This is episode 11 of our 2023 podcast series. Listen to the episode here and find other episodes and previous series here.
This month we are speaking to Evangeline, a writer, musician and shaman. Evangeline shares with us her relationship with the land as a shaman and how that influences how she travels.
As a shaman I spend time connecting to the land and the spirits of the land, and connecting to people’s ancestors. It’s about decolonising and getting back into nature, connecting to the land and the UK, and not harming the land.
When I was a child we travelled a lot and flew a lot. As an adult, trying to deepen my relationship to the land and the place around me, I realised I didn’t enjoy those early travel experiences. I enjoyed the travel in the UK or by train more. Part of that was always wanting to be at home, and feeling a deep relationship with the place I grew up, which was in a green area, near an ancient forest. I didn’t see the appeal of leaving my home and flying off somewhere else.
As an adult, trying to deepen my relationship to the land and the place around me, I realised I didn’t enjoy those early travel experiences. I enjoyed travelling in the UK or by train more.
In indigenous cultures, to be taken off the land is so painful. That’s the relationship I had with the land when I was younger and that’s what I want to find again.
I hated the physical effects of flying: I had ringing in my ears, pain, and jetlag. It’s a very unnatural way to get somewhere and I always found it really jarring. It doesn’t feel like a journey. If I go somewhere I want it to take as long as it would naturally take. I’ve been thinking about how travel transformed from pilgrimage to holidays, and how it used to be all about walking or going by horse, and getting to know the land, and weeping when you arrive because it’s so epic! That’s a better way to see the world.
I last flew 11 years ago. It sort of happened by accident but then it became an intentional choice a few years ago when I was looking into the harms of flying, specifically the noise pollution from airports disrupting birds and their song and flight patterns. So I decided that if I wanted to go away it would be within the UK or a train in Europe. It can be a challenge when it’s raining and dark and you just want to be in the sun. But it is more rewarding because you work out how to connect with the seasons.
Not flying became an intentional choice when I was looking into the harms of flying, specifically the noise pollution from airports disrupting birds and their song and flight patterns.
I feel like to live seasonally is really important and there are a lot of lessons we can learn from each season, especially in winter when everything is dying and it’s a bit sparse. It’s artificial to hop on a plane and leave and not have anything to do with the land that you’re on. We associate luxury with the sun and being somewhere else. But there’s a lot to be said for celebrating the seasons and eating seasonally.
Shamanism is about seeing the land as the being that facilitates the relationship with all other beings. It holds the web of life and every other eco system and every other spirit. It’s a constant witness to us – wherever we are, we’re on land. All of us have a relationship with the land, especially if we’ve lived in the same place for a long time. In my work I communicate with people’s ancestors, which can be human but can also be the land, trees and animals.
I’m mixed race with many different lineages so I have a relationship with a lot of different lands. When I began communicating with the land it became clear how much trauma there is, with the way we build and farm and travel. I had to look at myself and see how I can stop harming the land. Part of Shamanism is to be a steward of the planet and care for it and keep it in good condition. It’s a completely different mindset because you have to shift from seeing land, nature and animals as resources.
Part of Shamanism is to be a steward of the planet and care for it and keep it in good condition. It’s a completely different mindset because you have to shift from seeing land, nature and animals as resources.
Thinking about my experience of being on a plane, going somewhere I had no connection to, being there in an instant – it’s a consumerist experience. If I have made an intention to get somewhere in a way that won’t harm the land, it’s a completely different experience.
My family is from Lancashire so a lot of my travels are around Lancashire because you can have the deepest experiences where your ancestors were. The UK is so London-centric that people forget that there’s anything else. We have sandy beaches, some of the most beautiful beaches I’ve been to. It’s an amazing country in terms of the nature, landscape and different terrains, with lakes, forests, and mountains. I’ve only seen a tiny proportion of it and it still feel like it’s going to take me years to really explore everything the UK has to offer.
The Lake District can look like Canada or New Zealand and people are shocked to learn it’s actually the UK. People have a negative view of the country in terms of travel and holidays. Foreign travel is seen as very cosmopolitan, but I think back to my travels and think that I didn’t really learn much from them – I can learn more by staying here and reading about other places or going to a museum.
Another reason for not wanting to travel is that tourism often takes away resources away from local people and can push local people out of the area and deplete the natural resources.
Part of decolonising is having a relationship with that land and taking into account the wants and needs of that place. Just because I want to go somewhere doesn’t mean that the land can actually receive me. It might not have enough water, I might be eroding the soil. You’re just overriding the will of every other living being because you feel like your holiday is more important.
Just because I want to go somewhere doesn’t mean that the land can actually receive me.
I think I will travel again, maybe not by plane, but if I go, I will ask for permission first. It has to be a two-way thing – we can’t just keep overriding nature and the land and just doing what we want.
Listen to the full episode here and find other episodes and previous series here.
Credits:
Interview conducted and produced by Anna Hughes. Voiceover: Lou Millington. Intro music: Call to Arms by Aaron Paul Low. Outro music: First Action Hero by Aaron Paul Low.
