- 8, A heroic ideal, always more compelling than a doctrine.
- 9, Picturesqueness, the glamour of romance and beauty in all things.
For bodily development we use the established and many new athletic games, all standardized, and prefer those that are outdoors. But we also teach the value and details of diet, the care of the body, the duty of perfecting and beautifying it. We teach the common sense of clothing, the healing of sunlight, the blessedness of the air, the peace of the night.
For mental development we use the alluring field of nature study and the training of handicraft.
For spiritual development we use discipline, the decorum and training of the Council Ring, the imaginative training of selected games, the magic of the fire, camp duties in the line of good citizenship, initiations, titles, ceremony, symbolism, the incense consecration of wood smoke, and among the older members (that is, over fifteen), vigil, fast, and penance. We begin and close council with a reverent recognition of the Great Spirit, and the broad philosophies which are the basis of all sound religions are inculcated in the form of campfire stories and by the subtle power of atmosphere.
We group all things esthetic and imaginative with the spiritual, and seek to color everything in our lives, whether ways, weapons, clothing, or routine, with the glorifying touch of beauty and romance.
For service we use Red Cross first aid and life-saving, scout volunteering, scouting, camp work, kitchen work, orderly duty, social entertaining and decorum, the training of way-seekers, gang instinct, public opinion, love of glory, settlement work in town, and the activities of the Council Ring.
Thus Woodcraft offers a continuous program of outdoor recreational development that parallels the history of our race, and is so natural and acceptable that it holds the family together instead of scattering it; recognizes all deeply rooted instincts. It fits both sexes and all ages, the weak and the strong; for none is too young or too old to enjoy it. It avoids the dangerous military and autocratic form of domination from the top, and shows equally the dangerous pitfall of unguided self-government by the young; it combines the best elements of both.
Woodcraft is a way of guiding the normal instincts into healthy activity. Some instincts are easy to recognize and handle, but some are as elusive and puzzling as they are strong. There is a period between four and ten years of age when children seem possessed of strange spiritual gifts and powers, a period when fairy-tales are real to them, when they tell long, wholly imaginary personal adventures, and seem to believe them true; when they have daily playmates that are real to them, but invisible to their parents. The little ones appear to be possessed of a spirit and manifest amazing genius. Their utterances seem inspired and of weird spiritual force. Some children, of course, seem never to have it; some have it early, and are ..text pokračuje
