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“Because of the economic benefits that accrue from access to ocean navigation, coastal fisheries, tourism and recreation, human settlements are often more concentrated in the coastal zone than elsewhere. Presently about 40% of the world’s population lives within 100 kilometers of the coast. As population density and economic activity in the coastal zone increases, pressures on coastal ecosystems increase. Among the most important pressures are habitat conversion, land cover change, pollutant loads, and introduction of invasive species. These pressures can lead to loss of biodiversity, coral reef bleaching, new diseases among organisms, hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, siltation, reduced water quality, and a threat to human health through toxins in fish and shellfish and pathogens such as cholera and hepatitis A residing in polluted water.

Finally, it is important to recognize that a high population concentration in the low- elevation coastal zone (defined as less than 10 meters elevation) increases a country’s vulnerability to sea-level rise and other coastal hazards such as storm surges.”

This was extracted from The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment by the United Nations, which was published 15 years ago…

Today, all of us depend on the Ocean and the resources it provides, directly or indirectly, whether it be for the food we eat or the oxygen we breathe. The ocean is generous and provides to us humans seemingly infinite and bountiful gifts through our demanding interactions with her.

Firstly, more than 3.5 billion people depend on the Ocean for their primary source of food. Fish supply the greatest percentage of the world’s protein consumed by humans. Unfortunately, per capita, demand for seafood is increasing around the globe, putting more and more pressure on an already fragile ecosystem.

Additionally in the extractive system that we live in, many people depend on fishing, tourism, transportation, ocean tourism and recreation for their indispensable revenue.

And of course, the Oceans of the world play a major role in the fresh water cycle. They forms the clouds that bring us rain, which replenish our freshwater supplies. They also strongly affect climate and weather patterns, transferring heat and moderating carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. And our precious, vast Ocean plays a vital role in the Earth’s carbon cycle, removing carbon from the atmosphere and the upper ocean layers. Marine plants also act as carbon sinks by sequestering carbon in seabed sediments. Through this natural storage process, it provides a climate regulation service.

Not only do ocean plants produce half of the world’s oxygen, but the ocean also acts as an “air-filtering device” by absorbing nearly one-third of human-caused carbon dioxide emissions.

Overmore, our oceans are an invaluable and endless source of renewable, clean energy; from tides and ocean currents to the powerful waves, which we are starting to harness more frequently and more effectively.

Lastly, have a peak at the labels in your bathroom cabinet and you will be surprised at the plethora of Biomedical products derived from marine plant and animal sources. Marine ingredients have numerous medicinal and health benefits. The seemingly intangible benefits derived from spending time at the seaside are largely immeasurable, as they seem to just seep into us through osmosis. We all know, for example, how therapeutic a walk on the beach or a swim in the ocean is for the body, heart-mind and soul…

Most of us take the ocean for granted, as it seems so steady, omnipresent and indestructible. I think we judge it by its size – that it is just too big to get hurt. But do not be fooled, the intricate workings that keep the ocean and our planet in a perfect symbiotic balance, is reaching its tipping point.

All these benefits are based on extraction, from economy, to leisure, through to health. What shall we do in return for the Ocean? Beyond these result oriented and demanding interactions, how do we humans behave to act symbiotically with the Ocean?

Let us start with a sense of deep gratitude for all our past interactions with Ocean. This pause to thank will help us to prepare the terrain for a healthly response to what is happening.

Let us then acknowledge the plundering of our Mother’s aquatic body and really feel it, honestly name it, write it, speak it, share it with no shame. Above all the benefits listed above and the services that the sea provides, we share so much DNA with our marine cousins and so many of the Ocean’s mineral elements run through our veins too. We ARE the Ocean. It is oh SO natural that it should pain us.

When we reconcile ourselves with our interbeing it gives us a deep sense of joy, far greater that the sum of these harsh realities. This may allow us to move forward in the Ocean’s name, and shout out our belonging to the world with a renewed sense of active hope.

You can be that other essential drop in the collective Ocean!

We, residents of the coastlines and dependents of the Ocean, have so much to learn, so much deep listening to do.

Thanks for reading. This is Gaia Speaking.

by Rachael Millson

At the same time, our visit brought closer to home the immense human-created dangers that threaten the health of our oceans, and the ecological stability of our planet. Amongst others – ocean plastic, the continued drilling and search for oil and gas, chemical pollution including oil waste from the shipping industry, ocean warming and acidification as a result of climate change, and the problem of unsustainable fishing.  

The Perpetual Plastic Problem.

Plastic in the ocean either floats around and is eventually caught up in one of the 5 gyres (oceanic vortexes), in huge collections of plastic and floating trash (46% of which is discarded fishing gear), or breaks down into microplastic particles. Plastic doesn’t EVER fully degrade but the toxic microplastic particles become more and more difficult to clean up.

Plastic pollution in the ocean has a devastating impact on marine life and ecosystems.  Let’s take the example of our loggerhead turtle – her favourite food is jellyfish. Turtles like her often mistake floating plastic bags for jellyfish, ingesting these.  If a sea animal ingests plastic, it can eventually die of starvation, unable to eat actual food due to its stomach being clogged up. Several sad stories of whales who have died this way draw our attention. Other dangers that plastics cause to sea animals include suffocation, entanglement, laceration and internal injuries.  

For those animals such as whale sharks, manta rays, whales and all other plankton feeders, there is no way for them to avoid the microplastics that float in the ocean.  Some experts estimate humpback whales could be eating up to 300,000 pieces of microplastic per day. And, what’s worse, a specific type of plankton, called zooplankton have been found to readily ingest microplastics. Rather than being digested, it is excreted. As a consequence, the plastic waste produced by us, may end up in some of the deepest parts of the ocean, which has so far remained untouched by humans. Bad news for marine wildlife. It goes without saying that microplastics inevitably end up being ingested by humans as they make their way through human food chains.

The good news is there is growing awareness of this issue and some great initiatives exist. The Ocean Clean Up is an inspiring non-profit dedicated to cleaning up ocean plastics, and preventing more plastic entering our oceans from the most problematic rivers.

But the responsibility remains with each one of us to cut out single use plastic and severely reduce our use of all plastics.

What you can do:

• Swap plastic bags for reusable ones, made of cloth or fibre.
• Reduce (or ideally completely cut out) the use of disposable plastic cups, plates, cutlery and bottles. For example, bring your own reusable bottle to work and a reusable coffee cup for your morning take-away!)
• Put pressure on companies you buy from to provide plastic-free alternatives.
• Buy food and cleaning products in bulk to avoid useless plastic wrappings.
• Buy fruit and veg that has not been packaged in plastic.
• Choose metal or glass food containers and storage options instead of plastic ones.
• Avoid buying and using cosmetics that contain plastic microspheres or microbeads.
• Buy clothes that are made from natural material (e.g. cotton, linen), rather than synthetic material, e.g. polyester, acrylic). Just by washing clothes made of synthetic material releases microplastic fibres on a huge scale, which end up in rivers and eventually the ocean.
• Join in beach clean ups to clear our beaches of plastic wash-up.

Overfishing

Fishing is one of the most significant drivers of declines in ocean wildlife populations. Catching fish is not inherently bad for the ocean, except when we catch fish faster than they can replenish their population – overfishing.  Since large scale commercial fishing began in the 1950s, 90% of the large fish that people love to eat (such as tuna, cod and swordfish) have been fished out.

Overfishing doesn’t only have an impact on the particular fish species that is overfished, it also has serious effects further up the food chain. Herring, for example, is a vital prey species for cod fish. When herring are overfished the cod population suffers as well.

Overfishing is closely tied to bycatch—the capture of unwanted sea life while fishing for a different species. For example, dolphins, sea turtles, and other non-target fish are often hauled up in nets meant for pollock.  Similarly dolphins have often ended up in the fishing nets for yellowfin tuna, as these two sea animals often travel together.

What you can do:

• Buy fish the same way you would buy fruit and vegetables – only buy what’s in season. Buying in-season seafood helps keep overfishing down by keeping the demand for that particular seafood high only when its catch is naturally high.
• Only eat and buy fish placed on the SASSI Green List. These fish come from healthy stocks and the list is monitored continuously.
• If you buy tuna, only ever buy tins that state ‘line-caught’ or ‘pole caught’

Mining

One of the biggest threats to our ocean ecology on the West Coast of South Africa, is that of mining. There is currently ongoing industrial-scale extraction of minerals such as zircon, ilmenite, rutile, magnetite and garnet happening along huge tracts of coastline between Columbine and the Orange River. Parts of this are officially designated Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Areas. The impact on marine life, coastlines and local economies which rely on small-scale fishing, is extensive. This is the subject of our upcoming Films that Reconnect event, where we will be showing ‘Ours Not Mine’ a documentary detailing the current situation as regards mining,  at the Camel Rock in Scarborough,  on 18 August. After the film we will have the opportunity to share ideas on how we can protect, interact and ‘interbe’ with our coastlines with experts from the field. Check out Protect the West Coast | Nature Conservation where you can also find the trailer for ‘Ours not Mine’.

The oceans need our help. Covering 71% of the planet, oceans are home to important species and ecosystems, and are crucial in the planet’s ability to regulate and maintain equilibrium. Of course, we rely on the health of the oceans for our own species’ to thrive –food and livelihoods, as well as climate regulation – but it’s time we stopped looking at the oceans from a humancentric perspective. The oceans are much more than purely somewhere to find resources humans need. These fragile ecosystems are deeply connected to all life.  It’s up to each of us to recognise and honour the rights of the ocean to protection from the harmful actions undertaken by humans, and do all we can in our lives to support the oceans to return to health.

On 21st June we celebrated the Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere, in the local village of Kommetjie, with a circle of Songs that Reconnect and pagan sacred rituals.

Winter Solstice is the great stillness before the Sun’s strength builds, and days grow longer.

Winter solstice celebrations honoured the symbolism of fire and light, along with the sacredness of life, death, the rising sun, and the moon.

Honouring the cycle of the seasons and new beginnings. As the longest night or darkest day of the year, Winter Solstice is a powerful moment in the solar cycle where we are reminded that in the darkness we must connect to the light within us.  Solstice is a time to embrace the darkness, and be present as the world stands still and holds its breath, waiting to be reborn again.

Solstice is a celebration of the knowledge that lighter days are coming and it serves as a way to remember that our lives, like nature, are cyclical. Nature slows down and goes inward, and we can learn from that. Emotionally, this is the time for letting go of all that doesn’t serve our highest purpose. And a quiet, inward time for reflection.

In Latin, solstice is made of two words: sol– meaning “the sun” and sistere meaning “to make stand.” Winter Solstice is one the most powerful points of the year as the axis of the Earth pauses, shifts and moves in the opposite direction. For three days around the solstice points we experience the power of the standstill point and the shift of direction. The sun standing still is a powerful metaphor for the energy available to us at the Winter Solstice to change the direction of our lives with intention and build on this energy as we journey through this Great Turning.

They are many reasons why honouring the Sacred in ways like these might be the most needed and fruitful spiritual path, especially in the Western world and especially at our time in history. First and foremost, what is honouring? A concept that might seem vague and dogmatic for our individualistic minds. Honouring means acknowledging, paying attention to. When we do that, we send energy to that which we are noticing with our awareness and the energy indeed flows where the attention goes. But it’s also more than that. Honouring meaning to look upon with reverence. That is the part that gets trickier for our minds. Although we can understand this concept intellectually, reverence is something that we practice and feel as oppose to say or think. How does one feel a sense of reverence? This isn’t a given. It is an experience that happens to us as an overwhelming sense of admiration and awe. To honour something or someone, we need to pause. Our Ego mind and cultural patterning fights this process.

Now, what is the Sacred? The Sacred is the representation of the energy that flows through all Life. The planet is suffering from this lack of consideration for and connection to Life. Other human beings, animals, plants, insects are all suffering from it. We have seen emotions being shamed. The Sacred path urges us now, to descend from our mountain tops and come out of the monasteries to practice a spirituality rooted in our relationships, in our bodies, in our families, in our emotions, in the darkest expressions of our personality and in communion with the Earth.

We are urged to create ritual and to create moments everyday to honour Life. May we give thanks for all beings and elements in our days. May we honour our own body in all of its expression, have compassion for ourselves and see all beings as an expression of the Sacred to find healthy ways to worship and appreciate them all. 

Connecting to Gaia, the Sun, the Elements and the Goddess through these pagan songs and rituals felt like a pause in deep time to honour the sacred role that we can play as a community in the Great Winter Solstice of our Life.

Written by Joanna Tomkins and Rachael Millson

Climate Change as Spiritual Practice

Quiet friend who has come so far,
feel how your breathing makes more space around you.
Let this darkness be a bell tower
and you the bell. As you ring,

what batters you becomes your strength.
Move back and forth into the change.
What is it like, such intensity of pain?
If the drink is bitter, turn yourself to wine.

In this uncontainable night,
be the mystery at the crossroads of your senses,
the meaning discovered there.

And if the world has ceased to hear you,
say to the silent earth: I flow.
To the rushing water, speak: I am.

Rainer Maria Rilke

For many of us, when we look at the enormity of the challenges facing humanity at this point in time, it can feel truly overwhelming. Reports about climate change, and concurrent ecological collapse can bring up a range of feeling, from despair, to fear, to deep sadness.

It can feel easier to look in the other direction, to turn away from the reality of what is happening on our planet right now. Somehow find ways to numb our pain. And yet, when we don’t allow ourselves to truly feel our pain, experience fully those emotions that appear for us, we are also cutting ourselves off from experiencing the fullness of all emotions, including joy, genuine happiness and bliss.

On 14 June, Shortly after her 93^rd birthday, Joanna Macy (Earth Elder, Buddhist Scholar, Author, Seed teacher for the Work That Reconnects) and Jonathan Gustin (Founder of Purpose Guides Institute) held a live grief council under the title ‘Climate Change as Spiritual Practice’.  You can find the recording here.

Ecological grief can be defined as “the grief felt in relation to experienced or anticipated ecological losses, including the loss of species, ecosystems, and meaningful landscapes due to acute or chronic environmental or climate change.”  By connecting fully to our grief, and honouring that grief rather than trying to push it away, we sit fully in compassion with our fellow beings, both human and non-human, and their current or future suffering. The word compassion means ‘suffering with’. The fact that we are able to grieve for the suffering of our planet and for other beings reminds us of our interconnectedness. We are not separate. What happens to one, happens to us all.

One of Joanna Macy’s most famous quote is “The most radical thing any of us can do at this time is to be fully present to what is happening in the world.” By allowing our hearts to truly break open, it brings us a new way of seeing the world. We don’t ‘move on’ from grief, but we can move forward with it, holding it in our hearts. Once our hearts have cracked open, we see just how miraculous life on Earth is, and how wonderful it is to be here. It’s from this place that we can take mindful, concerted action on behalf of all life.

I fully recommend taking the time to watch the recording of this beautiful Council.  The zoom room was at full capacity, with many others watching on Youtube livestream. Or me it also serves as an important reminder that we stand in community with many others, who care equally about this beautiful planet we call home. A reminder that we are not alone. Only together can we move forwards, hand in hand, co-creating the more beautiful future we dream of.

Here at GaiaSpeaking, our aim is to build a community of Earth lovers right here in South Africa. Changemakers, each answering our own unique calling to act in service of all life.

Love deeply, live gently. A better world is possible.

Written by Rachael Millson

Over the past week,  both Joanna and I have had the incredible honour of being together with a group of indigenous leaders from the Huni Kuin tribe in the Brazilian Amazon, as they made an annual visit to South Africa.  I’m struck by the depth of their connection and reverence for nature, their dedication to a life of trust, guided by Spirit, and the joy that emanates from their songs of beauty and love for our home planet and all of humanity.

Here are people who truly experience themselves as nature,  with a pristine clarity about our place in the ecological web of life, living in harmony with the rainforest and its wildlife.  The Huni Kuin peoples or “true people,” (from huni, “people”, and kuin meaning “true.”)  bring an important and positive message. It’s time for a new era – a time of reconciliation between mankind and Mother Nature.

And yet the Amazon, this place of wonderous cultural and natural biodiversity, and home to this tribe and many others,  is seriously under threat.  More than 20 percent of the Amazon rainforest has already gone. Deforestation abounds at an average rate of 10,000 hectares per day.

The cattle sector of the Brazilian Amazon, incentivized by the international beef and leather trades, is one of the major perpetrators of Amazonian deforestation, responsible for around 14% of the world’s total annual deforestation. Equally devastating is the continued drilling of oil and gas from the Amazon, funded by American banks.  Leaks from pipelines pollute rivers used for drinking water, harming people and wildlife, while the cutting-through of roads to enable drill operations, trigger rapid deforestation, as was seen in the 2019 Amazon wildfires.

Scientists predict that once the Amazon has lost more than 25% of its tree cover, it will become a drier ecosystem, all because deforestation changes weather patterns (due to how trees respire), which in turn reduces rainfall. We will also see species decline as fragmented pieces of forest, surrounded by pasture lands, cannot sustain the current levels of biodiversity.

As Brazilian environmental activist, Chico Mendes, assassinated by ranchers in 1988, said ‘Destroy it, and we, the human race, will end up destroying ourselves’. The Amazon rainforest is sacred, as is all nature. Let us not forget this.  In this moment it feels so important to join forces to safeguard the most biodiverse forest of the world, and the indigenous tribes who protect it.  Save the Amazon, and we just might save ourselves.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Let your voice be heard. Educate your family and friends about the importance of the Amazon, which is home to 10% of the known species on Earth. Then ask them to speak out for its protection.  You can also sign numerous petitions such as this one that looks to hold JP Morgan Chase and CitiGroup to account for their continued funding of oil and gas exploration in the Amazon. Protect the Amazon, Protect the Planet! | Amazon Watch

2. Become a discerning consumer. Ask how your food and other purchases have been produced. Are any wood products sustainably harvested and certified to prove it?  One of the best ways to protect forests like the Amazon is to buy products that have the FSC® label.

3. Reduce your use of fossil fuels, and your impact on the planet. The less fossil fuels used, the less impact climate change will have on the Amazon and other important natural areas, plus the less demand there will be for new sources of oil and gas. Support and demand renewable energy wherever you can. Turn off electric appliances when you’re not using them. Walk, bike or liftshare and avoid unnecessary car trips.

Written and compiled by Rachael Millson

In these distraught times, it is no longer possible for any individual or for any private or public collective to turn a blind eye to the Unravelling that is happening in all ecosystems and in all human societies, affecting all natural phenomena that englobe them. Simultaneously, there is rising awareness that it is not the problem we need to tackle, but the solution and that the solution lies in ourselves. If we are the originators of the cataclysmic chaos that is upon us, if we have the power to create such disruption, we also have the power for positive transformation.

First Nations all have their own unique musical traditions, with many different musical genres and instruments, incorporating with singing and chanting. The voice- used for both singing and chanting- is the most important instrument in First Nations music. Every song had an owner, be that a society, rite, clan, ceremony, or individual. The information available is scarce, for greed and power-driven conquerors forbade the practice of ceremonies across most original cultures.

Today, the rediscovery of traditional lyrics and the reconnection to the power of our singing voice are in the zeitgeist, both for professional music and in personal healing practices.

Many facilitators and participants in the Shift of Consciousness – as Joanna Macy coined one of the dimensions of the Great Turning – use creative practices to complement the Work that Reconnects methodology. It helps to use the techniques like painting, doodling, clay work, dance or song to drop out of the head and into the body to better unblock our feelings for the world. Music and song are particularly effective in that sense. In the words of Lydia Violet:

“Music has been cultivated for centuries to help sustain the human spirit and the heart and help us feel expressed and seen. I think we can take for granted the things that nourish and keep us resilient in doing the work of change. I think about the civil rights movement—music was integral. There was no march without music. In that community there was already a thriving intelligence that knew how fundamental music was to keep spirit going.” 

Lydia Violet is a musician and facilitator of the Work that Reconnects in America and has been receiving direct teachings from Joanna Macy for many years. By co-facilitating many of her workshops and regularly engaging with her in deep conversation, she is an honour-bound recipient and sharer of her broad wisdom. Lydia is one of the lead facilitators of a growing generation of facilitators Work that Reconnects, adapting tools and methods to the accelerating unravelling of our current civilisation.

“It’s fundamental and valuable to be an artist in the Great Turning. Artists sustain us in internal ways that we forget are a fundamental part of our experience being humans. We have internal landscapes that need nourishment, just like our bodies do. “

“It’s also a fundamental way that I think we metabolize pain. Music is one of the last healthy ways that on a mass level we self-soothe. There’s a lot of unhealthy ways that we on a mass level self-soothe. “

“I think it’s also a very natural part of the human experience to want to create beauty in some way, in some form in the world. Someone might create it through a meal, and someone might create it through a phone call. Someone might create it through a painting. Someone creates it through a song. Again, those things aren’t necessarily valued in a culture where engineered productivity is the most valuable resource. “

Singing in a group is a particularly cathartic activity. My co-facilitator Rachael Millson and I organise songs circles every month, under the name Songs That Reconnect. On a physical level, the act of singing and, in general, the vibrations of music produce oxytocin in the body. It also increases oxygen flow in the blood, boosts the immune system and strengthens the diaphragm and the core posture among other health benefits. Additionally, not only does it have social benefits, which are primordial in these times of isolation, but it also has great psychological value, as it responds to our need of belonging, a most essential one.

Indeed, when we project sound or song into a collective space, we create music together, without any need to “know” how to sing. This is deeply fulfilling, as we become part of that song and that song becomes part of the universe. As simple as this may seem, this simple notion has incredible healing powers. The imaginal realm, the domain of music and imagination, powered by the unique qualities of human creativity, is a place where magic can happen, a catalyst for human transformation. And so, to make our personal intention manifest through our singing voice, and to do so with the multiplying strength of the collective, is undeniable medicine for the world.

Further viewing: an interview between Joanna Macy and Lydia Violet.

Hereunder is an extract from Chapter 1 in Jeremy Lent’s book called The Web of Meaning, where he talks about the “Tao” and why “yu-wei” steered human civilisation away from the wholeness of ecological considerations. This book provides great philosophical pointers towards the regeneration of an “ecological civilisation”, the type of civilisation that Earth needs today.

THE NAMELESS UNCARVED WOOD

“There it sits, on top of a chest. A piece of ancient driftwood. I picked it up some years back on the windswept beach of a California seashore. It’s not that big, about the length of my forearm, and it’s shaped a bit like a bone. A femur, perhaps, with a big knobbly end tapering to a narrower point. If you look at the knobbly part from the right direction, you can almost see an animal face. A porpoise, maybe, or the cute bulbous snout of a beagle. Its grayish- blond color hints of the eons of sea and sun that have bleached everything else out of it. While smooth to touch, it still boasts a myriad of rippling lines showing its annual growth rings, along with sporadic perfectly round tiny dots of bygone worm holes.

It’s just a piece of wood. But it’s a beautiful piece, sculpted by nature, and it feels to me like the natural world peeking into my office, keeping me company. Above all, for me, it represents the Tao. ‘Tao everlasting,’ declared the ancient sage, ‘is the nameless uncarved wood. Though small, nothing under heaven can subjugate it.’

The Tao (pronounced dao and o en spelled like that) is one of the oldest concepts from antiquity that have survived to the present day. Emerging from the mists of ancient Chinese tradition, it is translated literally as ‘way’ or ‘path’, and it refers to the mysterious ways in which the forces of nature show up in the world around us. The ancient conception of the inscrutable Tao is about as far away as you can get from the grindingly busy, technology- based civilization that has come to dominate our world. And it’s partly for that reason that it’s a perfect place to begin our journey into the web of meaning.

[…]

A clue can be found in another Zhuangzi story about an archery contest. When the archers are playing for cheap tiles, they show top-notch skill. When they play for fancy belt buckles, they lose confidence; and when playing for gold, they become nervous wrecks. That’s because when the prize becomes more valuable, their goal orientation gets in the way of their natural skill, and they lose touch with their te.

The Chinese word for goal orientation, yu-wei, was the opposite of wu-wei, and represented the antithesis of living according to the Tao. As a result, according to the Taoists, it was a failing strategy. ‘ The world,’ states the Tao Te Ching, ‘is a spirit vessel which cannot be acted upon. One who acts on it fails, one who holds on to it loses.’

But isn’t acting on the world the very basis of our entire human civilization? Absolutely, argued the Taoists, and that’s precisely the point. Looking to the dawn of history, even before the birth of civilization, they saw the beginning of human separation from Tao as far back as the emergence of language. Language, in their view, was anathema to the Tao. In fact, the very first words of the Tao Te Ching read, paradoxically, ‘The Tao that can be spoken of is not the true Tao.’ The piece of wood sitting next to me represents the Tao not just because it’s uncarved, but because it’s nameless. It has no name, no purpose.

It’s not just language that the Taoists see as yu-wei. It’s the kind of knowledge that leads humans to use language in the first place, and by corollary the kind of knowledge that language can transmit. ‘One who knows [Tao] does not speak,’ declares the Tao Te Ching. ‘One who speaks does not know.’ Being in touch with the Tao leads to a different type of knowledge that doesn’t need language either to apprehend or communicate.

But, of course, the language-based type of knowledge arising from yu-wei is necessary to build civilization. Realizing this, the Taoists portrayed an earlier golden age, before civilization, when people lived in harmony with the Tao. ‘The men of old,’ declared Zhuangzi, ‘shared the placid tranquility which belonged to the whole world … at was what is called the state of perfect unity.’ At that time, ‘people lived in common with birds and beasts, and were on terms of equality with all creatures, as forming one family.’

It was only when ‘sagely men’ appeared, with their new kind of knowledge, that everything changed. ‘People began everywhere to be suspicious. With extravagant orchestras and gesticulating ceremonies, men began to be separated from one another. The pure solidity of wood was cut about and hacked to make sacrificial vessels, even colors were confounded to make ornamental patterns. This was ‘the crime of the skillful workmen.’ As Zhuangzi tells it, it is as though every human act that built civilization was a crime against the Tao.”

[…]

The book ‘The Web of Meaning’ is available in print and ebook at New Society Publishers

As the Work that Reconnects gathers momentum in the Western Cape of South Africa with the work of various facilitators responding to the imperious calling of our Mother Earth, one of the novel events that happened last year was this Council of All Beings celebrated in Scarborough, a village of the Cape Town municipality that has coined itself “Conservation Village” many years ago. Some “Scarborites” and residents from neighbouring suburbs embodied some of the more-than-human-species that have been inhabiting the area, in natural connectedness, for thousands or millions of years!

Us humans were given the opportunity to experience collective invocations to prepare the Council space for this interspecies experience, one which I believe to be documented for the first time in South Africa, and was facilitated by Joanna Tomkins and Simric Yarrow. Firstly, it involved grounding practices and invocations to prepare the Council space and secondly a short vision quest in nature to receive our individual callings. A couple of Seals and a couple of Ants, Fungi, Tree, Moth, Bee, Millipede and Tortoise asked to be represented. We then put recycled materials to use – some of which were sourced at the SEG recycling depot – into creative masks that would help to embody these Beings and drop out of our proud human masquerade to humbly channel their concerns.

We experienced that when we make a deliberate effort to “become” these Beings the enormity of the “Great Unravelling” – as the Work that Reconnects calls it – feels more real and frightening. Yet, at the same time, to experience our interbeing with more-than-human species with such closeness, and to acknowledge the communality of our feelings with other humans felt like an honour and a true honouring.

We hope to see regular Councils spring up in the country to consolidate these interspecies bridges. Through them we can give voice to the unspoken and the unheard, bringing more consciousness to our lives and creating a positive container for the Great Turning.

After ritualistically relinquishing our Council of All Beings identities, we shared our feelings in a circle as humans once again, listening deeply to each other, more prepared to step back into the harsh reality of the “Great Turning”, as custodians of Gaia.

Hereunder are two reviews we received after the Council. The beautiful pictures were taken by Isabeau Kamil. Thank you.

“Although I was very curious and drawn to the workshop, when I read the description I also felt that it was a little bit outside of my comfort zone, just because it sounded as though it had a theatre element and I am not a natural performer or public speaker. 

The workshop was sensitively and gently facilitated, I do think it helped that the space was neutral and there was a lightheartedness and recognition that people may have felt a little silly at times and that it was totally fine.

I found the experience powerful. I personally got a lot more into this than I expected to, on the one level I enjoyed getting into character and looking at things from the point of view of another being for a change, I found it surprisingly easy and I think it is good for us to expand ourselves at times. I also found that the experience stayed with me and resonated on a spiritual level as well.

I feel that there was an authenticity to this workshop and I really appreciated that it didn’t seem elitist in any way and that the goal was open-ended and felt collective and not purely individual. It definitely flipped a switch where some magic can occur and I feel like this way of looking at things is perfectly timed and very much needed in the world at the moment. 

Definitely eye-opening for me, and I thought that each section led into the next perfectly.”

Zoe Mafham, Participant

“The Council of All Beings practice has the power to give valuable perspective and deepen our compassion for the other living beings that we share the planet with.

Stepping out of our own persona, and empathically embodying the experience of another creature allows us to shift out of the modern day human-centered paradigm and deeply understand the impact our actions are having on our wild relatives.

This more direct way of understanding is sorely missing in most mainstream academic education systems. I think the Council of All Beings practice could really help ignite care and heart centered environmental activism.”

Anna Kent, Participant

by Joanna Tomkins

Kate Curtis, our colleague and WTR facilitator from the Garden Route in South Africa (Western Cape), facilitated an encounter called “Soil-Soul Messages from the Underworld” last month. It was based on the Spiral of the Work That Reconnects and led to a Council of all Beings where they used masks to speak for the soil. It was a beautiful day in a magical setting next to a river. Hereunder we have posted a video that was produced after the event and some of the pictures Kate shared with us.

Next week, from 15th to 17th March 2022, Kate Curtis will also be one of speakers at the Soil4Life online Conference. You can find more info and register here:

https://ccivs.org/soil4life-conference/registration/

You can find out more about Greenhearted, a non profit organisation where Kate implements the use of the WTR Spiral in permaculture, educational and outreach projects on website http://www.greenhearted.net