It is truly amazing to me the number of people who give lip service to nature and the animal kingdom, seemly choose not to have an intimate relationship with either. There is no relationship with nature when we lock ourselves away within the confines of our home or business. If you happen to be a martial artist or a want-to-be shaman, you’re still isolated within the comfortable confines of the dojo/studio. I do mean comfortable. Any stress that is usually encountered in most modern dojos is ego-based discomfort rooted in winning/losing, performing correctly, and striving to achieve the next belt level. Of course, if you are a master, who would expect you to perform? I may be wrong, but I always thought of the martial arts as being a tool to ‘crush the ego.’ Isn’t the ego-consciousness the barrier that must be torn down to achieve any type of true martial power? The same is true for the person who has participated in a few classroom sessions and all of the sudden is a ‘shaman’ retrieving souls and healing the ‘masses.’

On the contrary, if nature is our dojo/our training ground, there are no corners for our ego to lurk in. There are no scorecards to hide behind. Rank and title have no meaning to Mother Nature and her children. They are not impressed with the color around our waist or any titles of ‘master or shaman.’ Nature sees within our hearts, and responds accordingly. Nature sees our degree of purity and has little tolerance for human ego. In fact, ego will kill you in nature’s wildness; your ego as well as your teacher’s.

Please do not misunderstand the point that I am raising. I am not referring to traditional or ‘old school’ koryu dojos or the ones that have paid their dues through shamanic ascetic training. But the martial (merchant) art dojos that are operated not by martial artists, but by ‘merchant’ artists, even though they may call themselves martial art masters. However, even koryu dojos may become complacent and neglect nature training. Even indigenous shamans-curanderos may lose their way as I’ve witnessed several times. When it’s happened out in nature, someone’s gotten hurt, physically as well as spiritually. Be aware of your teacher’s degree of purity when you train, because training under the sun and moon is necessary and essential for a martial and/or spiritual student’s growth and development.

By far, this is not a new concept. Since the earliest recorded history of humanity, people have sought guidance from nature and have demonstrated a reverence and respect for natural forces. The wisest ones saw the divine in nature and nature in the divine and sought for themselves to be in harmony with both, not separate. The knowledge and wisdom was there for the learning, if one had a heart that saw through the fear that nature and its forces may provoke.

For these first ‘people of power’ the serpent represented wisdom. It was the knower of all earthly mysteries and its brother the feathered-serpent—the dragon, was the keeper of the heavenly secrets. The serpent is ever watchful—vigilant—with its lidless eyes. By observing the movements of the serpent, we discover one of the prime patterns of existence. The wavy passage of the serpent is the flow of life in its undulating immortal dance of life everlasting.

The serpent is the intermediary, the messenger, between us and the Earth mother. It suggests the regenerative power of water as well as the cyclical changes of life. The coiled serpent symbolic of the micro-DNA and the macro-spiral of creation’s truth is a guide to self-discovery. It is the supreme master teacher. It holds for us the secrets of immortality. It teaches us to ‘shed the skins’ of our existence, to be ever in a state of renewal. And it represents the central life-force that is ever creative and destructive—two fold but then, the higher aspect where two becomes one. The light and dark that are seemingly separate; but yet again are one.

Excerpted from Dr. Husfelt’s forthcoming book December 2005, The Return of the Feathered Serpent—Shining Light of 'First Knowledge,' Survival and Renewal at the End of the Age—2006 – 2012.