Gaia, Psyche and Deep Ecology

Author: Andrew Fellows
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351403559
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232

Book Description
Winner of the Scientific & Medical Network Book Prize 2019! In Gaia, Psyche and Deep Ecology: Navigating Climate Change in the Anthropocene, Andrew Fellows uniquely connects Earth systems, Jungian and philosophical approaches to the existential threats that we face today. He elucidates the psychological basis of our dysfunctional relationship with nature, thereby offering a coherent framework for transforming this in our personal and professional lives. Demonstrating the imperative for new ideas that transcend the status quo, Fellows tackles unprecedented 21st century challenges such as climate change through his interdisciplinary approach. Fellows proposes a worldview, informed by depth psychology, which radically contradicts the prevailing shibboleths of unlimited economic growth, dominion over outer nature and negation of our inner nature. To accommodate a broad readership, he first introduces the Anthropocene and sufficient basics of systems dynamics, Gaia theory and analytical psychology before exploring the mind-matter conundrum. He then correlates the structure, dynamics, contents and pathology of Gaia and of psyche, critiques the Western Zeitgeist as midlife crisis and establishes parallels between deep ecology and psychological individuation. This ground-breaking synthesis of Gaia theory, analytical psychology and deep ecology reveals synergies which show how we can, and why we must, relinquish anthropocentrism in order to survive sustainably as equals in and with the natural world. Combining Jungian theory with other cutting-edge disciplines to inform, inspire and heal, this book is essential reading not only for Jungian analysts, students and scholars, but for all—including professionals in Earth systems science, environmental philosophy and ecopsychology—who realise that ‘business as usual’ is no longer an option.

Gaia Alchemy

Author: Stephan Harding
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1591434262
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 453

Book Description
• 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.

Green Psychology

Author: Ralph Metzner
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1594775184
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 233

Book Description
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.

Gaia Connections

Author: Alan S. Miller
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742531437
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 328

Book Description
Gaia Connections addresses several arenas of concern as humankind faces an escalating ecological and moral crisis in this new millennium. Beginning with an overview of the history of philosophy and the importance of traditional thinking on modern-day ethical reflection, the book then looks at the development of theories of justice, the problems of equity in global human relations, the inability of existing economic systems to resolve our human and environmental dilemmas, the unnatural connections now obtaining between genuine human need and the technological drift of science, the new genetics and reproductive technologies, and the nature of modern war. The study concludes with some historical perspectives on American environmental history and the urgent need for change in our ecoethical, social, and value systems. The principal focal areas of the original edition are continued: the actual state of the global environment today, the imperative for the development of sustainable economic and resource systems, the movement within much of science toward an almost universal biological determinism, and the need for a reaffirmation of an ethical value system which places the needs of people before the needs of property and profits. The revised edition not only updates these data and the concerns of the original book but also visits a number of new issues: the movement for environmental justice, the connections between global poverty and the now almost universal allegiance to a new world market and free trade system, the progress and the dilemmas of molecular biology and genetic engineering, and the growing disarray within the global systems of political economy.

Gaia and the New Politics of Love

Author: Serena Anderlini-D'Onofrio
Publisher: North Atlantic Books
ISBN: 1583942963
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 299

Book Description
***WINNER, 2010 Nautilus Silver Book Award – Cosmology/New Science Gaia theory argues that the flora and fauna of the planet operate in a self-regulating web that keeps the world livable. According to the theory, humankind is the most powerful species in this web and also its biggest threat. This provocative book explores ways to minimize and ultimately eliminate this threat with love and intimacy. Controversial Italian author Serena Anderlini-D’Onofrio has authored the first global ecology study based on an analysis of human health. Anderlini-D’Onofrio identifies her remedy within the context of Gaia theory, re-envisioning it as a more inclusive philosophy that positively impacts not only relationships, but world ecology under duress. The author links human sexuality to the global ecosystem, claiming that freedom from fear will stimulate a holistic health movement powerful enough to heal relationships and restore planetary balance. Gaia and the New Politics of Love is bracing in its range, weaving together issues of human and global health; the relationship of politics, sexuality, and ecology; practices and styles of love; the changing roles of eroticism and gender in our lives; and polyamory, bisexuality, and the AIDS reappraisal movement. Clarification Statement from the Author The argument of this book emphasizes the arts of loving as a way to help humanity make peace with our hostess Gaia, the third planet. Some of these arts involve sharing emotional resources and amorous partners. Often, the arts of loving require the use of barriers: mechanical protections such as condoms. At times they do not because only tantric energies are exchanged. The author of this book is persuaded that barriers are recommendable when sexual practices result in the exchange of deep body fluids, unless previous fluid-bonding arrangements have been made. The author is also persuaded that good practices of holistic health contribute to strengthening the immune systems of those who engage in the arts of loving. Safety practices are important in making the arts of loving healthy regardless of what factors are involved in the syndromes most prevalent today, including AIDS and other conditions in the STD spectrum. Historically, disagreement has moved knowledge forward: Today’s science is the result of yesterday’s disagreements and controversies. The author believes in critical thinking and she respects dissidence in science today, including Gaia science, reappraisals of AIDS, and holistic medicine. She hopes her readers will be open to hearing more than one side of a story. This statement and the contents of this book do not constitute medical advice in any way. Readers are invited to consult their own healers and health care providers. Serena Anderlini-D’Onofrio, PhD Author of Gaia and the New Politics of Love Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, March 2010 Blog: http://polyplanet.blogspot.com/ From the Trade Paperback edition.

Gaia in Turmoil

Author: Eileen Crist
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262033755
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 782

Book Description
Essays link Gaian science to such global environmental quandaries as climate change and biodiversity destruction, providing perspectives from science, philosophy, politics, and technology.

Holism

Author: Christian McMillan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000768287
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 156

Book Description
Holism: Possibilities and Problems brings together leading contributors in a ground-breaking discussion of holism. The terms ‘holism’ and ‘holistic’ arouse strong emotional responses in contemporary culture, whether this be negative or positive, and the essays in this interdisciplinary collection probe, each in its own way, the possibilities and problems inherent in thinking holistically. Christian McMillan, Roderick Main and David Henderson bring together established academics and emerging scholars across subject areas and disciplinary approaches to reveal the multiplicity and complexity of issues involved in holism. Divided into four parts, the chapters determine key strands of thinking explicitly or implicitly underpinning contemporary holistic thought, including what ethical conclusions might most reasonably be drawn from such thought. Accessible and diverse, this extensive volume contains chapters from the perspective of history, ecology, psychotherapy, poetry, mythology, and an especially strong representation of continental philosophy and Jungian depth psychology. Due to its multi-disciplinary nature, the book represents an unparalleled discussion of the meanings and implications of holism. Written by an innovative and international calibre of contributors, this pioneering collection will be essential reading for practitioners in depth psychology and scholars of Jungian studies, as well as academics and students of philosophy, religious studies, spirituality, history and the history of ideas. The book is a rich resource for the enhancement of critical reflection among all those with an interest in holism.

Scientists Debate Gaia

Author: Stephen Henry Schneider
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262194983
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 412

Book Description
Leading scientists bring the controversy over Gaia up to date by exploring a broad range of recent thinking on Gaia theory.

Animate Earth

Author: Stephan Harding
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 190744825X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 405

Book Description
An exciting exploration into how Gaian science can help us to develop a sense of connectedness with the 'more-than-human' world. Written by ecologist Stephan Harding, Animate Earth argues that we need to establish the right relationship with the planet as a living entity in which we are indissolubly embedded - and to which we are all accountable. Now in its second edition, this fascinating book includes a new chapter on fungi, contemplative exercises and an update on the global climate situation. Stephan's work is based on careful integration of rational scientific analysis with our intuition, sensing and feeling - a vitally important task at this time of severe ecological and climate crisis. He replaces the cold, objectifying language of science with a way of speaking of our planet as a sentient, living being rather than as a dead, inert mechanism. Chemical reactions, for instance, are described using human metaphors, such as marriage, to bring personality back into the world of rocks, atmosphere, water and living things. In this sense, the book is a contemporary attempt to rediscover anima mundi (the soul of the world) through Gaian science, whilst assuming no prior knowledge of science. Discover what it means to live as harmoniously as possible within a sentient creature of planetary proportions with this inspiring read.

Gaia

Author: James Lovelock
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198784880
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Book Description
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.