Woodland Sprawl E-Magazine for

Ravenwood

Listening Trail

Many creative initiatives have sprung to life in the Highlands Nature Sanctuary over the last ten years. But we venture to say that none have been more inspired and far-seeing than the artistic creation of Ravenwood's Listening Trail.

Let us take you there....

The Nature of Art -- drawn on a living canvas
Imagine. You are walking along a pristine stream in a deep valley. Moss covers the rock-strewn path with a thick carpet of green, muffling your steps. Except for the chant of a vireo calling above your head, you are alone. On one side of you is a creek rushing in white riffles around river stones. On the other is a vertical rock wall studded with small caves. You pause before one of the small openings in the rock, a dark womb of earth, and peer in. Then your heart

gives a leap and your breath catches in your throat.

There on the sand floor of the grotto is a drawing of concentric circles. Someone has been here before you. Then, your eye catches something else not quite belonging to what you normally think of as Nature ... a pile of six rocks balanced in a striking cairn. For no logical reason, a breeze of joy rustles through the dry leaves of your heart, but simultaneously your brain shatters as you struggle to integrate what you are seeing with what you know. The line between culture and nature begins to blur.

You continue on the path and discover more special niches along the way, each inviting you to sit and touch. ...A huge rock tilts into the creek with a giant sycamore growing on it, a sand bar begs you to walk barefoot, a small swing is uspended on the rim of the gorge; and a rock cave-shelter beckons, its entrance protected by a beautiful stone wall.

Everything looks so natural, and yet.... the scenery speaks to your humanity as well. The trail delicately suggests that you step right there, where a rock reaches up to support your foot; and to sit just here, where a tree bends sideways to accommodate your weight. Here on this trail, Nature is not the adversary demonized in the daily news, but an approachable ally and friend. Here, when you reach out to tentatively touch her, she touches you back.

Welcome to Ravenwood's new Listening Trail -- an innovative experiment for encouraging quiet contemplation in nature.

The Sanctuary is devoted to saving land for the Eastern Forest's native plants and animals. Buying land for biodiversity protection occupies much of our daily activities and focus. But the Sanctuary is also devoted to sculpting right relationships with nature, whereby Aldo Leopold's query written back in the fifties may someday be answered: "How can we learn to live in a place without spoiling it?" What capacities of the soul do we need to develop to achieve this? How might we forge these capacities out of the fires of our current

world crises in order to solve the problems that arise from our disharmony with the living world?

One thing we do know for certain. The answers will not come from thinking in the grooves of old patterns. The solutions will be complex, and their seeds lie somewhere in the shifting paradigm forces that lie untapped within us. To help find our inner wisdom, sometimes it helps to be alone in what is left of of the pristine world. ...To sit in the quiet, surrounded by beauty and the intensity of Life -- instead of in the increasingly un-enlivened boxes of our everyday culture and ideas.

Framing the World. Why do the small shifts in perception at Ravenwood elicit such strong emotions? Perhaps because the perceptions don't engage the mind, but touch and stir the forces of soul -- which is exactly what Art is supposed to do. The subtle changes in the landscape at Ravenwood represent ART in its truest essence.

Sometimes the art is so subtle, you barely notice it. Sometimes the rocks are placed just so, guiding your eyes to frame things differently, like the rock-framed picture above. When you finally realize that you aren't looking at nature but art -- art that has welled up and out of our own imperfect human-ness -- a chill of reverence and humility runs up the spine.

At Ravenwood, art is always small and subtle, as befits our humble place in web of things. At Ravenwood, art is always beautiful, as befits the recognition that, despite our frailties, we are still capable of expressing our divinity upon the earth's canvas. And lastly, the context of art at Ravenwood always expresses a holistic belongingness to place. The thoughtful observer can't help but recognize that, at least for this one moment, our humanity has merged with the realm of NATURE; not divorced, not dominating. For most of us, this is what makes Ravenwood a healing and transformative experience.

Ravenwood Debuts as an Educational Retreat Center
with Upcoming Workshop by Karen Godfrey
Ravenwood's structure, a remodeled three-story farmhouse that was previously a bed and breakfast, has recently been transformed into a group lodge. We are understandably biased, but we believe that Ravenwood -- and Beechcliff, our other group facility -- are two of the finest group lodges in the state for natural and cultural beauty, as well as for affording incomparable opportunities for nature communion along the Sanctuary's 14 miles of hiking trails. We hope you attend the grand opening event of Ravenwood: Karen Godfrey's Wellness Through Touch. (click on title for description and registration) And we hope that you will help anchor Ravenwood's future by coming with your own group event sometime in 2005-2006. As with all new creations, Ravenwood is still vulnerable. To survive and grow, it must be supported, used and loved. To find out more about Ravenwood, click here.

Ravenwood and Beechcliff are ideal facilities for groups teaching nature literacy, deep ecology, natural history, wellness, meditation, and body-connection; or destinations for groups of friends sharing a quiet nature retreat..

Where credit is due.
The inspiration for Ravenwood's Listening Trail was birthed out of a painful life passage undergone by massage therapist Karen Godfrey, who found solace at Ravenwood, and eventually saw a future for a listening trail. Nancy Henry is responsible solely for one thing: listening carefully to Karen and recognizing a good idea when she heard one. The primary execution and artistic vision for the Listening Trail is almost entirely the work of nature artist Dale Killian, who has spent hours on the trail, lifting the stones, listening, shifting the weight of matter, channeling inspired artistry through his able hands. His connection with the Spirit of the valley is what allowed the Trail to be what it is today. Funding to support Dale's work came from Sandy Gross and John Hutton, who have dedicated their entire ives to creativity, nature and art. Special thanks to Charlotte Stiverson, Tim Pohlar, and Bill Hesson for assisting Dale on the trail. And abundant thanks to the superb craftsman of southern Ohio, Wood-Artist Brad Gray, who built a rustic swing for the trail and helped envision the special sites. To Melanie Arnold for holding Ravenwood these many years, peering into the future, and refusing to give up on the belief that Ravenwood had something special to offer to the world, and to Larry Henry, who kept encouraging everyone to think bigger than they ever thought imaginable.