DEEP ECOLOGY with John Seed, Antonia Burke and Shar Molloy , Bruny Island Tasmania Nov 17-19, 2023

The Rainforest Information Centre presents DEEP ECOLOGY with John Seed  & Shar Molloy

Tickets are on a sliding scale from $150-$600 

Accommodation is in your own tent or van. Otherwise  there are b&b's available nearby

Vegetarian meals, gluten-free and vegan options by request 

25% of the proceeds will be donated to the outstanding work of the  Bob Brown Foundation to end native forest logging in Australia.

FROM JOHN SEED:

I have worked for worldwide rainforests since 1979. Although many of our efforts succeeded, for every forest saved 100 have disappeared. Clearly, you can’t save the planet one forest at a time. It's one green Earth or a bowl of dust. Without a profound change of consciousness, we can kiss the forests goodbye, the ones we’ve "saved" alongside the rest.

Deep ecology is key to the change we need. To deep ecology, underlying all the symptoms of the environmental crisis lies a psychological or spiritual root – the illusion of separation from the rest of the natural world which stems from anthropocentrism or human-centeredness.

Conditioned since the Old Testament to “subdue and dominate” nature, the modern psyche is radically alienated from the air, water and soil which underpin life and this is reflected in the rapid shredding of all-natural systems in the name of economic development. Deep ecology reminds us that the world is not a pyramid with humans on top, but a web. We, humans, are but one strand in that web and as we destroy this web, we destroy the foundations for all complex life including our own.

While we maintain a self-image created in the matrix of anthropocentric culture, a shrunken and illusory sense of self that doesn't include the air and water and soil, we will experience nature as "outside" our self and fail to recognise that nature "out there" and nature "in here" are one and the same.

Many people INTELLECTUALLY realise that we are inseparable from Nature and that the sense of separation that we feel is socially conditioned and illusory.

But as the late Arne Naess, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Oslo University, the man who coined the term "Deep Ecology" wrote: "it is not enough to have ecological ideas, we have to have an ecological identity, ecological self".

But how can we nourish our ecological identity? In answer to such questions,  Joanna Macy and I developed a series of experiential deep ecology rituals called the “Council of All Beings” and in 1986, with Arne Naess and Pat Flemming,  wrote a  book called Thinking Like A Mountain - Towards a Council of All Beings (which has been translated into 12 languages). Along with others, we have been facilitating these workshops around the world since then.

In this workshop we remember our rootedness in nature, recapitulate our evolutionary journey and experience the fact that every cell in our body is descended in an unbroken chain 4 billion years old, through fish that learned to walk the land, reptiles whose scales turned to fur and became mammals, evolving through to the present.

We further extend our sense of identity in the Council of All Beings itself where we find an ally in the natural world, make a mask to represent that ally, and allow the animals and plants and landscapes to speak through us. We are shocked at the very different view of the world that emerges from their dialogue. Creative suggestions for human actions emerge and we invoke the powers and knowledge of these other life-forms to empower us in our lives.

One of the rituals we will share is honouring our pain for the world: we grieve for all that is being torn from our world, the species lost, the landscapes destroyed. Only if we can allow ourselves to feel the pain of the Earth, can we be effective in Her healing. This is why the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, has said that in order to heal the Earth,  "the most important thing that we can do is to hear, inside ourselves,  the sounds of the Earth crying". 

This workshop enables us to find an end to the illusion of separation and experience our rootedness in the living Earth.

Shar Molloy first trained with Joanna Macy and John Seed in 2001 and has applied the wisdom of Deep Ecology and the Work that Reconnects in her roles as an environmental campaigner, since this time. She has recently co-lead the Environment Centre of the Northern Territory and is Vice President of the Australian Conservation Foundation. She is also a trained facilitator and coach of Nonviolent Communication and an Associate of Nonviolent Global Liberation (NGL). Her purpose is to support others to experience themselves as part of the web of life and discern what is theirs to do in the ‘great unravelling.

Antonia Burke is a Yanyuwa/Garrwa woman who grew up on the Tiwi Islands and Darwin in the Northern Territory.

Antonia is;

• Lead campaigner on the highly successful Stop Barossa Gas campaign on the Tiwi Islands.
• Indigenous Trauma Recovery Specialist
• Wayapa Wuurrk Indigenous Australian Earth Mindfulness Practitioner
• Indigenous Human Rights Advocate

Indigenous cultural values & protocols form the foundation that Antonia operates by in both her personal and professional life.

She is passionate about decolonising systems that impact Indigenous communities, with a strong focus on the environmental movement, advocating for energy security, and is a member of the First Nations Clean Energy Network.

Her work is primarily focussed on Protecting the Spirit of Sea Country. She aims to decolonise campaigns, shift consciousness, strengthen community campaign strategies by incorporating Indigenous ceremonial practices, influence political candidates to value the environment, and transition peoples focus to creating the alternative economy that moves away from fossil fuel dependence.

She visions a future that relies on renewable energy rather than fossil fuels.

Antonia has 9 years experience of Lead Facilitating national workshops; including trauma informed care and practice from an Indigenous perspective, working with organisations to encourage self-care practices to reduce burn out, and facilitated the Strong Women for Healthy Country Forum in the NT.

Antonia has provided healing and trauma response training to many community organisations around Australia, including national health promotion programs and incorporating Indigenous knowledge into education systems.

Antonia has a strong focus on empowering, supporting and mentoring leaders.

For more information, johnseed1@ozemail.com.au