Animism

I just came across this video a while back, and thought a lot of people in this community might like it.

"Is it time to reassess our relationship with nature? | BBC Ideas"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5gWGP34-4tY

"Western societies tend to see nature and humanity as separate concepts. But are there other ways of understanding our relationship with planet Earth? Are there lessons to be learnt from indigenous cultures?"

I was just getting into deep hibernation mood as my landscape demands, getting slower, doing only the necessary. The modern world, however, demands of me that I continue work, file taxes, run errands and consume excitement.

I'd want to excuse myself from that bullshit on account of "Can't do anything during the Rauhnächte, mother Hulda is gonna get me!" but in the current state of things that's not really something a person can just say in most places. It would not be accepted to miss work on spiritual accounts during certain times to have enough time to do the much needed travelling inwards and connecting back to the depth.

Late stage capitalism calls this state 'seasonal affective disorder'. Fuck you too, capitalism, guess what, it's you who is disordered.

Comes the holiday whose name i avoid,
with its fake lights
shining with social injustice
and its hollow bells
ringing of consumerism.

Sickly sweet music plays on the streets
Some war rages far away as always
The golden trumpet blowing angels are so tired
And the Santas drown in a sticky sea of coke

I turn my face and retreat
and wish in some forgotten corner of my heart
that the festive season
was real

I send a rare message to a friend
just to check in.
And then the child returns home
just because he wants to.
And another old friend, long ignored,
calls anyway.

And on some thin and fragile plane
almost invisible under the
frantic wallpaper of business
the true spirit whispers
I'm alive

There is indeed a sound: the forest giggling about the nonsensical question, because no tree is ever alone in a forest.

This story keeps changing and more endings keep appearing for it. It started out as a collapse-drunken draft, rather grim and primitivist but somewhat comforting. With ending 4, thanks to solarpunk and to the practical and intellectual work of so many good people world-wide who aim to be part of the community of life again instead of dominating it, we see a little light finally. Who knows if more endings appear, and what they bring.

Story of childeater

There was a time when all peoples lived as good neighbours. All had to eat, and all had shelter, and all shared the green place that was earth, and its waters and winds.

Once in a while, Childeater would arrive. She came to all people, and take some of the small away. She took equally from everyone. And everyone understood that it's the way of life, out of the control of everyone.

The humans were the youngest of the community, and often a little too smart for their own good, while lacking understanding. "We will outsmart Childeater. We will build a machine to protect our small ones so she cannot take them anymore."

They built the machine, and when Childeater returned she couldn't take the human small ones. She called out to them: "Humans, your machine eats your neighbours' food and burns their shelters, don't you see?"

They did not answer. If they had seen it, they didn't really want to notice it all that much. It felt so good to finally have protected their own small, know them safe inside the walls of the machine. She tried, a second time, to make them understand: "Humans, know that for every small one I cannot take from you, I have to take one from your neighbours." They turned the machine up more, to drown her voice.

My last few years were a bit of an awakening to the personhood of non-humans around me. During that time it also seemed a lot of other people had similar experiences - of 'their' landscapes talking to them and teach them better stewardship, ask for more mushrooms, bees, diversity in general. Sometimes I felt I was maybe approaching the brink of psychosis, as it was all so strange and different from who I was before. But it added up better.

I integrated these teachings as well as I could into my daily life. Animals need to be cared for, gardens tended, while my mindset shifted from consumer to active participant in life. That means if you use substances to help you understand, you must use them with moderation - because the life around you that you have taken responsibility for needs you to be available. (It also means you have to limit the nonhumans you decide to care for in your garden and stables, as to not be overwhelmed by work).

I've recently come into contact with another one who thought they could take a shortcut to a re-connection with landscape by willpower, money, substances, theoretical knowledge. This person came to the region in a whim to start a new life and went in too hard and lost himself in the process.

Back to nature, back to landscape is no child's play. It's the real thing. And if we are not born into it our way back has to be gradual and gentle. We are permitted to be half feral only, to dip our toe into the wilderness, but if we arrive in arrogance, as wealthy know-it-alls, if we rush it too much - the mountain will shrug us off again.

Out to prove that animals have language - when you live around and with animals a lot of scientific studies about animal behaviour and communication seem to be little more than common sense, but for the scientific community it's quite a step. I think their study about bird grammar received some criticism, so there's still some way to go. But hey not too long ago people were debating whether women have a soul, so there we go, slow but steady.

Where do you all think the ability to experience comes from? Are there any organisms you think don’t experience - plants, bacteria? What about rocks, galaxies, or computers?

Animism is the belief (don't really like this word, but for now) that we live in relation with non-human persons. Animals, plants and fungi have personhood, landscapes and places have personhood, waterbodies have personhood, ... even machines might have, who knows.

These relationships need to be managed just like relations with the people around us. But it seems that we humans have spent the last 10s of 1000s of years in a toddler tantrum of perceived uniqueness and haven't listened to our older relatives. (Okay, the last bit is my personal take of this, rather to serve as a discussion point).