I was planning to write about transformation for Easter. I’ve been working on a series of essays exploring cosmologist Brian Swimme’s eleven powers of the universe, and what we can learn from these great cosmic energies. So far, I’ve done radiance, centration, and transmutation. Easter and this very welcome spring seemed like the perfect time to explore […]
An Easter of memory and anticipation Read More »
Half Earth is different. It is a goal. People understand and prefer goals.~ E. O. Wilson ~ On spring mornings thirty years ago I woke to a dawn chorus of birdsong so loud and rambunctious and beautiful that it filled me with joy every day. The birds had a lot to say as they flew
The geography of hope: saving half the Earth Read More »
The first time I heard about biomimicry, it was the kingfisher’s eyelid that grabbed me. The largest hydroelectric dam in the world had problems with changing water levels. Nothing could grow well on the surrounding soil, so erosion was rampant. The down-flowing dirt and dead, decaying plants were causing water pollution. Four young designers decided
Biomimicry: designing with nature’s 3.8 billion years of research Read More »
“All is flux,” the Greek philosopher Heraclitus said 2500 years ago. “Nothing stays still.” He offered us a perfect description of transmutation, one of the great powers that cosmologist Brian Swimme ascribes to the universe. Since the first flaring forth 13.7 billion years ago, not one iota of the universe has been still or remained
The patient genius of transmutation Read More »
Finding beauty in a broken world is creating beauty in the world we love. Terry Tempest Williams I treasure finding beauty everywhere I go. And having it find me. The chocolate lily above is my favorite picture of 2018. I love both the flower itself and the spray of gold light behind it. It also
Songlines 2018: beauty and action Read More »
There are legendary people and places in the drive to save seed diversity, and then there’s the legend. Nikolai Vavilov was a Russian plant geneticist who was active in the 1920s and 30s. Urbane and erudite, full of charm and curiosity, Vavilov made friends with everyone from local farmers to government officials. On a quest
The most public debate on the use of genetically modified seeds concerns their safety. Are they safe for the environment and safe for human consumption? These are crucial questions, arguably the most important. But there is a host of other important issues: democracy, public versus corporate control. Rights of communities and individuals. Control of the
The toxic gamble: genetically engineered seeds Read More »
These gorgeous seeds and their vast number of relations are the foundation of life. For the plants that grow from them and for the entire animal kingdom, which is completely dependent on them for food. Herbivores eat their plants and the seeds themselves. Carnivores eat animals that eat plants. We human animals have a special
The brilliance of seeds Read More »
From its earliest years, the cosmos has been turning in on itself in an ever-evolving process of centration. The early clustering of the original elements into stars. Swirling arms of galaxies gathering them together and creating more centers as new stars form. The dust of the universe collecting itself into planets around those stars, pulling
Centration: the universe and the doughnut Read More »
For the past two years, I’ve celebrated September 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, with a collection of quotes from Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si. It was he who launched the day in 2016, joining a tradition started by the Orthodox Church in 1989. This has grown into the
The season of creation Read More »