Rewilding Mythology, Embracing Grief, and Rediscovering Ecological Wisdom through Story with Sophie Strand

Have you ever felt a profound sense of grief for "the environment" and wondered how this heart-sense may ties into our kinship and ancient stories?

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In this episode, Sophie Strand and I explore this complex interplay, highlighting how symbiosis and mutual aid have played pivotal roles in evolutionary advancements and how consuming food, metabolism, is an act of metamorphosis.

From the intimate dance between plants and fungi that reshaped our world, to personal reflections on seasonal changes, Sophie and I share our collective journey through climate grief and adaptation. We emphasize the essential nature of being grounded in our surroundings and fostering a kinship with the land.

We also discuss the idea of uncertainty. What if embracing uncertainty could open up new ways of understanding our environment? New and old ways made new in their re-rooting. We tackle the topic of binary thinking, drawing on cognitive science and Andy Clark's work on predictive processing, revealing how rigid certainty can alienate us from nature. Sophie also carries the fascinating language of fungi (mycorrhizae and hyphae) to illustrate the broader ecological implications of communication, communion, and community. Through these connections, we underscore our often misguided efforts to control nature and the false sense of predictability it brings.

Lastly, Sophie weaves together ancient myths and modern reinterpretations to uncover their ecological wisdom. Whether it's the symbolic cave art of Lascaux or the misunderstood roles of plants like autumn olive and Johnson grass, myths serve as durable vessels of environmental and social knowledge. We invite you to rethink these narratives as not just cultural artifacts, but as repositories of scientific data and ecological insights.

Join us in this rich tapestry of stories, science, and spirituality, and rediscover the interconnectedness of life, death, and rebirth within our ecosystems.

Read Sophie's Books HERE. Follow Sophie on Substack HERE.

Buy Daniel's latest book HERE.

Sophie Strand is a writer based in the Hudson Valley who focuses on the intersection of spirituality, storytelling, and ecology. But it would probably be more authentic to call her a neo-troubadour animist with a propensity to spin yarns that inevitably turn into love stories.