To feel enchanted is to step through a hidden portal into another way of seeing, into a new reality, where the reasonable, the certain, the measurable, and the predictable give way to the awesome, the wonderful, the delightful, the paradoxical, and the uncertain – and perhaps even the longing of the soul for some other kind of life beyond the exigencies of the everyday.
~ Angela Voss and Simon Wilson
Rainforest Sunset – photo by Mihailo K, bigstockphoto.com
Daily Inspiration
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Simple kindness is a powerful spiritual force.
~ David Spangler
Sunrise, Waterfall Njupeskar, Fulufjallet Nature Reserve, Sweden – photo by Bluejava, bigstockphoto.com
It is quite possible – even probable – that the Earth is really a living organism, and that it in turn is a part of an even larger organism, that whole constellations are alive, transmitting and receiving energy to and from other celestial energy sources.
~ John Keel
Milky Way Over Himalayan Mountains, Nepal – photo by denbelitsky, bigstockphoto.com
It is good to know that this industrial paradigm – economy over ecology – is only a couple of 100 years old. Our indigenous brothers and sisters have lived in harmony with nature for thousands and thousands of years. They knew – and know – that nature is not an economic means. Nature is not a resource for the economy. Nature is a source of life. Our planet is a sacred source of life; a living organism that is the common home for us and all the other living species. Economy is a subset of ecology.
~ Satish Kumar
Wanaka Tree, New Zealand – photo by pranodhm, bigstockphoto.com
What is greater than us is the earth itself—life—and we are folded into it, a small part of it, and we have work to do. We need a new animism, a new pantheism, a new way of telling the oldest of stories. We could do worse than to return to the notion of the planet as the mother that birthed us. Those old stories have plenty to say about the fate of people who don’t respect their mothers.
~ Paul Kingsnorth
Mac Mac Waterfall, South Africa – photo by intsys, bigstockphoto.com
One of the most important contributions of the ecological movement is that it has made us conscious of the interdependence of all forms of life, the delicate web of creation…Nor do we realize the degree to which our intention, our attitude, our individual participation can affect the life of the whole and the way the future will unfold.
~Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee
Forest Ferns, Norway – photo by Mr. Smith, bigstockphoto.com
There’s only one being shining out of all of our eyes. We spend all day finding reasons to hate people or feel better than other people, but it’s not true. There’s only one being.
~ Krishna Das
Canna Indica Flower – photo by Kvvinto, bigstockphoto.com
A typical feature of shamans is their familiarity with states of consciousness that allow visions and explorations of other dimensions. Their primary function is to navigate from one reality to another in order to operate as bridges and create healing connections. There are many dimensions and worlds, which in our separate reality are totally unknown.
~ The Mind Unleashed
Upper Antelope Canyon, AZ – photo by vichie81, bigstockphoto.com
With a cosmology of a living universe, a shining miracle exists everywhere. There are no empty places in the world. Everywhere there is life, both visible and invisible. All of reality is infused with a vital presence and this creates a profound relatedness among all things.
~ Duane Elgin
Rock Arch, Ayia Napa Cavo Greco, Cyprus Island – photo by Oleg_P_Photo, bigstockphoto.com
May the energy emanating
from every step I take
re-sanctify the Earth.
May the energy emanating
from every breath I take
re-sanctify the Earth.
May the energy emanating
from every action I take
re-sanctify the Earth.
May the energy emanating
from every thought, action,
word and deed of all humanity
re-sanctify the Earth.
And so, by this exchange
of blessings may grow,
in symbiosis,
the consciousness of Oneness.
~ Ann Palmer
Sunset, Yosemite National Park, CA – photo by topseller, bigstockphoto.com
It’s almost impossible to be ‘healthy’ if you define it as a relationship with yourself without acknowledging that you’re part of a larger ‘culture’ including both the human and nonhuman.
~ Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee
Hummingbird, Cuba – photo by konephoto, bigstockphoto.com
Reality is woven from strange, “holistic” threads that aren’t located precisely in space or time. Tug on a dangling loose end from this fabric of reality, and the whole cloth twitches, instantly, throughout all space and time…The bottom line is that physical reality is connected in ways we’re just beginning to understand…When you drill down into the core of even the most solid-looking material, separateness dissolves.
~ Dean Radin
Veil Nebula, Hubble Telescope – photo from NASA
I will simply call it “participatory consciousness,” or a heightened, world-reshaping awareness of participation with the visible and invisible; embodied and numinous; past, present and future beings, relationships and energies among whom we dwell. This mode contrasts with the Cartesian bifurcation – or mind/matter and subject/object separation – into which most Western people are indoctrinated. It is a more porous consciousness, a felt-sense of interpenetration and reciprocity; a psychic and somatic openness to the Others and to the mysterious terrain of imagination and dream; openness to what Joanna Macy calls “deep time” – or an awareness of connection with both ancient and future beings and events.
~ Geneen Marie Haugen
Expanded Perspectives – photo by Lijphoto, bigstockphoto.com
We live in a world where everything is connected. We can no longer think in terms of us and them when it comes to the consequences of the way we live. Today it’s all about WE.
~ Gregg Braden
Lotus – photo by Ange DiBenedetto
What if we expanded our sense of community to truly include all living beings? Included their perspectives, needs, and gifts? What would be the state of our environment then?
~ Susan Eirich
Grizzly Bear and Cub Salmon Hunting, Alaska – photo by devon, bigstockphoto.com