#111: Lucy O’Hagan - Wilderness Fasts, Ethno-Nationalism & Queerness of Nature

Lucy O’ Hagan is a very inspirational person. She has been on a fascinating journey, a journey that we couldn’t do justice to in one hour. However, we did cover a lot. I primarily asked Lucy onto the podcast to talk about her work with WildAwake – a fantastic organisation designed to help people connect to themselves, their communities and the non-human life on earth in a deeper way. Wildawake through Ancestral Skills, Ethnobotany, Wildlife Tracking and Trailing as well as Rites of Passage Training invite people to relate to the natural world in a way we have forgotten. Part of this Rites of Passage training with Wildawake includes a process which is often described as a Wildness Fast or Vision Quest which is an ancient ceremony involving several days of fasting in the natural world with little to no human company nor modern distraction. This conversation attempts to delve deeper into this rich process, why Lucy felt the call to Wilderness fasting and how it deepened her relationship with the land and inspired her work in Donegal with Wildawake. We also talk about the rise of ethno-nationalism in Ireland and consider how combined with economic precarity and misinformation online, this racism might be seen as a symptom of the significant disconnection many Irish people feel to their language, to their tradition, to their stories, to their land. Lucy also shares some of her observations facilitating ceremonies and from her extended time on the land, including the ‘inherent queerness of the natural world’. This was a beautiful chat which I think might serve as necessary nutrition for many given the disconnection, polarisation and violence going on close to home at the moment. Lucy’s story reminds me of our collective need to listen to the natural world, to learn about the ways of our ancestors and to pay homage to these practices and worldviews. You can find more information about Wildawake and Lucy through the link below. As always, thanks for making the time to listen and thanks to Lucy for getting up early for our call

https://www.wildawake.ie/