Like a Shadow: The Life and Training of a Guardian Warrior

by Tamarack Song

Some call him Scout, many would call him Warrior, and still others know him as Protector. To Native people he is Guardian. He is the manifestation of their courage, selflessness, and desire to serve. The Guardian can be female or male, old or young. He is invisible, alert, and detached. He is sentry, wayfinder, messenger, ambassador, sleuth, defender, provider, brother, and sister. His presence gives peace of mind to his people so that they can comfortably pursue their day’s activities and rest peacefully at night.In this day, the Guardian is needed again by his people, perhaps like never before. This book guides you to where he can be found within yourself. You may be surprised to discover how close he lives to your heart. All people need protection--from the weather, a natural disaster, or sometimes perhaps from an “enemy,” other times from the burdens of clan and family, and occasionally even from ourselves. The Guardian is trained to serve as a protector in all of these ways.Perhaps most importantly, the Guardian protects her people's state of well-being, by helping to assure a low level of stress and a high level of personal satisfaction in life. She fills in when parents need a helping hand. She protects and defends someone who is being persecuted or falsely accused. She stands up for the exploited and disadvantaged. She protects people from their own folly, from their shortsightedness and errors of judgment. Functioning from a place of greater perspective, she is able to foresee what peril looms ahead.When a Guardian meets conflict on her mission, her high degree of training in methods of camouflage, avoidance, and deception allows her to minimize her impact upon others. She has a highly attuned spiritual sense; she understands that the Lifeforce in others is the same substance that flows through her, so she grants those who stand in her Path the utmost respect and space. If there is no other way to navigate around them, she removes them in the least disruptive and harmful way possible. When she has no choice but to fight, the Guardian does not fight against anything or anyone; she fights for Balance, connection, and respect for all creatures on Earth.This book is a complete Guardian training manual, giving you the awarenesses, diet, and exercises to bring out your fullest performance potential. First, you meet the traditional Guardian; then, you find the Guardian within you. You discover how you can serve your people and your mother planet with the same sense of purpose and service as the Guardians of old. And just as importantly, you gain the deep sense of fulfillment that comes from performing at your creative, physical, intellectual, and intuitive peak.

284 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2020

About the author

Tamarack Song has spent his life studying the world's aboriginal peoples, apprenticing to elders, and learning traditional hunter-gatherer survival skills. He has spent years alone in the woods as well as living with a pack of Wolves. In 1987 he founded the Teaching Drum Outdoor School in the wilderness of northern Wisconsin. He is the author of several books, including Entering the Mind of the Tracker.

Reviews

[Samantha Sprole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that will withstand multiple readings. While I was editing this book, I had to pause to reflect on its applications in many aspects of life. It succinctly challenges an ego-driven life, but not only that, it strives to instill new lifestyle patterns that, paradoxically, shirk the habitual for the endlessly creative, relentlessly self-overcoming. Don't walk up the stairs in the same way twice. Don't brush your teeth always with the same hand, the same rhythm or method. This book pushes you to unsettle yourself in the minutia of life, and thereby to prepare yourself for the complexity of challenges that lie ahead.

Life is training, and training is life. While you mold yourself to be emotionally unflappable and physiologically at the top of your game, you remain oriented not toward an ideal of your actualized self, but to the real needs and benefit of your clan. This is a rather crucial stumbling block for the alienated person, awash in a culture of stark and prideful individualism. This is the start of my own journey.