The Green Man Diaries

For those of you who were wondering, I found my bag with everything still in it (including my travel pass) except my notebook.  That’s annoying, but not a huge loss.

I didn’t end up staying at the Rainbow Gathering.  Everyone was speaking French, and I couldn’t follow a word of it.  So when a (bilingual) lady offered me a ride to a native “Circle of All Nations” happening about four hours north of Montreal, I accepted.

This turned out to be a wise decision.  There was a significant flaky New Age presence – a workshop entitled “The Teachings of the Incas” turned out to be about ascended masters and chakras and “co-creation” – but also traditional sweat lodge ceremonies, a Huichol shaman, drumming and so on, all set against a beautiful lake in the woods.  The air was clear, the stars were out, and the company was great: definitely a positive way to spend a weekend.

All the talk about healing, though, got me thinking.  Healing is a major part of most religions, but why?  Isn’t there more to exploring the nature of the cosmos than simply not being damaged goods?  I see myself as a machine, and perhaps the machine needs to be repaired.  But once it’s in working order, isn’t there some function it should be serving?  What seems to be the case is that psychological damage is so ingrained and commonplace that we can’t even imagine what a healthy relationship to the universe might entail, or – better yet! – what an entire society might look like if wellness, not affliction, were the norm.

Anyway, speaking as someone who now feels well – or well enough – my search for a function is drawing me next to Florida, to meet up with a friend of mine.  We will see what happens.