Plant Blindness
The inability to register plants in one’s environment or to see the importance of the plant...
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Author: Betsey Crawford
Native Language
When a human language dies, says linguist David Crystal, “what is primarily lost is the...
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Rain
When my partner George died in October one of the things I dreaded was the coming rainy season. No more beautiful blue and yellow days, long twilit evenings, silken roses in overflowing gardens. I feared I had only darkness and storms ahead. Grayness inside and out. One soft, misty January day, walking a trail along […]
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The power of allurement, the mystery of beauty
In this essay I ponder one of nature’s most intriguing mysteries: why is so much so beautiful? Why all those luscious colors, gossamer wings, silken petals? Why rustling waves of grasslands, filled with flowers, chirping crickets, soaring meadowlarks? Beauty is an aspect of the universal power that cosmologist Brian Swimme calls allurement, the great attracting […]
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Weathering the storm: living with the power of cataclysm
We owe our existence to the spectacular collapse of early stars. So the challenging power of cataclysm has been with us since the beginning. We live on a planet of shifting tectonic plates, which means we will face earthquakes and volcanoes. But that movement also means we are alive on a verdant earth. Then there […]
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The survivors: the long consolation of ferns
Since the middle of March, when California’s shelter in place started, an acupuncturist friend has been offering weekly meditations via phone. She starts by asking us to imagine ourselves in a nurturing place in nature. I invariably find myself on a forest floor, trees reaching high above me, leafy branches arching overhead. I’m surrounded by […]
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It couldn’t be clearer: the power of interrelatedness
It doesn’t take a pandemic to tell us that our culture has its values and rewards upside down. But it may take a pandemic to show us that we are also completely dependent on sound ecosystems, where viruses such as the new coronavirus have no reason to break away from their evolutionary niche. Tug on […]
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Transcendence on the Headlands
One of the most transcendent moments of my life happened on the Marin headlands, within view of...
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The patient genius of transmutation
“All is flux,” the Greek philosopher Heraclitus said 2500 years ago. “Nothing stays still.” He offered us a perfect description of transmutation, one of the great powers that cosmologist Brian Swimme ascribes to the universe. Every molecule, every cell, every feature of our earth has come to this point through transmutation. Now it’s asking us […]
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When Rivers Go to Court
Imagine a river taking her case to court. Arriving in her smooth, flowing robes, reflecting the blue of the sky, a shimmering train brushing the floor as she walks. She speaks in a deep, contralto voice. Her tone holds great authority. No one, listening to her, would doubt her word for an instant. It would […]
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- Materials for learning about the history and diversity of life
- Tree of Life chart – free download
- Nesting and Branching Diagrams for the Bony Vertebrates introduces “tree-thinking” and how to read phylogenies (evolutionary tree diagrams)
- From Chordates to Mammals: Exploring the Tree of Life
- The Story of Mammals: From the Dawn of Life to the Present Day
- Outline of Geologic Time and the History of Life booklet
Our Vision is to ignite our sense of connectedness with Earth and nurture a spirituality of Earth care through learning circles.
Creation Spirituality: Reawakening Mysticism, Protecting Our Planet
Gladwyne Montessori is an independent Montessori school on Philadelphia’s Main Line.
Gladwyne Montessori
Committed to guiding adults in their journey as they discover the truths about childhood and study Montessori pedagogy. Personal growth and deep understanding prepares us for success.
The result is transformative.
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