The overlap between Earth-based spiritualities and permaculture
doesn't surprise me. Though like others on the list I hope that we
can all take care not to let Permaculture and its gatherings be
exclusive.
I think if you start from an interest in permaculture, and you are
seeking spirituality in some form (i.e. not just blindly following
whatever path you were brought up in) then as you are looking at
nature closely, and looking for ways to work with it, rather than
against it, then I think there is often going to be an inclination
to look for a spirituality that is also honoring nature, and works
with it, rather than treating the land as something we have dominion
over.
I think the reverse is also true, if you are already interested in an
Earth-based/Pagan or Native American spirituality then there will be
a tendency to look favorably on Permaculture as the dominant
monoculture agriculture hardly honors the spirit of the land.
My own spirituality is meditation based, rather than earth based, so
why are many people who share my spirituality, interested in
permaculture. I think the issue is about open-mindedness, the "New
Age" is anything but a mono-culture, there are wide ranges of belief
systems, and generally people are pretty open to each other's beliefs.
On the other hand - many (though luckily not all) people from
monotheist religions, especially in countries where they are dominant
(e.g. Christianity in the west, Islam in N.Africa or Middle East,
though in my experience less so Hinduism or Buddhism) are often
closed minded about other people's beliefs.
Although some permaculturists can get pretty dogmatic, permaculture
is not really the dominant agricultural system anywhere, you have to
be thinking "out of the box" to be attracted to it, I think therefore
it also attracts open-minded rather than closed-minded people.
So I think that explains the attraction, at least in my mind, but it
need not be an exclusivity , except sometimes in the mind of the
person feeling excluded ..
What I means is that in my experience of permaculture gatherings (in
the west) people of any spirituality who are open-minded are
welcome, but someone who turns up expecting to convert anyone to
their own belief system, or who is uncomfortable with expressions of
spirituality other than their own is likely to find themselves
feeling unwelcome, however welcoming their hosts are.
Obviously someone trying to teach or communicate permaculture to a
particular community in a particular culture is going to have to be
sensitive to the spirituality of that community. But I don't find it
strange that gatherings of permaculturists in the west would have a
predominance of people who are also open-minded about their
spirituality.
- Mitra
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Mitra Ardron: Natural Innovation & Zelfo Australia
home/office +61-2-6684-8096 mobile +61-414-648-722 mitra@mitra.biz
www.naturalinnovation.org and Blog: www.mitra.biz/blog
www.zelfoaustralia.com
skype: mitra_earth
Life is a Mystery to be Lived, not a Problem to be Solved