Ok I just read this and love this piece so much, especially because I’m navigating a lot of uncertainty right now! But this is so brilliant and deep — making king with uncertainty is so vital particularly for this moment, which asks us to move far beyond the known in order to enter more sustainable systems. Thanks for the recommendation 🧡
I especially love this quote: “The Underworld is the place where you broke bread with Baba Yaga, made peace with limit, were fed small scraps of meat by crows when you needed it the most. It’s the deep dip in a myth, the katabasis, the descent, the mischievous, startling bewilderment of irrational energies. Logic has little traction at such a moment. Successful returnees of the Underworld are Blake, Anna Swir, Patti Smith, Elie Wiesel. Sometimes we make these journeys alone, sometimes as a culture.
My petition is that we accept the challenge of uncertainty. As a matter of personal style. It’s the right thing to do. It’s what the Anglo-Saxons called “living in the bone-house.” We get older, we find life is riven with weirdness. We should be weird too. To know, tell, and create stories is a wonderous skill that keeps faith with the traditional and beauteous techniques our ancestors used when faced with the sudden mists and tripwires of living.”
Oh yay! I’m happy it resonated. It’s one of those essays I return to over and over again, the same way I would return to a poem. His other work is also brilliant.
Ooh, I've come across his work and have been meaning to dive into it forever. Looking forward to checking this out! Myth is definitely an important piece in all this, as a guide to our constant cycles of death-and-rebirth and as an indication of how we've always been connected to the cycles of the land (and so much more)
Yes and that article in particular is a great mythic-led guide in dealing with all the unknowns we’re facing with the climate crisis. If you get to it lmk what you think!
I would love to hear more about what it brought up for you. I can see how it could seem a bit doomer-y though that wasn't my intention.
I also love that you are taking time to sit with the discomfort instead of volleying a comment off immediately — the internet would be a better place if more people were like that!!
I am forever fascinated with abandoned towns, properties and such. I guess it’s that cycle of death and rebirth that draws me in. Wonderful article and I also love the images.
You are the universe and may it guide you without harm, no more, beautiful word's and totally from your soul, love yourself please, imagery and teeth of brass, standing tall in the dark, in the mind warped pavilion, you've flayed your mark ❤️
As a deathworker, this essay landed in places within me that are still reverberating. Thank you for this. I have never restacked so many excerpts off one piece before.
Oh wow that means so much — both that you're coming from that powerful perspective, and all the restacks :') thank you so much for reading and for all the important work you do. I'm sure there's a lot of space for deathwork in relation with climate change and that space was definitely the mentality behind this piece as well!
My forearms are all weird and splotchy, and I have no idea why. After I get a little sun, they look like they were splashed in invisible ink. This essay, perfectly positioned, is their message made explicit. You have made legible something I’ve been feeling as a human animal consciously experiencing a body in conditions with variables too unprecedented to be perceived, much less controlled for. I am deeply appreciative to have encountered this now.
Wow, thank you for this. I think we all experience weird and bizarre-looking things with our bodies — I certainly do — and yet we spend so much time trying to hide them and feeling ashamed... glad this piece could spark a bit of connection and kinship with some of those very natural messengers that really signify our aliveness. Thanks for reading :)
This gave me a sense of hope and ease that I desperately need. As ecological destruction consumes a lot of my mental space every day. I really appreciate this reframe
Hi, I do kind of apologise but the words you wrote from that boiling pot, volcanic fume and polished off with substance and measure, is a fuckin beautiful statement of fact, I can see every nerve twitching, like butterfly 🦋 flexions on the face muscle, a delicate kiss and connection ,then away, believe what you say, kind regards Mr STAGGERLEE
Thank you for putting it so plainly and courageously.
Holding both the "dirty" and the "pristine" in recognition of the ultimate sacredness of both—and all that's in between—is something I've been thinking a lot about these past weeks. It’s a particular kind of discomfort to sit with them both at once and realise that neither defines anything, and both are a simple yet powerful testimony to how things just are—a part of nature, as you write.
I believe we are in a particular time or mindset as a collective, where most of us feel overburdened by the endless stream of terrifying news flowing our way from all directions, but at the same time, are tired of the narratives that try to prettify the parts of reality (and especially our very selves) that are obviously not-so-pretty.
In the poetry course I'm attending now, Nadia Colburn, the facilitator, poses a very important question: "How can we take in the difficulties, the suffering of the world, and still find and promote peace?" That is to say, how do we remain sweet, soft, and compassionate, as opposed to bitter, rigid, and divisive when there is so much fear and suffering around us? How do we hold it all together when it feels like everything, including ourselves, is about to fall apart? I believe your essay points us to the answer, or at least a part of it.
Thanks so much, for reading this and for acknowledging that central tension. I really believe that complicating binaries (between good/bad, self/other, human/nature) is so critical for the time of change we’re in. But it takes looking past our sense of purity and our belief that we know everything (or even anything at all for sure).
I’ve been asking that question and carrying that question a lot this year. I definitely don’t have the answer, but I think part of it is embracing that there are regenerative possibilities in the “fall” too, and all we can do is the best we can with what we have… easier said than done to find peace with it all, but I also think, as I said in this piece, that we can learn from nature and how it’s responding in such creative ways to the disasters we’ve inflicted upon it. We don’t have to figure it all out ourselves :)
“This kind of purity culture has animated so much of leftist politics, which fixates on policing language and all-or-nothing mentalities rather than embracing our shared humanity and creating a better world for everyone.”
Hard agree on this, of which I have unfortunately been guilty of in the past. The uncultivated mind - even if well-intentioned - yearns to discriminate. Between right and wrong, good and bad, left and right. We must learn to see the rose in the compost, the broth in death, and good in the bad. Going beyond concepts and notions brings freedom and joy.
I really do feel that this has hurt the left so much. It’s hard because usually the intentions are good, but the movement has become so exclusionary almost no one feels comfortable in it… we really need to embrace the rot and entanglement and diversity of opinions that exist, and engage with difficulty and restorative justice rather than punitive politics (of course every case is different) in order to have a cohesive and strong movement. Clementine Morrigan’s writings have been helpful to me for thinking about this.
Also, I love the idea of death as broth — makes me think of Allen Ginsberg’s “animal soup of time” line from Howl — sometimes our subconscious errors generate accidental poetry I guess!
Beautifully poetic and I definitely 'get' the depth and breadth in your words. I have just now read and commented, but I will be sitting long with this as I love the way your spoke so much of what I feel.
It is important to share this perspective and definitely not 'doom and gloom' but authentic truth that more of us need to feel in our bones.
I also love that you are doing exactly what I do by tuning in and communing with land, places, beings. This is the main body of what my writing is and it is wonderful to read others doing the same. The weaving of our own spirit/psyche with the more than human world, as, like you say, we are not separate from any aspect of life. It would do much for more of us to know this.
Thank you so much! Yes, the work of living in deep connection with the land and more than human world is so critical, and I really do think the climate crisis is a spiritual crisis (that needs spiritual solutions — I have another similar essay on that which I might post soon actually). Thank you for reading, and for doing this work 💜
I get the impression that many cultures are in that process of death... leading to a rebirth which I feel incredibly optimistic about. I feel very positive about growing interests and developments I'm seeing in decentralisation, intentional communities, regenerative agriculture, tribal and native wisdom, sacred geometry and so much more. I get excited by it all. Everything is literally "up in the air" as we are in that nexus of the transition from a Piscean to Aquarian era. We're simply losing our baby teeth and having some teething issues. Reconnecting to nature when we have become so distant from it is going to be painful. You tap into that pain here in a wonderful way. Thank you for this piece.
Yes absolutely. This is exactly what I was trying to say. Death and rebirth are two sides of the same coin and reconnecting to nature means also reconnecting to the pain we've caused — which we have to do in order to heal. thanks for this beautiful reflection which totally captures what I was trying to say!! And yes I am excited about all of those developments you mentioned as well!
Beautiful work. Have you read Martin Shaw’s writing on climate change and myth? He has a great piece in Emergence magazine, “Navigating The Mysteries.” https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/navigating-the-mysteries/
Ok I just read this and love this piece so much, especially because I’m navigating a lot of uncertainty right now! But this is so brilliant and deep — making king with uncertainty is so vital particularly for this moment, which asks us to move far beyond the known in order to enter more sustainable systems. Thanks for the recommendation 🧡
I especially love this quote: “The Underworld is the place where you broke bread with Baba Yaga, made peace with limit, were fed small scraps of meat by crows when you needed it the most. It’s the deep dip in a myth, the katabasis, the descent, the mischievous, startling bewilderment of irrational energies. Logic has little traction at such a moment. Successful returnees of the Underworld are Blake, Anna Swir, Patti Smith, Elie Wiesel. Sometimes we make these journeys alone, sometimes as a culture.
My petition is that we accept the challenge of uncertainty. As a matter of personal style. It’s the right thing to do. It’s what the Anglo-Saxons called “living in the bone-house.” We get older, we find life is riven with weirdness. We should be weird too. To know, tell, and create stories is a wonderous skill that keeps faith with the traditional and beauteous techniques our ancestors used when faced with the sudden mists and tripwires of living.”
Oh yay! I’m happy it resonated. It’s one of those essays I return to over and over again, the same way I would return to a poem. His other work is also brilliant.
Ooh, I've come across his work and have been meaning to dive into it forever. Looking forward to checking this out! Myth is definitely an important piece in all this, as a guide to our constant cycles of death-and-rebirth and as an indication of how we've always been connected to the cycles of the land (and so much more)
Yes and that article in particular is a great mythic-led guide in dealing with all the unknowns we’re facing with the climate crisis. If you get to it lmk what you think!
This was an intriguing piece. There's something in me that resists a part of this and I need to sit with that and see what comes up.
I would love to hear more about what it brought up for you. I can see how it could seem a bit doomer-y though that wasn't my intention.
I also love that you are taking time to sit with the discomfort instead of volleying a comment off immediately — the internet would be a better place if more people were like that!!
I am forever fascinated with abandoned towns, properties and such. I guess it’s that cycle of death and rebirth that draws me in. Wonderful article and I also love the images.
Me too, there’s so much bittersweet poetry there... Thanks so much for reading 💚
Absolutely beautiful, wordsmithery at it's best, sublime.
thank you so much, this means the world!
I can't describe your accuracy, it's just stunning, bless that heart of yours, amazing, kind regards and much respect
You are the universe and may it guide you without harm, no more, beautiful word's and totally from your soul, love yourself please, imagery and teeth of brass, standing tall in the dark, in the mind warped pavilion, you've flayed your mark ❤️
So much food for thought here. Thank you!
Thank you for the read and for the kind share!!
The agony and the ecstacy.....🌏🙏🌻
So agree. What a powerful reminder, and so wonderfully written. Thank you 💜
Thank you so much for reading — so glad you appreciated it!
As a deathworker, this essay landed in places within me that are still reverberating. Thank you for this. I have never restacked so many excerpts off one piece before.
Oh wow that means so much — both that you're coming from that powerful perspective, and all the restacks :') thank you so much for reading and for all the important work you do. I'm sure there's a lot of space for deathwork in relation with climate change and that space was definitely the mentality behind this piece as well!
My forearms are all weird and splotchy, and I have no idea why. After I get a little sun, they look like they were splashed in invisible ink. This essay, perfectly positioned, is their message made explicit. You have made legible something I’ve been feeling as a human animal consciously experiencing a body in conditions with variables too unprecedented to be perceived, much less controlled for. I am deeply appreciative to have encountered this now.
Wow, thank you for this. I think we all experience weird and bizarre-looking things with our bodies — I certainly do — and yet we spend so much time trying to hide them and feeling ashamed... glad this piece could spark a bit of connection and kinship with some of those very natural messengers that really signify our aliveness. Thanks for reading :)
This gave me a sense of hope and ease that I desperately need. As ecological destruction consumes a lot of my mental space every day. I really appreciate this reframe
That's all I hope to do with my writing. So very glad it resonated in that way. Thank you for reading and lots of love to you <3
Hi, I do kind of apologise but the words you wrote from that boiling pot, volcanic fume and polished off with substance and measure, is a fuckin beautiful statement of fact, I can see every nerve twitching, like butterfly 🦋 flexions on the face muscle, a delicate kiss and connection ,then away, believe what you say, kind regards Mr STAGGERLEE
superb !
Thank you!💜
Thank you for putting it so plainly and courageously.
Holding both the "dirty" and the "pristine" in recognition of the ultimate sacredness of both—and all that's in between—is something I've been thinking a lot about these past weeks. It’s a particular kind of discomfort to sit with them both at once and realise that neither defines anything, and both are a simple yet powerful testimony to how things just are—a part of nature, as you write.
I believe we are in a particular time or mindset as a collective, where most of us feel overburdened by the endless stream of terrifying news flowing our way from all directions, but at the same time, are tired of the narratives that try to prettify the parts of reality (and especially our very selves) that are obviously not-so-pretty.
In the poetry course I'm attending now, Nadia Colburn, the facilitator, poses a very important question: "How can we take in the difficulties, the suffering of the world, and still find and promote peace?" That is to say, how do we remain sweet, soft, and compassionate, as opposed to bitter, rigid, and divisive when there is so much fear and suffering around us? How do we hold it all together when it feels like everything, including ourselves, is about to fall apart? I believe your essay points us to the answer, or at least a part of it.
Thanks so much, for reading this and for acknowledging that central tension. I really believe that complicating binaries (between good/bad, self/other, human/nature) is so critical for the time of change we’re in. But it takes looking past our sense of purity and our belief that we know everything (or even anything at all for sure).
I’ve been asking that question and carrying that question a lot this year. I definitely don’t have the answer, but I think part of it is embracing that there are regenerative possibilities in the “fall” too, and all we can do is the best we can with what we have… easier said than done to find peace with it all, but I also think, as I said in this piece, that we can learn from nature and how it’s responding in such creative ways to the disasters we’ve inflicted upon it. We don’t have to figure it all out ourselves :)
Exactly, I very much agree with you. If we stopped being so human-centric, we could learn a lot.
“This kind of purity culture has animated so much of leftist politics, which fixates on policing language and all-or-nothing mentalities rather than embracing our shared humanity and creating a better world for everyone.”
Hard agree on this, of which I have unfortunately been guilty of in the past. The uncultivated mind - even if well-intentioned - yearns to discriminate. Between right and wrong, good and bad, left and right. We must learn to see the rose in the compost, the broth in death, and good in the bad. Going beyond concepts and notions brings freedom and joy.
*birth, not broth. Although death as a broth is an interesting concept!!
I really do feel that this has hurt the left so much. It’s hard because usually the intentions are good, but the movement has become so exclusionary almost no one feels comfortable in it… we really need to embrace the rot and entanglement and diversity of opinions that exist, and engage with difficulty and restorative justice rather than punitive politics (of course every case is different) in order to have a cohesive and strong movement. Clementine Morrigan’s writings have been helpful to me for thinking about this.
Also, I love the idea of death as broth — makes me think of Allen Ginsberg’s “animal soup of time” line from Howl — sometimes our subconscious errors generate accidental poetry I guess!
Beautifully poetic and I definitely 'get' the depth and breadth in your words. I have just now read and commented, but I will be sitting long with this as I love the way your spoke so much of what I feel.
It is important to share this perspective and definitely not 'doom and gloom' but authentic truth that more of us need to feel in our bones.
I also love that you are doing exactly what I do by tuning in and communing with land, places, beings. This is the main body of what my writing is and it is wonderful to read others doing the same. The weaving of our own spirit/psyche with the more than human world, as, like you say, we are not separate from any aspect of life. It would do much for more of us to know this.
Thank you so much! Yes, the work of living in deep connection with the land and more than human world is so critical, and I really do think the climate crisis is a spiritual crisis (that needs spiritual solutions — I have another similar essay on that which I might post soon actually). Thank you for reading, and for doing this work 💜
I get the impression that many cultures are in that process of death... leading to a rebirth which I feel incredibly optimistic about. I feel very positive about growing interests and developments I'm seeing in decentralisation, intentional communities, regenerative agriculture, tribal and native wisdom, sacred geometry and so much more. I get excited by it all. Everything is literally "up in the air" as we are in that nexus of the transition from a Piscean to Aquarian era. We're simply losing our baby teeth and having some teething issues. Reconnecting to nature when we have become so distant from it is going to be painful. You tap into that pain here in a wonderful way. Thank you for this piece.
Yes absolutely. This is exactly what I was trying to say. Death and rebirth are two sides of the same coin and reconnecting to nature means also reconnecting to the pain we've caused — which we have to do in order to heal. thanks for this beautiful reflection which totally captures what I was trying to say!! And yes I am excited about all of those developments you mentioned as well!