, there's there's good intentions behind
• 27:58
  that. But what is the purpose of
• 28:01
  having to have somebody be able to carve a small God pole or
• 28:05
  even a large one or whatever, Like, other than the fact that,
• 28:08
  hey, let's just make you do something that you're not used
• 28:10
  to doing? Like, what is the purpose behind
• 28:12
  that? Is it really to teach life
• 28:14
  skills or valuable things that is going to help cultivate the
• 28:18
  mindset of what it's like to be in a kindred tribe?
• 28:21
  You know, sort of extension of the family unit.
• 28:25
  Model. Or is it just you know to to say
• 28:28
  we did something and you know and and I think that you know
• 28:31
  just that one thing isn't enough like you can't expect to to to
• 28:36
  really build Frith or do anything of of meaning if all
• 28:40
  you're doing is like all right guy you know or lady like you
• 28:43
  know just just make this one thing and if you do it you're
• 28:46
  you're you're good to go you're in.
• 28:48
  I don't. I think there's more to it than
• 28:50
  all that, you know. Yeah, like.
• 28:52
  For instance, initiation thing to show that you were willing to
• 28:56
  try. I could get it on that level,
• 28:59
  but if you're then gonna take and like, judge the quality of
• 29:03
  the craft. Yeah.
• 29:06
  Right this piece. Of crap.
• 29:07
  You're not good. Yeah, but also the thing about
• 29:11
  the I can also see about the high that somebody will get from
• 29:14
  crafting that has never crafted anything actually coming out and
• 29:18
  crafting it for the first time. It's like, oh look, I did this.
• 29:25
  Yeah. It feeds a flame inside you,
• 29:28
  sort of like in the hall of mall, word from word and deed
• 29:32
  from deed, and you're motivated and you're inspired to pick up.
• 29:37
  And I think a lot of the reason that groups and communities want
• 29:41
  to go back and work these crafts, these hand crafts, is so
• 29:46
  that we don't lose them over time.
• 29:48
  So much of our tradition and the things that we do, the things
• 29:52
  that at one time meant a whole lot, have gone to being machined
• 29:57
  and they're manufactured assembly lines.
• 29:59
  There is no spirit. There is no love in the craft
• 30:01
  anymore. It's put together by a computer
• 30:05
  and so to keep these things alive, like tanning, cooking,
• 30:09
  sewing. Like like painting, drawing.
• 30:16
  Yeah. Sometimes you have to use modern
• 30:19
  tools, even for some things like wood burning.
• 30:22
  Now I think is. Well, sure, why not?
• 30:24
  I mean, but still, like, you're still putting the effort into
• 30:27
  it. It's not like you know, it's
• 30:30
  it's almost like how AI has become you know social
• 30:33
  commodity. You know like oh I don't even
• 30:35
  need to really think about how to write this essay.
• 30:37
  I can you know, you can you can give it you know machine a
• 30:40
  prompt and and it'll something out really, really good.
• 30:45
  You know a lot of times good enough to to to pass you know
• 30:50
  basic stuff you know and or even advance things like there's
• 30:54
  there's a lot that artificial intelligence has has learned to
• 30:58
  do through the efforts that humans have put into it.
• 31:00
  I mean, it's, you know, but. I will never knock somebody for
• 31:06
  using the smartest tool to do a job, and I don't think our
• 31:10
  ancestors would either. You go back 1000 years and hand
• 31:14
  one of those farmers a modern piece of equipment that's going
• 31:17
  to save save their back What you mean I don't have to work myself
• 31:22
  to death by the age of 32. This is way easier than this
• 31:26
  stick and this shell that I'm using.
• 31:28
  They would love it. They'd be like hell, yeah.
• 31:31
  Yeah. They would not be upset at all
• 31:33
  about us using the smartest tool for the job.
• 31:36
  We can still have homage and honor old ways, but.
• 31:40
  Yeah, still still have a hand, still have a hand in it, but
• 31:43
  it's it's easier to use. Yeah.
• 31:49
  Well, with all the, you know like you mentioned earlier,
• 31:51
  Blake, you know you think it would be off putting for for
• 31:57
  somebody to be faced with the idea of having to step outside
• 32:01
  of their comfort zone, whatever it is like whether it's having
• 32:04
  to craft something or whether it's.
• 32:06
  How the explanation works? Right.
• 32:09
  Yeah. I mean if you're not giving some
• 32:10
  context behind it, I mean that's obvious that that I think that
• 32:13
  that should absolutely be part of the whole thing.
• 32:15
  It's it's it's like you're not going.
• 32:17
  To be explained more. Yeah, you can't.
• 32:22
  You can't expect somebody to learn anything if all you're
• 32:25
  doing is is like, literally just, you know, beating it into
• 32:30
  them without giving some sort of context or whatever.
• 32:35
  Like, well, here's why, right? Here's why you're expected to do
• 32:38
  this because it's building a sense of responsibility, of
• 32:42
  obligation, of, you know, learning a skill that you can
• 32:46
  use to help not just us, but yourself, right?
• 32:49
  So there's this benefits everybody involved.
• 32:54
  It's also great to also the offer aid to those that that
• 32:58
  that are doing that as well, especially those who have never
• 33:01
  done it before, those that have a more crafty eye can come over
• 33:05
  and help them, yeah. A little direction never hurts.
• 33:09
  A little bit of hands on directions and stuff, and that's
• 33:11
  also building Frith between the two two individuals.
• 33:15
  I can see. That I think everybody would
• 33:18
  take it a little bit different. Personally, I think I would have
• 33:22
  seen it as a challenge, like one of those old school mysterious
• 33:27
  challenges like from the the poetic or the prose that you
• 33:30
  read, those funky where you don't really quite have all the
• 33:34
  information. But there's a challenge before
• 33:36
  you and I would take that and try to answer in kind.
• 33:42
  So who knows, other than the people that came up with this
• 33:46
  Worthing ritual to present inductees with a a craft task.
• 33:53
  Yeah. I like what you said.
• 33:56
  They're making it kind of ritualistic in a way, 'cause
• 33:58
  again it it, it puts purpose behind it, you know, And as long
• 34:03
  as it's being explained and and and that, you know, there's a
• 34:05
  learning step to. It all makes me think about some
• 34:09
  of the things that like JM and you and I and others have become
• 34:15
  involved with, like with Fire on the Mountain and then the other
• 34:18
  some of the other local and and more frequent things that you
• 34:24
  participate in or have helped lead or or just, you know,
• 34:28
  there's there's ordeal, there's challenge involved with it.
• 34:32
  But it's not just blindly do this.
• 34:34
  Like there's a lesson here. You know, like and here's why
• 34:39
  we're doing it right. We're we're we're bringing the
• 34:41
  purpose into the equation. You know, this isn't just it for
• 34:44
  us to, you know, get our kicks and laugh at you for having to
• 34:47
  go through this shit, you know? There's.
• 34:50
  There's purpose behind it. Yeah, and they also explain what
• 34:55
  also explain what counts as a craft too, like the like,
• 34:58
  defining what really counts as part of this task that they have
• 35:06
  been set forth. It's a it doesn't include music,
• 35:09
  does it? Does it have to be music with
• 35:12
  lyrics, you know, or a song with lyrics?
• 35:15
  Or does it? Can it just be an instrumental
• 35:19
  with a title that was inspired? Yeah.
• 35:26
  Another part may have been to gauge courage.
• 35:30
  Are you willing to take this blank task without any
• 35:35
  additional information and reply?
• 35:40
  So I think it would have been badass for you to just break out
• 35:44
  the tackle Harpa and say, all right, here you go and get down
• 35:48
  on it. Oh yeah.
• 35:50
  They can't. They can't say no.
• 35:52
  That's your correct. Yeah.
• 35:55
  You wouldn't specify. It couldn't be music.
• 35:58
  So then all would be back in their court.
• 36:01
  Yeah, the challenge you won. It's back on their end now.
• 36:06
  Or I just whip out a tackle harpa I create.
• 36:10
  Improv. Yeah.
• 36:12
  Oh yeah, yeah. Yeah.
• 36:13
  Like, I just hey, look, I built this.
• 36:15
  I built this instrument myself. I.
• 36:19
  Would love to do. That's another thing I would
• 36:21
  love to do if I had the space for it for the tools.
• 36:25
  Yeah, I mean the first, the first step is, is the desire,
• 36:29
  you know, and then you kind of manifest that desire through
• 36:32
  doing the necessary things to, you know, make it a physical
• 36:37
  thing, you know. All right, well, now I need to
• 36:39
  acquire the space or the materials or both and all and
• 36:41
  all that. Because then you now you know
• 36:44
  not only do you have the material, but now you also have
• 36:48
  this gift of your skill to well, when we gather, when we, when we
• 36:54
  come together as a group, I can provide music for us to, you
• 37:01
  know, dance, or to sing, or to how.
• 37:03
  I can provide the tools for other people to learn.
• 37:07
  Yeah, you know, I can help you learn to make your own if that's
• 37:09
  what you want to do, you know? Or I can.
• 37:11
  Or I can make one for you and get at at a lower expense.
• 37:15
  They will take you to Orc, like buy one from across the seas or
• 37:19
  something. See.
• 37:20
  Yeah, exactly. There's there's purpose to that,
• 37:24
  you know, like there's and it's good.
• 37:28
  You know, it's good for for people to to come together and
• 37:31
  and want to help one another in that way.
• 37:32
  And I feel, you know there's intent and purpose equally.
• 37:37
  But you know, knowing knowing the the the intent behind
• 37:41
  somebody, it's not like well just do this and it's one sided.
• 37:44
  You know you make this for us and now we own it or we have it
• 37:48
  like no, there's there's a there's a equal exchange,
• 37:50
  there's a, there's that's the thing about worthy thing.
• 37:53
  It's it, it involves everybody, you know.
• 37:55
  So yeah, sure, we want to see what you're worth to us, but we
• 37:59
  now also want to prove what we're worth to you and what we
• 38:02
  are worth to each other, you know?
• 38:06
  Yeah, and it doesn't have to be overly complicated either, no.
• 38:11
  It's simple. It can be.
• 38:13
  If you if you just if you just like write out.
• 38:17
  Say like if you felt the call to write something out in ruins or
• 38:21
  something on a bone. Recover them into like a bone or
• 38:25
  something the correct way. Of course you know.
• 38:28
  You know, making sure you're doing it right.
• 38:31
  If you just felt called out to do something just simple as
• 38:35
  that, or carving it a small image, yeah, into a piece of
• 38:40
  wood, that should count. I think you have an invaluable
• 38:47
  talent and craft, especially in this community.
• 38:51
  I was listening to an interview with Anar Selvic, or Druna from
• 38:56
  several years ago, and he talks about in the old days there was
• 39:00
  a song for everything. When it's time to go sow the
• 39:03
  field, when a new baby was born, when it was time to bring in the
• 39:07
  harvest, when they were sowing, when they were washing, there
• 39:10
  was music for everything. So as the community shifts back
• 39:14
  to reviving these old ways, old traditions, old ways of living,
• 39:18
  your talent and your craft can really go a long way.
• 39:23
  Oh yeah. Yeah.
• 39:27
  I don't think that there's like it's I don't think I I wouldn't
• 39:29
  say that it's mandatory you know like it's because that's a
• 39:32
  pretty strong way of putting it like when we say you know is is
• 39:35
  craft work a mandatory thing in Paganism?
• 39:39
  Not really. But I feel that the I feel that
• 39:43
  the the right people that when they when they get presented
• 39:46
  with something like this or when they see something like this
• 39:48
  then you know if if the heart is in the right place and and the
• 39:52
  purpose is clear and there's guidance and stuff to it then it
• 39:55
  it doesn't have to be stated as mandatory.
• 39:57
  It's like, well, we want this. I'm desire is more that point.
• 40:04
  Like I want to be this way. I want to learn this skill or I
• 40:07
  want to learn this craft because it's going to help my people, is
• 40:11
  going to help us, you know, we're going to bet collectively.
• 40:15
  And sometimes, even when I I I want them badly too.
• 40:19
  I look at other people's like work and stuff.
• 40:22
  I'm like, dude, I wish I could do this, you know?
• 40:24
  Sometimes. And sometimes when I actually
• 40:28
  try to tempt it, it's like I can't get out.
• 40:31
  I didn't out like out me for some reason.
• 40:34
  Like I used to be able to draw really, really well as a child.
• 40:38
  Now it's like it's just left me for the life of me.
• 40:41
  I don't know why. No, you're you're maybe your
• 40:46
  your art just shifted a bit you know, to to doing more of what
• 40:50
  you've kind of grown into. Who knows?
• 40:52
  You know, some things get like. Yeah, one time when I was when I
• 40:57
  was when I was younger, I drew this like almost realistic
• 41:02
  drawing of a Hummingbird and like.
• 41:07
  And then after that I was not able to duplicate that same
• 41:09
  drawing ever again. It's a it was a a special piece.
• 41:16
  I feel that way a lot with a lot of my craft and work that it was
• 41:21
  in that moment with that spirit. This is the result of that time
• 41:25
  together, the product or the the outcome.
• 41:30
  And so even if I tried and followed the exact same steps,
• 41:35
  it's never going to be exactly the same.
• 41:39
  No, that's that's the beauty of it.
• 41:40
  You know, it's you can't, you can't replicate skill like that.
• 41:45
  It's it. You can get maybe damn close at
• 41:47
  times, but they're they're so unique.
• 41:49
  It's like a fingerprint, you know?
• 41:51
  Who's that quote from? Maybe Epictetus.
• 41:56
  You can never step in the same river twice because you're not
• 41:59
  the same man and it's not the same river.
• 42:02
  It's sort of that with your craft work.
• 42:05
  Even if you do the same thing all day, every day, it's still
• 42:08
  not going to be exactly the same.
• 42:10
  You know, different space spirit is different.
• 42:15
  It's like how I have difficulty remembering where I sometimes
• 42:19
  what I play. Sometimes, like if I play a note
• 42:22
  or a series of notes off the off the top of my head, I'll just
• 42:26
  forget I forget about it to write it down or record it down
• 42:29
  and say, well, how'd that go again?
• 42:34
  And then it's just like, oh OK, I had to restart all over.
• 42:40
  As far as mandatory or required to craft, yeah, I don't think
• 42:46
  there's anything mandatory or required even in life except to
• 42:51
  have a pulse. Everything else is choice.
• 42:54
  And so if you choose to want to participate in that community or
• 42:59
  to go by the established format for their Worthing or whatever,
• 43:04
  that all comes down to choice. But I think the Pagan community
• 43:07
  in general does have a greater affinity to craft for those
• 43:11
  reasons we mentioned earlier, and also a greater allowance.
• 43:16
  Oh yeah, we're more connected to the elements that we draw
• 43:19
  inspiration from. We have pantheon rather than a
• 43:23
  monotheistic approach. So we've got all of these other
• 43:26
  things to draw inspiration from and motivation from in our
• 43:30
  crafting. Yeah.
• 43:32
  And I and I just like I've said another thing is going into this
• 43:38
  as well is, is the obligation to learn to craft as well or do
• 43:43
  something in the crafts coming into this the first time?
• 43:50
  Yeah, a lot of what we consider a craft or a talent OR skill
• 43:54
  now, back then it was just standard and there was around
• 44:00
  you had to make your own clothes, you had to make your
• 44:02
  own farming tools and you had to learn and know these skills that
• 44:09
  we don't need really anymore because we've shifted into
• 44:14
  industry and manufacturing. So a lot of that work is done
• 44:17
  for us. We go to the store instead of
• 44:19
  doing it ourselves, so. Yeah, there's not an The the
• 44:26
  value of things is different. You know you don't.
• 44:28
  Like everything's everything just made for us and handed to
• 44:31
  us. You know, that's why I left to
• 44:35
  see too. Like there was.
• 44:37
  I did an episode not too long ago about coming of age
• 44:42
  ceremonies, rites of passage. You know that sort.
• 44:46
  Of thing. And so like there's an
• 44:48
  awareness, there's an understanding of there needing
• 44:50
  to be that Worthing process for the youth to go through
• 44:56
  something, to experience something that puts them out of
• 44:59
  their comfort zone to ritualistically prepare them for
• 45:05
  no longer being a child and no longer doing the things that the
• 45:08
  children do, being being a contributor to the people, to
• 45:12
  the community, to the, to the tribe, to the whatever, you
• 45:14
  know, name you want to put to it.
• 45:17
  So there's again, there's this heightened awareness.
• 45:23
  So we know whatever it is, whether it's you know just us
• 45:26
  now figuring it out and and wanting to connect with people
• 45:31
  and and put that sort of expectation out there for people
• 45:37
  to realize, oh right, well if we're, if we're going to be
• 45:39
  together we're going to share space and time and and energy
• 45:42
  with one another then it this is, this is more than just, you
• 45:45
  know a bunch of people hanging out for a few horns of meat or
• 45:50
  ale or something like we're trying to cultivate form
• 45:53
  meaningful relationships. Oh yeah, Like, really good bonds
• 45:58
  to like we're. You know, I love seeing that.
• 46:06
  Crafting, Especially if you're crafting in or for the
• 46:08
  community, it adds value. It enriches the community and
• 46:13
  all the diversity, all the different modalities and the
• 46:16
  different things that can be done and what's produced from
• 46:19
  them. There have been a few times that
• 46:22
  I've wanted to turn into the the orderly from Happy Gilmore.
• 46:27
  I'll get a request for like a a custom drum or something and
• 46:32
  I'll give them the price and they said, well, I can get it on
• 46:36
  alibaba.com for 100 bucks. Like, well, this is handmade,
• 46:40
  quality shit we're talking here. I mean, yeah, go right ahead
• 46:45
  then, I guess. And if if if that's what you're
• 46:47
  placing value on is just like, I get it, like, yeah, you know
• 46:51
  everybody's money means something.
• 46:52
  They work hard for it. But realize too, like I would
• 46:55
  rather save up and spend the extra money for something like
• 47:00
  you know JM makes or you know Blake, you know if you were you
• 47:04
  know commissioning music or something like I would rather
• 47:06
  put, I would rather save up if I needed to to get a a a
• 47:10
  commissioned a piece of art or or music or whatever from that
• 47:15
  type than to go to Amazon and just buy something that looks
• 47:19
  cool and it'll be here in a day or two.
• 47:20
  I I would much rather put the put that money back into the
• 47:27
  efforts and the skill and the time and the love and everything
• 47:30
  that's being put into those things because that's what it
• 47:33
  means to me, you know, I know that I can't get any of these
• 47:36
  things behind me that are, you know, these drums, these
• 47:38
  rattles, these, you know, these things.
• 47:41
  I can't. They're, you know, they're
• 47:43
  priceless to me because of the love and and the care and the
• 47:48
  everything into them, you know? They're and the feel good
• 47:50
  aspect. When you purchase from a small
• 47:53
  business, you're supporting a family, you're helping that
• 47:57
  person put food on the table for their children.
• 47:59
  But when you're buying from a corporation, you're supporting a
• 48:03
  an already millionaire CEO. Yeah, you know.
• 48:08
  So that Jeff Bezos can get another yacht or some stupid
• 48:11
  thing, You know, like I want James to get me wrong.
• 48:15
  I'm not. I'm not like, don't get me
• 48:16
  wrong, I'm not against. I'm not against small
• 48:19
  businesses. I'm all for small businesses.
• 48:22
  You know, it's like I'm, I don't want also to take I I kind of
• 48:26
  feel guilty if I was a crafter taken away from other small
• 48:30
  businesses though as well. Oh, there's plenty out there,
• 48:34
  man. I don't think.
• 48:35
  I don't. I know.
• 48:36
  And that's the thing. It's, you know, there's not a
• 48:38
  it's it's not a competition. Yeah, you know what I mean?
• 48:42
  It's unfair to compare but it, you know, it's where there
• 48:45
  there's plenty of resources out there.
• 48:47
  You know, there there's plenty of people out here that are
• 48:49
  doing different things and you know, if if you're not
• 48:52
  supporting this one but you're supporting that one, I mean it's
• 48:54
  same team, you know, like you're still right by supporting them
• 48:58
  so. There's so many.
• 49:00
  And if you were that. There's so many other driving
• 49:05
  that feel that way. It's not so much competition,
• 49:08
  but contributing. We're contributing to the
• 49:11
  community. If you don't jive with the style
• 49:14
  of drum that I make, but you like this other one that my
• 49:17
  friend makes and you purchase from him, I'm going to high five
• 49:20
  you for making that decision. You've got to get what speaks to
• 49:23
  you in that, and I'm going to be more happy for you getting
• 49:26
  something that you were going to be happy with, that you're going
• 49:29
  to work with, whether it be ceremony, ritual or just
• 49:32
  learning to play, than to have supported me just out of
• 49:35
  obligation because we're friends.
• 49:37
  Oh yeah, and it's just like me also with the services I do like
• 49:44
  my the Reiki and everything. I've also helped promote some
• 49:48
  other ones too. And I have a a somebody locally
• 49:52
  here that I've that goes in our in our circle here that I go to
• 50:00
  as well for that service because there's some things I can't
• 50:03
  tackle on my own. It's a collaborative effort to
• 50:07
  provide the community with what it needs.
• 50:10
  Oh yeah. Yeah, and that's that.
• 50:14
  That's. And again, that's where it comes
• 50:16
  back to the purpose of it all, I feel.
• 50:20
  You know, So if if if the if the process of Worthing involves,
• 50:26
  you know, putting a task or charging someone with a task to
• 50:30
  do something and what comes out of it is the, you know, the
• 50:37
  inclusion or the addition of some other valuable skill or
• 50:41
  craft or in the community, then wasn't it worth it?
• 50:44
  So what if you got you know, So what if it was uncomfortable?
• 50:47
  So what if it, you know you had to take some extra time out of
• 50:50
  your days or evenings or something to work on it, right?
• 50:53
  At least you learn something and you learn the you know, the
• 50:56
  skill or the lesson and it became something that could
• 50:59
  benefit others. Like, isn't that all worth it in
• 51:02
  the end? The time that we live in, so
• 51:04
  many people feel devoid of accomplishment or achievement.
• 51:09
  Oh yeah. So if you take up that charge
• 51:10
  and you do that craft and then you get that pad on the back
• 51:13
  like you did it, you didn't think you could do it, but you
• 51:16
  did it. You get that feeling, that fire,
• 51:19
  that spark, that support of community, that group that
• 51:22
  you're going into for cheering you on through that.
• 51:27
  If you're in the right group, yeah.
• 51:30
  Right. Oh, yeah.
• 51:33
  Yeah, 'cause we see, that's for sure too.
• 51:34
  I mean there's always that dichotomy and others or maybe
• 51:38
  not even dichotomy, but there's always that trend.
• 51:41
  You know, they're doing it for the wrong reasons.
• 51:45
  You know, they just they just want it for the clout or you
• 51:49
  know, guys thank you so much for you know 50,000 views on my
• 51:54
  page. You guys rock Meanwhile it's
• 51:56
  it's just to stroke their own ego.
• 51:58
  You know, they're they're bragging about it, you know, you
• 52:02
  know, or or they're they're they're they're speaking out of
• 52:06
  one side of their mouth, talking about how great everybody is,
• 52:08
  but then out of the other, out of the other side of their
• 52:11
  mouth. It's all about them, you know?
• 52:14
  And it ain't. So it's like, well, which is it,
• 52:17
  man? Like you.
• 52:17
  You know, your heart's going to be the one that speaks the
• 52:19
  truest. And you can try to, you can try
• 52:21
  to put on this persona, you can try to put on this, you know,
• 52:27
  disguise and and but the real ones are going to see right
• 52:30
  through that. That's you know see the real
• 52:34
  come through easily it could be saying the same could be said
• 52:42
  for people that want to like you know put that charge or task
• 52:47
  those people to do something for their own you know self glory.
• 52:52
  Like look what these people did because I said they had to or
• 52:57
  something. You know, like there's there's
• 52:59
  nothing those people out there like that.
• 53:01
  So be careful guys you know, that are listening and watching.
• 53:04
  Like if you're if you're you know looking around in your
• 53:07
  areas and you're getting the idea of of teaming up or joining
• 53:11
  up with an established group of people and you maybe see this
• 53:14
  type of thing where you know the Worthing thing isn't a red flag
• 53:18
  it it isn't just realize where where the where the purpose is.
• 53:23
  Oh yeah because you should you know realize that there might be
• 53:26
  you know that that group might be misled in in why they're
• 53:30
  doing it. It could just be for their own
• 53:32
  their own self glory and not contributing.
• 53:36
  Just don't. Just don't feel overwhelmed
• 53:38
  about it either, if you're charged with the task.
• 53:42
  And there's a big difference in Worthing and hazing.
• 53:47
  Oh yeah. Yeah.
• 53:52
  Yep there is You know hazing that's like go like college
• 53:58
  frats and and even the military and stuff.
• 54:00
  I think at one point in time maybe they still do have those
• 54:03
  crucibles you know and and and stuff and like it's like it's
• 54:09
  almost like it's meant to tear you down.
• 54:11
  And I get, I get like the purpose behind it at that point
• 54:13
  was different. But like with the frats and all
• 54:15
  that, the way they did it, it was like just let's let's let's,
• 54:19
  you know, humiliate and and just wear your ego down or or wear
• 54:26
  your, you know, wear yourself down to the point where you just
• 54:29
  are not you feel useless worth. It but the initiation's fun, you
• 54:38
  know, like, you know, like having some.
• 54:41
  If you're having fun at, you know like you're you.
• 54:46
  It ain't for everybody. Like I would like if you say
• 54:49
  like you have to go to the scavenger hunt kind of thing
• 54:53
  like that's but that was it. But that was in in band of one
• 54:57
  of my band marching bands that I was in too that that first
• 55:04
  joined. They made us.
• 55:06
  They took our our instruments by our section leaders took our
• 55:09
  instruments and they supposedly hid them and get and set us with
• 55:15
  this like wild goose chase type scavenger hunt all over town.
• 55:22
  And we ended up back at at one of their places for which was it
• 55:29
  like ice cream or something like that.
• 55:31
  And it was just, it was all fun. I probably wouldn't have enjoyed
• 55:39
  that one like. All right, you guys.
• 55:40
  Got a good girl. But I've got better shit to do
• 55:43
  with my time right now. Oh yeah, this thing that you hid
• 55:47
  from me. Yeah, like I want to go home and
• 55:50
  sleep. I could be practicing.
• 55:54
  Right now. But I'm out here looking for it
• 55:56
  because you're a Jackass. You hid it from me.
• 56:00
  I could be playing right now. I could be practicing and.
• 56:03
  All I got I could be. But I get it.
• 56:06
  Those things are fun. Yeah.
• 56:10
  And they're a lot of them are team building exercises, bonding
• 56:13
  exercises, things like that, where you work together, you
• 56:17
  work as a group. So I I get it on that level.
• 56:21
  Yeah, and that's also something I also like too, is I'm getting
• 56:26
  but like people who are working in as well, a chance to help
• 56:30
  craft with the with the tribe or with the Kindred itself.
• 56:35
  Yeah, do like a group craft. That reminds me of something
• 56:40
  that we do with our with our tribe is is every year at
• 56:45
  sigerbloat. Our sigerbloat, you know, we've
• 56:50
  just kind of made it our, our tradition to venerate prayer
• 56:56
  during that time, 'cause we're not a war band, you know?
• 56:58
  And we're not, we're not traditionally going to be, you
• 57:01
  know, bloating to Odin for victory in combat or war or
• 57:05
  anything like that. But we do want to invoke, you
• 57:09
  know, bloat to frere for fertility for, you know,
• 57:16
  prosperity and peace and all that.
• 57:19
  And one of the things that has become our tradition is to build
• 57:23
  a effigy of Frere that is a nod to his, you know the the, the,
• 57:30
  the, the strength of the phallic strength of Frere that we hear
• 57:33
  about in the lore, you know. So we make a, a an effigy and
• 57:36
  depending on where we are, when we, when we do bloat, you know
• 57:40
  we used to have a space in Lewisburg, TN that was, you know
• 57:48
  out in the woods and our our effigy was, you know human size
• 57:52
  or bigger. Now it's it's a bit if it's a
• 57:55
  bit more of a of a you know, residential area, you can't
• 57:59
  build you know a 6-7 foot tall Burning Man in the yard.
• 58:03
  So we build smaller ones. But the point is, is that it is
• 58:06
  a everybody in the tribe you know has a hand in putting it
• 58:12
  together because you can't, one person can't build this by
• 58:17
  themself. It requires the effort and the
• 58:20
  involvement of everybody. So there's this understanding of
• 58:27
  involvement and and and coming together as a tribe to see this
• 58:32
  thing through, even if it's not the biggest or the most glorious
• 58:35
  thing you've ever seen. At the end of it all, we can all
• 58:38
  sit back and look at what we made and go We did this.
• 58:43
  I didn't do it. You didn't do it.
• 58:45
  You didn't do it. She didn't do it.
• 58:46
  We did it together. You also look look at all the
• 58:49
  times that Y'all cried or laughed over it as well.
• 58:53
  Like for instance, it reminds me of of our old tradition was we
• 58:57
  for Yule we'll make yield bucket or yield?
• 59:00
  Goats. Straw goats yield.
• 59:02
  Buck Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, Yield Buck.
• 59:04
  We would make those just individually, we'll make our
• 59:09
  own. But as we were doing it, and we
• 59:13
  would make fun of how terrible they looked, because we knew
• 59:16
  they ours looked terrible. But we say like we did it.
• 59:19
  Our hands were on it, you know it was like, but we were all we
• 59:23
  all laughed at how each one's looked like I think what
• 59:27
  somebody's I think one of the bars came out looking like a
• 59:30
  little doll, like a little Datsun.
• 59:34
  We were just, we were just all they pointed out how it looked
• 59:38
  like a Datsun and we were like they were all just burst out
• 59:41
  laughing because it was like this isn't turned out like we we
• 59:45
  expected. Yeah.
• 59:47
  Yeah, it's great for building there in community when you
• 59:50
  spend that time together, whether it be crafting or around
• 59:53
  the campfire, telling stories or listening to someone play music.
• 59:58
  Oh yeah, or everybody playing, enjoying in music and stuff.
• 1:00:02
  That's the thing I like about doing with other people is I
• 1:00:07
  like to invite other people to come in, bring a drum or bring
• 1:00:11
  be on sticks or something while I play.
• 1:00:14
  Not to glorify me, but to also enhance that experience.
• 1:00:18
  Yeah, you're making music together and that's magic.
• 1:00:20
  Yeah, yeah. And also I do very better.
• 1:00:23
  I do. I play better music.
• 1:00:25
  I can come up with better stuff when somebody else is playing
• 1:00:28
  rhythm behind me because I have something to to keep that drive
• 1:00:32
  in going. So it only helps me.
• 1:00:36
  It almost doesn't help me, just help me.
• 1:00:38
  It helps them get involved. It's a it's a staple here to
• 1:00:45
  have that involvement in anything that I host or any of
• 1:00:48
  the retreats. The drum circle.
• 1:00:50
  The drum circle is always present at some point during the
• 1:00:54
  get together. Yeah, in my case in my problem
• 1:00:58
  in drum circles though is I want to switch instruments every now
• 1:01:01
  every two seconds, because I want to play everything.
• 1:01:06
  Yeah, I'll switch it though. Yeah, you see me pick up the
• 1:01:08
  tackle Harbor one minute and I'd pick up a drum.
• 1:01:10
  The next minute I'd pick up a Jinbei.
• 1:01:12
  The next minute I'd start bringing the rattles in.
• 1:01:18
  Last year started on and we all had our drums out.
• 1:01:20
  But then as we were playing in the drum circle, we would see
• 1:01:24
  guys like trading drums off and thinking like I could get a
• 1:01:29
  really good beat out of this thing and they would trade and
• 1:01:31
  then someone would trade again and there's there's rattles go
• 1:01:35
  on and. Oh yeah.
• 1:01:37
  It's always fun to play in somebody else's instrument, just
• 1:01:41
  to see how it sounds and how what you can do on it.
• 1:01:45
  I could say something about that right now, something along
• 1:01:48
  something along the lines of it's, you know, I I'll never,
• 1:01:51
  I'll never get bored of playing my own drum.
• 1:01:53
  But it's always fun to beat somebody else's.
• 1:01:55
  Like there's some sort of innuendo there, There's some
• 1:01:57
  sort of euphemism there. But I'll I'll digress.
• 1:02:02
  Yeah, if if we ever contact, come in contact with each other
• 1:02:04
  and have the tackle harp out, I'm going to start handing it to
• 1:02:07
  you and say, hey, you're learning how to play this today,
• 1:02:09
  dude. That'd be awesome.
• 1:02:12
  I, I, I you know it. Would it would you?
• 1:02:14
  You'd have to deal with the, the, the sounds of a dying goat.
• 1:02:18
  Probably for a little bit, but I'd.
• 1:02:19
  I'd give it a whirl. Oh yeah.
• 1:02:24
  But that's the lovely thing. It's going to be a challenge
• 1:02:27
  too, because this, like I said, this will be the only instrument
• 1:02:30
  right now in the room because I don't have a secondary tackle,
• 1:02:33
  Harper, to show you so you can mimic you're going to be.
• 1:02:37
  I'm going to have to be sitting here taking your fingers or
• 1:02:40
  something like that and and positioning them for you so you
• 1:02:42
  can see how they get. Yeah, if you like Ghost, you
• 1:02:47
  know, like with Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore where he's like
• 1:02:50
  forming her hands to the to the to the clay pot, you know, and
• 1:02:54
  kind of like being the guide, you know, kind of thing.
• 1:02:57
  Yeah. What is up with the euphemisms
• 1:02:59
  now? I don't know where the heck this
• 1:03:00
  happened. Sorry, but just thank.
• 1:03:05
  Beating each other's drums, fingering each other's strings
• 1:03:08
  like this is just yeah. And now it's taking me back to
• 1:03:12
  Harvey Gilmore and head learning to putt.
• 1:03:14
  And it's like it's all in there. Like I wanted to learn how to
• 1:03:22
  play the tackle Harper, but not like this.
• 1:03:26
  Why is your pants off there? Like what's going on here, you
• 1:03:29
  know? Like, like we're we're like,
• 1:03:31
  say, like we're red shed, like shadow mood or something like
• 1:03:34
  that. And I'm teaching you how when
• 1:03:35
  somebody comes up, it's like, whatever, what's going on here?
• 1:03:39
  Did I interrupt something? It's like, yeah.
• 1:03:41
  Like I didn't know Jesse swung that way.
• 1:03:49
  Like this does not look the sun's not this is not how it
• 1:03:52
  looks. How?
• 1:03:53
  What it looks like but it in all seriousness though, like the the
• 1:04:00
  great thing about, you know, drum circles like we did, there
• 1:04:04
  was this big global movement to to to to share and drumming at
• 1:04:11
  was it the the Equinox, Spring Equinox.
• 1:04:15
  It was the day before the eclipse, the solar eclipse
• 1:04:19
  eclipse. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 1:04:22
  Where Everybody around the world were gathering to drum at the
• 1:04:26
  same exact time locally in their regions, we did one here in in
• 1:04:31
  Murfreesboro. And you know, the drum circle
• 1:04:33
  wasn't exceptionally large. There was like, you know, maybe
• 1:04:36
  5-6, seven people that showed up to the thing.
• 1:04:39
  But like most of the people that showed up had never participated
• 1:04:46
  in any sort of activity like that.
• 1:04:48
  So they had no idea really what to do.
• 1:04:51
  And I was like, well, it's not really about knowing what to do.
• 1:04:54
  It's about immersing yourself in the experience and letting the
• 1:04:59
  rhythm of the earth and letting the rhythm of the drum just kind
• 1:05:02
  of guide you. And man, we made some pretty
• 1:05:04
  beautiful sounds, you know? Oh.
• 1:05:06
  Yeah, you just might. Know what to do.
• 1:05:08
  It was. It sounded great.
• 1:05:10
  Oh yeah, it was just like my first one when I did close to
• 1:05:14
  when I first played Tagle Harper with a bunch of drums.
• 1:05:18
  That was at our Wicker Man here at the Metery at Bravewood
• 1:05:23
  Metery in Huntsville. After even after he got
• 1:05:27
  postponed, it was just after he got postponed to around close to
• 1:05:31
  December the 25th. It was like the 23rd of December
• 1:05:34
  because of the fire bands and and that's like that's the first
• 1:05:40
  time I've ever played with anybody.
• 1:05:43
  And then my first big drum circle I've ever played with was
• 1:05:48
  with Jacob Lund when he was here.
• 1:05:52
  Oh, from. Highland.
• 1:05:54
  He was work shopping. Yeah, well, we, it was like we
• 1:05:58
  had a small we had a small drum circle, like for the workshop,
• 1:06:01
  and then we had larger drug. We just had a larger drum circle
• 1:06:05
  that we were all drumming for the closing ceremony's
• 1:06:08
  procession. And when we came back, he was
• 1:06:12
  just still beating on the drum and stuff.
• 1:06:13
  He he comes over to me and just says hey drum along with me and
• 1:06:17
  like, OK, so I've started drumming and then eventually it
• 1:06:21
  ends up I switched over to Rue's Kettle Drum and that was
• 1:06:27
  something I didn't know how. I never played the kettle drum
• 1:06:30
  before and I and I just started to come up with this beat, this
• 1:06:34
  rhythm and I'm like, I didn't even know I had that in me.
• 1:06:38
  So it's like I I didn't know I was that good of a drummer.
• 1:06:43
  I'm like, let's talk myself. Yeah, that's that's like, you
• 1:06:47
  know, what's that? That brand, Kendall's brand,
• 1:06:52
  right? Yeah.
• 1:06:54
  Yeah, You start just, you know, feeding off of one another and
• 1:06:57
  there's there's like this just heartbeat that you're all
• 1:07:03
  tapping into. You know, things just kind of
• 1:07:08
  flow naturally. And like I said, you know, the
• 1:07:11
  majority of the people that showed up, they'd never met each
• 1:07:13
  other in their life before they this was their first time even
• 1:07:16
  meeting one another. Interestingly, like everybody
• 1:07:19
  that showed up, they they they came from.
• 1:07:24
  There's like all four corners. You know, we had people coming
• 1:07:26
  from the east, we had people coming from the South, we had
• 1:07:29
  people coming from the north and the West.
• 1:07:31
  And we all converge in this one space having never met one
• 1:07:34
  another before. Or or maybe I think there was
• 1:07:36
  one person there who I had met at one other time.
• 1:07:40
  But the the rest of the people that were there were, you know,
• 1:07:44
  strangers to one another. And then here we are with, you
• 1:07:47
  know, rattles, bells and drums just kind of doing the thing and
• 1:07:53
  working cohesively and and and just kind of finding our our
• 1:07:58
  collective rhythm. And there wasn't no, no coaching
• 1:08:02
  had to happen. You know, it wasn't like, all
• 1:08:03
  right guys and A1 and A2 and A. Nope.
• 1:08:05
  It was just. Natural.
• 1:08:09
  It was sort of the same here. We had a lot of people that have
• 1:08:13
  never really played a drum, a lot of people that hadn't met
• 1:08:17
  each other, but we had a great group of guys down for that
• 1:08:20
  event. And Chris Welch, he's a
• 1:08:24
  professional musician, also does a few different harps.
• 1:08:29
  And he had brought a guy along with him that we had never met.
• 1:08:34
  So it was a really diverse drum circle and especially diverse in
• 1:08:39
  terms of relationship. Like, I'd known all the guys
• 1:08:43
  except for the one I played in drum circles with a few of the
• 1:08:46
  guys. Some of the guys had never
• 1:08:47
  played in one. Some of the guys had never met
• 1:08:49
  before. But yeah, you get into that
• 1:08:51
  rhythm and that harmony comes in and magic happens.
• 1:08:56
  It always starts off a little rough, a little shaky.
• 1:08:59
  Beets are a little all over the place.
• 1:09:01
  But then there's that moment that it kind of all comes
• 1:09:04
  together and you're like, this sounds amazing.
• 1:09:08
  I'm so glad to be a part of this I.
• 1:09:11
  Know. Oh yeah.
• 1:09:12
  And it's like how we were like we do these smaller ceremonial
• 1:09:18
  things here. A local tea shop is a tea shop
• 1:09:23
  Esotericals shop kind of place here in town They we've we've
• 1:09:29
  got to where we do like cacao ceremonies and what we do is we
• 1:09:36
  will bust into we'll break out into either like a drum jury at
• 1:09:40
  1st and then to then a drum circle and sometimes that just
• 1:09:45
  it was just it flows like crazy when we're doing that.
• 1:09:53
  You know, you know that can go back into like the whole like
• 1:09:57
  thing we were talking about. You know, crafting and Worthing
• 1:10:00
  and and and stuff like and like this this, this is what this is
• 1:10:04
  what it's really about. I think it's it's it's about
• 1:10:07
  forming and forming bonds with people doing real stuff, right.
• 1:10:14
  What what really matters. And So what if you can't, you
• 1:10:16
  know, carve something perfectly or build a drone or whatever,
• 1:10:22
  like there's other things that can be done to, you know, show
• 1:10:28
  that that worth is being proven, you know, between people.
• 1:10:32
  We don't try to pigeonhole ourselves into just, well, if
• 1:10:35
  you can't do it this way, then you're you're nothing or you
• 1:10:38
  know, you're worthless or whatever.
• 1:10:40
  It's it makes me think of that one.
• 1:10:43
  That one. I think I mentioned it to you,
• 1:10:45
  Blake, in the e-mail that I had sent you back there.
• 1:10:49
  It it reminded me of that one stands up a halt vault where
• 1:10:57
  like I'm gonna find it real quick 'cause it it it's worth
• 1:11:01
  it's worth mentioning It was OK, so it was 1/2.
• 1:11:08
  Sorry. Or a halt.
• 1:11:08
  Man can ride a horse. A handless can be a herdman, the
• 1:11:14
  deaf can fight bravely. A blind man is better than a
• 1:11:17
  burned man, and a dead man is of no use, you know, So we don't
• 1:11:24
  pigeonhole into this idea. Well, if you can't do this one
• 1:11:26
  thing, then you can't do anything.
• 1:11:28
  There's there's purpose for everybody has a purpose.
• 1:11:32
  But we also need to also build each other up.
• 1:11:35
  Instead of just saying, oh, you have to do this or else it's
• 1:11:38
  like like you can do this. You say.
• 1:11:41
  It's like you got this, you you need to have, you need to go as
• 1:11:45
  a lead as like a leader of a of a group or tribe or kindred or
• 1:11:49
  something like that. You need to say you got this.
• 1:11:52
  We could. We could have you.
• 1:11:54
  We'll have you. We could have you give you help
• 1:11:58
  with it. We can we can cheer you all.
• 1:12:01
  Yeah. Yeah, well, the whole thing is,
• 1:12:04
  I mean, you want them to, we want them to succeed, you know?
• 1:12:07
  Yeah. Exactly.
• 1:12:08
  This isn't like to just give you something that is unachievable
• 1:12:10
  or unattainable and you'll be like, oh good luck, that's the
• 1:12:13
  luck to you and I hope you figure it out like no.
• 1:12:16
  We got it. Old Native Americans probably
• 1:12:20
  had done it. Like you have to go fetch this
• 1:12:21
  off of a giant Cliff somewhere to prove your worth.
• 1:12:28
  Oh yeah, I'm sure there were. There were different.
• 1:12:31
  Yeah, like you had to do it by yourself.
• 1:12:33
  Or or whatever. Yeah.
• 1:12:34
  Things that were meant to be accomplished by an individual.
• 1:12:37
  And that's that's its own thing, too.
• 1:12:39
  You know, like. Yeah, or like one or this.
• 1:12:43
  Like this. Impossible thing.
• 1:12:44
  Kind of task, kind of situation. Well, I put myself through
• 1:12:48
  ordeals like that as as a sort of test of my own fortitude.
• 1:12:52
  Right. Let me, Let me see what I let.
• 1:12:55
  Let me put myself in this in this situation that, you know,
• 1:13:02
  again, there was purpose behind it.
• 1:13:03
  But you know, I I wanted to put myself through an ordeal that I
• 1:13:08
  couldn't rely on anybody else. There was no other help.
• 1:13:11
  If something happened, it was. I had to figure it out.
• 1:13:14
  You know. And there's there's there's
• 1:13:17
  merit to that too but I think it's different than what we're
• 1:13:20
  talking about with people and and you know other people
• 1:13:23
  involved. You know like sure you know
• 1:13:25
  worth yourself or you know prove worth to one another through a
• 1:13:28
  process. But you know, going on these
• 1:13:33
  individual like, you know, I don't know vision quests or
• 1:13:38
  whatever you want to call them to learn something of yourself
• 1:13:42
  and and and maybe more. That's its own thing too, I
• 1:13:47
  think, yeah. It's huge for personal growth.
• 1:13:52
  Ordeal builds your sense of self worth because you accomplish
• 1:13:57
  things that you did not think that you could.
• 1:14:00
  Oh yeah, yeah. You see that you're stronger,
• 1:14:04
  whether it be physically, spiritually, mentally stronger
• 1:14:07
  by your will, than you ever thought.
• 1:14:10
  Yeah, like, like, for instance. Like I like I car.
• 1:14:16
  Oh, go ahead. Oh, that was it.
• 1:14:19
  I'll say like I did craft something like one time I carved
• 1:14:23
  a spoon once and that's the only thing I've actually whittled.
• 1:14:27
  And most of it I've been distracted to continue whittling
• 1:14:33
  and stuff. But.
• 1:14:35
  Did you reach a fork in the road?
• 1:14:36
  Sorry, you got a spoon? Did you get a fork in the road?
• 1:14:41
  I'm. Sorry.
• 1:14:44
  The spoon turned out, didn't put out very well.
• 1:14:46
  I ended up digging too deep in one end, but so I had to.
• 1:14:52
  I had to stop it at a certain point, like, hey, something's
• 1:14:55
  gotta give. I can't just keep going carving
• 1:14:58
  at this and carving at this and try to smooth it over if it's
• 1:15:00
  not going to improve itself. It's like I had to call.
• 1:15:04
  I had to call it, I had to. Sometimes you have to call it a
• 1:15:07
  smooth or a cup or whatever it is, you know.
• 1:15:15
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. It it served a purpose.
• 1:15:19
  Yeah, and now it's like, it's like on with my, on with my
• 1:15:25
  display cases or whatever. It's like, OK, I carved that.
• 1:15:30
  Well, yeah, you you can look at that and use that as like a as a
• 1:15:35
  pushing off point for the next carving or something that you
• 1:15:39
  maybe want to undertake like oh you know I was able to do this
• 1:15:42
  and I know I've got that in me to do.
• 1:15:45
  You know, we have we have certain things I think that that
• 1:15:51
  help us along the way in our respective paths and journeys.
• 1:15:55
  You know, whether it's a a relic or or a or a or a piece of
• 1:16:00
  memorabilia, right. Some sort of token of when we
• 1:16:03
  put this thing on or when we look at this particular object,
• 1:16:06
  it takes us back mentally to that moment when we either
• 1:16:11
  received it, won it, achieved it, you know, and it gives us
• 1:16:15
  that inspiration and that that drive to, you know, revisit the
• 1:16:20
  the experience or or push even further past in the next time.
• 1:16:24
  Because again, you know, I can look at certain things that I
• 1:16:29
  wear, whether it's ritual or instruments that I play or or
• 1:16:35
  things that are relics of the tribe.
• 1:16:36
  And I can feel them, I can touch them, I can put them on, and it
• 1:16:40
  takes me back to the moment when they were made or when I first
• 1:16:45
  received them or when they were acquired or whatever.
• 1:16:47
  And it it again, it rekindles this sense of purpose to
• 1:16:53
  continue on and and push through things that that may be
• 1:16:57
  difficult. Yeah, it's just like the same
• 1:16:59
  feeling I got when I when I even made this drum back here.
• 1:17:04
  It didn't turn out the way I wanted to, but it's still, it's
• 1:17:08
  still a solid drum. It actually plays, you know, it
• 1:17:15
  doesn't look like all that thing is look, if you look at the back
• 1:17:18
  here, it's kind of like uneven throughout because I had to hide
• 1:17:26
  like all center. Well, I think it's, I mean I'm
• 1:17:32
  not, I'm no expert. I mean the resident drum builder
• 1:17:34
  is in the room. So you know, but I think the I
• 1:17:37
  think just from my, from my personal view, I mean I think
• 1:17:41
  it's it. The fact that you did it is it's
• 1:17:44
  beautiful in that way and it's beautiful it's.
• 1:17:47
  Got it's got my it's got my spirit in there as well as the
• 1:17:50
  spirit of the animal that was in there as well.
• 1:17:52
  Right. You know, so does it have to be
• 1:17:54
  perfect? Well, what is perfect?
• 1:17:56
  You know, like there's there's subjectivity to that.
• 1:17:58
  Art is subjective and you can't really say one way or the other
• 1:18:04
  that art is good or bad. It's it's objective.
• 1:18:07
  Yeah, see, I could have gone back and I couldn't punch the
• 1:18:09
  hole, the punch the holes even more evenly around.
• 1:18:13
  But yeah, I mean, it is what it is.
• 1:18:16
  And it turns out it still works. There's such a sweet spot in
• 1:18:20
  crafting. No matter what it is, it drums
• 1:18:22
  or whatever. In finding that moment between
• 1:18:27
  this is what I want it to be and this is what it's going to be,
• 1:18:34
  or what it wants to be. Yeah, where it wants to be.
• 1:18:37
  It may not have turned out exactly the way that you want
• 1:18:40
  it, but it turned out the way that it was purposed to.
• 1:18:44
  The way it needed to be, it's a good way to look at it and that
• 1:18:51
  doesn't put me off from making drums and the further thing I'm
• 1:18:54
  actually hooked on making drums. Yeah.
• 1:18:57
  And now that you've got that hands on experience with the
• 1:18:59
  first one, that learning curve, you know, get your frame or your
• 1:19:03
  hoop centered before tying it up and your holes and yeah, so
• 1:19:08
  that's. Great.
• 1:19:09
  Using a real. Using a ruler to mark my to mark
• 1:19:12
  where I want my holes at is what I'm going to do next time.
• 1:19:15
  Just get a so I get them a line better.
• 1:19:22
  That's great. I'm looking forward to seeing
• 1:19:26
  more of your your stuff there, Blake.
• 1:19:28
  Whatever you do, whether it's writing music, playing music on
• 1:19:31
  instruments that you've yourself have crafted.
• 1:19:33
  I I would only suspect that, you know, there might be some future
• 1:19:37
  instrumental pieces that you write that are contributed by
• 1:19:42
  the drums that you've made. That would be cool, you know?
• 1:19:46
  And then just you know if nothing else then just get a
• 1:19:47
  chance to kind of follow your your journey as we have along
• 1:19:52
  the way. So I'm looking forward to that
• 1:19:55
  and as always with you know JM stuff there's there's a plethora
• 1:19:59
  of of things for people to to peruse as far as the items go.
• 1:20:07
  I just recently got something that you made in the form of a
• 1:20:13
  of a of a bracelet, which I like trappings and I mean I like.
• 1:20:19
  Be stylish a bit you know what I mean like I'm I'm not I'm not
• 1:20:22
  too proud to admit it and I'm like that's gonna I that that
• 1:20:25
  that just I saw the the the artwork on I'm like mine you
• 1:20:29
  know like I can see my aesthetic you know like you know but
• 1:20:34
  either way like it's it's it's great because it it's it's a
• 1:20:37
  beautiful gesture of your skill I love what you guys
• 1:20:42
  respectively do for your communities and and it's great
• 1:20:46
  to to know you you know in a personal way like obviously
• 1:20:52
  we've met in person both of you but you know Jam and I
• 1:20:54
  especially having shared in ritual and Blake you know we've
• 1:20:57
  we've hung out at high lung and we're relatively.
• 1:20:59
  And I would like to actually eventually share Rich with you
• 1:21:02
  one day. You know, like maybe I'm, I'm
• 1:21:06
  playing on the go on the shadow mood this year.
• 1:21:09
  I'm going to looking at doing that.
• 1:21:11
  And so if I see you up there, yeah.
• 1:21:16
  Yeah, but we're not that far away.
• 1:21:18
  I think we can definitely make something happen.
• 1:21:21
  Oh yeah. One way or the other.
• 1:21:24
  Yeah, and I'm doing things here as well.
• 1:21:27
  I'm just been busy right now. I have a a park move I'm hosting
• 1:21:33
  in my local area. Oh, when is that?
• 1:21:37
  Sunday. Oh, this week?
• 1:21:40
  Actually, yeah. This week, this Sunday, 1:00 to
• 1:21:42
  1:00 to 3:00. The the 19th.
• 1:21:46
  Yeah, the. 19th, OK, So for folks that are listening to
• 1:21:49
  this, you know, this comes out on this is, you know, people
• 1:21:52
  that are watching this or listening to this, it's it's,
• 1:21:55
  you know, the 16th. So if you're in the North
• 1:21:58
  Alabama area, I as a matter of fact, there's a Facebook event
• 1:22:02
  for this with location details, right?
• 1:22:05
  Yes. I'll put this in the show notes
• 1:22:07
  for people. To invite, just in case you
• 1:22:09
  wanted to. If you are in the area and you
• 1:22:11
  wanted to swing by, you know. Well, I mean, I'm actually going
• 1:22:14
  to be at Feast of the Fallen this weekend, so unfortunately I
• 1:22:17
  will be occupied there and can't make it.
• 1:22:19
  But I hope you get some a great turn out for that, but I'll
• 1:22:22
  definitely post it in our. Yeah, it's going to be in.
• 1:22:26
  It's going to be behind. It's going to be where the
• 1:22:29
  middle school, the old high school, middle school is now.
• 1:22:35
  There's a park behind that, like a big recreational park.
• 1:22:39
  It's going to be way back there in the woods, close to the woods
• 1:22:43
  there where there's like a little archery park there, but
• 1:22:49
  it's going to be in Swan Creek Park in Athens for anybody who's
• 1:22:54
  in the Athens, AL and North Alabama region, Southern
• 1:22:58
  Tennessee. Suite.
• 1:23:01
  We'll post to the information for folks in the description and
• 1:23:04
  show notes to check it out as well.
• 1:23:05
  So there's a There is a Facebook group that's I sent you the
• 1:23:10
  again. I sent you the invite, just in
• 1:23:11
  case. Yeah.
• 1:23:13
  Yeah, I'll share it. I'll share it here.
• 1:23:14
  I. Didn't expect you to come along.
• 1:23:16
  I just like thought that you would be interested in it since
• 1:23:19
  it was close. By anytime you do, anytime you
• 1:23:21
  do that, you know definitely, definitely send me the info.
• 1:23:24
  If if not, for the very least for me to be able to to share it
• 1:23:27
  around, always do that. I appreciate that.
• 1:23:30
  Yeah, so just playing seeds is all I'm doing.
• 1:23:35
  That's what needs to be done, man.
• 1:23:36
  I mean that's that's that's what it's about plant.
• 1:23:40
  The seeds tend to the trees. There's plenty of people out
• 1:23:44
  here that are interested in in in wanting that and and need it,
• 1:23:49
  you know, and it, it inspires others to do the same.
• 1:23:52
  The more trees that can get planted, the better.
• 1:23:54
  The more seeds that we can, the better, right?
• 1:23:57
  Yeah. See Everybody's everybody's,
• 1:24:03
  yeah. Say that again, JM.
• 1:24:06
  We just planted 14 more yesterday, but literal trees.
• 1:24:11
  Yeah, the literal trees. Well, I mean, shit, we need
• 1:24:13
  that. Yeah, of course.
• 1:24:14
  Yeah, like everybody's off on climate change, but not on
• 1:24:18
  deforestation. I hardly hear, hear anything
• 1:24:23
  about deforestation. Yeah.
• 1:24:26
  So yeah, more trees to be planted.
• 1:24:29
  And we've got to slow the cutting down and then make up
• 1:24:32
  for that and responsible planning, native planting.
• 1:24:39
  Yeah. All in all, this year alone, I
• 1:24:43
  think we're right up to 50 or 60 new trees that Cindy and I have
• 1:24:49
  planted. Thank you.
• 1:24:53
  That's beautiful. I'm gonna I had to plant.
• 1:24:57
  I'm trying to plant a tree in my front yard, which there used to
• 1:25:02
  be a tree there that died. It gets like struck by
• 1:25:06
  lightning. So I still have to actually cut
• 1:25:10
  down the main trunk and dig up the root system so I can
• 1:25:15
  properly plant back in its place a a a decent sized a good sized
• 1:25:20
  living tree. Did you keep any of the pieces
• 1:25:24
  from the lightning struck tree? The truck itself is still capped
• 1:25:30
  right now I'm still. I'm trying to figure out
• 1:25:31
  something to do with it. Because that would be some
• 1:25:34
  awesome, awesome material to craft with.
• 1:25:38
  I know that's what I was like. What I was planning on doing is
• 1:25:42
  either turning that into like a small guidepost or something.
• 1:25:46
  It's like a a Blessed by Thor piece of crafting material.
• 1:25:52
  Yeah. But I think it was one of those
• 1:25:55
  like, go ahead. Oh, I was outside.
• 1:26:02
  There was a guy that in our local community who lives in
• 1:26:07
  like the Fall Creek Falls area, which is like maybe an hour from
• 1:26:10
  me or so. And I think he said he had a is
• 1:26:15
  either a red oak or a white oak that got struck by lightning
• 1:26:18
  that went down in his yard. He's like, I'm just a bit too
• 1:26:21
  old and uncapable, incapable of getting stuff off of it.
• 1:26:27
  He's like, but there's so many like branches and things that if
• 1:26:30
  you know anybody wants it, come up here and get And I'm like
• 1:26:34
  might be just taking you up on that.
• 1:26:35
  I might I might swing out there with a saw or a hatchet or an
• 1:26:38
  axe or both or all three. You know, whatever it is because
• 1:26:42
  you talk about Thor and an oak like Ding, Ding, Ding, you know,
• 1:26:46
  come on, you almost can't. You can't turn.
• 1:26:50
  That down The thing is. The thing is, I don't think
• 1:26:54
  mine's. I think mine's one of those,
• 1:26:55
  like, decorative trees, you know, or like a Japanese Maple
• 1:26:58
  of some sort. But I'm still going.
• 1:27:02
  I can't remember. I can't remember what it was.
• 1:27:04
  It's hard to identify without the sleeves.
• 1:27:07
  I'll still have that piece of wood that was touched by
• 1:27:10
  lightning is very special. Yeah, it's kind of, it's kind of
• 1:27:15
  like reddish on the inside. When I was cutting it that parts
• 1:27:18
  of it down, the some of it was like almost like like a light
• 1:27:22
  cedar color, but not cedar. So 'cause it was still really
• 1:27:29
  nice, good and hardwood. It wasn't riot or anything.
• 1:27:35
  Yeah, cool. So if I could salvage.
• 1:27:43
  Very cool. Keep us up to date on that.
• 1:27:44
  Whatever you're able to come up with, you know.
• 1:27:47
  Yeah, And they've been replacing with like a native oak to the
• 1:27:50
  region. That is some long growth time.
• 1:27:56
  You know, you plan A, you plan a an oak.
• 1:27:59
  You know now it's you know if it takes and it grows, you know
• 1:28:03
  it'll it'll outlive us by a lot. Hopefully I.
• 1:28:07
  Just always wanted. I just wanted a oak in the front
• 1:28:10
  in my on my property just for 'cause I have AI have a Maple
• 1:28:16
  out there and then and then I can't recall what the other one
• 1:28:21
  of them's already. I had another one that's dying
• 1:28:24
  as well that I need to take down as well because it's.
• 1:28:26
  I think it got got Eat Up by Carpenter Ants.
• 1:28:32
  Yeah. And those things are those
• 1:28:34
  things are little nuisances for trees.
• 1:28:38
  Yeah, Well guys, I think we've got a good episode bundled up
• 1:28:44
  here, nice tightly knit, you know, little little bow on it,
• 1:28:48
  so to speak. And I appreciate us being able
• 1:28:51
  to sit together and talk about something that's meaningful to
• 1:28:54
  all of us, you know, in our respective ways.
• 1:28:57
  And thank you Blake for you know, writing in and and
• 1:29:01
  offering this as a topic for discussion and of course JM for
• 1:29:05
  being here to to weigh in and and share your thoughts on it
• 1:29:08
  too. Always appreciated.
• 1:29:11
  Before we sign off, is there anything that you gentlemen
• 1:29:14
  would like to offer as parting words to the listeners and the
• 1:29:18
  viewers? JM we want to start with you
• 1:29:21
  brother. Sure, sure.
• 1:29:24
  Even though as we talked through the evening, it's generally
• 1:29:28
  considered not a mandatory to craft in the paving community.
• 1:29:32
  Don't be afraid of the inspiration that you find or
• 1:29:35
  feel called to in crafting to pick something up, whether it be
• 1:29:39
  a pencil, a paintbrush, a piece of wood, tools.
• 1:29:45
  It's great for the spirit. It's great for connecting in
• 1:29:48
  that way through that work, keeping those traditions alive,
• 1:29:52
  those practices alive and in your communities to be able to
• 1:29:57
  share with your community. So it's not mandatory, but it's
• 1:30:00
  surely encouraged. Yeah, I second that.
• 1:30:08
  And I'll third it, by golly, I'll, I'll I'll definitely say
• 1:30:11
  like, yeah, like, you know, it's not mandatory, but don't, don't,
• 1:30:15
  don't quench the flame that you're feeling burning.
• 1:30:18
  You know, if you want to dabble and stuff, definitely do.
• 1:30:22
  So it's kind. Of hard to follow.
• 1:30:23
  It's kind of hard to follow those words of wisdom there.
• 1:30:28
  It's a healthy hobby. If anything, Oh yeah, just feel,
• 1:30:33
  just let it flow through you. Just just the inspiration and
• 1:30:37
  everything. It's it's in our DNA to create.
• 1:30:42
  We're born creative in whatever way.
• 1:30:46
  Some person may say I don't feel creative because I can't paint,
• 1:30:50
  but you can play music or you can cook your creativity.
• 1:30:57
  So create and make that love. Make that magic and share it.
• 1:31:05
  Good advice, brother. Thank you so much for sharing
• 1:31:08
  that. And thank you both again for for
• 1:31:10
  being here. I'll sign us off and just touch
• 1:31:13
  base with you in each offline here.
• 1:31:16
  So hang around for just a second.
• 1:31:18
  But everybody else that's listening and watching to this
• 1:31:20
  episode, once again, to my patrons on Patreon that do watch
• 1:31:24
  these videos where it's only available in its full form,
• 1:31:27
  thank you for your monthly pledge, continued support.
• 1:31:31
  If you're watching this now in the morning time, remember that
• 1:31:34
  later on this evening if you were at the skull tier or above
• 1:31:39
  on Patreon that we have our monthly kind of one-on-one
• 1:31:41
  virtual chat. We're going to be talking about
• 1:31:43
  the various ways that heathen rituals are done or or seen and
• 1:31:48
  some of the names that they go by and and the meaningful nature
• 1:31:52
  of those. So that'll be the topic of
• 1:31:53
  discussion on our month of May virtual Hangout for those of you
• 1:31:59
  who are pledged at that tier of support or above.
• 1:32:02
  And don't forget as well to check out all of the links that
• 1:32:05
  are for scalded works and fialvatir.com, bright spirit dot
• 1:32:11
  art. All that stuff is going to be
• 1:32:13
  linked, you know, in the description down below.
• 1:32:16
  And for those of you listening to this in the podcast show
• 1:32:19
  notes. So check all that out and
• 1:32:21
  support these these guys in, in any way that you're able to.
• 1:32:26
  And thank you all so much for your continued and ongoing
• 1:32:29
  support here each week and ongoing.
• 1:32:33
  So until we hear and see each other again, may the gods
• 1:32:38
  continue to notice you, and may your ancestors smile upon you.
• 1:32:42
  We'll see you in the next one.