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Big Ideas: 29 authors look at the spirituality of being green

Sally Hill | 19.07.10

Last Wednesday, ‘GreenSpirit: Path to a New Consciousness’ was launched in London. It’s a new book which is receiving a great deal of attention in ‘green’ circles. The gathering was well attended by some of the UK’s finest environmental minds including guest speaker Jonathon Porritt.

Jonathon, who is the founder of Forum for the Future, drew inspiration from the book as he questioned whether we can we achieve growth and prosperity and still have room for the needs of the human spirit.

The book is an extraordinary read. The stringing together of ideas from fields as varied as ‘deep ecology,’ astronomy, spirituality, theology and mythology, ancient and indigenous culture and tradition, ‘ecopsychology,’ traditional religions and environmentalism give the reader a vast array of concepts to think about.

Author Christopher Johnstone called it ‘a valuable guide to some of the deepest thinking on the connections between ecology and spirituality. Never before have so many important ideas on these subjects been assembled between the covers of a single book.’

To explain briefly the ‘GreenSpirit’ concept, advocate Patrick Moore describes it as ‘combining environmentalism with both a deep appreciation of nature and an enthusiasm for the challenge. ‘Spirit’ as in spiritual and ‘spirit’ as in team spirit.’

The book's authors (there are more than twenty contributing writers) follows a trend in current environmental debate which questions the anthropocentrism of our culture, value-system and institutions. That is, the deeply embedded set of values that sees human beings as the centre of the world – with the universe revolving around us.

The stream of thought throughout the book describes a shift that needs to take place in perception. It compares this to the change which that occurred when humans discovered the sun didn’t revolve around the earth, but the earth revolved around the sun. The mainstream version of this idea is evident in the movements around campaigners Polly Higgins, and All Living Things.

Edited by Marian Van Eck McCain, the tone of the book is thoughtful - never instructional. McCain's writers lead the reader along a path, where each of us can draw our own conclusions.

Traditional religions are dealt with in an interesting manner. While the book draws attention to the idea that there is a part of Christianity that helped to separate humans from nature, it is never critical or dismissive of this or any religion. The philosophy embraces people both within and apart from religion, and sees Christianity as one of many cultures and traditions that gives a context and body of knowledge from which we can build a greater understanding of life, the planet, the universe, and our place in it.

GreenSpirit proposes solutions to our environmental predicament, which it calls ‘greening our culture’.It involves reforming education, law, and the anthropentrism of our institutions – essentially an overhaul of our value system, which it sees as necessary in the context of global environmental challenges.

There is a danger in any new framework being held up as the solution and as a new and right way to think and be. However, the thinkers who have contributed to the book have built into the philosophy the need to appreciate diversity of thought and perspective, which goes some way to reducing this danger. The concept never dismisses a point of view, only puts it into a new context.

The ‘GreenSpirit’ mindset may be worth exploring for those who are interested in a deep engagement with the natural world and the ‘why’ questions of being involved in sustainability. Whether or not this resonates with you, it’s an engaging read about some very big ideas. GreenSpirit challenges us to see, think and feel in a whole new way about the world around us.

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green, sustainability, jonathon porritt, review, spirituality, book, marian van eck mccain, launch