An excerpt from An Exploration of Four Ecovillages through the Ecoresilient Lens of Spirituality by Carol Koziol
Garden Attunement in the Findhorn Ecovillage, Scotland
Spiritual Shadows
A shadow is darkness occurring when the light is blocked. The ‘light’ of spirituality does have a dark, unacknowledged ‘shadow side,’ which often shows up as superficial, self-centred practices. This section addresses some of the common community-related concerns of spirituality. The shadow side of spirituality appears in intentional communities and ecovillages partially due to a long history of association with eco-spirituality and the New Age Movement. [12]
The main criticisms are commodification, spiritual bypassing, and cultural appropriation. One significant concern involves the commodification of spirituality. Many intentional ecovillage communities generate a great deal of revenue through expensive spiritual and ecospiritual products, programs, retreats, and workshops. These eco-spiritual programs receive criticism because they cater to privileged individuals and do not address social inequities. Unfortunately, eco-spiritual tourism perpetuates the “Western tendencies to commodify spirituality, using it to insulate and reinforce ego-clinging, blissful states of mind, and avoidance of pain” (Sherrell and Simmer-Brown 2017, 75). The commodification of spirituality is considered a down-side to offering spiritual programs due to a lack of social-ecological advocacy. Egoic self-centredness and denial of global pain is an apt description of the shadow of spirituality.
The shadow-side of spirituality is also referred to as ‘spiritual bypassing’ and occurs when there is no spiritual agency to engage in societal problems and challenges. Vaughan-Lee (2019) reminds us that spiritual practices are never for our selves alone and that humans are required to step beyond self-interest. Superficial, self-centred spirituality perpetuates anthropocentrism and was evident during some ecovillage site visits. Moving beyond self-centredness often leads to political engagement.
Capra Carruba (2007) believes that “If you deal with spirituality, you also have to deal with politics; otherwise, you lack what is needed to carry these [spiritual] aspects into society” (221). Carruba makes a case for spiritual engagement describing politics as the art of balancing human and environmental needs. Within the local ecovillage and the broader bioregion, advocating for human and more-than-human communities of life is a form of spiritually informed politics. Spirituality does demand an acknowledgement of privilege and is a call for people to exercise allyship. Not participating in advocacy efforts is spiritually bypassing many real-world issues around social and ecological injustices.
Another form of spiritual bypassing occurs when spiritual practices are ‘borrowed’ or misappropriated from oppressed cultures, such as Indigenous peoples. Trendy activities such as smudging with white sage, using a medicine wheel, participating in vision quests, and other sacred land-based rituals should never occur without an original knowledge keeper overseeing the practice (Eyers 2016). Ecovillage communities that offer programs promoting such activities, especially for money, are appropriating from an oppressed culture. The following statement summarizes the issue of misappropriating Indigenous spiritual or cultural practices.
By going ahead and using FN [First Nations] spiritual or cultural property as a non-native person, you are…. still indulging in racist and colonizing behavior, and that you have no clue what your own cultural identity is. Beyond the universal tools found in nature to make fire and shelter, and regional wild foods that are going to be similar whatever culture you belong to, it is best to recover the indigenous practices of your own ancestry.
(Pegi Eyers 2017, 2)
Learning the history of the land and humbly becoming an ally for the original peoples is one affirmative and spiritual way to begin to remedy the injustices of colonization. And if the original peoples are unknown, as they are in the UK and Europe, then minimally, the history of the spiritual practice needs to be acknowledged. Knowing the positive and negative aspects of spirituality informs the next discussion of the impacts of spirituality on ecoresilience.
A shadow is darkness occurring when the light is blocked. The ‘light’ of spirituality does have a dark, unacknowledged ‘shadow side,’ which often shows up as superficial, self-centred practices. This section addresses some of the common community-related concerns of spirituality. The shadow side of spirituality appears in intentional communities and ecovillages partially due to a long history of association with eco-spirituality and the New Age Movement. [12]
The main criticisms are commodification, spiritual bypassing, and cultural appropriation. One significant concern involves the commodification of spirituality. Many intentional ecovillage communities generate a great deal of revenue through expensive spiritual and ecospiritual products, programs, retreats, and workshops. These eco-spiritual programs receive criticism because they cater to privileged individuals and do not address social inequities. Unfortunately, eco-spiritual tourism perpetuates the “Western tendencies to commodify spirituality, using it to insulate and reinforce ego-clinging, blissful states of mind, and avoidance of pain” (Sherrell and Simmer-Brown 2017, 75). The commodification of spirituality is considered a down-side to offering spiritual programs due to a lack of social-ecological advocacy. Egoic self-centredness and denial of global pain is an apt description of the shadow of spirituality.
The shadow-side of spirituality is also referred to as ‘spiritual bypassing’ and occurs when there is no spiritual agency to engage in societal problems and challenges. Vaughan-Lee (2019) reminds us that spiritual practices are never for our selves alone and that humans are required to step beyond self-interest. Superficial, self-centred spirituality perpetuates anthropocentrism and was evident during some ecovillage site visits. Moving beyond self-centredness often leads to political engagement.
Capra Carruba (2007) believes that “If you deal with spirituality, you also have to deal with politics; otherwise, you lack what is needed to carry these [spiritual] aspects into society” (221). Carruba makes a case for spiritual engagement describing politics as the art of balancing human and environmental needs. Within the local ecovillage and the broader bioregion, advocating for human and more-than-human communities of life is a form of spiritually informed politics. Spirituality does demand an acknowledgement of privilege and is a call for people to exercise allyship. Not participating in advocacy efforts is spiritually bypassing many real-world issues around social and ecological injustices.
Another form of spiritual bypassing occurs when spiritual practices are ‘borrowed’ or misappropriated from oppressed cultures, such as Indigenous peoples. Trendy activities such as smudging with white sage, using a medicine wheel, participating in vision quests, and other sacred land-based rituals should never occur without an original knowledge keeper overseeing the practice (Eyers 2016). Ecovillage communities that offer programs promoting such activities, especially for money, are appropriating from an oppressed culture. The following statement summarizes the issue of misappropriating Indigenous spiritual or cultural practices.
By going ahead and using FN [First Nations] spiritual or cultural property as a non-native person, you are…. still indulging in racist and colonizing behavior, and that you have no clue what your own cultural identity is. Beyond the universal tools found in nature to make fire and shelter, and regional wild foods that are going to be similar whatever culture you belong to, it is best to recover the indigenous practices of your own ancestry.
(Pegi Eyers 2017, 2)
Learning the history of the land and humbly becoming an ally for the original peoples is one affirmative and spiritual way to begin to remedy the injustices of colonization. And if the original peoples are unknown, as they are in the UK and Europe, then minimally, the history of the spiritual practice needs to be acknowledged. Knowing the positive and negative aspects of spirituality informs the next discussion of the impacts of spirituality on ecoresilience.
NOTES
12. New Age Movement: In 1970, American theosophist David Spangler moved to the Findhorn Foundation, where he popularized the fundamental idea of the New Age movement. He believed that the release of new waves of spiritual energy, signalled by specific astrological changes, had initiated the coming of the New Age. He further suggested that people use this new energy to make manifest the New Age. (Accessed 10 April 2020)
www.britannica.com/topic/New-Age-movement
REFERENCES
Carla Sherrell and Judith Simmer-Brown, Spiritual Bypassing in the Contemporary Mindfulness Movement, 2017
www.academia.edu/34353436/Spiritual_Bypassing_in_the_Contemporary_Mindfulness_Movement
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Including the Earth in Our Prayers: A Global Dimension to Spiritual Practice, Point Reyes Station, CA, The Golden Sufi Center, 2019
Capra Carruba, director of the Liber School and mother of two children, Damanhur Community, https://damanhur.org
Pegi Eyers, Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, Stone Circle Press, 2016
Access the full paper by Carol Koziol on Academia:
www.academia.edu/45625111/An_Exploration_of_Four_Ecovillages_through_the_Ecoresilient_Lens_of_Spirituality
12. New Age Movement: In 1970, American theosophist David Spangler moved to the Findhorn Foundation, where he popularized the fundamental idea of the New Age movement. He believed that the release of new waves of spiritual energy, signalled by specific astrological changes, had initiated the coming of the New Age. He further suggested that people use this new energy to make manifest the New Age. (Accessed 10 April 2020)
www.britannica.com/topic/New-Age-movement
REFERENCES
Carla Sherrell and Judith Simmer-Brown, Spiritual Bypassing in the Contemporary Mindfulness Movement, 2017
www.academia.edu/34353436/Spiritual_Bypassing_in_the_Contemporary_Mindfulness_Movement
Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Including the Earth in Our Prayers: A Global Dimension to Spiritual Practice, Point Reyes Station, CA, The Golden Sufi Center, 2019
Capra Carruba, director of the Liber School and mother of two children, Damanhur Community, https://damanhur.org
Pegi Eyers, Ancient Spirit Rising: Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community, Stone Circle Press, 2016
Access the full paper by Carol Koziol on Academia:
www.academia.edu/45625111/An_Exploration_of_Four_Ecovillages_through_the_Ecoresilient_Lens_of_Spirituality
Pegi Eyers is the author of "Ancient Spirit Rising:
Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community"
an award-winning book that explores strategies for intercultural
competency, healing our relationships with Turtle Island First Nations, uncolonization, recovering an ecocentric worldview, rewilding, creating a sustainable future and reclaiming peaceful co-existence in Earth Community.
Available from Stone Circle Press or Amazon.
Reclaiming Your Roots & Restoring Earth Community"
an award-winning book that explores strategies for intercultural
competency, healing our relationships with Turtle Island First Nations, uncolonization, recovering an ecocentric worldview, rewilding, creating a sustainable future and reclaiming peaceful co-existence in Earth Community.
Available from Stone Circle Press or Amazon.
