Going Feral and Searching the Old Ways

Hej, I’m Stefan.

Though I was born in a rural part of Germany, I didn’t grow up surviving in the wild. Like many of us, I spent far too much time behind a screen or lost in the grind of a high-pressure career.

For 30 years, I served as a volunteer firefighter, and my “day job” in a prison environment was equally tough. Over time, the weight of those roles and other life events took their toll. I struggled with PTSD and depression—a dark forest of a different kind.

I found my way out through therapy, but I found my healing through the Earth and I still need to learn to recover.

I learned to focus on my own needs and discovered that I grow healthy when my hands are in the soil and my spirit is in the woods. Today, I live on a small farm in Westphalia with my wife, my child, and a collection of voracious animals. This is my sanctuary.

The Boreal Dream & The Spirit of Slöjd

I have a deep fascination with Boreal and Northern cultures—the traditions, the resilience, and the quiet wisdom of the Great North. While I currently call Germany home, my “North Star” is Lapland. I dream of one day moving to the Arctic circle, but until then, I am dedicated to practicing those Northern ways right here.

A core part of this is my passion for Slöjd and traditional handcraft. I am a self-taught crafter, and I believe that the things we use should have a soul. I love working with the raw materials the forest provides: wood, leather, bone, and antler. Whether I am making a Scandinavian-inspired knife, stitching a leather sheath, or carving bone, it is a meditative act—a way to bring the “old ways” into the palm of my hand.

An “Advanced Rookie” on the Land

On our farm, I am what you might call an advanced rookie. I’ve moved past the beginner stages, but I’m still learning the deep lessons that only the land can teach. My daily life is a constant classroom where I:

• Keep Livestock: Learning the language and the needs of our animals (and how to keep up with their appetites!).
• Garden & Forage: Digging into the soil to grow our own food and wandering the woods to rediscover the wild edibles our ancestors knew by heart.
• Explore Shamanic Paths: Looking at all these tasks through an animistic lens, recognizing the spirit in the plants we harvest and the materials—like bone and wood—that I work with.

A Journey Back to the Basics

This blog is the documentation of my “training.” It is a bridge between my life on a German farm and my dream of the Arctic. I’m not a “master woodsman”—I’m a student of the woods and the soil. I believe the best way to learn is to share the process, including the messy failures and the moments of magic found at the workbench or in the garden.

Whether you are a veteran of the outdoors or someone who just bought their first fixed-blade knife, I hope my stories inspire you to find your own “North,” step off the trail, and craft a life that feels authentic to you.

Let’s find the path together.

— Stefan aka Widowulf

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