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foundation for gaian studies: Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm Stephen Harrod Buhner, 2014-05-14 A manual for opening the doors of perception and directly engaging the intelligence of the Natural World • Provides exercises to directly perceive and interact with the complex, living, self-organizing being that is Gaia • Reveals that every life form on Earth is highly intelligent and communicative • Examines the ecological function of invasive plants, bacterial resistance to antibiotics, psychotropic plants and fungi, and the human species In Plant Intelligence and the Imaginal Realm, Stephen Harrod Buhner reveals that all life forms on Earth possess intelligence, language, a sense of I and not I, and the capacity to dream. He shows that by consciously opening the doors of perception, we can reconnect with the living intelligences in Nature as kindred beings, become again wild scientists, nondomesticated explorers of a Gaian world just as Goethe, Barbara McClintock, James Lovelock, and others have done. For as Einstein commented, “We cannot solve the problems facing us by using the same kind of thinking that created them.” Buhner explains how to use analogical thinking and imaginal perception to directly experience the inherent meanings that flow through the world, that are expressed from each living form that surrounds us, and to directly initiate communication in return. He delves deeply into the ecological function of invasive plants, bacterial resistance to antibiotics, psychotropic plants and fungi, and, most importantly, the human species itself. He shows that human beings are not a plague on the planet, they have a specific ecological function as important to Gaia as that of plants and bacteria. Buhner shows that the capacity for depth connection and meaning-filled communication with the living world is inherent in every human being. It is as natural as breathing, as the beating of our own hearts, as our own desire for intimacy and love. We can change how we think and in so doing begin to address the difficulties of our times. |
foundation for gaian studies: The Lost Language of Plants Stephen Harrod Buhner, 2002 This could be the most important book you will read this year. Around the office at Chelsea Green it is referred to as the pharmaceutical Silent Spring. Well-known author, teacher, lecturer, and herbalist Stephen Harrod Buhner has produced a book that is certain to generate controversy. It consists of three parts: A critique of technological medicine, and especially the dangers to the environment posed by pharmaceuticals and other synthetic substances that people use in connection with health care and personal body care. A new look at Gaia Theory, including an explanation that plants are the original chemistries of Gaia and those phytochemistries are the fundamental communications network for the Earth's ecosystems. Extensive documentation of how plants communicate their healing qualities to humans and other animals. Western culture has obliterated most people's capacity to perceive these messages, but this book also contains valuable information on how we can restore our faculties of perception. The book will affect readers on rational and emotional planes. It is grounded in both a New Age spiritual sensibility and hard science. While some of the author's claims may strike traditional thinkers as outlandish, Buhner presents his arguments with such authority and documentation that the scientific underpinnings, however unconventional, are completely credible. The overall impact is a powerful, eye-opening expos' of the threat that our allopathic Western medical system, in combination with our unquestioning faith in science and technology, poses to the primary life-support systems of the planet. At a time when we are preoccupied with the terrorist attacks and the possibility of biological warfare, perhaps it is time to listen to the planet. This book is essential reading for anyone concerned about the state of the environment, the state of health care, and our cultural sanity. |
foundation for gaian studies: Gaia Alchemy Stephan Harding, 2021-12-21 • Examines how integrating important alchemical images with Gaian science can offer insights into our interconnectedness with Gaia • Looks at how the four components of the living earth--biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere--mesh with the four elements of alchemical theory and the four functions of consciousness as understood by depth psychology • Offers guided meditations and contemplative exercises to open your receptivity to messages from the biosphere and help you connect more deeply with Gaia During the scientific revolution, science and soul were drastically separated, propelling humanity into four centuries of scientific exploration based solely on empiricism and rationality. But, as scientist and ecologist Stephan Harding, Ph.D., demonstrates in detail, by reintegrating science with profound personal experiences of psyche and soul, we can reclaim our lost sacred wholeness and help heal ourselves and our planet. The book begins with compelling introductions to depth psychology, alchemy, and Gaia theory--the science of seeing the Earth as an intelligent, self-regulating system, a theory pioneered by the author’s mentor James Lovelock. Harding then explores how alchemy, as understood through the depth psychology of C. G. Jung, offers us powerful methods of reuniting rationality and intuition, science and soul. He examines the integration of important alchemical engravings, including those from L’Azoth des Philosophes and the Rosarium Philosophorum, with Gaian science. He shows how the seven key alchemical operations in the Azoth image can help us develop deeply transformative experiences and insights into our interconnectedness with Gaia. He then looks at how the four components of the living Earth--biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere--mesh not only with the four elements of alchemical theory but also with the four functions of consciousness from depth psychology. Woven throughout with the author’s own experiences of Gaia alchemy, the book also offers guided meditations and contemplative exercises to open your receptivity to messages from the biosphere and help you develop your own Gaian alchemical way of life, full of wonder and healing. |
foundation for gaian studies: Sacred Plant Medicine Stephen Harrod Buhner, 1996 The historical use of plants by indigenous peoples is explored, and how this connects to universal experiences of the sacred in everyday life. |
foundation for gaian studies: I love my World chris holland, 2009-12-04 A guide for parents, outdoor educators, play rangers, forest school leaders and teachers, 'I Love My World' is full of practical ideas which can be used to rekindle the naturally playful spirit and develop a deep connection with nature from an early age. |
foundation for gaian studies: Path of the Sacred Pipe Jay Cleve, 2012-12-19 In these days of global crisis, thoughtful seekers increasingly turn to Native Americans for healing wisdom. The Sacred Pipe is the medicine, says Jay Cleve in this informative and practical guide to a key practice of Native American spirituality. The Hopi and other ancient cultures predicted our present age as one of transition into a New World. The galactic alignment ending the Mayan calendar on December 21, 2012 occurs only every 26,000 years and is thought to be a critical time for raising consciousness to align with the radical expansion of Earth energies. Cleve shows how the Pipe can facilitate transformation on both the personal and planetary levels. He explains its use in rituals such as the sweat lodge, the vision quest, and the sun dance and in relation to the Medicine Wheel. He also provides practical information on obtaining and caring for a Pipe and on preparing for and performing the Pipe ceremony. |
foundation for gaian studies: Sex and the Intelligence of the Heart Julie McIntyre, 2012-04-26 Explores how Nature underlies sexuality and intimacy • Examines how to regain intimacy in our relationships in a way that embraces our hidden wild nature and restores the sacred to our lives • Provides sacred sex and intimacy-building practices for partners and exercises to reconnect with the intuitive intelligence of the heart, remove our emotional armor, and cultivate a deeper relationship with the Earth • Shows how by healing our relationship with Nature and our sexuality, we move toward healing the whole planet Nature is having sex all the time--that’s one of the reasons we feel so alive when we are immersed in it. Sexuality is essential to the sensation of Nature in your own body, of connecting to the piece of Earth closest to you--your own flesh and bones. Many a couple has been overcome by passion while walking in the woods or on the beach; many a soul has found solace or epiphany in Nature. Living in accordance with Nature depends on you being your true, whole self--a sexual, sensual, erotic, fully alive human being. Exploring the territory of intimacy, sacred sex, and emotional healing as a journey to wholeness, Julie McIntyre examines the sacred relationship between sexuality and the Earth and reveals how to create deep, lasting intimacy with your lover by recapturing the wild, spontaneous, natural sexuality that is your birthright. Detailing the process of moving from your head to the secret garden of your heart, she provides exercises to heal your psyche of old emotional trauma, reconnect with the intuitive intelligence of the heart, and cultivate a deeper relationship with the Earth in order to trust yourself and become vulnerable and open with your lover and thus truly intimate. She shows how there is a direct relationship between our beliefs and values about sex and intimacy and our beliefs and values about the environment and the Earth. She reveals how, by healing our separation from Nature and our sexuality, we can bring the sacred back into our lives, shape our own ecstatic sexual experiences, and move toward healing the whole planet. |
foundation for gaian studies: The Concise Guide to Today's Religions and Spirituality James K. Walker, 2007-04-01 Biblical, evangelical, and orthodox, The Concise Guide to Today's Religions and Spirituality supplies readers with a comprehensive, A-to-Z information source. Supported by the trustworthy research of Watchman Fellowship and its president, James Walker, its thousands of entries give the basics needed to evaluate spiritual belief systems, movements, and phenomena—Christian, quasi-Christian, and non-Christian—and the people connected with them. Definitions, descriptions, and cross references pack the maximum useful information into concise form, as in these examples: Adler, Margo: A witch affiliated with the Covenant of the Goddess, the second-largest coven in the United States. Adler wrote the highly influential book Drawing Down the Moon. See GODDESS, WICCA. Bioenergy: NEW AGE practice of healing, in which life-energy is balanced by opening blocked meridians. See HOLISTIC HEALING. A great resource for individuals—parents, church leaders, counselors, friends who want to give sound advice—as well as for study groups and church libraries. |
foundation for gaian studies: Shamanic Astrology Lucy Harmer, 2009-10-20 Western-based astrology has a provocative counterpart in the Native American medicine wheel, with a spirit animal equivalent for each sign of the zodiac. In this thoughtful book, Lucy Harmer shows readers how to find the spirit animal that corresponds to their birth sign. She provides detailed descriptions of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the twelve spirit animals—for example, falcon is enthusiastic and adventurous but can be impulsive and impatient, while deer is sociable and eloquent but can be lazy and superficial. Once readers determine their spirit animal, they can better understand their relationships with family, friends, and associates. Readers can also discover those people who are part of their animal clan and the various compatibilities and incompatibilities between all the spirit animals. They will be able to uncover the hidden treasures of their personalities and their secret talents, as well as the color, plant, and totem stone corresponding to each spirit animal. For readers who want to take shamanic astrology to the next level, the book includes the first complete lunar calendar for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres to help them determine their spirit animal rising sign and discover how the moon influences their daily life. |
foundation for gaian studies: Gaia James Lovelock, 2016 Gaia, in which James Lovelock puts forward his inspirational and controversial idea that the Earth functions as a single organism, with life influencing planetary processes to form a self-regulating system aiding its own survival, is now a classic work that continues to provoke heated scientific debate. |
foundation for gaian studies: The Domestic Alchemist Pip Waller, 2015-02-20 Kitchen pharmacy meets green cleaning and natural beauty in a classic compendium of Mother Natures plant-powered methods for herbal happiness at home and in health. In The Domestic Alchemist, Pip Waller shares her expertise in this invaluable handbook to herbs. An introduction to the power of plants is followed by concise growing tips and profiles; guidelines on the set up of an alchemists kitchen; and techniques on how to make tinctures to tonics. Add a comprehensive directory of eco-laundry and cleaning concoctions to firstaid and balms from zesty stain removers to cold compresses and youre all set to create your very own domestic revolution. |
foundation for gaian studies: The Herbal Handbook for Home and Health Pip Waller, 2015-03-03 Kitchen pharmacy meets green cleaning and natural beauty in this comprehensive handbook of 501 recipes that harness the power of plants to enhance wellness and toxin-free living. Expert herbalist Pip Waller provides a wealth of information about growing, collecting, preserving, and preparing herbs for a variety of purposes--from cleaning products, to food and drink, medicines, beauty products, and more. Attractive and easy to use, The Herbal Handbook for Home and Health includes growing tips and profiles of herbs, guidelines for setting up an herbalist's kitchen, and techniques to make everything from tinctures to tonics. A valuable resource for anyone affected by allergies or sensitivities, this compendium is handsomely produced with two-color printing throughout and more than three hundred striking illustrations. The Handbook includes contributions from herbalists from around the world and encompasses recipes that range from very simple to more complex. Seasoned herbalists as well as those just beginning to explore the world of herbs will find something to start their own nontoxic, non-allergenic domestic revolution. The book includes: • A history of herbal lore • The herbalist's kitchen--equipment and procedures for harnessing the power of plants • Green cleaning products (from floor wax to stain removers) • Herbal pharmacy (from throat lozenges to hangover cures) • Nutritional supplements and detoxes • First aid (from anti-anxiety drops to bruise ointment) • For travel (insect repellant to anti-nausea drops) • Food and drink (breads, butters, wines, teas) • Beauty and balms (toothpaste to shampoo to lip balm) • Kitchen Pharmacy • Food & Drink • Beauty, Balms & Personal Care |
foundation for gaian studies: The Lost Language of Plants Stephen Harrod Buhner, 2002-03-01 This could be the most important book you will read this year. Around the office at Chelsea Green it is referred to as the pharmaceutical Silent Spring. Well-known author, teacher, lecturer, and herbalist Stephen Harrod Buhner has produced a book that is certain to generate controversy. It consists of three parts: A critique of technological medicine, and especially the dangers to the environment posed by pharmaceuticals and other synthetic substances that people use in connection with health care and personal body care. A new look at Gaia Theory, including an explanation that plants are the original chemistries of Gaia and those phytochemistries are the fundamental communications network for the Earth's ecosystems. Extensive documentation of how plants communicate their healing qualities to humans and other animals. Western culture has obliterated most people's capacity to perceive these messages, but this book also contains valuable information on how we can restore our faculties of perception. The book will affect readers on rational and emotional planes. It is grounded in both a New Age spiritual sensibility and hard science. While some of the author's claims may strike traditional thinkers as outlandish, Buhner presents his arguments with such authority and documentation that the scientific underpinnings, however unconventional, are completely credible. The overall impact is a powerful, eye-opening expos' of the threat that our allopathic Western medical system, in combination with our unquestioning faith in science and technology, poses to the primary life-support systems of the planet. At a time when we are preoccupied with the terrorist attacks and the possibility of biological warfare, perhaps it is time to listen to the planet. This book is essential reading for anyone concerned about the state of the environment, the state of health care, and our cultural sanity. |
foundation for gaian studies: The Secret Teachings of Plants Stephen Harrod Buhner, 2004-10-27 Ancient and indigenous peoples have insisted their knowledge of plant medicines came from the plants themselves, perceived through a heart-centered mode of perception, not trial-and-error experimentation. Author Stephen Harrod Buhner explores this heart-centered mode of perception, helping readers learn about the medicinal uses of plants and gather information directly from the heart of Nature. |
foundation for gaian studies: Holistic Medicine and the Extracellular Matrix Matthew Wood, 2021-09-28 • Examines the function of the extracellular matrix, the inner ocean that unifies all our cells and controls them in a coordinated and integrated fashion • Explores how the extracellular matrix builds and repairs itself and how holistic therapy can be applied based on this knowledge • Introduces new and old holistic and herbal protocols for treatment of the matrix The cells in our bodies are not independent units. They do not control their own feeding, elimination, migration, or reproduction; they are controlled by signals from the extracellular matrix (ECM) that surrounds them. This all-encompassing inner ocean unifies all our cells and controls them in a coordinated and integrated fashion. Revealing the stunning implications of the extracellular matrix, Matthew Wood shows how it clearly explains the actions and efficacy of holistic therapies. He explores the groundbreaking research of Alfred Pischinger, who discovered the ECM in 1975, as well as the role of the matrix in transmitting and enacting the genetic code, including the roles of the mitochondria, the nucleus, and ribosomes. Wood explains how modern drugs, directed at specific receptors on the cell membrane, interfere with bodily self-regulation. He details how holistic therapies modify the environment of the cell and strengthen the whole, bringing the body back to homeostasis and consequently offering true healing. |
foundation for gaian studies: Nutrition and Integrative Medicine Aruna Bakhru, 2018-08-06 While medical professionals continue to practice traditional allopathic medicine, the public has turned toward nutritional and integrative medical therapies, especially for addressing the proliferation of chronic diseases. Written by leaders in the academic and scientific world, Nutrition and Integrative Medicine: A Primer for Clinicians presents various modalities to help restore health. This book provides users with a guide to evaluating and recommending nutritional and integrative therapies. The book offers insights on the microbiome of the human body, examines the relationship of human health to the microbiome of the food we ingest, and introduces the concept of food as information. It provides enlightenment on anti-aging and healing modalities, mind–body medicine, and an investigation of psychological trauma as related to disease causation. Integrative therapies, including water, light, and sound therapy, are explored, and information on healing chronic disease through nutrition, the tooth–body connection, the role of toxins in disease causation, and electromagnetic field hypersensitivity, as well as its management, is presented. |
foundation for gaian studies: PaGaian Cosmology Glenys Livingstone, 2005 PaGaian Cosmology brings together a religious practice of seasonal ritual based in a contemporary scientific sense of the cosmos and female imagery for the Sacred. The author situates this original synthesis in her context of being female and white European transplanted to the Southern Hemisphere. Her sense of alienation from her place, which is personal, cultural and cosmic, fires a cosmology that re-stories Goddess metaphor of Virgin-Mother-Crone as a pattern of Creativity, which unfolds the cosmos, manifests in Earth's life, and may be known intimately. PaGaian Cosmology is an ecospirituality grounded in indigenous Western religious celebration of the Earth-Sun annual cycle. By linking to story of the unfolding universe this practice can be deepened, and a sense of the Triple Goddess-central to the cycle and known in ancient cultures-developed as a dynamic innate to all being. The ritual scripts and the process of ritual events presented here, may be a journey into self-knowledge through personal, communal and ecological story: the self to be known is one that is integral with place. PaGaian Cosmology may be used as a resource for individuals or groups seeking new forms of devotional expression and an Earth-based pathway to wisdom within. |
foundation for gaian studies: The Way Edward Goldsmith, 2008-10-01 First published in 1992, The Way is Edward Goldsmith's magnum opus. In it, he proposes that the stability and integrity of humans depend on the preservation of the balance of natural systems surrounding the individual--family, community, society, ecosystem, and the ecosphere itself. Portraying life processes and ecological thinking as holistic, Goldsmith calls for a paradigm shift away from the reductionist approach of modern science. The basic belief in the whole was at the heart of the worldview of primal, earth-oriented societies, as manifested by the Tao of the ancient Chinese, the R'ta of Vedic India, the Asha of the Avestas, and the Sedaq of the tribal Hebrews. The Way was the path taken to maintain the critical order of the cosmos. Echoing the way of traditional cultures, Goldsmith presents an all-embracing, coherent worldview that promotes more harmonious and sustainable practices capable of satisfying real biological, social, ecological, and spiritual needs. Revised to include a glossary, index, bibliographic notes, and several updated chapters, this is a major work by one of our boldest and most promising thinkers. |
foundation for gaian studies: Memenomics Said Dawlabani, 2013-09 The term “vMEME” (the superscript “v” is for “value”) refers to a core value system expressed through a culture’s memes, i.e., its ideas, habits, and cultural preferences and practices that spread from person to person. In MEMEnomics Said E. Dawlabani reframes our economic history and the future of capitalism through the unique prism of a culture’s value systems. Focusing on the long-term effects of economic policies on society, he expands psychologist Clare W. Graves’ concepts of the hierarchical nature of human development and the theories of value systems of Beck and Cowan’s Spiral Dynamics. He presents our economic history in terms of the hierarchy of five of the eight value-systems or vMEMEs of human existence that we can now identify. These new value preferences emerge as people interact with their environment to solve the problems of their “life conditions.” |
foundation for gaian studies: The Home And Happiness Botanical Handbook Pip Waller, 2021-01-12 Infuse your home with herbal happiness using this book of ethical, empowering, and eco-friendly botanical recipes. Whether you live in a small apartment, in a boat or a van, or in a spacious family abode, a home is a sanctuary that provides us with the space to unwind, recuperate, and look after ourselves. This inspiring vegan and cruelty-free guide teaches you how you can nurture and take pride in your home and self-care routine by creating your own, botanical products, all while protecting the earth. Recipes include eco-friendly laundry and home cleaning products, charms to cleanse the home of bad energy, and miscellaneous oddities such as boot cleaner, harm-free herbal mouse deterrent, and eco sudsy car soap. By sourcing and mixing your own heavenly, herby lotions and potions, you enable yourself to become more present in everyday tasks, to put more love into what you are doing, and to make the process of looking after your home less onerous, and more mindful. So boost your mood, love our planet, and take pride in nourishing your home and soul with this beautiful book of botanical bounties. |
foundation for gaian studies: Healthy Woman, Healthy Life Gary Null, 2016-12-27 In Healthy Woman, Healthy Life Gary Null updates and expands the topic of the first edition to feature the latest clinical experience and published research on issues important to women of all ages. The revised edition contains nearly sixty chapters covering the foundations of women's holistic health, specific health concerns, and alternative health solutions. Topics range from diet, physical fitness, and home detoxification, to adolescent health, heart disease, and menopause. In addition, there are recipes for simple, healthy meals, and a guide providing contact information for the health practitioners profiled throughout the book. Among the new and/or significantly updated chapters are those exploring natural hormone replacement therapy, the roles of stress and depression, memory loss, Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, aging, hair, skin, weight, energy, pain, and vision. Also included are new wellness protocols for brain health, cancer, allergies, and diabetes, as well as new testimonials from patients who have benefited from various naturopathic treatments under the guidance of their physicians. |
foundation for gaian studies: Lost Powers: Reclaiming Our Inner Connection J. Douglas Kenyon, Have we lost our way? Lost our psychic “sense of smell”? The conventional notion of the human psyche is that it is a product of our mass culture, and we are conditioned to see and understand only the stimulus that is provided to it. However, there is a deeper process at work, something coming from our innate ability to discern greater truth. Tapping into this subconscious truth-detector is key in determining whether we buy into the premises of the many mainstream “truths” presented to us in popular culture and popular science. In the quest to reestablish that universal connection, editor J. Douglas Kenyon has culled from the pages of Atlantis Rising® magazine this collection of 34 concise and well-illustrated articles by world-class philosophers and theoreticians who offer thought-provoking insights from the lost secrets of ancient and primordial wisdom. Featuring: Secrets of the Alchemists, by Joseph Robert Jochmans The Psi in CSI, by Barbara Jason Can We See into the Future?, by Robert M. Schoch Psychokinesis, by Robert M. Schoch The Superhero Factor, by Len Kasten Deathbed Visitations, by Michael Tymn War and Reincarnation, by John Chambers Time Travel Evidence, by Joseph Robert Jochmans The Case for Immortality, by Patrick Marsolek |
foundation for gaian studies: Healing Lyme Stephen Harrod Buhner, 2015 Healing Lyme examines the leading, scientific research on Lyme infection and its tests and treatments, and outlines the most potent natural medicines that offer help, either alone or in combination with antibiotics, for preventing and healing the disease-- |
foundation for gaian studies: Natural Treatments for Lyme Coinfections Stephen Harrod Buhner, 2015-02-22 A guide to the natural treatment of three coinfections of Lyme disease • Reviews the latest scientific research on Babesia, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma • Reveals how these three conditions often go undiagnosed, complicate the treatment of Lyme disease, and cause symptoms from headache to seizures • Outlines effective natural treatments with herbs and supplements for specific symptoms and to combat overreactions of the immune system and the inflammation response Harvard researchers estimate there are nearly 250,000 new Lyme disease infections each year--only 10 percent of which will be accurately diagnosed. One of the largest factors in misdiagnosis of Lyme is the presence of other tick-borne infections, which mask or aggravate the symptoms of Lyme disease as well as complicate treatment. Three newly emergent Lyme coinfections are Babesia, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma. Tens of thousands of people are known to be asymptomatically infected and at least ten percent will become symptomatic this year--with symptoms ranging from chronic headache and arthritis to seizures. Distilling the latest scientific research on Babesia, Ehrlichia, Anaplasma, and Lyme disease, Stephen Buhner examines the complex synergy between these infections and reveals how they can go undiagnosed or resurface after antibiotic treatment. He explains how these organisms create cytokine cascades in the body--essentially sending the immune system into an overblown, uncontrolled inflammatory response in much the same way rheumatoid arthritis or cancer can. Providing an in-depth guide for those suffering from Babesia, Ehrlichia, or Anaplasma infection as well as for clinicians who work with those infected by these organisms, Buhner details effective natural holistic methods centered on herbs and supplements, such as Ashwaganda and Chinese Skullcap, and reveals how to treat specific symptoms, interrupt the cytokine cascades, reduce inflammation, and bring the immune system back into balance. He explains how these natural methods not only complement conventional Lyme disease treatments involving antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals but also provide relief when other forms of treatment have failed. |
foundation for gaian studies: Gaian Systems Bruce Clarke, 2020-09-29 A groundbreaking look at Gaia theory’s intersections with neocybernetic systems theory Often seen as an outlier in science, Gaia has run a long and varied course since its formulation in the 1970s by atmospheric chemist James Lovelock and microbiologist Lynn Margulis. Gaian Systems is a pioneering exploration of the dynamic and complex evolution of Gaia’s many variants, with special attention to Margulis’s foundational role in these developments. Bruce Clarke assesses the different dialects of systems theory brought to bear on Gaia discourse. Focusing in particular on Margulis’s work—including multiple pieces of her unpublished Gaia correspondence—he shows how her research and that of Lovelock was concurrent and conceptually parallel with the new discourse of self-referential systems that emerged within neocybernetic systems theory. The recent Gaia writings of Donna Haraway, Isabelle Stengers, and Bruno Latour contest its cybernetic status. Clarke engages Latour on the issue of Gaia’s systems description and extends his own systems-theoretical synthesis under what he terms “metabiotic Gaia.” This study illuminates current issues in neighboring theoretical conversations—from biopolitics and the immunitary paradigm to NASA astrobiology and the Anthropocene. Along the way, he points to science fiction as a vehicle of Gaian thought. Delving into many issues not previously treated in accounts of Gaia, Gaian Systems describes the history of a theory that has the potential to help us survive an environmental crisis of our own making. |
foundation for gaian studies: Neocybernetics and Narrative Bruce Clarke, 2014-09-15 Neocybernetics and Narrative opens a new chapter in Bruce Clarke’s project of rethinking narrative and media through systems theory. Reconceiving interrelations among subjects, media, significations, and the social, this study demonstrates second-order systems theory’s potential to provide fresh insights into the familiar topics of media studies and narrative theory. A pioneer of systems narratology, Clarke offers readers a synthesis of the neocybernetic theories of cognition formulated by biologists Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela, incubated by cyberneticist Heinz von Foerster, and cultivated in Niklas Luhmann’s social systems theory. From this foundation, he interrogates media theory and narrative theory through a critique of information theory in favor of autopoietic conceptions of cognition. Clarke’s purview includes examinations of novels (Mrs. Dalloway and Mind of My Mind), movies (Avatar, Memento, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), and even Aramis, Bruno Latour’s idiosyncratic meditation on a failed plan for an automated subway. Clarke declares the era of the cyborg to have ended, laid to rest as the ontology of technical objects is brought into differential coordination with operations of living, psychic, and social systems. The second-order discourse of cognition destabilizes the usual sense of cognition as conscious awareness, revealing the possibility of nonconscious and nonhuman forms of sentience. |
foundation for gaian studies: Herbal Antivirals Stephen Harrod Buhner, 2021-08-26 Viruses are smart, mutating, and becoming resistant to antiviral pharmaceuticals. Global crises such as COVID-19, SARS, and dengue feaver spread more quickly than we can develop medicines to fight them. Herbalist and best-selling author Stephen Harrod Buhner has studied the antiviral properties of plants for many years. In this comprehensive guide, he profiles the plants that have proven most effective in fighting viral infections and provides in-depth instructions for preparing and using formulations to address the most common infections and strengthen immunity, safely and naturally. The updated 2nd edition includes an expanded guide to COVID-19, including a review of the most up-to-date medical research and the plant medicines that have been found to be most potent in preventing infection, lessening the impact of the virus on the body, and addressing longer-term effects and co-infections. |
foundation for gaian studies: Climate Change Policy Stephen H. Schneider, Armin Rosencranz, John O. Niles, 2002-08-01 Questions surrounding the issue of climate change are evolving from Is it happening? to What can be done about it? The primary obstacles to addressing it at this point are not scientific but political and economic; nonetheless a quick resolution is unlikely. Ignorance and confusion surrounding the issue -- including a lack of understanding of climate science, its implications for the environment and society, and the range of policy options available -- contributes to the political morass over dealing with climate change in which we find ourselves. Climate Change Policy addresses that situation by bringing together a wide range of new writings from leading experts that examine the many dimensions of the topics most important in understanding climate change and policies to combat it. Chapters consider: climate science in historical perspective analysis of uncertainties in climate science and policy the economics of climate policy North-South and intergenerational equity issues the role of business and industry in climate solutions policy mechanisms including joint implementation, emissions trading, and the so-called clean development mechanism Regardless of the fate of the Kyoto Protocol, the issues raised in that debate will persist as new climate protection regimes emerge; this volume treats most of those topics. Tying the chapters together is a shared conclusion that climate change is a real and serious problem, and that we as a society have an obligation not merely to adapt to it but to mitigate it in whatever intelligent ways we can develop. Cost-effectiveness is not disdained, but neither is the imperative for valuing species threatened by rapid climate change. |
foundation for gaian studies: Life as Its Own Designer Anton Markoš, Filip Grygar, László Hajnal, Karel Kleisner, Zdenek Kratochvíl, Zdenek Neubauer, 2009-07-09 It has been nearly 150 years since Darwin published On the Origin of Species, and his theory of natural selection still ignites a forest of heated debate between scientific fundamentalists on the one hand and religious fundamentalists on the other. But both sides actually agree more than they disagree, and what has long been needed is a third way to view evolution, one that focuses more on the aspect of life and “being alive”, one that can guide us through, and perhaps out of, the fiery thicket. This book, a seminal work in the burgeoning field of Biosemiotics, provides that third way, by viewing living beings as genuine agents designing their communication pathways with, and in, the world. Already hailed as the best account of biological hermeneutics, Life As Its Own Designer: Darwin’s Origin and Western Thought is a wholly unique book divided into two parts. The first part is philosophical and explores the roots of rationality and the hermeneutics of the natural world with the overriding goal of discovering how narrative can help us to explain life. It analyzes why novelty is so hard to comprehend in the framework of Western thinking and confronts head-on the chasm between evolutionism and traditional rationalistic worldviews. The second part is scientific. It focuses on the life of living beings, treating them as co-creators of their world in the process of evolution. It draws on insights gleaned from the global activity of the Gaian biosphere, considers likeness as demonstrated on homology studies, and probes the problem of evo-devo science from the angle of life itself. This book is both timely and vital. Past attempts at a third way to view evolution have failed because they were written either by scientists who lacked a philosophical grounding or New Age thinkers who lacked biological credibility. Markoš and his coworkers form an original group of thinkers supremely capable in both fields, and they have fashioned a book that is ideal for researchers and scholars from both the humanities and sciences who are interested in the history and philosophy of biology, biosemiotics, and the evolution of life. |
foundation for gaian studies: Gaia in Turmoil Eileen Crist, H. Bruce Rinker, 2010 Essays link Gaian science to such global environmental quandaries as climate change and biodiversity destruction, providing perspectives from science, philosophy, politics, and technology. |
foundation for gaian studies: Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature Bron Taylor, 2008-06-10 The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, originally published in 2005, is a landmark work in the burgeoning field of religion and nature. It covers a vast and interdisciplinary range of material, from thinkers to religious traditions and beyond, with clarity and style. Widely praised by reviewers and the recipient of two reference work awards since its publication (see www.religionandnature.com/ern), this new, more affordable version is a must-have book for anyone interested in the manifold and fascinating links between religion and nature, in all their many senses. |
foundation for gaian studies: Earth Grief: The Journey Into and Through Ecological Loss Stephen Harrod Buhner, 2022-03-29 News reports appear every day now on the ecological state of our planetary home and the news is not good. Ecological systems are in terrible peril, species are dying by the millions, and global warming is getting worse. Increasing numbers of people feel the impact of this, feel some form of what is being called climate grief, ecological loss, or sometimes even solastalgia. Our species is entering a time of difficult and deep mourning. As environmentalist Leslie Head has said, Grief will be our companion on this journey--it is not something we can deal with and move on. It will be with us for a long time to come. Stephen Harrod Buhner takes the reader on a journey into and through that grief to what is waiting on the other side, a place that Viktor Frankl, Jacques Cousteau, Vaclav Havel, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross and so many others have found. It's where one becomes an engaged witness, alive to the losses that are occurring and the grief that is felt but is not overcome by them. Then he travels into and through the common feelings of guilt and shame (feelings that are put on so many but in actuality belong to very few) that come from ecological devastation. From there Stephen moves deep into what occurs when those we love die, when the planetary landscapes, forests, fields and rivers that are engraved into our deepest selves are lost, when we are forced to travel into the territory of death and loss and deep grief ourselves. Throughout it, Stephen draws on his studies with Elizabeth Kubler Ross and others who worked with the dying, his years as a psychotherapist, extensive work with the chronically ill, and deep immersion in and relationship with plants, wild ecosystems, and this living planet that is our home. At journey's end what arises is not the optimism of false hope (as Greta Thunberg calls it) but a deeper and more realistic hope, one that is intimately entangled with gravitas and the journey through loss. It's born from the heart's integration of grief and a deep faith in the green world, in this planet from which we have emerged, and in the new life that comes with every spring. Stephen's book is written with the exquisite prose style, intimacy, depth of insight, and engaged storytelling for which he is known. No one who reads it will remain unmoved or ever again feel as if they are alone in the grief they feel for what is happening to our home. |
foundation for gaian studies: Natural Remedies for Low Testosterone Stephen Harrod Buhner, 2016-01-22 How to maintain optimum testosterone levels for the male body through the use of herbs, nutritional supplements, and diet • Explains the phenomenon of male menopause and how to deal with it • Reveals scientific evidence of testosterone-blocking agents in the environment that alter men’s essential chemistry as they age • Presents safe, organic plant medicines that can restore optimum testosterone levels • Contains the most up-to-date natural treatments for impotence, infertility, and prostate disease The recognition of andropause, the middle-age stage in male development comparable to women’s menopause, is hampered by the lack of a clear outward manifestation of the chemistry and physiology specific to aging men. Men are still capable of reproduction well into and beyond middle age. Yet a man’s sexual desire and potency varies, often according to his testosterone level. Recent studies show that the lowered testosterone levels endemic in aging men--a gradual drop that is quite normal--are being exacerbated by environmental agents. Testosterone-blocking estrogen agents are present in insecticides, industrial materials, pharmaceuticals, and foods. Men are daily inundated with a “cocktail” of estrogen agents that alter the fine balance of testosterone that makes them male. But as recent medical research has revealed, testosterone replacement therapy with Low T drugs is not a good option because of the increased risk of cardiovascular problems, such as heart attack and stroke, and because the body can become dependent on pharmaceutical testosterone and stop producing any on its own. In this updated edition of The Natural Testosterone Plan, Stephen Harrod Buhner shows why men need help to maintain their testosterone levels as they age and explains how naturally occurring phytoandrogens--plant medicines that contain male hormones--can safely remedy the depletion exerted by the environment. Buhner details how each phytoandrogen works, when its use is indicated, and the most appropriate method of application, providing all men with safe, natural, and effective means of maintaining optimum testosterone levels well into old age. |
foundation for gaian studies: The Writers Directory , 2013 |
foundation for gaian studies: Sacred and Herbal Healing Beers Stephen Harrod Buhner, 1998-09-01 This is the first comprehensive book ever written on the sacred aspects of indigenous, historical psychotropic and herbal healing beers of the world. |
foundation for gaian studies: The Publishers Weekly , 2004 |
foundation for gaian studies: Ecotopia Emerging Ernest Callenbach, 1981 In the Pacific Northwest, the Survivalist Party is formed, a political party dedicated to sustainable living. Bolinas resident Lou Swift discovers a new way to tap solar energy, but utility executives fight against further development of her invention. |
foundation for gaian studies: Green Psychology Ralph Metzner, 1999-06-01 A visionary ecopsychologist examines the rift between human beings and nature and shows what can be done to bring harmony to both the ecosystem and our own minds. • Shows that the solution to our ecological dilemma lies in our own consciousnesses. It is becoming more and more apparent that the causes and cures for the current ecological crisis are to be found in the hearts and minds of human beings. For millennia we existed within a religious and psychological framework that honored the Earth as a partner and worked to maintain a balance with nature. But somehow a root pathology took hold in Western civilization--the idea of domination over nature--and this led to an alienation of the human spirit that has allowed an unprecedented destruction of the very systems which support that spirit. In Green Psychology Ralph Metzner explores the history of this global pathology and examines the ways that we can restore a healing relationship with nature. His search for role models takes him from shamanic ceremonies with the Lacandon Maya of Mexico to vision quests in the California desert, from the astonishing nature mysticism of Hildegard von Bingen to the Black Goddesses and Green Gods of our pagan ancestors. He examines the historical roots of the split between humans and nature, showing how first sky-god worshiping cultures, then monotheisms, and finally mechanistic science continued to isolate the human psyche from the life-giving Earth. His final chapters present a solution, showing that disciplines such as deep ecology and ecofeminism are creating a worldview in which the mind of humanity and the health of the Earth are harmoniously intertwined. |
foundation for gaian studies: Teardown Gordon Young, 2021-02-23 After living in San Francisco for fifteen years, journalist Gordon Young found himself yearning for his Rust Belt hometown: Flint, Michigan, the birthplace of General Motors and the “star” of the Michael Moore documentary Roger & Me. Hoping to rediscover and help a place that had once boasted one of the world’s highest per capita income levels but had become one of the country's most impoverished and dangerous cities, he returned to Flint with the intention of buying a house. What he found was a place of stark contrasts and dramatic stories, where an exotic dancer could afford a lavish mansion, speculators scooped up cheap houses by the dozen on eBay, and arson was often the quickest route to neighborhood beautification. He also uncovered the misguided policies, flawed leadership, and unforgiving economic trends that lead to disasters like the Flint water crisis. Updated with a new preface, Young skillfully blends personal memoir, historical inquiry, and interviews with Flint residents, constructing a vibrant tale of a once-thriving city still fighting - despite overwhelming odds - to rise from the ashes. Hard-hitting, insightful, and often painfully funny, Teardown reminds us that cities are ultimately defined by the people who live there.--Back cover. |
foundation for gaian studies: Theological Foundations for Environmental Ethics James Schaefer, 2009-05-07 Earth is imperiled. Human activities are adversely affecting the land, water, air, and myriad forms of biological life that comprise the ecosystems of our planet. Indicators of global warming and holes in the ozone layer inhibit functions vital to the biosphere. Environmental damage to the planet becomes damaging to human health and well-being now and into the future—and too often that damage affects those who are least able to protect themselves. Can religion make a positive contribution to preventing further destruction of biological diversity and ecosystems and threats to our earth? Jame Schaefer thinks that it can, and she examines the thought of Christian Church fathers and medieval theologians to reveal and retrieve insights that may speak to our current plight. By reconstructing the teachings of Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, and other classic thinkers to reflect our current scientific understanding of the world, Schaefer shows how to green the Catholic faith: to value the goodness of creation, to appreciate the beauty of creation, to respect creation's praise for God, to acknowledge the kinship of all creatures, to use creation with gratitude and restraint, and to live virtuously within the earth community. |
Foundation (TV series) - Wikipedia
Foundation is an American science fiction television series created by David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman for Apple TV+, based on the Foundation series of stories by Isaac Asimov.It …
Home - Kappa Foundation of Woodbridge
Incorporated on April 8, 2002, in the Commonwealth of Virginia to provide scholarships and financial aid to students, and to provide assistance to other charitable causes in Prince …
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Discover the quality rating for publicly-funded preschools, Head Starts, child care centers, and family day home programs in Virginia. Foundation First is led by a dedicated, passionate team …
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Foundation (TV series) - Wikipedia
Foundation is an American science fiction television series created by David S. Goyer and Josh Friedman …
Home - Kappa Foundation of Woodbridge
Incorporated on April 8, 2002, in the Commonwealth of Virginia to provide scholarships and financial aid to …
PWCCF - Empowering through philanthropy
We are committed to empowering individuals and families through equitable access to nutritious food, …
Foundation First
Discover the quality rating for publicly-funded preschools, Head Starts, child care centers, and family day home …
Contact Us - Good Shepherd Housing
We welcome inquiries and questions from prospective residents, donors, volunteers, and community …