Animas Valley Institute —
Guiding the Descent to Soul Since 1980
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Wild Enchantment
[Collage]. Doug Van Houten
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#7
Eco-Awakening is Only One Major Life Passage
This is the seventh part of a seven-part Musing (one per week).
Friday, June 29, 2018
Over the last few decades, what I call eco-awakening has been noted and discussed, in other terms, by a number of authors, including ecophilosophers, deep ecologists, and depth psychologists. As previously noted in this series of Musings, Thomas Berry wrote of “the re-enchantment with the earth as a living reality.”[1] Ecophilosopher Joanna Macy speaks of “the greening of the self,” the expansion of our experienced circle of identity.[2] The Norwegian philosopher and deep ecologist Arne Naess introduced the notion of an “ecological Self,” an identity that is “widened and deepened so that protection of free nature is felt and conceived of as protection of our very selves.”[3] Depth psychologist James Hillman wrote of “a psyche the size of Earth.”[4]
Many hundreds of commentators have decried the loss of (and great need for) the foundational experiences of social bonding and nature
connection
among the citizens of contemporary, industrial, conformist-consumer society. It’s no coincidence that these are precisely the core experiences cultivated in a healthy childhood and, by the same token, the experiences (social and ecological belonging) most needed and lacking among contemporary people. The great crises of our time stem from breakdowns in natural human development; the long-term, deepest solutions are psychological and cultural. Genuine individual development and true cultural development are not separate endeavors. Eco-awakening is far easier to elicit and far more relevant to cultural renaissance at this time than transcendence.
But is the transcendent experience of awakening to the divine an alternative way to bring about eco-awakening? Some say it is, at least in “mature” forms of enlightenment. Although they are distinct experiences, it would not be surprising if transcendence evokes eco-awakening. Transcendence can be a “cure” for egocentrism, which is a psychological separation from the world. When people no longer experience themselves as separate, they naturally recognize and experience their kinship with all things. The greater web of life becomes the context in which they find themselves grounded, rooted.
It would be of great interest to know how often the experience of transcendence in fact leads to eco-awakening. When it does not, we might question (1) the depth, authenticity, or maturity of the experience, (2) the individual’s stage of psychosocial development — perhaps suspecting an egocentric stage rather than an ecocentric one — and/or (3) the degree to which the individual has cultivated the full range of their innate human capacities, such as full-bodied feeling, deep imagination, heart-centered thinking, and full-presence sensing.[5] Maturity, individuation, relationality, and the cultivation of the full spectrum of human capacities are among the several areas of human development not addressed by the pursuit of transcendent spiritual experiences.
Even if transcendence sometimes leads to eco-awakening, attending to the nature-oriented tasks of childhood would arguably be a more direct, accessible,
dependable, and beneficial
path for most people.
Also note that eco-awakening can occur without transcendence and probably does in the vast majority of cases. In contrast, it’s hard to imagine someone experiencing inscendence (soul encounter) without having been eco-awakened at least many months earlier.
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References
[1] Thomas Berry,
The Dream of the Earth
(San Francisco: Sierra Club
Books, 1988), p. 21.
[2] Joanna Macy, “The Greening of the Self” in Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee (ed.),
Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth.
(Point Reyes, CA: The Golden Sufi Center, 2013), pp. 145 - 156.
[3] Arne Naess, “Self Realization: An Ecological Approach to Being in the World,” in John Seed, Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming, and Arne Naess,
Thinking Like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All Beings
(Gabriola Island, BC: New Society Publishers, 1988), p. 29.
[4] James Hillman, “A Psyche the Size of the Earth,” in Theodore Roszak, Mary E. Gomes, and Allen D. Kanner (eds.),
Ecopsychology: Restoring the Earth, Healing the Mind
(San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books, 1995), p. xii.
[5] Bill Plotkin,
Wild Mind: A Field Guide to the Human Psyche
(Novato, CA: New World Library, 2013).
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Soulcraft Musings:
Exploring Soul and the Human Encounter with Soul
Soulcraft Musings are drawn from published and unpublished works by Bill Plotkin and other Animas guides and offer weekly trail markers (cairns) on the journey to soul. Each Musing builds on previous ones but also stands alone, and you can join at any time. You can read previous Musings
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