How important is a tribe?

You aren't always born into your true family.

When I was younger, in the heyday of the great bands of the 70s, I was always disappointed with their studio albums. However, when Genesis, Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Rainbow, Yes etc brought out a live double album, as they all did, I played it to death, and I still own many of those old records. The energy was totally different and far more compelling. As I have grown up and played countless gigs, I have experienced this many times myself. If you are playing a grotty pub with one guy sat in the corner nursing a pint of beer, craning his head to watch the football on the screen and with his fingers in his ears, it’s almost impossible to play at your best.

However, if you have an audience that truly appreciates you and is full of energy, it’s almost impossible not to play at your best. In fact, beyond this, the music almost plays itself – you have the feeling that you just can’t make a mistake. The collective energy of the crowd infuses you and your playing, taking you into “the zone”, and it’s one of the greatest feelings there is. It happened to me just a couple of weekends ago as I write this at my friend Darren Nesbit’s “Stand in the Light” festival. Daz is also the singer and songwriter for the band I’m in, The Daz Band, and he is the editor and founder of The Light newspaper too.

Here are a couple of pics from those recent festival gigs… 

Lost in that energy, pulling drummer faces… 

And here is a short video I took around the fire pit. You can’t shut Daz up, even after a long gig!

Those evenings around a fire are so healing. They are an echo of our ancestral times, singing and storytelling, no scrolling through blue-lit screens looking at endless nonsense on social media.

This group energy is absolute proof of our interconnectedness, the collective consciousness of humanity. We do not do so well in isolation, and the past few years have shown us what happens when we live in fear and loneliness, separated from our loved ones and our friends for “the common good”. This isn’t the place to go into the crimes against humanity that we have all been subjected to, but I’m sure we have all been touched by them to some degree.

I have been incredibly fortunate during this time to have had a wonderful tribe around me… several actually. My amazing family that has stuck together and seen through the nonsense, never staying six feet apart, never wearing any bizarre face apparatus that blocked their loving expressions towards each other and living in love rather than fear. Many families weren’t so lucky, and the fearmongering has split up so many friendships and marriages.

Another tribe that I have been honoured to be part of has been the freedom festival crowd. The band has played several of these over the past four years, and to see people, many of whom are isolated in their beliefs where they live, find true friendships and support at these festivals has been an emotional experience.

Our online tribe has been similar. Nothing can compare to actually meeting people in person, but an online tribe comes pretty close. My good friend and colleague, Ben Hunt, and I had the privilege of hosting the Big Fat Challenge and Tribe for almost a year and a half, and we have made a load of friends for life from the regular Zoom calls. We have also seen the most incredible healing among the tribe members, not only for their physical troubles such as autoimmune and metabolic conditions, but their mental state has been vastly improved by having the support of the other participants, and for many, a chance to hang out with likeminded people when their own local communities and even families didn’t share their views. The calls have been fun too… Even some impromptu party hats here on our farewell Zoom call for our Big Fat Challenge…

There is a saying that we aren’t always born into our true families, but the connections we have made and seen formed from the group calls have put many people in touch with their tribes, even if they are on opposite sides of the world.

Ben and I have also hosted live events such as our two War on Health gatherings, which have been so rewarding, and again, the feedback has been amazing, with participants also reporting making lifelong friends.

Our live talks have been a wonderful experience too, both individually and together, seeing how people all over are waking up to our ancestral diet and lifestyle that have been forgotten in this modern age and the worship of “science”.

Here we are speaking at the Weekend Truth Festival on The War on Meat. Click the pic for the full talk on Rumble.

Personally, I have become addicted to forming groups and organising events. Although the Big Fat Challenge no longer has the Zoom calls, I want to carry them on for the paid subscribers to this Substack. How about eight calls per month (two per week) for the price of your favourite cup of neurotoxin from Costa or Starbucks? Not only that, but as a paid subscriber, you get to ask my future podcast guests questions!

If that sounds good, particularly if you have an autoimmune or metabolic condition, consider upgrading your subscription to the measly $19 per month that will give you access to a ton of support from not only me but the other “tribe” members who are going through similar challenges or who have healed. This kind of support is priceless, and it’s how tribes always worked. Give it a go for a month at least! If it’s not for you, you can always opt out anytime. Upgrade your subscription here…

And if you’d like live events, I will be hosting those, so stay tuned for updates. At the time of writing, we have just a few rooms left at our October carnivore conference in Spain where you can hang out for five days in a luxury resort with such heroes as Dr. Anthony Chaffee, Dr. Zsófia Clemens and Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride among other great speakers. More details by clicking the image below… 

For those of you in the UK, how about our upcoming August Ancestral Health Festival in Rainford, Lancashire? Again, some amazing speakers, fire pit, great food, camping if you need, bushcraft, blacksmithing and natural movement demos, creche and even an appearance by The Daz Band among other attractions. For full details and how to book, click the pic below… 

I do hope to see lots of you, whether it’s at one of our live events or the Zoom calls. Let’s bring back tribe consciousness. It’s an addiction worth cultivating, and just as important as our ancestral diet, grounding, sun exposure, avoiding artificial light, EMFs and toxins for maintaining health.

All the best,

Phil.