In this article we look through my lens to learn from our elders in the ancient kingdoms of moss and lichen, listening for what whispers they offer to guide us on our path forward
I some special memories surrounding experiences where I saw some of the most beautiful examples of Lichen during the time I worked the back country of Wyoming. Super special memories.
Thank you Gavin for this beautiful exploration of those tiny yet essential neighbours. Many of us have often admired the layers of beauty they add but never really stopped long enough to get to know them, before your gracious introduction.
I am so glad to hear what I put together can serve that purpose for you.
That is an excellent line isn't it.. Robin Wall Kimmerer really has an eloquent way with words, she uses them gently, like a gardener planting seedlings... tending ideas to grow like seeds planted in the mind and watered with poetry to set down roots.
Have you read her other book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants? It is an exquisite book, really tugs at the heart strings, yet is rooted in scientific knowing. It provided a lot of inspiration for a book I am working on publishing right now called Recipes For Reciprocity.
Here is another excerpt from Kimmerer's book Gathering Moss that I feel ties into this well.
"..A Cheyenne elder of my acquaintance once told me that the best way to find something is not to go looking for it. This is a hard concept for a scientist. But he said to watch out of the corner of your eye, open to possibility, and what you seek will be revealed. The revelation of
suddenly seeing what I was blind to only moments before is a sublime experience for me. I can revisit those moments and still feel the surge of expansion. The boundaries between my world and the world of another being get pushed back with sudden clarity, an experience both humbling and joyful.
The sensation of sudden visual awareness is produced in part by the formation of a “search image” in the brain. In a complex visual landscape, the brain initially registers all the incoming data, without critical evaluation. Five orange arms in a starlike pattern, smooth black rock, light and shadow. All this is input, but the brain does not immediately interpret the data and convey their meaning to the conscious mind. Not until the pattern is repeated, with feedback from the conscious mind, do we know what we are seeing. It is in this way that animals become skilled detectors of their prey, by differentiating complex visual patterns into the particular configuration that means food. For example, some warblers are very successful predators when a certain caterpillar is at epidemic numbers, sufficiently abundant to produce a search image in the bird’s brain. However, the very same insects may go undetected
when their numbers are low. The neural pathways have to be trained by experience to process what is being seen. The synapses fire and the stars come out. The unseen is suddenly plain.
At the scale of a moss, walking through the woods as a six-foot human is a lot like flying over the continent at 32,000 feet. So far above the ground, and on our way to somewhere else, we run the risk of missing an entire realm which lies at our feet. Every day we pass over them without seeing. Mosses and other small beings issue an invitation to dwell for a time right at the limits of ordinary perception. All it requires of us is attentiveness. Look in a certain way and a whole new world can be revealed."
― Robin Wall Kimmerer (Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses)
Thank you but I cannot take credit for Mother Earth's artistry, I just feel grateful when I am guided to be able to capture some of the essence of her beauty in the realms of the fleeting, finite and minute parts of nature through my lens.
I have instinctively perceived moss and lichen as having magical qualities since I was very young and first discovered them exploring the high alpine forests, babbling brooks and rocky lakeshores of BC's coastal range. I suppose after having learned they can turn stone into Earth and air into water as an adult, this is something that is measurably/observably true in a way (even from a reductionist standpoint) however I sense the magic imbued in these beings also has qualities that go beyond that, qualities not perceivable through our five senses or the brain's logic. I have some Celtic blood in me so perhaps it was/is also the knowing of my ancient Druidic ancestors, speaking to my subconscious mind about the alchemical properties of elemental beings, and the powerful medicine they provide, not only for the body and the mind but also for the heart and soul.
I am so glad you enjoyed it :) I added a couple pics from the book on fungi/lichen I quoted to the article and will likely do more updates with other material as time allows.
This was a great article. Absolutely loved it and learned so much. Thank you.
Thanks for reading it brother, I am glad you appreciate what I put together here.
I some special memories surrounding experiences where I saw some of the most beautiful examples of Lichen during the time I worked the back country of Wyoming. Super special memories.
Thank you Gavin for this beautiful exploration of those tiny yet essential neighbours. Many of us have often admired the layers of beauty they add but never really stopped long enough to get to know them, before your gracious introduction.
You are most welcome :) I appreciate your thoughtful comment.
I'll be bookmarking this article and coming back to it when I need some zen.
This quote is something I hope to remember as well 'Attentiveness alone can rival the most powerful magnifying lens.'
Thanks
Greetings Dennis :)
I am so glad to hear what I put together can serve that purpose for you.
That is an excellent line isn't it.. Robin Wall Kimmerer really has an eloquent way with words, she uses them gently, like a gardener planting seedlings... tending ideas to grow like seeds planted in the mind and watered with poetry to set down roots.
Have you read her other book Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants? It is an exquisite book, really tugs at the heart strings, yet is rooted in scientific knowing. It provided a lot of inspiration for a book I am working on publishing right now called Recipes For Reciprocity.
Here is another excerpt from Kimmerer's book Gathering Moss that I feel ties into this well.
"..A Cheyenne elder of my acquaintance once told me that the best way to find something is not to go looking for it. This is a hard concept for a scientist. But he said to watch out of the corner of your eye, open to possibility, and what you seek will be revealed. The revelation of
suddenly seeing what I was blind to only moments before is a sublime experience for me. I can revisit those moments and still feel the surge of expansion. The boundaries between my world and the world of another being get pushed back with sudden clarity, an experience both humbling and joyful.
The sensation of sudden visual awareness is produced in part by the formation of a “search image” in the brain. In a complex visual landscape, the brain initially registers all the incoming data, without critical evaluation. Five orange arms in a starlike pattern, smooth black rock, light and shadow. All this is input, but the brain does not immediately interpret the data and convey their meaning to the conscious mind. Not until the pattern is repeated, with feedback from the conscious mind, do we know what we are seeing. It is in this way that animals become skilled detectors of their prey, by differentiating complex visual patterns into the particular configuration that means food. For example, some warblers are very successful predators when a certain caterpillar is at epidemic numbers, sufficiently abundant to produce a search image in the bird’s brain. However, the very same insects may go undetected
when their numbers are low. The neural pathways have to be trained by experience to process what is being seen. The synapses fire and the stars come out. The unseen is suddenly plain.
At the scale of a moss, walking through the woods as a six-foot human is a lot like flying over the continent at 32,000 feet. So far above the ground, and on our way to somewhere else, we run the risk of missing an entire realm which lies at our feet. Every day we pass over them without seeing. Mosses and other small beings issue an invitation to dwell for a time right at the limits of ordinary perception. All it requires of us is attentiveness. Look in a certain way and a whole new world can be revealed."
― Robin Wall Kimmerer (Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses)
Very beautiful, quite magical or more ways than one.
Thank you but I cannot take credit for Mother Earth's artistry, I just feel grateful when I am guided to be able to capture some of the essence of her beauty in the realms of the fleeting, finite and minute parts of nature through my lens.
I have instinctively perceived moss and lichen as having magical qualities since I was very young and first discovered them exploring the high alpine forests, babbling brooks and rocky lakeshores of BC's coastal range. I suppose after having learned they can turn stone into Earth and air into water as an adult, this is something that is measurably/observably true in a way (even from a reductionist standpoint) however I sense the magic imbued in these beings also has qualities that go beyond that, qualities not perceivable through our five senses or the brain's logic. I have some Celtic blood in me so perhaps it was/is also the knowing of my ancient Druidic ancestors, speaking to my subconscious mind about the alchemical properties of elemental beings, and the powerful medicine they provide, not only for the body and the mind but also for the heart and soul.
wow wow wow. this is extraordinary, beautiful and the pictures out of this world 🐒 thank you
I am so glad you enjoyed it :) I added a couple pics from the book on fungi/lichen I quoted to the article and will likely do more updates with other material as time allows.
Thanks again for sharing my post <3