Forces and flows - Permaculture Magazine
“We experience the sensuous world only by rendering ourselves vulnerable to that world. Sensory perception is this ongoing interweavement: the terrain enters into us only to the extent that we allow ourselves to be taken up within that terrain.”
- David Abram, Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology
This article for Permaculture Magazine explores working with the “subtle intelligence of the land” through two practitioners: UNESCO peace artist Marko Pogačnik and former British Dowsing Association chair Patrick MacManaway. Marco Pogačnik creates “cosmograms” and “Earth acupuncture” designs to rebalance the land, believing “Nature intelligence” is a sentient force humans can work with. He advocates moving beyond purely rational perception to include bodily and emotional sensitivity, suggesting we experience only the “outer part of reality.” Patrick MacManaway, trained as a doctor, works internationally with farmers to improve crop yields, heal animals, and restore land balance through direct communication with subtle realms, calling for a return to “husbandry”, respectful human-place relationships rather than objectifying agricultural science. Communication is key to working with invisible forces. Patrick MacManaway describes it as using a different “map” to engage with the “spirit of place.” Our current ecological challenges may require changing how we relate to the world, widening our conversation to include all beings, visible and invisible, through observation, communication, and expressing humility, respect, gratitude and solidarity with the life forms we share our world with. Read more …