Enchantment As A Practical Response To Environmental Problems

[Nathair/|\]

The following is based on an assignment for my Intro to Public Speaking class. We were supposed to pick a controversial topic and attempt to persuade our classmates to our side.

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There is a probably apocryphal legend about John DeLorean,who built the car from Back to the Future. The story goes that he wanted to cut down a certain tree to build his factory. Locals warned him that that tree was belovedand protected by the fair folk and begged him not to cut it down. He didn’t listen and his factory burned down.

Make Prayer to the Raven, a 1997 documentary by Mike Badgershares how the Koyukon of Alaska hunt bear every winter. When they kill a bear, they treat the carcasswith a great deal of ceremony. Thehunters first tie the bear’s arms and paws to a tree. They prepare and eat the bear withmindfulness. Finally, theytreat the bones in the same way they treat their own dead. The Koyukon do not boast about their hunting success,because to do so would offend the bear spirit and the bears wouldn’t givethemselves to the hunters any more.

As these stories show, our ancestors lived in an enchanted world, but since the Industrial Revolution, humanity has lost much of it's connection to magic and to the natural world. Consequently, our world has faced significant environmental degradation in the subsequent centuries. For example, many species have been driven to extinction and many others are at risk. A few weeks ago, a pipeline leaked oil into the Yellowstone River. We are running out of many natural resources, either because of finite amounts of those resources as in the case of fossil fuels or because of unsustainable harvests in the case of many renewable resources.

I believe that a vital part of restoring the balance between humans and the rest of the world is returning to a magical point of view. I am going to talk about three ways this will guide environmental behaviors and benefit our environmental outcomes.

In 1968, Garrett Hardin published an essay titled Tragedy of the Commons in the journal Science. He argued that any time a common resource was shared by more than one user, rational behavior would soon lead to the destruction of said resource. Each person, acting rationally will try to get the most short term benefit out it before the others use it up.

However, magicians know that every natural resource has it's own "owner." Whether it be the genii loci of the mountains or the rivers or the totem spirits of the bear or the elk, somebody is responsible for it. They lend us what we need, but they expect us to act ethically and pass it on in good condition.

As well as countering the tragedy of the commons, magical perspectives can help maximize the productivity of a resource without damaging it. A good example of this is the Findhorn Ecovilliage in Scotland. An August 4, 2007 Herald Scotland article titled "Findhorn eco-footprint is world's smallest," the community uses half the resources and produces half the waste of a typical United Kingdom community.

At the same time, they have managed to turn some of the worst ground in Scotland into some of the most productive. A major contributor to their success was one of the founders ability to communicate with the spirits of the land.

Finally, magic can be used to heal damaged landscapes. As John Michael Greer teaches in his 2007 book, The Druid Magic Handbook, ritual can be used to create patterns in the life force that encourage healing. These patterns can be anchored to standing stones and trees planted in the place you want to treat. Finally, the magician must take action such as picking up trash or planting trees. This establishes the pattern in the physical realm and commits the magician to it's success.

For most of you, I will be thrilled if you just exercise alittle mindfulness. Remember thateverything you eat and most of what you wear and use every day came from aliving being—even the paper you are taking notes on right now. Take a moment once in a while to remember andbe grateful for their sacrifice.

A very few of you may have felt a spark. Those few have the potential in passion, loveand drivet to become magicians. Theworld needs you, especially now. If youare one of those, please do some research and explore the path of magic. It’s a hard path, but rewarding and one inwhich you can do much good.

Thank you and may the blessings of nature be with you.

Yours under the eco-magical oaks,

Nathair /|\

[DarkScythe]

how interesting.

[Nathair/|\]

how interesting.

Thank you.

[thesometimesaint]

Nathair:

While I agree that despoiling our environment is wrong headed and in the long term self defeating, if not destructive of ourselves. I'm not sure an appeal to magic, or superstition is really the way to go, especially in this our highly technological age. Maybe a greater reverence for the lives of our fellow creatures would be more realistically achievable.

[Nathair/|\]

Nathair:

While I agree that despoiling our environment is wrong headed and in the long term self defeating, if not destructive of ourselves. I'm not sure an appeal to magic, or superstition is really the way to go, especially in this our highly technological age. Maybe a greater reverence for the lives of our fellow creatures would be more realistically achievable.

I'm not suggesting an appeal to superstition. What I am appealing to is the subtle energy connecting all life. I am suggesting something that has worked quite well at least since the time my predecessors were painting on cave walls.

High tech is not much of a problem (though I prefer not to bring any into my circles.) Heavy industry does seem to create problems on the etheric level; mostly, I suspect, through the use of fossil fuels in great quantities. The biggest problem, however, is the attitude so common among moderns that dismisses as mere superstition things more subtle than can be detected by the five basic senses or fancy lab equipment. The attitude that allows us to dump industrial waste in our streams, that permitted the government to order the slaughter of the buffalo herds and left the carcasses to rot on the plains, that allows cosmetic companies to test on dogs and mice (for the record, I am in favor of testing life-saving medication on animals. I don't see how that's any worse than eating them.)