Last year I started reading The Lost Language of Plants by Stephen Harrod Buhner right around this time of year. I enjoyed it so much that I had to save the rest of it for later, which ended up getting put of for a full year. So, now that I have finally finished it I am eager to start it all over again. This book allows our interaction with plants to become richer and deeper. The end of the book included essays by Carol McGrath, Sparrow, Rosemary Gladstar and John Seed.

I found this particular description in John Seed’s essay about The Bradley Method to be a beautiful and very helpful way to also develop your own inner flora while helping the Earth heal.

From I Call on the Spirit of Herbs by John Seed.

In Australia, two sisters by name of Bradley came up with an exciting technique by which we may slowly invite back the original biotic community from denuded and scarred landscapes.

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A Language Older Than Words by Derrick Jensen (2000) Chelsea Green Publishing

This was a GREAT book (size-wise and content-wise), but every word was worth it. It is written from the heart and shows a different way to look at our world. A book from someone who has looked deep into his own soul and in doing so, into the dark soul of our civilization.

It brings back to the forefront of consciousness the ancient perspective of community and communication with our surroundings. It gently forces us to question our unconscious assumptions.

It is definitely worth reading especially if you are questioning what you are doing in your life and would like to speed your transition. His writing is deep and thoughtful. It is best to read it for yourself.

A Few Favorite Passages to Get You Started Tools of Silence

Is there a connection between the silencing of women, to use one example, and the silencing of the natural world?

Religion, science, philosophy, politics, education, psychology, medicine, literature, linguistics and art have all been pressed into service as tools to rationalize the silencing and degradation of women, children, other races, other cultures, the natural world and its members, our emotions, our consciences, our experiences, and our cultural and personal histories. -p3

I no longer see Descartes’ statement (I think therefore I am) as arbitrary. It is representative of our culture’s narcissism. This narcissism leads to a disturbing disrespect for direct experience and a negation of the body. -p8

Sex and Violence

I would say that the predator-prey relationship is even more fundamental, and in a sense even more intimate, than a sexual relationship. But by deafening ourselves to the emotional consequences of violence we have become confused by its relationship to sex. We have come to believe that violence equals aggression, and we have come to base our model of sexuality on our model of violence. -p35

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