Ecocentric ABC’s
Let's toss our anthropocentric lexicon and reinvent the alphabet by placing nature at the center of our understanding, one letter at a time.
A is for Animism: the world is an alive and animate being capable of teaching and guiding our spirits. Each and every one of Earth’s creatures has an anima, a soul. Living life with this worldview encourages us to treat all beings with dignity and respect because they are alive, and sentient, have a soul and are sacred.
B is for Biophilia: Biophilia is an innate affinity for life or living systems. It is a desire or tendency to commune with nature. The term was first used by Erich Fromm to describe a psychological orientation of being attracted to all that is alive and vital. Biophilia might save the world.
C is for Climate Clock: We have 4 years, 129 days and 18 hours to limit global warming to 1.5 C. This Climate Clock deadline shows how long we have left until this carbon budget runs out, given the amount of carbon we continue to emit globally.
“The clock will continue to run down until it hits zero, at which time our carbon budget would be depleted and the likelihood of devastating global climate impacts would be very high. We must take action to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions toward zero as quickly as possible within this critical time window for action.” (Climate clock world)
D is for Dharma: Dharma derives from the Sanskrit root word meaning 'to uphold or sustain'. It can also be translated to religion, virtue, duty, and morality. (HinduDharma)
For deep ecologist and buddhist scholar, Joanna Macy, dharma is our spiritual duty and a call to action. It is responding with urgency to environmental and social crises. It’s a call to live ethically, act compassionately, and be in harmony with the Earth. Practicing dharma, in this sense, means it is our moral duty to act in efforts to heal and protect the planet.
E is for Ecopsychology: which examines the human-nature relationship and works to heal the perceived rift between them. It examines how our emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being are intertwined with the health of the Earth and how ecological degradation affects human psyche and behavior.
"Ecopsychologists recognize that our disconnection from the natural world has resulted in both the ecological crisis and our collective human suffering”. -Jeanine Canty
F is for Friluftsliv: a Norwegian word coined by the playwright Henrik Ibsen that translates to “open-air living” it’s a concept of committing to celebrating time outdoors, no matter the weather forecast it may also refer to finding freedom in an open-air life. (Atmos)
G is for The Great Turning: a term coined by Joanna Macy, which marks this shift we are experiencing, going from the Industrial Growth Society to a life-sustaining civilization.
The Great Turning has three dimensions:
Holding Actions: including protests, activism, and policy changes that aim to reduce harm and prevent further ecological damage.
Shifting Consciousness: This dimension is about developing a deeper awareness of the interconnection of all life, recognizing our responsibility to care for the Earth and all its inhabitants. The shift involves a move away from a worldview based on domination, separation, and consumerism, towards one of interconnectedness, compassion, and sustainability.
Structural changes: creating new economic, social, and political structures that are aligned with the values of sustainability, justice, and mutual care. This includes redesigning systems of governance, economics, and education to support a more equitable and sustainable world. Structural changes might involve new technologies, economic models (such as a circular economy), and policies that prioritize the well-being of people and the planet.
Together, these three dimensions represent the holistic transformation required to address the crises we face and transition to a more just and sustainable future. What’s your role in the Great Turning?
H is for Human Animal: to be a human animal is to know our place with sincerity within our wider web of relations. Our approach when it comes to relating with all of life and the beings on earth needs to be with less ego, and a more egalitarian approach. Let’s let go of the idea that humans are superior and that animals and the rest of life’s manifestations are inferior and that nature is simply a commodity or a resource for humans to use and abuse. This anthropocentric ideology that views humans as the superior species on the planet has its roots in patriarchy, colonization and white supremacy and needs to be composted pronto!
I is for Inter-being. Inter-being is inter-breathing, “You know, the oxygen we need to breathe is precisely what all the green plants around us are breathing out. So what the plants breathe out, all of us are breathing in. And then what we breathe out is just what all those plants need to breathe in.” - David Abram
J is for Justice: Our people on Earth are suffering through war, racism, poverty, and climate disasters while a rich percentage like Trump, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are getting richer and richer in complete disregard for how their egocentric values of putting profits over people and our planet puts us all in peril. Species are going extinct, and our climate is tipping. We need social, and ecological Justice NOW!!!
K is for Kin or Ki: “Let’s ditch “it” and let use “Ki” to signify a being of the living Earth. So that when we speak of Sugar Maple, we say, “Oh that beautiful tree, ki is giving us sap again this spring.” A plural pronoun, for Earth beings is “kin.” So we can now refer to birds and trees not as things, but as our earthly relatives. On a crisp October morning we can look up at the geese and say, “Look, kin are flying south for the winter. Come back soon.
Language can be a tool for cultural transformation. Make no mistake: “Ki” and “kin” are revolutionary pronouns. Words have power to shape our thoughts and our actions. On behalf of the living world, let us learn the grammar of animacy. We can keep “it” to speak of bulldozers and paperclips, but every time we say “ki,” let our words reaffirm our respect and kinship with the more-than-human world. Let us speak of the beings of Earth as the “kin” they are.” - Robin Wall Kimmerer (Nature Needs a New Pronoun.)
L is for in Lak’Ech: In Lak’Ech is a Mayan term that means “you are my other me” or tu eres mi otro yo. This Mayan greeting is an honoring for each other and a statement of unity. (DignidadRebelde)
M is for the More-than-Human World: This phrase comes from deep ecologist David Abram, in his book Spell of the Sensuous, it often refers to a perspective or worldview that transcends the traditional human-centered understanding of existence. It suggests a reality where humans are not the only important or dominant beings, and it may include considerations of non-human entities, nature, animals, or even the environment.
N is for Nature and Native Wisdom: Native or indigenous people are our leaders, teachers and guides on how to live in harmony with the natural world. Indigenous peoples represent just 5% of the global population and yet protect over 80% of our remaining biodiversity. They offer nature-based solutions to climate change but are increasingly losing their natural resources, cultures and lands. (World Economic Forum)
“In many indigenous cultures there was no word for Nature, because indigenous people did not experience outer nature as some ‘thing’ separate and distinct from themselves; instead they lived immersed within it” - Mark Coleman
O is for Oppression: “The Climate crisis is linked to every system of oppression. Therefore, our solutions must be systemic and holistic. Our liberation is interconnected. our freedom is intertwined. it’s time to resign all systems of oppression into systems of care. Be part of the revolution for collective liberation.” (SlowFactory)
P is for People and Planet over Profit.
Q is for Qi: A Chinese term that signifies a vital life force that flows through all living beings. Qi offers a way to reconstruct our ecological imagination for this era of planetary crisis. It is universal - it describes an indiscriminate force that sustains all fauna and flora on earth as well as human communities. ~Yifei Li (Atmos, 2021)
R is for Rematriation: “To Restore a people to their rightful place in sacred relationship with their ancestral lands” (SogoreateLandTrust). In many places around California and across Turtle Island, lands are being returned back to their original peoples. This act of restorative justice and helps native folks come back into sacred relationship with their ancestral territory and be able to continue their practices, environmental stewardship; protect land, air, earth and waters, and native species as well as secure a future for the coming generations.
S is for our Senses: our five senses are an essential tool and bridge to connect us to the natural world, access harmony and practice mindfulness. The traditional Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku or forest-bathing encourages participants to connect with their five senses to reap the healing benefits of being in the forest.
The five senses are: smell, taste, sound, touch, sight. Some say there is a sixth sense: clairvoyance.
T is for Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist Monk and peace activist, who has shared beautiful earth-based wisdom that has shifted our consciousness in this Great Turning, his teachings portray our intricate connection with nature:
“You carry Mother Earth within you. She is not outside of you. Mother Earth is not just your environment, it is that insight of inter-being, it is possible to have real communication with the Earth, which is the highest form of prayer.”
U is for Ursula K. Le Guin: who wisely once said,
V is for Vermiculture: the cultivation of worms for composting or soil enrichment. Although small creatures, worms are essential and noble workers that are in the threshold between decay and regeneration; helping our food waste become rich soil.
W is for Wakan: The Lakota believe that “All life is wakan (sacred). So is everything which exhibits power, whether in action, as the winds and drifting clouds, or in passive endurance, as the boulder by the wayside. For even the commonest sticks and stones have a spiritual essence which must be reverenced as a manifestation of the all-pervading mysterious power that fills the universe.” (Halifax, 1992, p. 147)
X is for Xerophyte: a plant which needs very little water like cacti. Cacti asks us,
“how can we embody ki’s qualities of adaptation, resilience, hope and strength in these arduous times?”
Y is for Yin: Yin, coming from Chinese Philosophy is associated with receptivity, fertility, the feminine and the ability to regenerate. In nature, regeneration is crucial for ecological health, as it allows ecosystems to recover from disruptions (such as natural disasters or human impact).
This year in the Chinese astrology, is the year of the yin wooden snake. Yin energy is associated with introspection, and sensitivity, which might encourage a year of personal reflection and growth in harmony with nature, as well as increased awareness of the need for balance in our lives and the environment.
Z is for Zenith: the time at which something is most powerful or successful.
We've reached the zenith of awareness about the climate crisis; now is the time to act, with hope and determination, to restore balance to our planet and hearts by being in reciprocity with nature.
Forest Bathing Therapy
Join our Spoon Carving Workshops and Forest-Bathing practice in the redwoods this season! The practice of Forest bathing or Shinrin Yoku is known to decrease stress, anxiety, depression, and improve circulation, sleep, mood, and focus.
Carving with your hands or whittling, is a meditation in motion that inspires creativity, concentration, slowness, enhances cognitive function and is a fruitful opportunity to take a break from technology and give your hands something different to do, with like-minded community, somewhere wilder.
These workshops take place once a month, usually on a Sunday, for 9 months, starting: April 26 until December 7.
Sign up or share with your friends living in the San Francisco, Bay Area by clicking here.
Hope to walk & whittle with you in the woods!
soft moss blessings,
Reet Rannik
Articles, Authors, & Sources to deepen your Ecocentric lexicon:
Macy, Joanna. A Wild Love for the World: Joanna Macy and the Work of Our Time
Ecoliteracy & The Great Turning: https://www.ecoliteracy.org/article/great-turning
Halifax, Joan. Gaia’s Hidden Life: The Unseen Intelligence of Nature, 1992.
Thick Nhat Hanh: https://plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh
Nature Needs A New Pronoun: https://www.yesmagazine.org/issue/together-earth/2015/03/30/alternative-grammar-a-new-language-of-kinship
Plotkin, Bill. Nature and the Human Soul: Cultivating Wholeness and Community in a Fragmented World
Abram, David, Spell of The Sensuous, 1996.