http://imaginal.com.au Remembering the Dream of the Earth Sat, 20 Dec 2008 23:38:31 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Freya Mathews has written that every aspect of a culture takes on the colour of its basic attitude to reality. So what is "our basic attitude to reality"? And is it time we brought our attitudes fully into our awareness so we can consider whether they remain appropriate to the current ... http://imaginal.com.au/2008/12/19/why-our-basic-attitude-to-reality-needs-to-change/ I recently spent a whole day, from sunrise to sunset, alone in a cave in a very secluded location in the Blue Mountains, NSW to try to re-connect to self and nature, and to the deeper mysteries at the heart of existence. For most of our human existence, we have had ... http://imaginal.com.au/2008/11/24/longing-to-discover-my-wild-authentic-self/ Our world is becoming more and more urban. Over 50% of the world now lives in cities, and the trend will continue. In Australia the proportion of urban dwellers is an extraordinary 90%. In China they are building massive new cities of huge size, seemingly overnight. The human migration to ... http://imaginal.com.au/2008/10/22/how-can-urbanites-have-a-relationship-to-the-earth/ Last week I had the wonderful experience of visiting an eco-camp in Far North Queensland, and seeing marine turtles labouring up the beach to lay their eggs. I also saw many hatchlings making their journey out of the sand in the dunes, and, as they have done for time immemorial, ... http://imaginal.com.au/2008/09/24/encountering-wildlife-with-openess-and-respect/ Here in Australia we are about to experience the Spring Equinox (23rd September 2008) when the Sun travels exactly over the Equator, and rises exactly due east and sets exactly due west. For many people this event will go unnoticed. Even those who are aware of the Equinox, will not see ... http://imaginal.com.au/2008/09/19/getting-in-tune-with-the-seasons/ I have just been listening to a wonderful exchange of views between Bill Plotkin and David Abram. It's quite long at over 80 minutes, but well worth taking the time to have a listen. The topic of the discussion is how to generate a profound shift in our culture, in our ... http://imaginal.com.au/2008/08/28/the-great-shift/ So much so-called spiritual writing is about transcendence. But what are the writers trying to get us to transcend? Listen to this piece from well known "new-age" writer, Eckhart Tolle from his book New Earth: “Space consciousness represents not only freedom from ego, but also from dependency on the things ... http://imaginal.com.au/2008/08/01/transcendence/ Rebecca Solnit has written that the compassion emphasizes emotional generosity and the ability to respond to others. Imagination identifies what it takes to be able to extend yourself that way in the first place, to let another person (I would add another species) in. Cleary we need a world with more ... http://imaginal.com.au/2008/06/24/a-radical-imagination/ Environmentalism has become very shallow in these "end-of-the-world" days when the garments of nature and culture are unravelling, and wearing thin. (In earlier times, these garments used to support us on our journey into, through, and out of life.) These days we are bombarded with behavioural requests: turn off your lights, ... http://imaginal.com.au/2008/05/21/a-more-imaginative-environmentalism/ A key distinguishing feature of our Western culture is the idea that humans are radically separate from nature and other animals. Generally, our ability to communicate verbally and our ability to reason are the main reasons given to support this argument. Researchers working on animal communication (National Geographic) could be seen ... http://imaginal.com.au/2008/04/30/animals/