At the crossroads with the majestic Eagle Owl.
A first encounter in the wild in one of my "temple" places. Furtive but intense.
Then he was one of my pagan guardians for a number of years. I hear him, actually see him or dream of him at key moments.
My obsession was such that the question of falconry arose. The seductive falconry as a challenge, as a possibility of creating a privileged bond with the bird of prey, as a desire to tame oneself, as a feeling of reproducing ancestral gestures, as a possibility of being solely imprinted with the present.
Appointment arranged with a well-known falconer from my region at the time!
“Put on a glove,” I am told. “We are going into the forest to feed two birds of prey. Here, slip some frozen chicks into your bag. Let’s go!” Oh really! I didn’t expect that! But what a joy, for I swear by experimentation and the unexpected! A few instructions, and here I am in the company of Ulysses, not an eagle owl, but a Harris hawk in my fist. I become a complete body and instinct again. I let go of Ulysses, he perches not far away on a branch and agrees to come back to feed on my fist. Time suddenly no longer matters, everyday concerns disappear instantly. Even today, I am very grateful to Ulysses, this young agile male with a fearful character, marked by gentleness who allowed me to interact with him.
Then the falconer, perceiving my fascination for the eagle owl that I was constantly eyeing out of the corner of my eye, suggested that I meet it more closely...
My impulse pushed me towards falconry, with in the background a desire for possession, exclusivity. With questions around human nature which seems to be in search of appropriation, mastery, domination.
My heart invites me to calm, to patience, to contemplation with in the background a reflection around slowness, detachment, the integration of a non-hierarchical whole.
Then a few years later, the Barefoot Duke was born.