The Olden Ways

I have been so inspired lately by old cultures of all kinds. It seems they all have so many wonderful secrets- ways of living that are almost completely died out.

In our current culture, it seems we are so distracted by modernism, we have almost forgotten that we live completely different from all of the people who have ever lived up until a few years ago. Don't get me wrong, i appreciate a few modern 'conveniences' but the older i get, the more i believe i would be completely content without those things...

What really excites me is the really really old cultures- the people who lived off the land before settlers ever came. Every land once had a native culture. And every 'civilized' country is the way it is now because people came from other places and literally stole the land, divided it up and forced the native people to live the same way...

Cultures that lived in harmony with the land lived in everyday beauty and experienced what we can scarcely imagine- miracles.

I really want to learn these old ways. My latest interests have been Native American and old Scottish cultures, and also Lapp and Viking culture. It seems like all of these old traditions have things in common. I want to learn Navajo weaving, and also tablet weaving. I love learning old medieval patterns & textiles, dyeing, I love wool and linen and leather. In my searches, I have found crafts that were so beautiful they made me cry! I see God in these old ways. And cooking with fire! The way people lived without running water- whose ways were lighted by flames- I am very inspired by people who dedicate their lives to Living History. We've tried to include links to a lot of these sites that really inspired us. (For example check out Othala Craft. I literally cried when i saw that someone was making woolen clothing from authentic patterns- it is so beautiful!) The things people made and the ways people lived were beautiful in themselves, but i think there is something behind it that makes it so amazing. Maybe it is the fact that we CAN live another way- there IS more to life than (xyz)- that things our modern culture tells us are impossible really ARE possible- or that it makes me feel apart of something so ancient and vast and much bigger than myself and my young culture- or maybe it's because living in harmony with creation puts us in synch with our Creator again...