(Image : The Earth Sanctuary, 2002)

The Lady Dragon (Shakti) :

...So, what is ecopyschology ?

Definition, courtesy of Wikipedia - Ecopsychology is a project which intends to interconnect psychology and ecology to a new scientific paradigm. The political and practical implications are to show us ways of healing our alienation and to build a sane society and a sustainable culture. The founder and most important exponent of ecopsychology is Theodore Roszak.

Another definition, the whole works : http://www.goshen.edu/bio/Biol410/BSSPapers98/nussbaum.html#anchor66197

(Wow, does the link actually work ?)

Now, my ramblings about ecopsychology ...

I have always told people, "It´s not the knowledge, it´s the FEELING!"

If you have the knowledge, that is perfectly fine, but if you have it only in the head, and there is no heart stuff about trees and rocks and moss and wind and sun and stars, then the knowledge just sits there in your head, dry-eyed and square; it doesn´t even help you to understand your environment better.

Someone made a comment in a previous blog : "I sat under the figtree, and I cried."

That is exactly what I mean.

Not because I am being sentimental about Mother Nature, but because if you don´t get involved, the whole of you, body included, in the feelings of awe and reverence that are evoked for example by monumental trees, then you don´t get the point.

For me, ecopsychology, deep ecology, ecofeminism, are all about the WOW!

Sensation, the bubbles in the stomach, the butterflies, the need to shed a tear or two. The blood that rushes. We have been so cut off from our own nature that it will be necessary to cry a lot before the body can relax in its own light, in its own right, and then, maybe it will be time to think about strategies and solar panels.

I like to repeat this. It´s not "Mother Nature" that we have rejected as an evolving species, it´s ourselves! The very web we are made of!...

And if you want to heal, don´t think for a moment that you will escape the pain of re-membering all the ways we have been litterally maimed, mutilated, cut off from our original belonging to the Web of Life.

Studying Ecopsychology is a good start, but also do try to get your feet out of your shoes, and start walking on the good earth.

Theodore Roszak, courtesy of Brother Google :

http://www.context.org/ICLIB/IC34/Roszak.htm

"Grok" this last article, and you will grok what the Earth Sanctuary is all about!

A poem and another definition (taken from the first link provided herewith):

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes no.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting-
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.
"Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver.

"Mary Oliver's poem has a lot to say about the relatively new approach to conservation called ecopsychology. Ecopsychology combines the human element from psychology, with the study of how biological systems work together from ecology. A more in depth explanation of ecopsychology is that it seeks to help humans experience themselves as an integral part of nature. When this is accomplished, humans can proceed to commit to "helping heal the earth, as well as healing ourselves". In the past, environmental action has consisted of scaring and shaming those who over consume or do not recycle, which proved to be quite ineffective. Ecopsychology, in contrast, attempts to create positive and affirming motivations, derived from a bond of love and loyalty to nature. "

Helping people to re-discover this bond is what our work is about, in an environment that is especially dedicated to this process.

Hug you, people!

:-)