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FOUR QUESTIONS by Mark Hatmaker

 


An Indigenous Teaching/Awakening

[Excerpted from our upcoming book The Great Seeing: Walking the World in the Path of The Scouts of Old—Lessons in Living Where Science & History Meet.]

Where in the World are You?

To become a Good Scout, Warrior, Wayfarer of the Planet one must be alive and awake to our ever-changing surroundings.

The Comanche tradition has a strategy called “Ha’kus’a t’zare ‘ene” which is a series of loose questions that an elder would ask often of the young.

As one moved beyond childhood, the Warrior asked these of him or herself several times per day.

Such four-dimensional locational surveys are common in many indigenous traditions.

The questions are myriad and often keyed to particular environments but here we will begin with a mere four.

ONE: What Time is It?

·        Without looking at your smartwatch, or any other device—assess the sun, the moon, relative shadows, your own internal “feel” for the time and provide yourself with your best assessment of the current time.

·        Then check your work with your device.

·        By repeating this question several times per day over the course of a month, over the course of a year’s worth of seasons, one can become remarkably adept at tuning into just where one is in the temporal spin of Mother Earth.

TWO: Which Way Am I Facing?

·        Without glancing at a GPS compass, or directional finder on smartwatch on dashboard display—assess the sun, moon, shadows, prevailing winds and make a stab at which of the four cardinal directions you are facing.

·        Then check your work.

·        Again, over time you begin to get a feel for where you are facing at all times on this Glorious Globe we call home.

THREE: What Do I See?

·        Look around you.

·        No, I mean really look.

·        What do you see.

·        What is different from the last time you checked.

·        What is the same?

·        Indigenous peoples and Sailors the world over use a “Top to Bottom” scan.

·        That is, Scan the environment “Top to Bottom” because sun, moon, stars can be obscured by clouds more easily than the ground.

·        Check what can change first.

·        Claiming to be a fine Protector that can spot trouble is highly unlikely if one is not the alert Wolf that is always scanning everything and everywhere at all times.

·        Learn to spot the first curl of a new flower next to your front porch, the new ding in the Yield sign near your house.

·        The Warrior who sees all, the beautiful and the mundane will be able to spot the profane and the dangerous with ease.

FOUR: What is the Wind Telling Me?

·        Indigenous Peoples, scouts, old school hunters, mountain men, sailors could read weather better than any app.

·        This skill begins with reading the wind.

·        Not just the wind direction…

·        Feel the wind—direction, strength, moist, or dry.

·        Dry winds lead to more evaporation and therefore more cooling; moist winds lead to more sweating. We learn how to dress for the day’s conditions by these tales.

·        Most weather changes are preceded by a change in wind direction and other characteristics, thus taking this daily wind inventory allows us to be open to such changes.

There you have it, a simple 4 Question Battery to Quiz Yourself Several Times per Day—Everyday.

Over time your positional and temporal awareness expands and the “intuitive” wisdom you garner will astonish you.

Add to this question battery the entire gamut found in this book and the world beneath your feet, the sky overhead, the scents on the air, the crickets chirruping the temperature—ALL become heads-up displays of real-time information and true signs of remarkable predictive power.

[Excerpted from our upcoming book The Great Seeing: Walking the World in the Path of The Scouts of Old—Lessons in Living Where Science & History Meet.]

[To be released January 2027.]

Resources for Livin’ the Warrior Life

The Black Box Store

https://www.extremeselfprotection.com/

The Indigenous Ability Blog

https://indigenousability.blogspot.com/

The Rough ‘n’ Tumble Raconteur Podcast

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2fTpfVp2wi232k4y5EakVv.

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