Spirit of Place

[JustGeorge]

I've been learning a bit and working with the Spirit of Place lately. Its been fascinating on a hands on level; noticing things I may have passed by 50 times, or considering energies and consciousness of the entities around me has made things much more meaningful.

What can you tell me of your Spirit of Place?

First off, you'll have to define what 'your Place' means for you. Your physical home? The property? The block? City? Something entirely different? Secondly, you'll have to describe 'Spirit'. Perhaps your area or a land feature within it will have some kind of deity or saint associated with it, and that may influence the 'spirit' for you. Perhaps not. Maybe you see 'spirits' are conscious energy beings, or maybe you think that idea is nonsense, and the 'spirit' to you is the energy of its plants and people. However you experience it is fine.

 

[Quintessence]

This is a really big point of emphasis in contemporary Paganism, and Druidry in particular. Indigenous (or "pre-Christian" or "Pagan" if we prefer) religion was inherently place-based, and also heavily animistic. It was rooted in lived experience, oral tradition, and building relationships between humans and the greater-than-human world. Those non-human persons were variously casts a gods and spirits, but not supernaturalistic as Western religion-constructs would understand it. It's a topic that is often difficult to understand in spite of how remarkably simple and intuitive a lot of it really is.

See. Listen. Touch. Smell. Sing. Flow. Be.

Everything you learn through those lived experiences - that's getting to the spirit of place; getting to know the other-than-human persons that dominate the realms. It is very uncomplicated: live life and be present.

 

[JustGeorge]

This is a really big point of emphasis in contemporary Paganism, and Druidry in particular. Indigenous (or "pre-Christian" or "Pagan" if we prefer) religion was inherently place-based, and also heavily animistic. It was rooted in lived experience, oral tradition, and building relationships between humans and the greater-than-human world. Those non-human persons were variously casts a gods and spirits, but not supernaturalistic as Western religion-constructs would understand it. It's a topic that is often difficult to understand in spite of how remarkably simple and intuitive a lot of it really is.

See. Listen. Touch. Smell. Sing. Flow. Be.

Everything you learn through those lived experiences - that's getting to the spirit of place; getting to know the other-than-human persons that dominate the realms. It is very uncomplicated: live life and be present.

I think part of the reason its hard to understand is because its hard to explain, and we're such a language based culture....

A person can try to pick out words, but they'll likely fall a bit short of properly describing the full experience.

 

[Quintessence]

I think part of the reason its hard to understand is because its hard to explain, and we're such a language based culture....

A person can try to pick out words, but they'll likely fall a bit short of properly describing the full experience.

If you haven't read Spell of the Sensuous by D. Abram I recommend. It talks about this issue a lot and how detached, alphabetic letters changed how our culture thinks/processes/feels in some fundamental ways. Indigenous ("original") religion was pre-literate, or oral. As such we saw language in places where modern folk chalk it up to anthropomorphizing or "not really language" because reasons. Human language itself emerged out of our interactions with the land in ways that we are almost totally detached from today with how language (written) is taught.

I've been doing the Ovate grade with the Druid order I'm a member of and much of it has involved transcending some of the deeply-ingrained conventions of Western culture... including an over-reliance on written language. But some types of language work okay - the sort that have a performative or sensory component. The rhythm of poetry, the beat of a song, the movements that go with it, the expression of curled lips whether snarls or smiles, anything that involves more of the body and self in the experience of the words.

This Spring, for example, because I've been paying attention more a really interesting thing happened a few days before the Spirit of the Green really started getting going and unfurling. I felt it in ways that were... it wasn't words. More like motion. Getting up, up, up, standing up, shaking hands in the air, dancing, moving, flowing like the sap ascending from root to branch. A couple days later I saw tree flowers conforming what my body had felt from the trees and the green. Somehow, I felt all that and I can't really explain the hows of it... it just happened. That's knowing the spirits of place. Experience more than words.

 

[JustGeorge]

If you haven't read Spell of the Sensuous by D. Abram I recommend. It talks about this issue a lot and how detached, alphabetic letters changed how our culture thinks/processes/feels in some fundamental ways. Indigenous ("original") religion was pre-literate, or oral. As such we saw language in places where modern folk chalk it up to anthropomorphizing or "not really language" because reasons. Human language itself emerged out of our interactions with the land in ways that we are almost totally detached from today with how language (written) is taught.

After having two kids with speech difficulties, its really hit home how mechanical language can get. In some ways, their more direct way, to simply get the point across, as opposed to 'proper' speech seems more natural at times.

And with all the cats... we totally communicate. Just not in English.

I've been doing the Ovate grade with the Druid order I'm a member of and much of it has involved transcending some of the deeply-ingrained conventions of Western culture... including an over-reliance on written language. But some types of language work okay - the sort that have a performative or sensory component. The rhythm of poetry, the beat of a song, the movements that go with it, the expression of curled lips whether snarls or smiles, anything that involves more of the body and self in the experience of the words.

I had a friend once tell me that he preferred text because he could erase mistakes, take his time, and make his comment 'perfect'. I didn't like talking to him via text for that reason... I wanted to talk to my real friend, not a polished version of him. We do lose something on the overreliance of words, I think, yet its hard to get away from it in society as it is.

Perhaps that's all the more reason connecting with that 'spirit of place' can be refreshing... to commune with the life around you, as it is, in a most natural way.

This Spring, for example, because I've been paying attention more a really interesting thing happened a few days before the Spirit of the Green really started getting going and unfurling. I felt it in ways that were... it wasn't words. More like motion. Getting up, up, up, standing up, shaking hands in the air, dancing, moving, flowing like the sap ascending from root to branch. A couple days later I saw tree flowers conforming what my body had felt from the trees and the green. Somehow, I felt all that and I can't really explain the hows of it... it just happened. That's knowing the spirits of place. Experience more than words.

That's so wonderful to connect like that. Do you feel 'tuning in' to this presence has enriched your life? On the flip side, do you feel your 'tuning in' benefits the spirit of place as well?

 

[Jimmy]

Life really.

 

[Quintessence]

I had a friend once tell me that he preferred text because he could erase mistakes, take his time, and make his comment 'perfect'. I didn't like talking to him via text for that reason... I wanted to talk to my real friend, not a polished version of him. We do lose something on the overreliance of words, I think, yet its hard to get away from it in society as it is.

In some ways though, that urge to polish is a reflection of who they are. It's definitely that way for me. I've refined written communication skills and prefer polished writing styles... which reflects my background and upbringing as well as my disposition somewhat. Though it is true, face-to-face I can be way more of a goofball than I typically am in writing. I don't do it in writing partly because the nuance doesn't really work in text... even with emojis.

That's so wonderful to connect like that. Do you feel 'tuning in' to this presence has enriched your life? On the flip side, do you feel your 'tuning in' benefits the spirit of place as well?

It's definitely enriching.

Much of the modern, domestic human lifeway in the United States disconnects us from the sensuous world around us. With some exceptions, most spend their days in climate-controlled artificial structures, blinding themselves to the flow of the winds, the feeling of moisture in the air, the song of birds and insects... just, everything that isn't put there by some human. And the landscapes are in some ways little better, carefully manicured and sanitized for human purposes instead of serving something greater. The domesticated human too easily forgets it was born out of the earth and is dependent on the spirits of the land and of place. What one does not see and know and feel... one does not care about. Out of that is born the present era of ecological genocide, which to anyone really in tune with the spirits of the land is... there's no word strong enough for how horrifying it is.

But it does little good to get caught up in the doom and gloom, so instead I listen, look to find little ways to give back. And take the long view. As horrifying as humanity's legacy on this planet is going to be, it's still just a blip in the grand scheme of things. There's something very humbling about studying earth history and realizing the land I am living on right now was under the ocean not all that long ago (relatively speaking).

 

[beenherebeforeagain]

Most Americans, and maybe even most humans now, have moved from where they were from, and no longer have much connection to place beyond what they can develop themselves. For example, I've lived on the current land for 23+ years now, with my love of several lifetimes. She has lived most of her life here, within a few hundred feet of our current house. While I know where my father was born and raised...and my ancestors down that family line for several more generations, I know it only as a temporary, occasional visitor...but then, he hasn't lived there since the mid-1940s. Even the house where I lived my formative years (6 to 14) where my folks have lived since 1964, I am only a temporary, occasional visitor.

There is limited sense of place. Yes, I can open myself (and have) to the places I have lived, but it largely is only MY OWN experience of it...I haven't heard the stories of who lived there before, both human and otherwise.

but I have two large boulders (moved from a nearby property) from the Jurassic-era bedrock that underlies this area, dating from when the spot where I live now was at the bottom of a 1,500-foot-deep inland sea...there are fossils of various sea creatures in the rocks...so there is that kind of spirit of place...

 

[JustGeorge]

In some ways though, that urge to polish is a reflection of who they are. It's definitely that way for me. I've refined written communication skills and prefer polished writing styles... which reflects my background and upbringing as well as my disposition somewhat. Though it is true, face-to-face I can be way more of a goofball than I typically am in writing. I don't do it in writing partly because the nuance doesn't really work in text... even with emojis.

I guess in the sense that humans tend to wear multiple faces, it makes sense that one expresses themselves differently at times.

It's definitely enriching.

Much of the modern, domestic human lifeway in the United States disconnects us from the sensuous world around us. With some exceptions, most spend their days in climate-controlled artificial structures, blinding themselves to the flow of the winds, the feeling of moisture in the air, the song of birds and insects... just, everything that isn't put there by some human. And the landscapes are in some ways little better, carefully manicured and sanitized for human purposes instead of serving something greater. The domesticated human too easily forgets it was born out of the earth and is dependent on the spirits of the land and of place. What one does not see and know and feel... one does not care about. Out of that is born the present era of ecological genocide, which to anyone really in tune with the spirits of the land is... there's no word strong enough for how horrifying it is.

But it does little good to get caught up in the doom and gloom, so instead I listen, look to find little ways to give back. And take the long view. As horrifying as humanity's legacy on this planet is going to be, it's still just a blip in the grand scheme of things. There's something very humbling about studying earth history and realizing the land I am living on right now was under the ocean not all that long ago (relatively speaking).

I appreciate the idea of giving back instead of mourning. There's something to be mourned, for sure, but it seems its easy to get stuck in a mindset of disgust and to stagnate, and contribute to things around a person stagnating.

I often ponder this place being under the ocean, too... Instead of the sky, I'll imagine for a moment all kinds of creatures of all sizes swimming above me.

Most Americans, and maybe even most humans now, have moved from where they were from, and no longer have much connection to place beyond what they can develop themselves. For example, I've lived on the current land for 23+ years now, with my love of several lifetimes. She has lived most of her life here, within a few hundred feet of our current house. While I know where my father was born and raised...and my ancestors down that family line for several more generations, I know it only as a temporary, occasional visitor...but then, he hasn't lived there since the mid-1940s. Even the house where I lived my formative years (6 to 14) where my folks have lived since 1964, I am only a temporary, occasional visitor.

Do you feel your wife has a stronger connection with the land you both reside on now, being as she spent so much time there?

Its a strange feeling, to go into the house you were raised in... yet, as a different person, looking at it with different eyes. Or, so it seems to me.

There is limited sense of place. Yes, I can open myself (and have) to the places I have lived, but it largely is only MY OWN experience of it...I haven't heard the stories of who lived there before, both human and otherwise.

Its true, what one feels in a certain place, another may not. My husband is deeply drawn by the oceans...while I enjoy them, I don't feel the same connection, and feel more at awe with the Great Lakes.

but I have two large boulders (moved from a nearby property) from the Jurassic-era bedrock that underlies this area, dating from when the spot where I live now was at the bottom of a 1,500-foot-deep inland sea...there are fossils of various sea creatures in the rocks...so there is that kind of spirit of place...

That's really awesome.

 

[Truthseeker]

I've been learning a bit and working with the Spirit of Place lately. Its been fascinating on a hands on level; noticing things I may have passed by 50 times, or considering energies and consciousness of the entities around me has made things much more meaningful.

What can you tell me of your Spirit of Place?

First off, you'll have to define what 'your Place' means for you. Your physical home? The property? The block? City? Something entirely different? Secondly, you'll have to describe 'Spirit'. Perhaps your area or a land feature within it will have some kind of deity or saint associated with it, and that may influence the 'spirit' for you. Perhaps not. Maybe you see 'spirits' are conscious energy beings, or maybe you think that idea is nonsense, and the 'spirit' to you is the energy of its plants and people. However you experience it is fine.

For me the places are the Shrine of the Bab, and the Shrine of Baha'u'llah foremost Describing what spirit is is difficult. It can be sense of peace, or awe, or love. I've experienced all three.

 

[Aupmanyav]

For me .. I've experienced all three.

I expected nothing other than this from you.

The spirit of my birth place, Jodhpur, in Rajasthan, India, is honesty, simplicity and loyalty.

 

[Exaltist Ethan]

My neighborhood would be considered my spirit of place. While I take walks around my neighborhood I often meet my neighbors whom I talk to and listen attentively to. My neighborhood is several blocks east and west of here. On the corners there are commercial districts, grocery stores, restaurants, and more is currently being built. Around the middle is bunch of residential properties, including my apartment complex. I got a vibe being around here as I get to know more people around here, often talking to people in my complex or visiting the local theater for a movie. There's a lot of good energy around this area as it is developed but not crime-infested like much of Milwaukee is. This area is my home, and it has been for over a decade now. They recently built sidewalks going east so I often take walks heading east now. And there's more buses around than ever now. I enjoy being apart of this community.