BEING NATURE WEAVING INDRA’S NET
BRIDGET M CKENZIE
INDRA’S NET Indra is the rain god in Hinduism. Humans have become weather gods, changing the climate. But we can only exert this power for positive outcomes if we learn to think ‘the ecological thought’. Indra’s Net is a story, a metaphor for the interconnectedness of all things. It has a multifaceted jewel at each vertex. Each jewel is reflected in all of the other jewels. By the end of the workshop we will have created an Indra’s Net, with some ideas about how we can be good weather gods.
ECOLOGICAL MESH Tim Morton in ‘The Ecological Thought’ used Indra’s Net to explain the ‘ecological mesh’. He says ‘we are nature’. There is really no inside or outside in nature. We have vast zoos of thousands of species inside us. Our separation from nature is a story we have told ourselves. As a species we like to create clearings and territorial boundaries, so we have to come to believe we are separated from it. We are not disconnected from nature. We are almost too connected to it, but in the wrong relationship. We have made it go wrong.
BEING THRIVABLE Thrivability (trivsel) is a mindset that aims for wellbeing for the many NOT wealth for a few. The ‘many’ must include all other species. Let’s focus today on what we can do to make a thrivable world.
BEING GARDENERS People in a thrivable community craft spaces where people can be well by: • doing what they love, • helping each other and • looking to the future. What would it take to create a thrivable world? The necessary acts are like tending a garden. But we have to do the right kinds of gardenwork, especially now that we are in a time of crisis.
WHY DO WE NEED THE RIGHT KINDS OF GARDENWORK? The scale of the crisis means that there is no margin of tolerance. We have breached too many planetary boundaries. There is no longer room for modes of operation that are anti-ecological.
DYSBIOSIS
IN OUR BODIES, OUR SOIL, OUR WORLD
We are only 10% human. The ecological mesh is inside us as well as stretching beyond us. We are a habitat for 2 to 4 thousand species of microbiota, and they depend on us. We are in symbiosis. But dysbiosis is caused by antibiotics, pesticides and poor diet. It causes many 21st century diseases. Dysbiosis is useful as a metaphor for what is wrong on a macro scale, in our soil, our oceans and our skies.
HOW TO HEAL DYSBIOSIS? Consider soil health. The best way to nurture good soil is to leave wilderness as it is, to let wild-life fertilise it through their life cycles and interconnections. The second best way is to restore places to be as much like wilderness as possible. The rewilding movement is seeking to do this.
A GOOD MODEL FOR THE RIGHT KIND OF GARDENWORK IS PERMACULTURE The inventor of permaculture was Bill Mollison. He died this week so we should honour him. Good principles include: Observing before intervening Designing from pattern to details (seeking a big picture view) Cultivating diversity
EMERGENCE AND ENTROPY Some relationships are synergistic. They bring about emergence of something new, of ‘more elegantly ordered complexity’. Some are entropic, they lead to decay, or less ordered complexity. Ants can get trapped in a wheel if their pheromone trails don’t lead them to purpose) We are at a critical point where we as humans are heading into a death spiral. But the possibilities of emergence are enormous.
SEEING WITH IMAGINATION We must imagine a thrivable world. To do this we must cultivate our imagination. In yesterday’s workshop, we used free drawing to do this.
SEEING EVERYDAY ECOCIDE
SEEING WETIKO Wetiko is an Algonquin word for a cannibalistic spirit driven by greed and selfish consumption. It deludes its host into believing that consuming the lifeforce of others for profit or power is logical and good.
http://www.seeingwetiko.com/
SEEING THE ECOLOGICAL SELF Arne Naess proposes an addition to the normal dimensions of self. Any transformation approach should help people optimize all four: 1. Egotistic self 2. Social self 3. Metaphysical self 4. Ecological self – provides integrity, grounding and connection
MASLOW’S HEIRARCHY IS WRONG! Indigenous people tend to live in awareness that they are part of the ‘ecological mesh’. In order to meet their physiological needs, the sacred and a shared culture are fundamental. They know that survival depends on symbiosis, which is spiritual. It is not an indulgence.
A MORE THRIVABLE HEIRARCHY OF NEEDS? Metaphysical
Ecological Physiological Egotistic
Social
HOW CAN WE CULTIVATE OUR ECOLOGICAL SELF? We can learn from fungi!
WE ARE NOT THE ONLY CREATIVE SUBJECTS “[We work towards…] A biology that understands organisms not only as ecosystem-service providers and molecular toolboxes but also as creative subjects, and which sees humans as a metabolic part of a biosphere enmeshed with life and feeling.” From the ‘Manifesto for Enlivenment’
TREES ARE BEINGS “Trees are so much more than rows of wood waiting to be turned into furniture, buildings or firewood. They are more than organisms producing oxygen or cleaning the air for us. They are individual beings that have feelings, know friendship have a common language and look after each other.� Wohleben & Simard
WHAT HELPS THEM? MYCHORRIZAE • A type of mushroom that entwines and connects the roots of trees • Mychorrizae interact with trees in ways that are usually symbiotic • Trees thrive when they are in multitudes
MOTHER TREE The strong mature trees sustain the weak. Young, old and even ‘dead’. Thanks to the mychorrizae.
FOUR BENEFITS OF MYCHORRIZAE 1. Structural strength It extends the roots of the tree deeper It joins it to other trees to create a mesh The trees can resist high winds and drought This can stop the soil eroding.
FOUR BENEFITS OF MYCHORRIZAE 2. Nutrition It draws in nutrients for the tree from further into the soil than the tree’s own roots. In return, the fungi receives energy from the tree’s photosynthesis.
FOUR BENEFITS OF MYCHORRIZAE 3. Distribution according to need The connections with other trees allow for communication Saplings or trees in poor soil can receive more nutrients from the wealthy trees.
FOUR BENEFITS OF MYCHORRIZAE 4. Threat resistance and warnings A medical emergency system Edge trees communicate threats of disease and pests Change their chemicals to ward them off.
LIKE TREES, HUMANS ALSO LIVE IN MULTITUDES And we have thrived. But at the expense of other species… and the stability of the climate and entire ecosphere How can we thrive as trees do, in ways that help the ecosphere thrive?
FOUR QUESTIONS FOR OUR NET STRENGTH…How to withstand a worsening climate? Hvad kan vi gøre for at blive modstandsdygtige overfor effekten af et forværret klima? NUTRITION…How to ensure healthy sustainable food and water? Hvad kan vi gøre for at skabe en bæredygtig forsyning af vand og næring? EQUALITY…How to distribute resources according to needs? Hvad kan vi gøre for at distribuere vores resourcer i overensstemmelse med behov? PRECAUTION…be responsive to the risks that threaten us? Hvad kan vi gøre for at imødekomme og handle hensigtsmæssigt på de ting der truer os?
START WITH ONE QUESTION •
The whole room forms into four groups, caring for one quarter of the mesh.
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To begin, they focus on their allocated question.
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Individuals quickly record their answers at the top of several strips.
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Express all the obvious or existing solutions. Don’t worry if they seem unoriginal. Generate lots of ideas.
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Write boldly and clearly so the ideas can be read easily.
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Lay the strips out on the floor in the centre of the room, in four quarters.
ARRANGE YOUR PAPER STRIPS LIKE MYCHORRIZAE UNDER A MOTHER TREE • Equality
• Nutrition
• Strength Distribution of resources according to need
Providing structure and resistance
Providing food and water sustainably
Awareness of threats on the horizon
• Precaution
EXPLORE ALL THE QUESTIONS •
Invite everyone in the room to circulate and answer all four questions.
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They should read answers already on the strips. Can you think of something new that has not been mentioned?
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Keep going and talking to others until you arrive at new solutions.
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Then, the four groups return to their quarters and read all the answers to their allocated question.
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Consider what is the most common theme, and what is the most original or outlying suggestion?
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Take turns to report on this to the whole room.
CREATE A ‘JEWEL’ FOR OUR NET Indra's Net has a multifaceted jewel at each knot. Each jewel is reflected in all of the other jewels. Everything connects with everything
Using coloured paper create a shape that symbolises or reflects all the ideas you have heard Be playful •
Origami?
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Tear the paper?
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Write words on it?
Place your object somewhere suitable on the net of ideas Sharing some of these symbols helps to wrap up the session.
DIAMONDS FROM CO2 The most common symbol of the jewels was ‘collaboration’ One person made a diamond as the most precious jewel. We realised that diamonds are carbon, and we could make them from waste CO2.
THANK YOU!
bridget.mckenzie@flowassociates.com http://aboutbridgetmckenzie.wordpress.com