permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <london@metalab.unc.edu>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 20 Mar 2000 11:51:03 -0700
From: Scott Pittman <pci@permaculture-inst.org>
Reply-To: permaculture <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
To: permaculture <permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: Zone 6

I guess it is the nature of the beast, permaculture, that there will be a 
wide diversity of people and
ideas that want to attach to or amend the basic permaculture curriculum.  I 
am very much against that
and believe that the success of permaculture around the world has been 
because it has remained a
knowledge and data based design system.  If you look at recent successes in 
enrolling governmental
projects into permaculture like Permaculture Research Institute working with 
the UN refugee program in
Bosnia and with the US Army at the Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant designing 
a conversion of that
facility into an ecological industrial park, or with the United Nations 
Development Program in Brazil
which supported 18 permaculture courses last year then it is easy to 
understand that moving into zone 00
or  zone 6 would be met with glazed eyes and discomfort.

Permaculture has always left the metaphysical and psychological to other 
disciplines or teachers.  I
think it has been with good reason since we are trying to convince people and 
institutions across the
board that we offer a system of design that will restore and revitalize 
destroyed ecosystems as well as
provide food and comfort to an ever expanding population of the 
underprivileged.  In these areas I have
no doubt that permaculture has a very positive and lasting impact and that we 
can walk our talk.  Once
we slide into radionics, crystal land healing, daevas, cloud busters, etc I 
fear we will lose most of
our audience.  Working in cultures that have a very strong cultural tradition 
of magic and witchcraft
like many African cultures you may be treading where you would rather not go.

Like others who have written on this subject I have nothing against people 
following whatever
metaphysical path they find comforts them and works for them, I find that 
Animism is the path that I
resonate with, but I would hope that people will keep their spiritual and 
political beliefs out of
permaculture.  This can be done, as Marsha Hanzi points out, by using a 
different title or name for your
teaching so that their is clear differentiation between ones personal belief 
system and permaculture.
Just as some people have come to understand permaculture as a gardening 
system, which is a severe
diminishment of permaculture, others may see it as a meditation system, or 
religious path which would
severely restrict our audience and thereby the good that we might accomplish.

This conversation is at least fifteen years old and still evokes a lot of 
emotion whenever it comes up
but for me this is because there is a basic misunderstanding that could 
easily be solved.  Permaculture,
for me, is clearly laid out and defined in Permaculture A Designer's Manual 
anything outside of the
general themes described in Bill's book needs to be carefully looked out 
before being added to the
Permaculture Curriculum.  I know for a fact that Bill never intended to 
incorporate psychology,
politics, or metaphysics into permaculture.  What is the problem with dealing 
with those items separate
from permaculture?  If people who attend my classes want to talk about Feng 
Shui, or Geomancy I tell
them I will meet them after class and we can talk about it then but that 
neither of the topics is part
of the Permaculture Design Process.  This approach has never seemed to cause 
any problems with my
students.

It seems that many who would like to expand permaculture to include the 
belief systems of the world take
it very personally when they are met with resistance from more conservative 
and traditional permaculture
teachers like me.  It is never a personal matter with me but a matter of 
keeping clear boundaries
between what can be clearly demonstrated and replicated and those things that 
are a matter of faith or
belief.

Scott