CALENDAR
Current Schedule
Last update 4/15/13
(If you would like to be on my tracking class email list, please email me at sulliva5@sonic.net)
May TRACKING CIRCLE
MEETING
Sunday, 12 May 2013, 9 till 1:00
Reservations required (707 874-9927)
$15.00
MEET AT THE VERNAL POND ON THE BODEGA DUNES ENTRANCE ROAD NORTH OF BODEGA BAY AND SOUTH OF SALMON CREEK.
This meeting is for trackers and bird language students of any level, including beginners, who want to consider engaging in an in depth study with me over an extended period of time. Over time we will consider the traditional tracking material, but with emphasis on the developing a contemporary spiritual tracking practice, based on the native lore and practice (in so far as we can know about it,) but also grounded in biology, cognitive science, and informed by some of the other deep contemporary practices flourishing right here in Sonoma county.
We will circle up on site for a short introduction and then head out for some dirt time, using what Nature gives us to guide our mutual study.
This is for committed students who want to make space in their lives to show up regularly and who want to explore deeply both the inner and the outer worlds of tracking and bird language.
We meet on the 2nd Sunday of every month.
and
We are currently considering a second meeting each month, probably on a week day, to start after the Holliday Season.
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MONTHLY TRACKING AND BIRD LANGUAGE CLASS
Second Saturday of the Month
Saturday 11 May, 2013
9:00 am till 1:00 pm
Reservations Required (707 874-9927)
$25
This is an ongoing class for entry level trackers and for self-taught and intermediate trackers who want to deepen their tracking knowledge and awearess skills and perhaps plug into the tracking community. We explore the tracking lore and traditional practices along with input from biology and the cognitive sciences. It provides an opportunity to experience tracking and bird language in the field with an internally certified, experienced local tracker. Our focus is on learning to recognize the spoor of the local animals, birds, insects and other life forms. This is the recommended First Course.
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LECTURE
ANIMAL TRACKING AND BIRD LANGUAGE AS METAPHORS--------
WEDNESDAY 13 MARCH, 2013
INSTITUTE OF NOETIC SCIENCES
PETALUMA, CA
DETAILS TO FOLLOW
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TRACKING/BIRD LANGUAGE INTENSIVE
THIS AN EXTENDED HALF DAY DIRT TIME INTRODUCTION TO ANIMAL TRACKING AND BIRD LANGUAGE IN THE FIELD WITH JIM
$125/PERSON
SCHEDULE NEGOTIABLE TO FIT YOUR NEEDS
reservations required
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CHANSLOR RANCH TRACKING PROGRAM
MONTHLY
check the website for schedule or call me @ 707 874-2174
chanslorranch.com
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Pepperwood May 19, 2013
This is a repeat and follow up of the tracking/bird language workshop I've taught here for several years in conjunction with SRJC.
Sorry, sold out. If you would like to be put on a list for a similar workshop, please contact me.
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The following can be scheduled, to fit your needs:
INTRODUCTION TO ANIMAL TRACKING
ANIMATION TRACKING
SPECIES HIKES
GUIDED TRACKING TOURS
AND
CONSULTATIONS AND LECTURES
CONTACT JIM (707 874-9927)
or
email sulliva5@sonic.net
(I'm available most days with 1/2 half hour notice)
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TRACKING CIRCLE
I'm starting a small group I'm calling a "Tracking Circle" for all levels of trackers who want to dig deeper into Tracking/Bird Language and to explore tracking as a central metaphor for a truly contemporary "spiritual" life that is deeply rooted both in our neglected pre-agricultural heritage and in modern biology and cognitive science. The tracking lore alone is so vast that no one person can encompass all of it, and pretty much the same is true of the cutting edge cognitive science and biology. So this group is for committed students who would like to study in depth with me.
The way I see the Tracking Circle operating, at least in the early stages, is to meet in the field once or twice a month for a half day of real dirt time to ground our understanding in direct, personal experience of nature. Then working from the ground up we can begin to mutually explore how trackers understand and live in this world, and some of the very interesting ideas contemporary science and philosophy are beginning to contribute. One of our chief aims will be to generate language that grounds our understanding in our own personal, real-world experience of Nature in the broadest sense, including in our work and personal lives--awareness, gratitude, integrity, competence, self-confidence, and the ability to find meaning, minute by minute, in our lives and in the world as it unfolds around us.
Tracking is traditionally taught in a mentoring framework. I'm not prepared to enter into genuine mentoring relationships at this point in my life. What I want to do is proceed on a more equal basis in a collage-like manner, just taking whatever experiences Nature throws up for us in the field and exploring them together to find their immediate meaning and to generate language that supports and opens up our inner "spiritual" lives. Over time we will explore what it means to develop a coherent "spiritual life" that is based in nature and we will gradually plug into some of the other very interesting work and community that is beginning to happen locally.
There are no prerequisites, other than a genuine interest. One of the first tracking jokes I ever heard says: tracking wrecks you for hiking...and this can be true. This is not a hiking group or physical exercise class, although most trackers do develop excellent physical conditioning over time. This is about moving beyond a merely aesthetic experience of Nature into the world of meaning, about studying the profound traditional techniques of listening and seeing and feeling, and about living responsibly. Children, hunters, older people, Christians, Pagans, and Nature lovers of all kinds are welcome. If you are interested, please contact me. js
Ph 707-874-9927
