The Lion and the Jackal
May 2025
Every morning I wake up before the dawn. There is something profound about this time of the day, when the animals and birds are silent or asleep. The darkness. There is a moment when the wind stops, and the quiet black is all there is. Even mother earth herself seems to rest. As if she is taking a long deep rejuvenating breath in anticipation of the day.For me, these are sacred moments for the human being.
For it is our time to be present with our Creator. Its a time set aside for us to do this.
Regardless if you pray, meditate or commune, and regardless if it’s to God or your gods, this opportunity for inter-being with the great existential mystery is essential for the human soul. The redemptive space that the quiet black brings us, the simplicity it affords, and the un-cluttered thought that emerges is gold-dust. The pre-dawn does not in fact care who we are, what religion we believe in, how much money we have or what or social status is. Or even about our confrontations and conflicts. All of these are superfluous and are merely lost in the breeze, with only the foundation of soul remaining. Here we sit, exposed and vulnerable to the great mystery. A warm peaceful comfort emerges, washing over us like an invisible welcome soft blanket on a cold night. There is nothing as inspiring as this. The peace of coming home. For home may not necessarily be the place you were born, or the place where you live. It is the redemptive space of belonging, where all attempts to run from, are not necessary.
As for me, I pray. To my God. I offer my conflicts to the quiet black. And my frustrations and fears. Then I listen long.
What is the source of conflict in our lives?
Of discontentment. Of feelings of uncertainty or fear that often befall us?
For in our modern world of 2025, these are real and relevant indeed. How do we find stillness in an economically motivated and socially charged society, and the pressures that these bring? As a wilderness guide, I enjoy a relatively simple lifestyle and choose to live within my means. I’m happy with less for sure. Yet, the reality is that a loaf of bread costs the same for me as it does for Elon Musk! So its fair to say that the challenges of thriving in this world are a source of conflict for me too.
This modern society is a strange place. Its a habitat where we believe that the pleasures of life are measured by money and possessions. The nett result being the exploitation and manipulation of our natural world itself. Nature and nature-infused thinking reconnects us with the great truth; that the true pleasures of life are not found there. They are found here. In the soil, the wind, the sky, the landscapes and all our living relatives that exist within them. True pleasures lie in the world around us. This elusive yet incredibly simple re-understanding is the keystone of our leadership trails and the wilderness experience.
In this re-understanding, peace and stillness emerge.
We reflect on our lives as restless processes of imaging alternatives, and stop for a moment. We slow it all down and plug-in to the great mystery that is revealed in the quiet black. That life is a story of balance and integration. Of a middle way and no attachment to the extremes of life. The Yin & Yan. The passive & the aggressive, light & dark, pace & peace, love & hate. Life & death, yes & no, hard & soft.
Or, the lion & the jackal.
Two famously contrasting characters in the bush.
Smiling deeply, I notice a change in the air. Birds begin to sing and the dawn chorus is underway. There is a soft red glow in the east, and a hyena whoops in the distance. And slowly the camp awakens with sounds of a campfire being stoked, water being poured and coffee being brewed. Like a spell being broken, the sacred time comes to an end. Tomorrow is another morning. Smiling still, and admiring the sunrise, I slowly walk toward the coffee pot on the campfire.
The day begins.
And the story unfolds.
Later that morning we locate a lion who has made a kill during the night. A young impala antelope and she has almost consumed it all. Only the skin and some bones remain. In the distance to the north, we hear the beckoning roars of another lion and soon he lion stands and walks off in that direction. The leftovers are abandoned. Scanning the distance, I notice a black-backed jackal in an open clearing at least half a kilometre away. He is focussed and peering off into the distance as well. Jackals are our equivalent of a fox or a small wolf, and there are two species in Southern Africa, with the black-backed being the most common. Deceptively timid, intelligent and opportunistic, they are typically scavengers and make a living following and monitoring lion activity, feeding on the spoils of their kills. As this jackal is focussed to the north where the other lions are calling, he doesn’t notice our lion walking towards him. As he approaches, the jackal moves out of the way to let him pass by.
And as he walks past, a fascinating thing happens.
The jackal picks up the lion’s scent trail, and begins to back-track. Their sense of smell is remarkable, and with nose to the ground, he precisely retraces her steps. Now, when lions feed, its a rather messy affair! There’s a lot of gore on the ground, and their table manners leave little to be desired. So I believe its this scent trail of fresh meat that the lion left behind that the jackal was following. He trailed the lion’s meandering walk all the way back to the kill site and located the remains of the impala. He certainly could not have smelled the actual kill due to the wind direction. We were all floored by this display of precision, survival skill and bushcraft, and cheered the jackal on all the way to the kill. Although not a lot to feed on, it would have been a feast for him. It was remarkable to watch, and to have a front row seat to this fascinating inter-being.
That got me thinking.
Firstly, what is it that we associate with lions and jackals?
I would say a lion represents a lot about predator nobility, power, forcefulness and physicality in pursuit of its kill (a.k.a. profit). As an apex predator, the king of the jungle, lion outmuscle most competitors and are envied for their strength. We refer to a ‘lion heart’ in terms of this nobility and bravery. Jackals, on the other hand, may represent a shadowy scavenger, inferior and cunning. Living on the edge. In some religious content, they are even seen as the embodiment of evil and darkness. In truth, at mainstream first glance, there is very little envious or aspiring in a jackal. These two characters are a classic contrast.
Secondly, do we not all have the characters of lions and jackals within us?
In the depths of the human psyche, if we reflect honestly, these animals’ virtues as antagonists, are present in us all. On a daily basis, our inner lion and jackal competes for survival, profit or belonging. Competes to be known. Conflict.
Thirdly, the skill of the jackal to back-track the lion by scent was astounding to see. It located profit and well-being by paying attention to what the lion WAS doing. Or in other words, what happened in the past.
To explain a little more, consider the following:
How often do we hear the phrase “forget about the past and focus on the future?” That what is gone is gone, and all that is important lies ahead. For me, this is deeply flawed and ecologically unintelligent. Perhaps this is what the inter-being between the lion and jackal should teach us. By understanding history the jackal benefitted; the lion’s past was of consequence to him. The jackal could have lived in the future by following the vision of the lion, yet chose to back-track from the present moment. Belonging, acknowledging and understanding ‘the past’ was essential to the jackal’s present moment. And therefore, his future.
Ultimately, its the duality of these two animals that play a part in ecosystem health. Lions, on the extreme right, maintaining herbivore balance. While jackals, on the extreme left, playing an essential role by feeding on carcasses thereby preventing disease outbreaks. Both skill-sets are highly developed and equally as impressive, although the manner of obtaining profit is different.
A question:
Can you consider that the totality of our beings, with our flow of energy, life and inter-dependance, is in fact an ecosystem?
That it needs health and balance in order to be productive? That our well-being, if not our survival, depends on this thrivability. If your answer is YES, then the symphony of the lion and the jackal (and the virtues that they represent within us) are absolutely essential.
What the passive jackal teaches us is that it is crucial to look into the past. As vital as the aggressive lion who looks ahead for opportunity. The balanced duality of these characters is the middle way. All to often society suggests that the emphasis MUST be on the future. We must be lions! But if we only do this, we fail to acknowledge the jackal, and therefore cannot understand our individual story. Our pasts are essential and they belong to us. Our origins in the ancient landscapes of Africa, the memories of our ancestors, our natural instincts, the events that have shaped our lives are all within us. If we don’t don’t know them, how can we know our story? And if we cannot acknowledge this, how do we discover belonging in the present moment? And therefore, how do we find solace in the future?
I have a lot of questions this time! …
How is it that the human animal, with all our intellect, does not understand what has happened in the past? How is it that we do not admire and celebrate the jackal within us and learn from history. To avoid making the same mistakes again and again. To discover a moderate middle way that speaks to our culture of compulsive consumption. That the pleasures of life don’t lie in acquiring ‘stuff’, but rather in realising that we need less. To acknowledge the people and other beings in our lives whom we have loved, and who have loved us. The great inter-being suggests that their destinies cannot be separated from that of our own. How is it that we don’t listen to those who have experienced the absolute futility and horrors of war and ultimate conflict? How is it that the memory of our ancestors is all to conveniently forgotten?
Deleted?
Perhaps tomorrow morning’s session with the pre-dawn quiet black will whisper some answers.
I’ll be listening. Join me there?
For now, I know this: by feeding our inner lion and starving our inner jackal, we have lost the track of our story.
And we urgently need to retrace it.
May 2025
Every morning I wake up before the dawn. There is something profound about this time of the day, when the animals and birds are silent or asleep. The darkness. There is a moment when the wind stops, and the quiet black is all there is. Even mother earth herself seems to rest. As if she is taking a long deep rejuvenating breath in anticipation of the day.For me, these are sacred moments for the human being.
For it is our time to be present with our Creator. Its a time set aside for us to do this.
Regardless if you pray, meditate or commune, and regardless if it’s to God or your gods, this opportunity for inter-being with the great existential mystery is essential for the human soul. The redemptive space that the quiet black brings us, the simplicity it affords, and the un-cluttered thought that emerges is gold-dust. The pre-dawn does not in fact care who we are, what religion we believe in, how much money we have or what or social status is. Or even about our confrontations and conflicts. All of these are superfluous and are merely lost in the breeze, with only the foundation of soul remaining. Here we sit, exposed and vulnerable to the great mystery. A warm peaceful comfort emerges, washing over us like an invisible welcome soft blanket on a cold night. There is nothing as inspiring as this. The peace of coming home. For home may not necessarily be the place you were born, or the place where you live. It is the redemptive space of belonging, where all attempts to run from, are not necessary.
As for me, I pray. To my God. I offer my conflicts to the quiet black. And my frustrations and fears. Then I listen long.
What is the source of conflict in our lives?
Of discontentment. Of feelings of uncertainty or fear that often befall us?
For in our modern world of 2025, these are real and relevant indeed. How do we find stillness in an economically motivated and socially charged society, and the pressures that these bring? As a wilderness guide, I enjoy a relatively simple lifestyle and choose to live within my means. I’m happy with less for sure. Yet, the reality is that a loaf of bread costs the same for me as it does for Elon Musk! So its fair to say that the challenges of thriving in this world are a source of conflict for me too.
This modern society is a strange place. Its a habitat where we believe that the pleasures of life are measured by money and possessions. The nett result being the exploitation and manipulation of our natural world itself. Nature and nature-infused thinking reconnects us with the great truth; that the true pleasures of life are not found there. They are found here. In the soil, the wind, the sky, the landscapes and all our living relatives that exist within them. True pleasures lie in the world around us. This elusive yet incredibly simple re-understanding is the keystone of our leadership trails and the wilderness experience.
In this re-understanding, peace and stillness emerge.
We reflect on our lives as restless processes of imaging alternatives, and stop for a moment. We slow it all down and plug-in to the great mystery that is revealed in the quiet black. That life is a story of balance and integration. Of a middle way and no attachment to the extremes of life. The Yin & Yan. The passive & the aggressive, light & dark, pace & peace, love & hate. Life & death, yes & no, hard & soft.
Or, the lion & the jackal.
Two famously contrasting characters in the bush.
Smiling deeply, I notice a change in the air. Birds begin to sing and the dawn chorus is underway. There is a soft red glow in the east, and a hyena whoops in the distance. And slowly the camp awakens with sounds of a campfire being stoked, water being poured and coffee being brewed. Like a spell being broken, the sacred time comes to an end. Tomorrow is another morning. Smiling still, and admiring the sunrise, I slowly walk toward the coffee pot on the campfire.
The day begins.
And the story unfolds.
Later that morning we locate a lion who has made a kill during the night. A young impala antelope and she has almost consumed it all. Only the skin and some bones remain. In the distance to the north, we hear the beckoning roars of another lion and soon he lion stands and walks off in that direction. The leftovers are abandoned. Scanning the distance, I notice a black-backed jackal in an open clearing at least half a kilometre away. He is focussed and peering off into the distance as well. Jackals are our equivalent of a fox or a small wolf, and there are two species in Southern Africa, with the black-backed being the most common. Deceptively timid, intelligent and opportunistic, they are typically scavengers and make a living following and monitoring lion activity, feeding on the spoils of their kills. As this jackal is focussed to the north where the other lions are calling, he doesn’t notice our lion walking towards him. As he approaches, the jackal moves out of the way to let him pass by.
And as he walks past, a fascinating thing happens.
The jackal picks up the lion’s scent trail, and begins to back-track. Their sense of smell is remarkable, and with nose to the ground, he precisely retraces her steps. Now, when lions feed, its a rather messy affair! There’s a lot of gore on the ground, and their table manners leave little to be desired. So I believe its this scent trail of fresh meat that the lion left behind that the jackal was following. He trailed the lion’s meandering walk all the way back to the kill site and located the remains of the impala. He certainly could not have smelled the actual kill due to the wind direction. We were all floored by this display of precision, survival skill and bushcraft, and cheered the jackal on all the way to the kill. Although not a lot to feed on, it would have been a feast for him. It was remarkable to watch, and to have a front row seat to this fascinating inter-being.
That got me thinking.
Firstly, what is it that we associate with lions and jackals?
I would say a lion represents a lot about predator nobility, power, forcefulness and physicality in pursuit of its kill (a.k.a. profit). As an apex predator, the king of the jungle, lion outmuscle most competitors and are envied for their strength. We refer to a ‘lion heart’ in terms of this nobility and bravery. Jackals, on the other hand, may represent a shadowy scavenger, inferior and cunning. Living on the edge. In some religious content, they are even seen as the embodiment of evil and darkness. In truth, at mainstream first glance, there is very little envious or aspiring in a jackal. These two characters are a classic contrast.
Secondly, do we not all have the characters of lions and jackals within us?
In the depths of the human psyche, if we reflect honestly, these animals’ virtues as antagonists, are present in us all. On a daily basis, our inner lion and jackal competes for survival, profit or belonging. Competes to be known. Conflict.
Thirdly, the skill of the jackal to back-track the lion by scent was astounding to see. It located profit and well-being by paying attention to what the lion WAS doing. Or in other words, what happened in the past.
To explain a little more, consider the following:
How often do we hear the phrase “forget about the past and focus on the future?” That what is gone is gone, and all that is important lies ahead. For me, this is deeply flawed and ecologically unintelligent. Perhaps this is what the inter-being between the lion and jackal should teach us. By understanding history the jackal benefitted; the lion’s past was of consequence to him. The jackal could have lived in the future by following the vision of the lion, yet chose to back-track from the present moment. Belonging, acknowledging and understanding ‘the past’ was essential to the jackal’s present moment. And therefore, his future.
Ultimately, its the duality of these two animals that play a part in ecosystem health. Lions, on the extreme right, maintaining herbivore balance. While jackals, on the extreme left, playing an essential role by feeding on carcasses thereby preventing disease outbreaks. Both skill-sets are highly developed and equally as impressive, although the manner of obtaining profit is different.
A question:
Can you consider that the totality of our beings, with our flow of energy, life and inter-dependance, is in fact an ecosystem?
That it needs health and balance in order to be productive? That our well-being, if not our survival, depends on this thrivability. If your answer is YES, then the symphony of the lion and the jackal (and the virtues that they represent within us) are absolutely essential.
What the passive jackal teaches us is that it is crucial to look into the past. As vital as the aggressive lion who looks ahead for opportunity. The balanced duality of these characters is the middle way. All to often society suggests that the emphasis MUST be on the future. We must be lions! But if we only do this, we fail to acknowledge the jackal, and therefore cannot understand our individual story. Our pasts are essential and they belong to us. Our origins in the ancient landscapes of Africa, the memories of our ancestors, our natural instincts, the events that have shaped our lives are all within us. If we don’t don’t know them, how can we know our story? And if we cannot acknowledge this, how do we discover belonging in the present moment? And therefore, how do we find solace in the future?
I have a lot of questions this time! …
How is it that the human animal, with all our intellect, does not understand what has happened in the past? How is it that we do not admire and celebrate the jackal within us and learn from history. To avoid making the same mistakes again and again. To discover a moderate middle way that speaks to our culture of compulsive consumption. That the pleasures of life don’t lie in acquiring ‘stuff’, but rather in realising that we need less. To acknowledge the people and other beings in our lives whom we have loved, and who have loved us. The great inter-being suggests that their destinies cannot be separated from that of our own. How is it that we don’t listen to those who have experienced the absolute futility and horrors of war and ultimate conflict? How is it that the memory of our ancestors is all to conveniently forgotten?
Deleted?
Perhaps tomorrow morning’s session with the pre-dawn quiet black will whisper some answers.
I’ll be listening. Join me there?
For now, I know this: by feeding our inner lion and starving our inner jackal, we have lost the track of our story.
And we urgently need to retrace it.