involvement in nature
BBC News: Science/Nature: Lost connection to animate Earth
It's interesting to see this type of article on the BBC website, but the holistic view espoused by the author is problematic. It's not so much that people have lost their connection to the Earth - connection implies that we are essentially separate and need to be connected - as that people have ceased to feel involved in nature. We are involved in nature all the time. Even something so simple as breathing or eating is a natural process, involving us in nature; we just need to realise this on a deep level in order to modify the way we treat the Earth.
The author posits that the mechanistic world view created by science is responsible for this lost connection - however, the tide was beginning to turn on this view in the 1840s with the Transcendentalist movement (Ralph Waldo Emerson et al) and continued to turn towards a mystical understanding of the world throughout the late 19th and early 20th century (according to The Place of Enchantment by Alex Owen). I think the blame lies rather with capitalism, consumerism and war. And, as my friend Alan Rayner writes, with the view that existence is struggle:
Are we disconnected from nature? No, we can’t be. Which is why our natural dynamic neighbourhood will continue to suffer unless we unhook ourselves from the myth that we are internally driven individuals engaged in relentless Darwinian Struggle for Existence. This myth arises from regarding matter and space as opposites - something and nothing. It gives rise to the fallacious logic of ‘to be or not to be’, which ends in human tragedy. Space doesn’t isolate. It connects us all in a common pool.
Stephan Harding also suggests that mystical oneness with the Earth will change people's behaviours - it might go some way towards it, but the lack of interest in actual nature (as opposed to symbolic nature) among some modern Pagans is rather alarming - I recently posted on a mailing list and a forum about "Wicca and the land" and have as yet received no response.
Here's the post:
I've been reading the excellent The Art of Conversation with the Genius Loci by Barry Patterson. It contains a lot of stuff that is similar in outlook to what I do already, but was very helpful with ideas to expand on it.
How do other people relate to the land / genii loci / local deities? Or do you tend to relate to Nature in general, or to the Earth, or what? Does nature form an important part of your practice? (This doesn't necessarily automatically mean 'Do you work outdoors?' of course.)
Also, what is your relationship with the city? Do you find images & echoes of the divine in the city?
For me, putting down roots in the area where I live & celebrate is very important. I love going on walks in my local area, finding out the local folklore and history, getting to know the trees, land-wights, and local deities. I respond to landscapes. I also respond to architecture and urban landscapes (especially if they're nice!) I am not one of these people who thinks all Pagans should move to the countryside - far from it, I think the city is the place most in need of Paganisms, and the safest place for Pagans to be.
Related articles (by me on this subject):
I'm the Urban Pagan, Baby
Magical attunement to a new home
I was encouraged some time back by the enthusiastic response to a post about
ecological footprinting, though. Also a discussion about "Urban vs Rural Paganism" ran to ten pages.
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vogelbeere) wrote,
