Comments on: The Cycle of Life

By: Farm Update: New Calf, Chickweed Salads, Veggie Harvest | ARealGreenLife

Farm Update: New Calf, Chickweed Salads, Veggie Harvest | ARealGreenLife

[…] a week later, the moon is waxing, its spring on the wheel of the year in the Southern Hemisphere, and all kinds of beginnings are budding on our farm. The biggest one (in […]

By: Transitioning from Toxic to Natural | ARealGreenLife

Transitioning from Toxic to Natural | ARealGreenLife

[…] reason is that nature places limits on their production – they’re part of a cycle of life that cannot be rushed or pushed too far out of balance before it […]

By: The Dark Moon – Realigning Ourselves With the Rhythm of Life | ARealGreenLife

[…] I wrote about the universal cycle of life: birth/emergence, growth, full bloom, harvest, death/decay, dormancy, and […]

By: What the Waning Moon can Teach Us about Connection and Support - The Permaculture Research Institute

[…] what I wrote in “The Cycle of Life,” we can find the same cycle (zoomed in or zoomed out) in the rhythm of the in-breath and the […]

By: What will the Full Moon Reveal for You? - ARealGreenLife

What will the Full Moon Reveal for You? - ARealGreenLife

[…] lunar cycle is one expression of the cycle of life – an unending cycle of birth, growth, fulfillment, decline, death/rest/stillness, and […]

By: Kate

Kate

In reply to Lou Boodaville.

Hi Lou, thanks so much for your comment. You reminded me to add some references to the sources from whom I’ve been learning about “seasons” and the cycle of life — I’ll be sure to do that soon and let you all know via email. I would LOVE to hear some male voices on this topic of masculine/feminine as all of the writers/teachers I’m learning from currently are women. I’ll look up Looby MacNamara and Jon Young — thanks for the tip! All the best Lou!

By: Lou Boodaville

Lou Boodaville

Hi Kate, That was a lovely very quick read on a rainy summer morning here visiting the UK. The ideas resonate so much with the work by Looby MacNamara in Cultural Emergence and the way she structures ideas around “Challenge and Awaken” “Move and Invigorate” and “Nourish and Empower”. Matching these ideas with seasons as you do is particularly interesting to bring “death” into the cycle. It is so true that our culture has an unhealthy tendancy to avoid and “deny” death rather than accept this part of the cycle.
Rather off the topic of permaculture I’m reminded by writing this of the film “Guardians of the Galaxy”. A mainstream movie where one of the “good guys” dies (as always) but the ending (instead of ignoring them and being happy for the overall good beat evil) is a huge and beautiful funeral ceremony.

I think the observations about masculine and feminine are interesting and I wonder how these words come to be used as we frame and promote more widely the importance of acceptance of death and rest, and nourish and empower. I imagine they will become distinct from gender. I also wonder how many male voices can be found on the topic. I know Looby worls closely with Jon Young in a balanced male / female facilitation team.
All the best Kate, have a great “summer” in your climate without summer!