Monday 2 January 2012

Magnificent Otters in the Amazon

This video from the BBC (UK) shows the most spectacular images of otters in the Amazon. A once endangered species otters are now being protected to enable there numbers to grow. The family of otters swim in the waters and catch fish to eat. The younger otter looks on earnestly in the hope that some food will pass their way. Seeing otters in their natural habitat going about their normal life is very special. They have their own language and their own unique stories.Earlier today I was reading the words of Martin Shaw, a master story carrier and mythologist. He reminds us everything in the natural world carries the lines of story. All we need do is listen deeply and observe intently.

"The patterning of crows over a winter field is an oracular thought of the mud, sky, and bird; the elegant procession of the reindeer across a spring meadow is part of some epic train of imagination that has been running for tens of thousands of years. The swift dive of the killer whale is a new vision from an ancient sea. Thought is not just contained in language, not even for us humans. But it is all story. The animals are myth-tellers in the way that they are. The hundred ways the otter gleefully crosses a stream is the same way the tellers splash their routes through a story: the same destination but differing currents, details, and varying intensities of stroke. These images are more than just metaphors for our own condition but, entered respectfully, offer a glimpse of the great, muscled thoughts of the living world. It is always thinking."

For those interested in taking a dive into story and myth check out Martin's blog

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