Sounds of the Forest January 6, 2021

An interesting project is afoot: people submitting homemade sound clips from their local forests to contribute to a sound map of the world. The map and attached soundclips are linked below. Maybe folks reading this blog would also like to play? Go out into your local trees and let your phone listen along with your ears. One-minute recordings seem to be the norm.

https://timberfestival.org.uk/soundsoftheforest-soundmap/

Some of these are also played on tree.fm where you can listen to a random forest instead of human talk radio.

I like this use of technology to inspire people to get outside and be silent, listening deeply. Silence is one of those ways we can most easily touch the holy.

“We were taught to sit still and enjoy the silence. We were taught to use our organs of smell, to look when apparently there was nothing to see, and to listen intently when all was seemingly quiet.” — Luther Standing Bear, Oglala Dakota

“May we all grow in grace and peace and not neglect the silence that is printed in the center of our being. It will not fail us.” — Thomas Merton

If we had a keen vision of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow or the squirrel’s heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence. — George Eliot, Middlemarch

Regardless if you want to participate in the recording project, please go outside today and listen to the voices of more-than-human world. Even in cities, we can often hear the winds, birds, rustling leaves of trees, and sometimes small beings like crickets. For those of us who love using words in abundance (like me), this simple act can blow your mind and change your life. Entire worlds can be revealed by just listening — and that naturally goes for listening to humans too, especially those who don’t look or think like us. My wise mom used to say we should listen twice as much as we speak; that’s why we have two ears and only one mouth. 🙂

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Trees in Early Irish Law and Lore: Respect for Other-Than-Human Life in Europe’s History June 13, 2020

My article, “Trees in Early Irish Law and Lore: Respect for Other-Than-Human Life in Europe’s History,” has been published in the peer-reviewed journal, Ecopsychology.

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Here’s the Abstract (summary of contents):

In contrast to modern Western society’s treatment of plants as non- sentient beings to be used or killed at will for our own benefit, the complex legal system used in Ireland from prehistory up until the 17th century delineated penalties for mistreating trees that were not dissimilar to the penalties for mistreating other humans. The early Irish relationship with trees as described in Brehon Law and extant lore was not only utilitarian but also deeply spiritual and tied to the peoples’ identity. Brehon Law provides an example from European history that illustrates traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and animistic relationships with the more-than-human world of nature. This paper explores some ecopsychological and environmental benefits of applying its principles today.

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Here is the full article for download (okay to share here on my personal blog now that a year has passed, per the publication agreement):

Fields – Irish Tree paper pub eco.2019.0058

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(One note: on p.133, the editors made me change the trad Cornish spelling of “piskies” to “pixies” for broader recognition. If you tell the story further, please put the correct word back.)

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I hope you enjoy my paper!   Please let me know what you think in the Comments below.

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About the Special Issue: Wisdom Traditions, Science and Care for the Earth” (from the Ecopsychology journal’s announcement):

“Ecopsychology invites you to read this special issue dedicated to bringing forward insights from wisdom traditions, such as those from Indigenous peoples, and those from contemporary science, to more clearly inspire and guide actions that care for the Earth.

“The issue was co-edited by two leaders in their fields. Cheryl Charles is Co-Founder, President, and CEO Emerita of the Children & Nature Network, and an educator, author, and long-time advocate for connecting people of all ages with nature. Gregory Cajete is a scholar, educator, author and elder in his Indigenous tribe, Tewa, and served for many years as director of Native American Studies at University of New Mexico.”

Link to the issue: http://email.liebertpub.com/q/120Q3PCHFAqruwiwpXwJ/wv

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Japan! May 14, 2019

I’ve not posted here for some time, having frittered my labors on Facebook instead. Welcome back to all of us!

Hopefully this short series will be fun for you to read. I’m off to Japan for 12 days with my BFF Julianne Skai Arbor (aka TreeGirl). We will go to INFOM, the international conference of Forest Medicine, and also visit Shinrin-Yoku sites on our own for independent research. Plus, Japan!! I’ve never been.

I landed in Narita/Tokyo last night after a 12 hour flight from Denver. Non-stop. Even though I’ve lived with it my entire life, my father being a pilot, I will never stop seeing flying as anything but a miracle.

Looking out of our hotel window, I was amazed to see that we were 12 stories above a giant forest! I thought of this whole area is being one giant city but I was wrong. In my jetlagged sleep, half in and out of a hypnagogic state, every time I came back from the bathroom or whatever, I repeatedly dreamed that I crawled back into bed in the hollow of a giant tree; part of that forest outside the window. I was held cozy in the tree’s body. It happened so many times that it seems it must have been true. So I already love Japan.

Then breakfast included fish! What other delights await?