Alchemical Ecology

There is nothing outside of us that is not within. I cannot be extricated from my environment: how arrogant to even think it so! When can an eye function independently from a body, or a finger independent from the hand? If there is one underlying theme in ecopsychology it is this: you can’t be removed from where you are at, nor can where you’re at be removed from you. In essence, the idea of an organism functioning independently is just that: an idea and an abstraction.

Obviously, ecopsychology sees that the natural world is ripe with metaphor. External progressions and events most eloquently articulate our innermost processes with grace, finesse and ease. Nature gives us language for elusive internal movements that may not otherwise have a venue to be heard, circumventing the compulsory need for using language so abstract that the simple essence of diaphanous organic emotion is shadowed in straight lines by the geometric towers of intellect.

Since the early stirrings of humanity, people and nature have coexisted. Humans looked to nature to supply everything from food and shelter to spiritual guidance and gods to revere. It was only relatively recently that Homo sapiens detached themselves from their natural roots to prostrate themselves at the foot of steel and concrete gods. As nature gave way to modern convenience and technology, a corresponding replacement was made in the human psyche. To fill the insatiable hole that was created when nature took leave for technology, many ailments have taken its place, akin to opportunistic infections attempting to infiltrate broken skin: addictions, compulsions, a sense of detachment from the Self and community. All symptoms of a dire call and need to return to our only true companion that has lasted the test of time: nature.

If there is nothing outside that is not within, then this separation from the natural world would have caused a rift in the internal microcosm of the personal psyche. The old alchemical adage, “as above, so below” holds true to this day. We are but mirrors reflecting the influences of the environment around us. I cannot help to be made of the components that surround me: from the tomato plants in my back yard to the Honda that I drive. Each component externally will have a corresponding internal position and the opposite holds true as well – our external environs reflect our inside climate.

In the wake of this rift an insidious confusion was created. If the elements of nature were necessary for survival, so then were their new replacements. Some of us now think we need cable television and cell phones to live! This is not to say technology is bad. One could argue that if nature was so great and perfect, why did it get abandoned anyway? Why did technology progress to such a level as to leave nature unconsidered in its planning process? I think this is a debate for greater minds than my own. Suffice to say, that they came out of need, but the need became unbalanced in such a way that the mere idea of a need to return to nature to find inspiration, balance and health became laughable. Laughable or not, it is necessary. If what is happening in the external world is mirrored in our internal being, we are certainly not the picture of health.

So, in this age of global warming and rampant pollution, what can be done as far as ecopsychology is concerned? To what can ecopsychologists attend? Where is the need most pressing? Ecopsychology is a stew of Rogerian, Jungian and Existential psychology served up in an ecological bowl. The earth is the substance and the alembic from which all life is distilled. It is a journey into metaphor, imagination, relation, and sympathy. Here is the placenta from the birth of sympathetic magic, of homeopathy and like producing like. It’s the science of poetry and the faith of the machine. Alchemical processes have figured into Depth Psychology; an analogous discipline friendly to the cause of ecopsychology. Through alchemy, we have a basic metaphor to tackle this death factory and come out the other side.

The first step in the magnum opus that ultimately ends in the production of gold is the beginning of the universe, the blackness. The Sol Niger, or black sun that has consumed everything, leaving only the charred remains. It is the process of putrefaction and purification that leads to individuation. We stand at a crossroads in time ready to choose whether or not to voluntarily consume ourselves, or be consumed by desires and impulses that are not exclusively our own. We are individuals that still have free will. We can still decide for ourselves where we, as individuals, wish to go and understand all the while that choices made on an individual level ultimately affect the whole.

The blackness found in Sol Niger is also the blackness of despair and hopelessness; a tunnel to travel through to get to the next stage on the journey to being golden. These emotions ecopsychologists stand best to address first as they are the catalyst and crucible to initiate further change. Here is the birth of the body in a state that is home within its own skin.

As we travel from nothingness to union with all-that-is, we come to the next stage associated with the color white, and the birth of the soul, or spirit. Here we connect to something more than us, greater than us, whether it be a Higher Power, or a cause. We see the interconnectedness, but have yet to experience it. Compassion lives here, so do altruistic tendencies; they are neighbors in the forest of Possibility. Ecopsychologists can use techniques and processes to foster the journey inward, to the soul roots of issues in order to strengthen causes and connections; group therapy, community building and spiritual counseling.

Before we get to gold, we encounter red. Red is life, is union of the limited with the unlimited. Here is where ecopsychologists shine with the skills of communication, empathy and active listening. The ability to be genuine, warm and empathetic is essential here. Here is the home of vibrancy, action and acceptance. Here where life is valued, the reddening of cheeks from action in the participation of the continuance of life from deep in the heart of passion. Here are the hands digging the internal and external soil, solid and centered enough in themselves to be able to unearth the Sol Niger in others and help them to transform.

Entering the center of the flame, we come out the other side golden. The golden age – and not an idealized one either. Here is our goal, as it is so important to work with an ultimate outcome in mind. While we may be each working for our own individual goals, we can rest assured knowing we aren’t alone and that my success is also the success of others as well. Here respect is golden.

Through arriving at gold, that insatiable hole is filled up with a healthy relationship to nature – not of humans against it, or struggling to subdue it, but a true, wise, educated coexistence that is economically and realistically viable. This is not a call to become a back to nature movement, but a movement for nature returning to us. Can we have cars, cell phones, cable television and a healthy planet and psyche? If we follow the lead of the natural world it seems that a future where unleaded has turned to gold is a strong possibility. Living by example will lead the way.

Seeing Faith as a Science.

It is generally accepted that Faith and Science are in opposition; star crossed lovers that never shall again meet. Science has it's scientific methods of experimentation, hypothesis, testing and accruing hard, replicable data. Faith can be seen as anything intangible, containing unimaginable seemingly unprovable things: magic, mysteries, miracles. The seen and the unseen. Gods, spirits. The opposition seems so obvious: Logical vs. illogical. Linear vs. cyclical. Seen vs. Unseen.

However, the more that I think on this, the more I see that they are not sworn enemies. There is no need for a versus; they are not exclusive of one another. Faith and science are each their own discipline with it's own set of rules and methods. In my cosmology, I try not to see things as and/or, but rather as this/and. This is frustrating for some people and, I reckon, pretty confounding. How can all things, often contradictory, work?

Take for example acupuncture. There are many schools of thought and techniques and they often do not agree with each other. What is yin in one school appears yang in another. But the frustrating truth is this: they all heal. They all get the job done. How can this be? Because there is something out there for each and every one of us. A key for our unique lock. It's why I think that there are so many healers, religions, regions, countries. There's a place for everyone. The trick is to find your home. As cliché as it is, I agree with the old saying, "home is where the heart is."

I think that the pursuit of home is where faith and science hold hands and play on swing sets together. If I can understand faith as a scientific discipline of it's own, I can experiment with it, see and record results. For example before I started on the spiritual path I'm on now, I didn't know if I even believed that there was something other than myself. But I walked in and allowed myself to be curious. I entertained a "let's see" attitude and an open mind and I was pleasantly surprised at what came to pass. I gave my self a chance to see what faith could do for me and eventually, perhaps most importantly, I for it.

It doesn't need to make sense to work and logic is just one way of thinking. The seen is no less important or valuable than the unseen.Faith is small, almost invisible. It isn't about fireworks and flair. Faith, I believe, can be cultivated, nurtured. By observing everyday things as extraordinary I've come to understand that faith isn't something detached and abstract. It's down here, tangible, fun and accessible.

Faith isn't lost or found. It's remembered.

Death and Taxes

Faith has to do with things that are not seen, and hope with things that are not in hand. - Saint Thomas Acquinas

Death and taxes. Two facets of life that are unavoidable. Today is traditionally tax day where we pay our member dues to party in the exclusive Club America. A club that guarantees our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Well, today, 33 people can't file their taxes. 33 people are dead; shot at school. 33 people who, while trying to actually contribute, were cut down. 33. The age, they say, that Jesus was when he was crucified.

There are things some folks do to deal with tragedies like this: they numb, they ignore, they scoff, they sadden, they rage, they cry. They harden.

A friend posted a post in her blog this morning. A letter from god telling us how pissed she was at us; that we threw our chance away. She ended it with a divine SWAK: "fuck off and die."

This was a hard post to read. Hard, because i know she means it, every word. Hard because i know that those words emerge from a very soft and wounded space. It is so hard to stay open. Who would want to, really?

I stay open as a conscious choice. To me, to stay open is to affirm:

1. that tv is a magnifying glass. everything that happens on it seems to be ubiquitous. but i know the truth - it's not. events are talked about, hashed, rehashed, regurgitated and overanalyzed to the point of obscurity. so i know that once i read the headline, i need read no more. it is done.

2. bad things happen and this is ok. yes, even when bad things happen to me and the people i love. i'm not saying i look forward to these events, or that i take them in stride when they happen. they let me know that i love, that i feel, that i inhabit a human body with special needs, with emotional attachments and those are all ok. some people don't get that - that really, they are ok. whatever it is you're feeling or thinking is valid. i think people who fight off those feelings, who cram them down can become very dangerous in one way or another.

3. i am learning to take solace in, and believe (your mileage may vary) that there is a divine plan to my life and that these moments of tragedy and great loss are put here to educate me and affirm my faith. i can feel heartache and that heartache can be soothed knowing that there is a plan. there is a sense to this chaos. and it's not even a sense of "there has to be." i am learning to cultivate an inner knowing and respect for this process.

this world is beautiful and meant for us. i wish i could articulate my thoughts on this better, but this is a good start.

suffice to say that this world is still good, that at the end of the day, everyone, regardless of differences, wants to take off their shoes and have a warm dinner with someone they love. even if it's just the cat.

beware the ides of march!

i know - oh my g-d! another blog, and i agree with you. so everyone and their grandmother is blogging these days and i while i have a live journal, i've really been in the mood to do some more public type writing, so we'll try this venue and see where it leads.