Found a turkey feather on my daily hike and was reminded of the brilliant book “Illuminations in the Flatwoods”by Joe Hutto (also made into a Nature episode “My Life as a Turkey”). In the book, Hutto was initiated into the Turkey World (entered Turkey Consciousness) when he gazed into the eyes of newly hatched wild turkey chicks. He describes this moment of imprint as something that “moved inside” himself.
As the turkeys grow, he begins to wander the surrounding forest with them, a forest he was entirely familiar with, but now he is—quite mysteriously —a Turkey, not a Human. He experiences a completely different world, a vastly different forest. (You have to read it to really grasp it, and it’s absolutely worth every minute, or just watch the Nature episode).
This is our path forward, as humans, I think. Initiation into different consciousnesses, an ever-expansive experience of life on Earth. I think it’s something we can practice, playfully, with great respect. It’s something that happens inside us, but it shifts the world. Thank you, Joe Hutto. Thank you, Turkeys.