CULTURE, ECOLOGY, AND SUSTAINABLE
COMMUNITIES,
CONSCIOUSNESS, HEALING, AND ECOLOGY
SOLIDARITY THROUGH SOIL
Grounded in Spirit
By aManda Greene
"Solidarity Through Soil" Mission:
Through practical and hands-on projects, "Solidarity Through Soil" aims to bring education, awareness, and tools to all people who wish to invest in the solutions against the chalenges that our environment and its inhabitants currently face. Living in a time when the fabric of the American society is the direct cause of large and unjust social and environmental impact, Solidarity Through Soil is invested in empowering the community through the sustainable revolution. Recognizing that by committing to self-reliance we are lessening the burden on our lands and soils and taking responsibility for our lives, we are committed to living healthy and full lives without sacrificing the rights of others to do the same. Recognizing that when we build and create together, we are not only creating visible structures, but we are building relationships-which are the true foundation of all structures, seen and unseen. By returning basic skills of survival I envision a re-engagement in individuals and their communities to become active co-creators in the world we live in.
Grounded in Spirit
Recognizing that the Earth is not mechanical but in fact, living, breathing, and evolving as we are, I seek to return, in my life, what is sacred and honor the divinity.
When we commit our time and energy to build toward self reliance we not only create relations with those whom we are working aside, we commit in solidarity with those who name we might not know but whose lives have become an obstacle due to our expected simplicity. When we work toward our sustenance we stand in solidarity with farmers who are forced to poison their lands with chemical. When we capture our water we stand in solidarity with the precious resource of fresh water and with the watersheds that have become ill from our miss management. While working aside friend or stranger deep relationships are cultivated as we exchange stories and share in the achievements, it is here that class creed and orientations become of little importance and what is human is met living breathing fighting for and building toward the same means.
As our days are filled with the understanding of the Earth as great provider and nurturer, through our interactions and experiences we begin to relate with the snakes, the beavers and the bears in a new way. We understand that we are all manifested as irreplaceable parts of the same essence-life; power is felt through the understanding of this solidarity.
When we connect and honor the Earth we are connecting to and honoring along side with generations of people passed and with the vision of those yet to be birthed. By rejecting the linear ways of industry and commit to embody cycles and flows we commit in solidarity with all life, and with Spirit that manifests itself in countless ways in the beauty and burden of our reality.
CULTURE, ECOLOGY, AND SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES, CONSCIOUSNESS, HEALING AND ECOLOGY
Facilitating Permaculture techniques and site-specific projects UrbanGREEN turns previously abandoned sites into demonstrations of urban sustainability while providing free workshops to the local community. The project thrives on a mutually beneficial relationship; the site gets revitalized while bringing the vocabulary of self-reliance to people through workshops and work-parties.
UrbanGREEN was born out of a partnership with UrbanPEACE working at the New Dharma Meditation Center in Oakland, California.
Within six months the site was cleared and replaced with beds for growing vegetables, a functioning compost bin, and an herbal spiral, along with a 35 gallon roof water catchment. These were all built during weekend Work Parties hosted at the site. See project photo gallery
My aim is to bring the wonders, mysteries and excitement of our natural world into the lives and school days of inner-city youth. Through basic ecological gardening, reclaimed crafts, and rhythm workshops we aim to invite curiosity and nutrition into the young minds to re-introduce connection with our food systems and the natural world.
Through the work with “Our Garden,” we bring both the wonders of the natural world as well as some current ecological challenges while equipping our students with tools to become urban stewards of the environment they inhabit. See project photo gallery.
Appendix
• Berry Thomas, The Dream of the Earth. San Francisco: Sierra Club, 1988.
• Brown Lester R. Plan B- Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble. New York: Earth Policy Institute, 2003.
• Capra Fritjof, The Web of Life- A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems. New York: Anchor Book, 1996.
• Hemenway Toby, Gaia’s Garden- A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture. Vermont: Chelsea Green, 2000.
• Holmgren David, Permaculture-Principals & Pathways Beyond Sustainability
• Macy Joanna, and Molly Young Brown. Coming Back to Life- Practices to Reconnect Our lives, Our world. Canada: New Society Publishing, 1998.
• Mollison Bill-Permaculture A Designers’ Manual. Tasmania: Tagari, 1988.
• Somé, Maladoma Patrice The Healing Wisdom of Africa- Finding Life Purpose Through Nature, Ritual, and Community. New York: Penguin Putnam, 1998.
• Todd Jack, and Nancy Jack Todd. From Eco-Cities to Living Machines- Principals of Ecological Design. Berkeley: New Atlantic Books, 1993.
• Van Der Ryn Sim, and Stuart Cowan, Ecological Design: Island Press, 1996
Leadership
Through practical and hands-on projects, Solidarity Through Soil aims to bring education, awareness, and tools to all people who wish to invest in the solutions against the struggles that our environment and its inhabitants currently face.
Living in a time when the fabric of the American society is the direct cause of large and unjust social and environmental impact, Solidarity Through Soil is invested in empowering through the sustainable revolution. Recognizing that by committing to self-reliance we are lessening the burden on our lands and soils and taking responsibility for our lives, we are committed to living healthy and full lives without sacrificing the rights of others to do the same.
Recognizing that when we build and create together, we are not only creating visible structures, but we are building relationships-which are the true foundation of all structures, seen and unseen.
SOLIDARITY THROUGH SOIL
We are living in the middle of monumental times. Society as we have come to accept it is facing a drastic change. While the reasons behind these shifts, when reflected upon, offer much pain and often lack understanding, what makes this change monumental and worthy of mention is that we are currently looking toward the largest opportunity in recorded history.
America in particular, as the center of western industrial civilization, is facing an epic disintegration. While to some this might be reason for alarm I offer that it is a blessing, and probably the best event in our favor. For us this means that we need not lift a finger to see that the American Empire fall, for it undoubtedly will in its own effort. This, however, does not suggest that our work is finished or that we may now sit back and watch this notable unfolding. Rather what our task is, if we so choose to embark on; is to heal from a bloody past, to recreate integrated systems and to, re-claim our cultures and powers through self-Reliance. We have been given the chance not to create HiStory, but to recover “Our Memory.”
We are being called now to step up and to take action; we must assume the responsibility and be co-creators of a new world. A world that infuses the wisdom left by our ancestors and uses innovative technologies to actively create a culture, which honors the balances and harmonies of this Earth. This task is one that demands all of our attention and will require large efforts on our part; however, it is in our inherent nature to live in balance and deep connection with the Earth. We are currently living out the prayers and prophecies of our Ancestors while we build for and pray for our future generations.
In these past centuries, a memory has been awakened in the minds of great thinkers. Scientists, poets, mathematicians, activists, and writers are changing the paradigm by articulating an understanding of the Earth as a living being. They are recognizing the interconnected web that spans all levels of our reality to include a holistic viewpoint while humbling our position as simply an integrated piece rather than the dominant controller. Some of these “new’ sciences include systems theory, ecological design, and a growing system of design, permaculture.
THE EVOLUTION OF OUR BATTLE
The evolution of our current situation can be simplified to a battle between indigenous wisdom and modern ways. When I use the word indigenous, I am referring to native and Earth-based traditions living and honoring the balances of the natural and Spirit worlds while recognizing the intricate connection between all life.
To contrast the word Empire, as defined by David Korten “…fortune to the few, condemns majority to misery and servitude, suppresses the creative potential of all, and appropriates much of the wealth of human society to maintain the institutions of domination,” is in reference to America and the industrialized West.
Globalization is modern colonization; it is making the same families wealthy while enslaving the same people to run the same factories and machines. It’s a long lineage that has been exploiting the land and her people for the past centuries of our recorded history. What was typical of colonizing nations was to separate tribes, forbidding ritual and prayer. It is through these separating modalities that people’s roots and heritage were assimilated and forgotten.
Though it is difficult to pinpoint the exact reasons and events that brought us to arrive at these imbalanced times, a large and noticeable contribution has been from the mindset of the Newtonian and Cartesian sciences. What was the scientific reason behind the Industrial Revolution was the understanding of the Earth as a mechanic and therefore able to be reduced to the sum of its parts. This mindset of the Earth as separate non-living pieces has created a large disconnection between humans and the planet we inhabit. The gaps created by the notion of objects separate from observers have been the only explanation in the mindless deterioration of our home and our future.
Indigenous science, although not recognized as a science, embodies a much different set of understanding. Nature is witnessed as intelligent and above all she is alive and therefore equally involved in discoveries and explorations. Time and space are not understood in linear methods but rather stretch to overlap past present and future. In indigenous science, relationships between all living things are often of more value and relevance than the object itself, as science is holistic encompassing all of our senses, particularly the spiritual and psychic. The purpose of indigenous science is to maintain balance.
In the West we have come to hold material wealth as having value and esteem while to the indigenous perspective what is of the highest order is the essence behind the material- the powers of Spirit. In the West, individualism is encouraged while indigenous cultures recognize true strength in the community.
Our misleading history has bred an ignorant understanding of indigenous ways seen in the west as primitive and savage. It is this ill thinking that is encouraging separation and has allowed capitalism to exist. What can be seen as ironic is that while the objective of the Industrialized West is to grow and become powerful, what is seen through the lens of climate change and suicide rates is that this polluted greatness has become its own demise.
It has been the gradual and forceful shift from community to centralized powers that have assimilated countless cultures and civilizations into extinction. It has been a cause of wars, it is creating famine, it has expelled families off their land and it no longer serves us. It is this we must reject opening space for in the balanced dance of physical life and the messages of Spirit.
STEPPING BACK
Uncertainty is the only thing we can be sure of. We are living in a moment where the continuation of life on Earth is being threatened and is subject to debate.
Our actions and investment of time are the wheel that will steer us in the direction of the future. We have choices to decide from and commitments to make. When stepping back to witness the social, environmental, and political realities of this industrial society it is often too much to hold.
How have we gotten this far? The question to ask now however is, what can we do now to move forward as well as heal from the colonial mindset that has written our history? In moving forward into our future we must slow down and most importantly we must step back.
By stepping back I am not referring to stepping aside. In stepping back we awaken to and pull from the knowledge and memory of our ancestors calling on indigenous ways and wisdoms. I am not suggesting, however, a complete rejection of our modern industrial lifestyle. It is unnecessary and unrealistic. I am also not implying that we in the West can ever or will ever fully understand the true essence of what Indigenous thought or lifestyle is. What we can and must do is learn from our cultural elders, remembering and calling on the memory of our personal ancestral wisdom as we re-envision and rebuild with the ecological technologies of a modern world.
(GreatWork) need transition
GLOBAL INITIATION
Some have come to identify these times of transition as the “Great Turning.” I have come to understand this change as a global initiation and a necessary piece in the maturity of our civilization.
Malidoma Patrice Somé, in his book, “The Healing Wisdom of Africa” writes, “Initiation is intimately connected to ordeal. From the point of view of indigenous, an ordeal stretches the physical self far enough to release something that brings more awareness, more sense of responsibility, and more wisdom.
Discipline arises from and is aimed toward acknowledging this: the knowledge that one is going somewhere purposeful in life.”(Somé, 280) In this, we understand that adversity is indeed a necessary part of maturity and owing of one’s responsibility. As a culture, we embody much of the attitudes that are found in some American adolescents. Our self-indulgent attitudes suggest unearned wisdom that oftentimes becomes destructive to ourselves, and most hazardous, to others.
Why I say that this is a typical characteristic of American youth is because these behaviors arise when there is a lack of cultural identity and individual purpose in one’s life. In traditional cultures to uncover one’s life purpose and social role is the task that the community holds. “(I)indigenous people see humans as born with a purpose, a mission they must carry out because it is the reason for their coming to this world. In order to deliver the gift of their mission of purpose, certain conditions must be present, such as the community’s recognizing the gift that is being delivered to them” (Somé 276).
This is most commonly done through initiation, in which a youth leaves the comfort of his adolescence to embark on physical, mental, and spiritual challenges to return as an adult member now expected to perform tasks and responsibilities of an adult. These initiatory processes of our culture can be considered dangerous and even life-threatening. It is these challenges when supported by elders in the community, however, that shed the youth of childhood and builds the armor that is needed in the community of an adult. Another important piece to initiation is the uncertainty of outcome. One embarks on their journey without guarantee of return. Trust is surrendered to Spirit; even if a youth does not return it is understood that it is what was needed in the life and journey of the participant.
We can witness how our current challenging times are a cleansing and clearing process of initiation, inviting that civilization shed the adolescents that no longer serves to fully awaken to and embody that which is our destiny and potential. As initiation these challenges are often painful and most always difficult causing the initiated to have no choice but to fully step up, shedding the confinements to birth a new more powerful embodiment.
While I offer that these challenging times are a beautiful and perfectly placed phase in the evolution of the planet Earth, I do not suggest an apathetic acceptance on our part.
Work on education and permaculture as initiation, mentoring and guiding
GRIEF AS CONNECTION
This Earth is generous, abundant, and manifests itself with countless beauty. From the colorful diversity of the Red Sea’s coral reefs to the blue mystic glaciers of the arctic, the lands and waters of our planet possess a breathtaking splendor.
The devastating daily extinction of species, the steady increase of populations living without adequate water or proper sanitation, while easily justified as initiation, are much to weep about. In truth, it is essential that we do. For us to be able to weep with the mother who lost her child to thirst, or for the polar bear whose habitat is literally melting away, reflects us how connected we are. Distance is the only measure in our separation, and that too is relevant. With the rates of resources decreasing and the amount of pollution unfathomable, it is too much to hold, too much to witness. As we shed our tears we are releasing the pains that the effects of colonization have brought with it. We are clearing our souls of the heavy burden of our reality. “That pain is the price of consciousness in a threatened and suffering world” (Macy and Brown, 27).
How do we act in a way to support the intricate connection of live as we transition through a time of death to inevitable birth? How do we assist the powerful decomposition process of compost and build from the nourishment, which the cycles provide?
RETURN TO URBAN STEWARDSHIP
To be steward of the land begins with respect. Once the consciousness is obtained that we and the Earth are one we will be able to act in accordance. We care for the Earth because we understand that she is the only thing that can truly sustain us. Once we have the wisdom to see our co-inhabitance with the Earth we will be better prepared to care for her. In recreating a thriving culture we are not asked to begin from the ground up, although our systems have failed us there is much we can adapt and take advantage of to meet our needs. Part Four of John Todd’s “Redesigning Communities” chapter in From Eco-Cities to Living Machines, is working with existing structures. They begin by saying, ”There is a science to working with existing forms and structures. It is comprised of a peculiar mixture of theory, research, and practicality- a science of ‘found objects.’ It does not attempt to build from scratch, but take what exists and works to transform it to something useful or relevant” (Todd, 107).” I am often frustrated when I hear a suggested solution to Peak Oil being, “buy a hybrid.” The amount of resources to build a new car are extremely high and therefor would take years of saving weekly gallons to compensate for the energy used. We are being called to bring a revival, to restore what is already present rather then begin at the start. We don’t have the time for such a commitment. We are needed to act fast and with security. Our failure is not in getting it wrong but in not risking ourselves fully with experimentation.
With close to fifty percent of the population expected to be living in urban environments in the next five years, the call for a sustainable culture is not a call to a return of rural habitat. Our new sustainable culture is a return of basic resources to the region and community it is serving. The true craft will come from the resurrection of our town, cities and villages to become a place where urban agricultural production feed its population and wastes are recycled into product. According to the Todds, Farming uses the highest amount of petroleum compared to any other industry (Todd, 143). Along with high fuel demand agriculture uses large amounts of water for its yields. In continuing to meet the water needs of our current agriculture system we must relearn how to retain, purify, recycle and distribute water. What is most noticeable is that if we witness a local watershed, we will see that it naturally does this on it’s own. The soil acts as a sponge during the winter months, retaining large amounts of water underground, to then naturally distribute it in the dry seasons. This is why; when you hike in a national forest during the hot summer months you will see an abundance of healthy living plants. No one is watering these; they are simply adhering to the intelligent natural design of our living Earth.
RETURN TO PermaNent CULTURE
I believe it is the weaving of indigenous ways and innovative perspectives that will embroider the fabric of our future. These new perspectives and sciences are leading the way in our relationship with each other and the natural world. Great modern thinkers are creating new words to define traditional ways of living. These definitions include, systems thinking, ecological design, and permaculture.
These three, interwoven in their philosophies recognize life as a connected whole whose sum, most importantly, is larger them the sum of its parts. They are also returning, as our ancestors have, to recognize the Earth as a living breathing entity deserving of much honor and respect. A large piece in that is to recognize that as human we are too but an interconnected piece rather then our modern understanding as dominant controller.
A large part in my personal memory is the need for self-reliance. Most recently this is coming to me in the form of permaculture. Permaculture as defined by The Permaculture Activist magazine and one of my favorite simple definitions is;
“A holistic system of DESIGN, based on direct observation of nature, learning from traditional knowledge, and the findings of modern science. Embodying a philosophy of positive action and grassroots education, Permaculture aims to restructure society by returning control of resources for living: food, water, shelter, and the means of livelihood, to ordinary people in their communities, as the only antidote to centralized power.”
Permaculture invites us to interact to create healthy and mutually beneficial relationships.
“What we call a part is merely a pattern in an inseparable web of relationships.” (Capra, 37)
Why permaculture is of essential value these days is because it returns the powers of survival to the individual and their community.
Permaculture is a system of design. Working with the natural cycles rather than against it a whole systems approach to living in relation with the natural world. Permaculture recognizes the connection in all life and does not value human as controller of the Earth but as merely a piece and part of the connected whole.
One of the first and fundamental practices that permaculture reminds us is observation. It is the practice to be still and allow the land to show you in which ways the wind blows or to which direction the sun will rise. All these are influential in the visioning of your design. When you design using these timeless intelligences of listening to the land an integrated relationship is built with the land.
Visioning
Implementation
RETURN TO WISDOM (Do we have the courage?)
In the eternal search for knowledge we have given up our wisdom. Knowledge cuts up the world while wisdom makes it whole. What all traditional people understand, regardless if they are in the deserts of northern Kenya or in the jungles of Columbia is the view of the Earth as an extension of the self. There is no separation and what is universal is that there exists a powerful connection, an unseen network that is honored as the force of life. These understandings are passed from parent to child; they are celebrated in ritual and are given offerings during ceremony.
It is now clear that to move forward we must return to living with the Earth in honoring of the cycles of life and death and feeling the distinctness of each season. We cannot however return to life as simple nomadic herders like the Bedouin of Israel, or claim the seven directions of our Lakota brothers, we have been given the opportunity to weave, honor and adapt from the cultures we respect as ancient and wise to create our own. However I believe it is important that we conceive a new civilization rather then adopt an indigenous lifestyle.
Mass culture shows fast and disposable are on there way out. Steady and deliberate are what will sustain us. To live with intention in every action and witness what and in what condition we return our used resources to the Earth. Do we give her good things that will create new life, or will we leave disposable paper cups and styrofoam containers in return for our meals? We must remember to live with the Earth and therefore close the loop of “away”. As long as we support her she will return us with potential of countless abundance. Our ancestors knew this and un-colonized cultures live this today.
Our survival is calling for a cultural revival. We need to learn to supply our basic human survival because current centralized systems are: 1. Sucking the life from this earth, and sacrificing the well being of a large population. 2. Not themselves sustainable. I do not need to say if this will be in the next five years or in fifty, and in truth that is not relevant. What is relevant is that we are running out…of everything. We are polluting…everything. We are not allowing time for the natural cycles to heal and create new life and causing high levels of extinction.
CONCLUSION
Life is a gift and therefore requires sacrifice. To honor the balance of the life we humans are seen, through the native eye, to be servants of the Earth. This is contrary to the more recent view of lording over her. Current development does not ask in what location fish spawn or in what season the birds migrate for these matters are seen as trivial and of no importance when locating the next shopping mall. We have abandoned what is sacred; the stories behind the seeds have been lost to us and replaced with instantly gratifying video games.
The simplicity in going to a supermarket to buy our food has created a crater between our culture and what it is to provide for our basic needs. This in turn creates a dependency on these institutions for our survival. We have lost our relationship with the resources we depend on. This is a dangerous place to be and our current situation here in the west. The average produce from farm to customer travels around 2,000 miles before it is consumed. This will no longer be available to the masses as fuel prices continue to rise and cheap oil disappears.
These sciences are a merging of ancient ways in new names. What the sustainability and ecological movements are missing, however, that is the foundation of indigenous ways is the holding and honoring of the Sacred. We are returning to viewing the world in a connected whole, and we can identify that on a physical level. What we must also bring with these “new” findings is what is beneath the material to the essence of life. Now many words have been used to attempt to understand and name the forces unseen. The identity and classification is not necessary unless to connect you with your tribe, and in fact history has shown us that much of the most atrophic moments and events in the colonial past has been in “defending” a name. So when I speak of Spirit or the unseen I am referring to the true essence of self and the mystic cosmic order whatever name you identify with is up to you and is yours.
aManda Greene – Julianne Skai Arbor
Thesis Draft
Cohort 16 Solidarity Through Soil July 31,2006
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