f i v e
g r o w i n g u p
debra goldman, 2021
"Rather than becoming something other-than-human or
superhuman, we are summoned to become fully human. We must
mature into people who are, first and foremost, citizens
of Earth and residents of the universe, and our identity
and core values must be recast accordingly."
Bill Plotkin, Nature and the Human Soul, 2009
I asked:
How will we grow up?
The Great Mother said:
Let Osiris and the
corn god grow old
and toothless,
die peacefully
in their beds of
natural causes.
Let the roots of the living
grow so deep that
they tickle the souls
of the dead.
Sit at the feet
of elders
and alders.
Acacia,
who watched you embark
down this path
many moons ago,
go ask her,
"What was I like
back then?"
She will remind
you of your
belonging.
Let fields go fallow,
plow up the pavement,
and take off your shoes.
See how the mycelia
reach to weave
you back into
this living tapestry?
Give them
time. Their golden
thread cannot
mend this run
in the fabric if you
charge blindly
ahead. If you must
move, retrace your steps.
How will we grow up?: "The Eco-Soulcentric Developmental Wheel is a model of what the stages of human life look like when we mature in full resonance with both nature (“eco”) and soul — when we are in a continuous process of becoming fully human throughout the lifespan...
Egocentrism — living as if the ego is the core of our psyche and that it should or can decide what’s most important in life — is a disorder due in part to the loss of effective rites of passage but more generally due to the loss of healthy cultures and the resulting erosion or disappearance of the practices and perspectives that support optimal human development.
Optimal human development — every child, woman, and man progressing through the eco-soulcentric stages of life — is the foundation for cultural transformations that are profound, generative, and life enhancing."
(Bill Plotkin, 2015, A Short Introduction to the Eco-Soulcentric Developmental Wheel: Stages of Life, Rites of Passage, and Cultural Transformation)
Osiris and the corn god: The Egyptian god Osiris is an example of the "vegetation deities" that arose after the advent of agriculture. The ritual death and dismemberment of vegetation deities at their physical prime was necessary to ensure the coming year's crop. In significant ways, Christianity is heir to the archetypal ideas and practices established by earlier vegetation deities.
the roots of the living: The root systems of perennial plants typically reach much deeper than that of annual plants. Nowhere is this more dramatically illustrated than in this photograph displaying the root system of an annual compared to a perennial cereal grain bred by the Land Institute in Salina, Kansas. A plant's "feeding roots", the fine root hairs that imbibe water and nutrients, are generally located at a root system's furthest depths. This biologically active zone is referred to as the rhizosphere. The deeper the root system, the deeper life's tendrils penetrate into the earth.
Sit at the feet of elders and alders: Much as we ideally learn about the stages of physical and psychological development from wise elders, the other-than-human life that surrounds us informs our understanding of how to inhabit the various stages of our lives. In allying with annual plants, human beings have largely lost intimate contact with perennial ecosystems and have suffered a commensurate loss in biological elders, most notably trees.
Acacia: One of tree species that likely would have populated the African savannahs in which our hominid ancestors began their evolutionary journey away from their native forested environment.
The unbearable weight of the past, what is it made of?: If we think of the past in essentially organic terms, then it continues to decompose, transform, and in a literal and metaphorical sense participate in the continuance of life.
Let fields go fallow: Letting agricultural fields "rest" or go fallow used to be common practice. This afforded the biological life of the soil time to recover, thus enhancing both the "structure" of the soil (the quality of soil aggregates and the relative amount of space available for air and water) as well as its overall fertility. As economic pressure has mounted on industrial farmers, the practice of letting fields go fallow has dramatically decreased, further contributing to farmers' reliance on chemical fertilizers.
See how the mycelia reach...: The mycelial networks of fungi provide ecological functions we are only beginning to understand. Mycorrhyzal fungi develop a symbiotic relationship with plants by connecting with their root systems, establishing a network of chemical communication and trade in minerals and sugars.