Gothic Psychology, The Ecological Unconscious and the Re-Enchantment of Nature

[Laird]

Gothic Psychology, The Ecological Unconscious and the Re-Enchantment of Nature by Dr. Jack Hunter.

Posting this here as a piece I'd like to read at some point but haven't yet.

[Laird]

As well as this one, of which Jack says "Like my other recent article on Gothic Psychology and the Ecological Unconscious, this article is part of a continuing exploration of themes covered in Greening the Paranormal":

Faeries at the Bottom of the Garden: Non-Human Intelligence and Connection to Nature

[Laird]

Gothic Psychology, The Ecological Unconscious and the Re-Enchantment of Nature by Dr. Jack Hunter.

Posting this here as a piece I'd like to read at some point but haven't yet.

Having now read the piece, I'm glad I did. By "Gothic" Psychology, Jack refers not to the modern goth subculture in which colour is abhorred over black and white and The Cure and Marilyn Manson would be worshipped as Gods if worship were even a goth thing, but rather to the notion of an intricate, ornate, complex structure - drawing on F.W.H. Myers' conception of not just a supra-liminal but also a sub-liminal mind; a mind which is as much a multiplicity as a unity, and which, moreover, extends out into and is interconnected with the natural world and ecology beyond what superficially appears to be its isolated self; a world which is animistic and comprised of non-human persons; a world with which our identification may lead to both a re-enchantment and a cessation of destructive attitudes and behaviours towards both our own selves and "the other" - to the extent that there's even a distinction.

Or, at least, that's the message I took from it. :-)

[Laird]

As well as this one, of which Jack says "Like my other recent article on Gothic Psychology and the Ecological Unconscious, this article is part of a continuing exploration of themes covered in Greening the Paranormal":

Faeries at the Bottom of the Garden: Non-Human Intelligence and Connection to Nature

I'm glad for having read this piece too. There are some gems in it, such as these (for which I will cross-post it to Neil's thread The Faeries and Consciousness):

The association of the little-folk with gardens also continues into more recent times. In the 1960s a group who claimed to be in communication with supernatural beings variously conceived as God, devas, faeries and elemental spirits established a garden at Findhorn on the eastern coast of Scotland. Led by Eileen Caddy (1917-2006), Peter Caddy (1917-1994) and Dorothy Maclean (1920-2020), the Findhorn garden developed into a highly productive plot with vast quantities of fruit and (often oversized) vegetables, all in spite of being situated on relatively poor growing land. The success of the Findhorn garden was attributed to guidance from the devas and elementals - who each had their own roles and functions in the garden:

While the devas may be considered the “architects” of plant forms, the nature spirits or elementals, such as gnomes and fairies, may be seen as the “craftsmen,” using the blueprint and energy channelled to them by the devas to build up the plant form (The Findhorn Foundation, 1975, pp. 58-59)

By working with the elementals, the Findhorn gardeners claimed that they were operating according to natural principles, which in turn led to an abundant and diverse garden.

The conclusion though really sums up how the piece connects up thematically with the previous one:

One of the broader themes explored in Greening the Paranormal is the role that a re-engagement with non-human intelligence - in the form of plants, animals, faeries, spirits and so on - might have in renewing our sense of connection to the natural world and in practically helping to promote biodiversity. Perhaps by re-enchanting our view of the natural world, re-connecting with the varieties of non-human intelligence that surround us, and leaving wild and green spaces for faeries at the bottom of the garden we can contribute to halting the dramatic loss of biodiversity (and psychodiversity) that is currently blighting our planet.