This is the tenth issue of my free newsletter. Your feedback is most welcome!
Interview on Recreating Human Culture
During the Permaculture course I took, I had the opportunity to meet and interview an extraordinary 16-year-old fellow student, Brian Love, who has already been elected as a delegate to the Green Party of Connecticut. He is writing a book on the collapse of civilization. Here is an excerpt of the interview:
Brian: I chose to study permaculture because I was seeing the systemic flaws in the majority of human social institutions, and seeking an alternative way of living which would eliminate those flaws. I’ve read ““One Straw Revolution”” and have been studying about forest gardening, slash and burn agriculture, and agro-forestry practices--systems that have co-evolved between humans and the environment with benefits for both. I’ve been observing the developmental nature of the Earthaven process. I’m seeing problems arising, being considered and worked through. People here are not so symbol-obsessed, more in touch with visceral experience. I was hoping to turn on some circuits of my brain that are switched off by standardized, organized culture, and that happened.
We need to recreate and preserve human culture as it should exist naturally; and try to make it through the inevitable mass extinction, die-off of our species. I’d like to focus on plant breeding, seed saving/storage, reinvention of Earth wisdom and primitive skills, appropriate use of technology, while taking into account social and environmental costs and planning for the 7th generation. My vision is to start a community based on shamanic practices, teaching children the importance of minute fungi and bacteria, the drama we’re witness to and actors in, and living in a way that won’t destroy life. I see many disaffected youth these days who are into consumerism, materialism. I want to reach them without denying or sugar-coating the truth.
Here’s an analogy: Civilization is like a sinking ship. For the past 6,000 years, people have put patches on it, and bailed water, knowing subconsciously that it’s futile. Now it’s time for us to wake up, give up hope for saving this inherently flawed civilization, and take responsibility for our survival and the survival of the rest of life on the planet. Using tools and materials on board, we must construct a seaworthy vessel that will allow our species to survive harmoniously and perpetually in the ocean of life.
(end of interview)
Community
I recently had a dream from which I awoke with this one-liner: “A sense of community is enhanced by living in a sensory community.” What is a sensory community? It’s the natural world, which engages all of our five senses. To step out of the old paradigm, community is needed. In modern medical practice, the patient suffers from over-specialization: the cardiologist doesn’t really communicate with the endocrinologist or the urologist, and the patient is seen as a collection of parts instead of a unified system. Similarly, I believe that we North Americans suffer from the lack of a holistic, systems view of how to live in nature; we don’t see the big picture.
To re-invent the culture, as we see a world in conflagration, we need cooperation instead of conflict to resolve our differences. Can we withdraw our energy from gloomy scenarios, and take the next bold creative step? I draw inspiration from Paul Stamets, arguably the world’s foremost expert on fungi. After a forest is clear-cut, it is doused with diesel; Stamets has discovered that oyster mushrooms are able to break down petroleum products, converting toxic hydrocarbons into harmless hydrogen and carbon. I heard that he has actually made an oil for chainsaws that is inoculated with oyster mushroom spores! (I’m wondering how widely available that oil is. A guerrilla activity comes to mind: swap it on store shelves!)
Learnings from Nature
Butterflies are very present at Earthaven, and friendly. They like salt, so when I’ve worked up a good sweat on a hot day, it’s not uncommon for a butterfly to ride around on my shoulder. One hot day, a tiger swallowtail sat on my shoulder for 20 minutes while I went in and out of the trailer doing chores. When I got ready for my outdoor shower, I walked over to a tree, and gently tried to guide its legs onto a leaf. The butterfly resisted. When I took off my shirt, it finally flew away, a little huffily, I thought.
We drive past the Clear Branch Baptist Church (named after its local creek) to our broader outdoor church: the Broad River. It’s our local paradise, a 20-minute drive and 30-minute hike away, complete with swimming holes and waterfalls! One day there were two butterflies who sat and danced together for nearly an hour: a tiger swallowtail (yellow with black veins and trim) and another species, mostly black with a little orange and white. They seemed to me like symbols of yin and yang. The black butterfly flew in from the north, the yellow from the east, and sat as if in dialogue on a rock, occasionally rising in a fluttering, circling dance.
Yin-yang dialogue:
Opposites rising, circling,
Inter-species dance.
This special message from the butterflies reminded me that dialogue, harmony, and celebration are possible even among those who seem at odds, coming from very different places. The dance of opposites teaches that we can each be beautiful and brilliant in our completely unique ways. (An important corrective for my judgmental tendency to want everyone to follow MY standards!)
In a recent interview, Malidoma Some (an African shamanic teacher) spoke of the longing of the spirit to “play with its toys”: the trees, rocks, and streams. I agree! Yet I also see how many ingrained toxic cultural patterns we Earthaven residents can fall into, especially that of overwork. Sometimes an animal can be a reminder. As I was reflecting on the workaholic patterns in our lives, my partner and I were finally taking a half-day to drive up to Mt. Mitchell for a loftier perspective. It is the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains. Suddenly, a young black bear cavorted playfully across the road just a few yards ahead of us! Looking it up later in Animalspeak by Ted Andrews, I found that the bear represents the importance of going deep within in order to “make choices and decisions from a position of power.” When we overwork, we don’t take the time to awaken the playful, creative potential within. The black bear is very frolicksome, even as an adult—a good reminder.
Some Permaculture Principles
Permaculture principles are drawn from observing biological systems, where there is no pollution, no waste. The waste from one species is food for another, and species diversity is key to the health of the whole system.
A tree is an illustration of the permaculture principle that a single element in a system has multiple functions. A tree can provide shade, evaporative cooling, food, habitat for many species even when it is dead, wood, resins, saps, fibers, and medicinals. It drops leaves, which mulch and rebuild the soil; nutrients from deeper layers are thus brought to the surface to benefit other plants. A tree can provide a windbreak for other plants (and for us); vines can grow up it. It also deposits a “nutrient soup” on the ground below when the rain washes bird poop, dead insects, etc., off its leaves. Its roots hold the soil to prevent erosion. A tree captures and sequesters carbon. And this is not a complete list!
The corollary principle is that multiple elements in a natural design can support a single function. We humans seem to need a lot of water. In cities, one-fourth of municipal energy use goes for pumping water. For greater self-sufficiency, we can catch rainwater from our roofs and store it in cisterns. The overflow can go into a small pond, which supports wildlife, moderates the temperature, and provides beauty. The graywater from kitchen and bathtub can water plants for our food. Digging swales allows rain to soak in rather than run off and erode the landscape. To conserve water, we can use composting toilets.
Another principle I love: connections are key. Chickens, for instance, need to be connected to their natural environment where they can scratch for insects and fertilize the soil. They can’t cultivate our gardens in this natural way if they are living stacked in boxes in a factory farm. We, too, need connections to our natural environment, instead of being stacked in office-boxes or apartment-boxes!
An Equinox Message:
Remember that the Equinox is the time of balance: the equality of the light and the dark. As summer ends, we experience longer hours of darkness, opportunities for quiet and inwardness. The dark and light represent the yin and yang, our masculine and feminine natures. How is the balance of your male and female sides, work and play, your rational and intuitive, your outward and inward aspects? Especially as we enter the sign of Libra, balance is all-important. Let us pause to nurture the forgotten aspects of ourselves in this time of transition into the autumn. Let’s also take the time to harvest what we have been cultivating in our busy lives!
