:: Biblioteca Digital de Ecopsicologia (BDE)

The Wisdom of the Body: Embodied Knowing in Eco-Paganism

UNIVERSITY OF WINCHESTER,

an accredited institution of the University of Southampton.

Faculty of Arts:

Department of Theology and Religious Studies.

The Wisdom of the Body:

Embodied Knowing in Eco-Paganism

Adrian Paul Harris

Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

29th January 2008

UNIVERSITY OF WINCHESTER

an accredited college of the University of Southampton

ABSTRACT

FACULTY OF ARTS. DEPARTMENT OF THEOLOGY AND RELIGIOUS

STUDIES.

Doctor of Philosophy

EMBODIED KNOWING IN ECO-PAGANISM

by Adrian Paul Harris

Although embodied knowing is fundamental to our experience, no

previous study has detailed its role in a specific spiritual group. This thesis

offers a new model of embodied situated cognition, and develops an

embodied hermeneutics which uses Focusing in phenomenological

research. I apply these tools to the first detailed ethnography of Eco-

Paganism to reveal powerful processes of connection which have

considerable significance for religious studies and ecopsychology.

Chapters 2 and 3 survey the literature on Eco-Paganism and embodied

cognition. Chapter 4 uses the latter to synthesise a model of embodied

situated cognition which I call the 'enactive process model', because it

draws primarily on enactivism (inter alia, Varela et al., 1991), and

Gendlin's process philosophy (Gendlin, 1997). Current research shows

that key aspects of cognition are situated and embodied (inter alia, Varela

et al., 1991), such that we often think with place (inter alia, Preston,

2003). This raises epistemological questions which I address in a

discussion of embodied philosophy in Chapter 5. I then explain my

embodied hermeneutics methodology, and the practical application of the

Focusing Interview technique, in Chapter 6. My fieldwork

autoethnography, Chapter 7, provides an intuitive, felt understanding of

life on a road protest site, and is followed by ethnographies of urban and

protest site Eco-Paganism in Chapters 8 and 9. Chapter 10 discusses six

processes which create a sense of connection to the organic environment,

which include the felt sense (Gendlin, 1981) and the wilderness effect

(Greenway, 1995).

I conclude that a type of wilderness effect can catalyze the emergence of a

complex 'nature based' spirituality amongst site Eco-Pagans, while a less

intense form affects urban Eco-Pagans. Eco-Pagans sometimes use these

processes of connection to think with a place. The processes of connection

and thinking with place are fundamental to embodied situated knowing in

Eco-Paganism, and help explain many of its distinctive aspects. By

demonstrating the importance of embodied situated knowing in Eco-

Paganism, I highlight the potential for further research into processes of

connection and the impact of different physical spaces on religious

practice in general.

Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction

SECTION I: LOCATING THE RESEARCH PROJECT

Chapter 2: Eco-Paganism Literature review

Chapter 3: Embodied Cognition Literature review

Chapter 4: Embodied Situated Cognition: A Synthesis

Chapter 5: Embodied Philosophy: My Ontological and Epistemological Grounding

Chapter 6: Research Design and Methodology

SECTION II: FIELDWORK

Section II Introduction: Between Protest Site and Urban Life: The Spectrum of

Eco-Pagan Practice

Chapter 7: “You’re not studying it – you’re living it”: An Autoethnography

Chapter 8: Listening to the Threshold Brook: Urban Eco Paganism

Chapter 9: The Power of Place: Protest Site Eco-Paganism

Chapter 10: Eco-Paganism: A "sacred relationship with the world"

SECTION III: CONCLUSION

Chapter 11: Conclusion

APPENDICES

Appendix 1: Original Aims and Objectives

Appendix 2: Focusing - The Six Steps

References

References to works outside this thesis use the Harvard system. References to

titles of thesis chapters are given in the text in single quotes, while references

to sections of chapters are italicized.

List of figures and illustrations

Fig. 1: The Cognitive Iceberg

Fig. 2: Embodied Metaphor and Habitus

Fig. 3: Focusing and the Felt Sense

Fig. 4: The Trance State

Fig. 5: The Duck/Rabbit Drawing

Fig. 6: The Hermeneutic Circle

Fig. 7. Topic guide showing notes on chronemic and paralinguistic aspects of the

interview

Fig. 8: A Typology of Eco-Paganism

Fig. 9: Place and Community

Table #1: Processes of Connection

DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP

I, Adrian Paul Harris, declare that the thesis entitled 'The Wisdom of the Body:

Embodied Knowing in Eco-Paganism' and the work presented in the thesis are

both my own, and have been generated by me as the result of my own original

research. I confirm that:

l this work was done wholly or mainly while in candidature for a research

degree at this University;

l where any part of this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree

or any other qualification at this University or any other institution,

this has been clearly stated;

l where I have quoted fro the work of others, the source is always given.

With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own

work;

l I have acknowledged all main sources of help;

l where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I

have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have

contributed myself;

l none of this work has been published before submission.

Date: 29 January, 2008

Acknowledgements

Researching this thesis has been an incredibly moving experience, and

I would like to offer my deep thanks to all those who participated,

especially those who shared my months on site. I hope you feel I've

done us justice!

Many thanks to my supervisory team, Graham Harvey, Elisabeth

Stuart and Andrew Blake. Without Graham's encouragement, I might

never have started this thesis, and without the support of my

supervisory team it would never ended so well. Chrissie Ferngrove’s

guidance helped me enormously through thick and thin – Thank-you! I

am also very grateful to those who granted my studentship: without

that funding I would never have been able to undertake the fieldwork

which has been crucial to this research.

Chapter 1: Introduction

Over ten years ago I gave a presentation that was to change my life. I

was speaking at the Newcastle University conference, 'Paganism

Today' about another way of knowing: The "somatic, physical

knowing ... [that] is the knowledge of faith, of emotion, of the gut

feeling" (Harris, 1996: 151). I concluded then that profound spiritual

experiences involving nature could inspire environmental action, and

that this process was grounded in embodied knowing. My words spoke

of an unexplored landscape and I embarked on a remarkable journey of

discovery which culminated in this thesis: I have concluded that life

changing processes of connection mesh with the embodied situated

knowing which underpins our being-in-the-world. My 1996 paper1

promised much, but left many questions unanswered: I have now

attended to those questions, and clarified both the process of embodied

knowing and its role in Eco-Paganism. My answers are as profound as

I’d hoped and more surprising than I ever imagined.

I begin with an overview, where I set out the deficiencies in existing

research, explain my aims and objectives and provide a brief outline of

the thesis. After a more detailed discussion of themes and findings, I

explain my use of the terms 'organic environment', embodiment,

knowing and cognition and then offer my conclusion.

OVERVIEW

Deficiencies in Existing Research

Although I was initially inspired by the puzzle of embodied knowing in

Eco-Paganism, I later realised that this revealed a much bigger

question: What is the role of embodied knowing in religion and

spirituality in general? With very few exceptions, current religious

studies approaches are profoundly disembodied, and this question has

been far from adequately addressed. This is a severe handicap to the

progress of religious studies, because we lack understanding the

'knowing' which is fundamental to religious and spiritual experience.

To approach the bigger questions about the role of embodied knowing

in religion and spirituality, I needed to focus on one group, and Eco-

Paganism was an obvious choice. In principle I could have researched

any group, as embodied cognition is fundamental to being human.

There is some material related to forms of embodied knowing in faith

traditions, notably Christianity (Isherwood and Stuart, 1998), but Eco-

Pagans are an ideal test case for several reasons. First, Eco-Pagans

valorize the 'body' and 'nature' - two problematic terms I discuss below

1 Although my paper was presented in 1994, I refer to it throughout by the date of its first

publication.

- which suggests an enhanced awareness of embodied knowing.

Second, I was interested in how embodied knowing might influence

motivation, and Eco-Pagans are by definition activists. Third, Eco-

Paganism is a significant but under-researched spirituality. Finally, as

an insider I am intimately familiar with some forms of embodied

knowledge in Eco-Paganism, so I already have a privileged

understanding. On a more reflexive note, I wanted to test the bold

claims I'd made at the 'Paganism Today' conference with ethnography

and a more nuanced autoethnography.

Although embodied knowing is widely discussed across many

disciplines, no existing study attempts to integrate this work into a

coherent model, partly because Western “[p]hilosophy has established

itself on the foundations of a profound somatophobia” (Grosz, 1994: 5).

One of my first tasks was to clarify our general understanding of

embodied knowing and formulate a model that could be applied to

qualitative research.

Initial Aims And Hypotheses

Aims and Objectives2

My primary aim was to determine how notions of 'embodied knowing'

could be used to interpret the practice of Eco-Paganism. Several sub-

aims were required to achieve this: I first established which theories of

embodied knowledge were appropriate to researching Eco-Paganism,

and then used these to develop a 'hermeneutics of embodiment'

methodology. This methodology was then used to research a range of

Eco-Pagan practice. My final thesis went beyond these initial aims in

that I synthesised the enactive process model and set out an embodied

philosophy.

Thesis Outline

This thesis is divided into three sections, the first of which locates my

research. Because my thesis is concerned with two very different fields,

I have two literature reviews surveying first Eco-Paganism (Chapter 2),

and then embodied cognition (Chapter 3). In Chapter 4, I use the

second literature review to synthesise a model of embodied situated

cognition. This raises fundamental questions about epistemology

which I address in Chapter 5, "Embodied Philosophy". Having

established a sound philosophical foundation, I explain my "Research

Design and Methodology" in Chapter 6.

Section two presents the results of my fieldwork. After a brief

introduction to provide an overview of the territory, I present Chapter

7, " 'You’re not studying it – you’re living it': An Autoethnography".

This autoethnography provides an intuitive, felt understanding of life

on a road protest site, which compliments the more formal

2 Adapted from those registered with the University of Southampton, February 2004. See

Appendix 1.

ethnographies that follow in Chapter 8, "Listening to the Threshold

Brook: Urban Eco Paganism" and Chapter 9, "The Power of Place:

Protest Site Eco-Paganism". Section two closes with Chapter 10, "Eco-

Paganism: A 'sacred relationship with the world' " which draws

together the treads of my fieldwork to present a coherent pattern.

Section 3 consists of my final concluding chapter which sets out my

argument, my original contributions to research and its wider

relevance.

Audience

Although of primary interest to religious studies scholars, my survey

and model of embodied knowing will prove of interest to researchers in

a wide range of disciplines, including social science, philosophy and

cognitive neuroscience. Social science academics in general will find

my hermeneutics of embodiment methodology useful in researching

the embodied knowing that lies beyond existing approaches. Finally,

my study provides Eco-Pagans with a deeper understanding of our

spirituality.

THEMES AND FINDINGS

Mapping the key themes running through this thesis will both present

and contextualise my main findings. My thesis has four main themes,

two of which set the initial questions and two of which emerged from

the research. To research embodied knowing in Eco-Paganism, I

undertook an ethnography of Eco-Paganism (theme 1), to which I

then applied a theory of embodied situated cognition. My literature

revealed that embodied knowing is situated, so my second theme is

embodied situated cognition. Embodied situated cognition argues that

in knowing the world we become part of it, and connection emerged as

major theme in my ethnography, so this became my third theme. Many

aspects of my research problematizes conventional dualities, and this

is especially apparent in theories of embodied situated cognition and

my ethnography, so I identify this as my fourth theme.

I begin by presenting a review of literature on Eco-Paganism (Chapter

2), which introduces the sub-theme of the relationship between Eco-

Paganism and mainstream Paganism. I note that some Eco-Pagans are

predominantly urban, while others are more likely to be found on

protest sites. I next turn to research into embodied situated cognition

(Chapter 3), where it becomes clear that there is a great deal of

consistency across disciplines. There is generally agreement that mind

is immanent in the world, and the degree of integration between what

we conventionally understand as ‘self’ and ‘world’ problematizes the

subject-object distinction. Because of this tight integration of 'self' and

'world', place can have a profound impact, not only on our thinking but

our entire being-in-the-world. Chapter 3 describes a form of embodied

knowing which Gendlin calls the 'felt sense', which can be accessed

using a practice called Focusing3 (Gendlin, 1981).

The degree of consistency in embodied situated cognition research

allows me to synthesise a coherent theory of embodied situated

cognition (Chapter 4). This - the 'enactive process model' - combines

enactivism, a leading approach in cognitive neuroscience (inter alia,

Varela et al., 1991), with Gendlin's process philosophy (Gendlin, 1997).

My synthesis is presented graphically in Chapter 4, fig 2, as 'The

Cognitive Iceberg'.

By this stage, my thesis has raised fundamental questions about

epistemology and ontology which need to be addressed before

discussing my methodology. Chapter 5 uses Gendlin's embodied

philosophy to address these issues. Gendlin's epistemology enables me

to discuss embodied knowing from the perspective of propositional,

academic knowledge, and collapses the subject/object distinction, thus

avoiding the problems intrinsic to dualism (inter alia, Gendlin, 1997;

Levin, 1997).

My methodology chapter builds on this epistemology to demonstrate

how Gendlin's Focusing approach can both access embodied knowing

and underpin an embodied hermeneutics (Chapter 6). This allows me

to explore embodied knowing using an embodied methodology that is

underpinned by an embodied epistemology, and thus grounds me in a

virtuous circle of reflexive understanding.

My qualitative study of Eco-Paganism has three strands: an

autoethnography, and studies of urban and site Eco-Paganism. I use

my enactive process model to explain the role of embodied situated

cognition in all strands. In Chapter 7 I present an autoethnography of

my life on road protest sites which enhances the reader's embodied

understanding of my research by providing a "vicarious experience of

the things told” (Ellis & Bochner, 2000: 751). I problematize several

dualities, including academic discourse versus emotional engagement,

and entering/leaving the field. Chapter 8 is a study of urban Eco-

Pagans which highlights several differences from mainstream Pagans.

Feelings of connection with place emerge as the key interview theme,

and I identify several processes which facilitate this experience,

including the felt sense (Gendlin, 1981). The role of embodied situated

cognition is especially apparent in the way participants 'think with

place', as well as in spiritual healing, trance, ritual and relationships to

the organic environment. Chapter 9 discusses protest site Eco-

Paganism, and again notes the importance of processes of connection,

the most important of which is the 'wilderness effect', which has

previously only been observed on wilderness treks (Greenway, 1995). I

show how the processes of connection can catalyse profound spiritual

3 I always capitalize Gendlin's term Focusing to distinguish it from more common usage of the

word. Not all authors follow this practice.

experiences, and blur perceived boundaries between self and other.

Embodied situated cognition is again extensive. I draw these threads

together in Chapter 10, where I use the enactive process model to

analyse the processes of connection and thinking with place. I conclude

that the processes of connection can enable a communion with the

world that awakens Eco-Pagans from the dualistic dream.

TERMINOLOGY

Nature

In the course of this thesis I use several terms that resist simple

definition, and 'nature' is the first and most mercurial. Both Sutton and

Williams consider the word to be the most complex in our language

(Williams 1983: 219; Sutton 2007: 2), mainly because its meaning

changes over time, revealing as it does so major developments in

human thought (Williams 1983:224). 'Nature' encompasses three areas

of meaning: "(i) the essential quality and character of something; (ii)

the inherent force which directs either the world or human beings or

both; (iii) the material world itself, taken as including or not including

human beings" (Williams 1983: 219). During the Romantic period of

the late 18th century, the third meaning acquired an ethical flavour, as

'nature' came to refer to the "goodness and innocence" of the

'unspoiled places' of the 'countryside' (Williams 1983: 223). These

different meanings are often confused or conflated, a fact that

complicates any explanation of contemporary Paganism as a 'Nature

Religion'. The editors of Nature Religion Today (Pearson, Roberts and

Samuel, 1998) suggested that contemporary Paganism is a nature

religion in that it involves “a reorientation towards, and

a resacralisation of, both external nature and our own physical

embodiment” (Pearson, Roberts and Samuel, 1998: 1). This definition,

though adequate, is based squarely on meaning (iii) given above and

ignores meaning (ii) of nature as an "inherent force" which is at least as

significant to many contemporary Pagans. (See 'Eco-Paganism

Literature review').

Bookchin claims that the languages of many aboriginal peoples lack

any equivalent for our word "nature" because they are "[i]mmersed in

nature" so "it has no special meaning" (Bookchin, 1993). Some argue

that we should avoid talking about 'nature' altogether: As Evernden

points out, our contemporary use of the word emphasises a "sense of

separation between the human subject and the surrounding field of

natural objects" (Evernden, 1992: 102). Ingold concurs that 'nature'

only exists "for a being that does not belong there, and that can look

upon it, in the manner of the detached scientist" (Ingold, 2000: 20).

He prefers the word 'environment', but clarifies the term, emphasizing

that any environment is relative to those organisms who exist as part of

it and that an environment is a process, which is "fundamentally

historical" (Ingold, 2000: 20). Ecopsychologist Fisher, comes to a

similar conclusion: In as much as "the natural world" is "a network of

relationships", it "is not a thing all, but a constant flux of interweaving

processes" (Fisher, 2002: 97). Ortner's re-thinking of her 1974 paper

'Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture?' recognises the limitations

of her prior use of Levi-Straussian binary oppositions, and adopts a

more process based approach, wherein 'nature' becomes understood as

Strathern puts it, "those processes that proceed autonomously in the

world, and 'that limit the possible' of human action" (Ortner, 1996:

179).

Despite these attempts to clarify the meaning to the word 'nature', I

conclude that it remains too vague and culturally loaded for this thesis.

Although most of the planet has now been influenced by human

activity, this ranges across a very broad scale from wilderness to

shopping precinct. Thus, Ingold's suggestion of 'environment' remains

problematic, as it fails to distinguish places that are highly modified by

human activities, like cities, from those less influenced by us, like

ancient woodland; both are my environment when I am there. I will

therefore use the term 'organic environment' to refer to the "the

natural world" as "a network of relationships" (Fisher, 2002: 97) and

processes which "proceed autonomously in the world" and “ 'limit the

possible' of human action" (Ortner, 1996: 179), but which is

nevertheless "fundamentally historical" (Ingold, 2000: 20).

Embodiment and Knowledge

The term 'embodiment' is used with different emphasis by different

writers, so I need to be clear about my own understanding. There is a

substantive discussion of this term in my literature review of embodied

cognition (Chapter 3), but I would note here that I do not use the term

'embodiment' as a more nuanced name for the body, but rather to refer

to ways in which we are embodied in the world.

It is difficult to differentiate between embodied cognition, embodied

knowledge(s) and embodied knowing, partly because such "subjugated

ways of knowing" (Foucault, 1980: pp. 81, 84) evade conventional

analysis. Despite the challenge of feminist epistemology, the Western

analytic tradition resists the notion that knowledge could in any sense

be ‘embodied’. Existing definitions, however, can clarify somewhat:

The Oxford Companion to the Mind describes cognition as “The use or

handling of knowledge” (Gregory, 1987: 149), but leaves moot the

question of what ‘knowledge’ means. However, whereas 'knowledge'

suggests something one might use, 'knowing' implies a state of

awareness, an understanding or way of being-in-the-world, and

therefore more accurately describes what I am researching. As

Bourdieu puts it, “[w]hat is ‘learned by the body’ is not something that

one has, like knowledge that can be brandished, but something that

one is” (Bourdieu, 1990: 73).

My embodied cognition literature review (Chapter 3) leads me to

conclude that at the level of embodiment it is practically impossible to

make distinctions between embodied cognition, embodied

knowledge(s) and embodied knowing. However, I perceive an

advantage in retaining the terms ‘embodied cognition’ and ‘embodied

knowing’ to clarify a fundamental distinction between what Merleau-

Ponty calls the physiological or “the objective body”, and “the

phenomenal body,” which is how an individual phenomenologically

experiences their embodiment4. Although there are occasions where we

experience our own body as a physiological entity, we typically

experience subjective embodiment as “a unified potential or capacity

for doing this and that - typing this sentence, scratching that itch, etc.”

(Audi, 1999). I therefore adopt two complementary perspectives; one

focused on the physiological body (embodied cognition), and the other

phenomenological and experientially intimate (embodied knowing).

Neither approach is ‘truer’ than the other, but both offer up different,

equally revealing modes of understanding. We can learn only so much

from looking at an apple; biting and tasting it almost reveals another

entity. Approaches such as cognitive neuroscience favour the

physiological body, while others – for example phenomenology and

anthropology - typically emphasize the phenomenal body. However,

adopting these two perspectives offers clarity, as it becomes clear that

the objective body engages in embodied cognition, while the

phenomenal body can experience an embodied knowing. This

approach is most adequately summarized by Varela et al., who "see our

bodies both as physical structures and as lived, experiential structures -

in short, as both 'outer' and 'inner,' biological and phenomenological".

The term embodiment carries this double meaning: "it encompasses

both the body as a lived, experiential structure and the body as the

context or milieu of cognitive mechanisms" (Varela et al., 1991: xv-xvi).

Conclusion

Having described the deficiencies in existing research, I explained my

aims and objectives. I then set out the four main themes of my

research. The first two themes set the initial questions: I examined my

ethnography of Eco-Paganism from the theoretical perspective of

embodied situated cognition. This perspective, and my ethnography,

highlighted the importance of connection, which therefore became my

third theme. As my research repeatedly problematizes conventional

dualities, I identified this as my fourth theme. I used these themes to

structure the discussion of my research findings, before closing by

4 The phenomenological tradition often uses the terms ‘leib’ for the ‘lived’ or phenomenal

body and ‘körper’ to describe the physical ‘objective ‘ body. (Embree et al., 1997: 66). Lakoff

and Johnson make a similar distinction between “neural embodiment” and

“phenomenological embodiment” (Lakoff and Johnson, 1999: 37)

defining several key terms.

Chapter 2: Eco-Paganism Literature review

"Paganism not only holds a solution to our environmental crisis ... it

can bring about a revolution in the way our culture makes sense of

reality. For Paganism puts us back in touch with the body; by

reconnecting our wordy analytical culture with the physical self,

Paganism brings us back to the Earth" (Harris, 1996: 149). Stirring

stuff, certainly, but does the rhetoric hold? Though I first spoke those

words at a conference in September 1994, they still frame my

discussion. This chapter explores the relationship of Paganism to "our

environmental crisis", questions its claim to counter-cultural status

and considers to what extent Paganism "puts us back in touch with the

body".

There is no single 'Paganism'5, but rather many 'Paganisms' (Blain,

Ezzy and Harvey, 2004: vii) with various global manifestations6.

However, certain "taxic indicators" (Harvey, 2004: 2-3) mark the

network of Traditions, organizations, texts and practices that form

what we might call 'mainstream Paganism'. Various spiritual

approaches including Wicca, witchcraft, Druidry, Heathenism (Asatru

or Odinism), western Shamanism and some strands of Goddess

spirituality, sit, sometimes uncomfortably, beneath the Pagan

umbrella. Several of these approaches - notably Wicca, Druidry and

Heathenism - identify themselves as 'Traditions' (Davy, 2007: 145)

with specific initiation ceremonies, practices and training, but many

Pagans have a more eclectic practice and do not identify with any

Tradition.

THE CONTEXT of ECO-PAGANISM

5 The terms 'contemporary Paganism', 'Pagan' or 'Paganism' are more accurate and less likely

to offend rather than the alternative 'Neo-Paganism'. To speak of Neo-Paganism implies a

closer relationship to the classical variety than historical research supports (Hutton, 1999: vii)

and simultaneously offends practitioners some of whom feel the 'neo-' prefix "represent[s] a

veiled judgment of their religion as being in some way inferior or inauthentic" (Strmiska,

2004).

6 I focus on UK practice throughout but also draw on research based in the USA, specifying

that location where appropriate.

Paganism is often described as a ‘nature religion’ (Pearson, Roberts

and Samuel, 1998: 1), but as Davy points out "some Pagans affirm a

transcendence of nature" and "believe in a sort of divinity that is not of

this world" (Davy, 2007: 7). Furthermore, while it is true that most

Pagan practice is ''centrally concerned with celebrating

Nature''(Harvey 2000: 155), that celebration does not usually extend to

environmental activism or even necessarily increase awareness (Davy,

2007: 175) and most Pagans "don't often think about the ethical and

political implications of what they are doing''(Adler 1986: 397).

Environmentally active Pagans are in "a minority''(Davy, 2002: 90)

and Davy concludes that ''although Pagan discourses tend to support

environmentalism, perhaps the average Pagan does not tend so much

toward political action''(Davy, 2002: 92). This widely supported

conclusion (see inter alia, Adler, 1986; Ezzy, 2006; Greenwood, 2005;

Smith Obler 2004; Letcher, 2000) is less surprising when we recognise

that many Pagans "understand 'nature' as a symbol" rather than a real

place or the actual living environment (Davy, 2007: 24).

It is within this context that a movement has emerged over the last 20

years which is commonly called ‘Eco-Paganism’ in the UK, although it

is sometimes described as ''Practical Paganism’’ (Westwood and

Walbridge, n.d., Plows 1998 and 2005; Letcher 2001). The relationship

between Paganism in general and Eco-Paganism is complex and the

latter is not simply a sub-set of the former. Current theoretical

understandings of Eco-Paganism are discussed below, but in brief, it is

a distinct attitude and approach to the practical expression of

Paganism that expresses itself in environmental action. Although

‘typical’ Eco-Pagans do exist, there are many more Pagans who at one

time or another express Eco-Pagan sensibilities. On the other hand,

some Eco-Pagans - especially itinerant protest site Eco-Pagans - have

little or nothing to do with mainstream Paganism. Bearing this

complex relationship in mind, I begin by exploring the common

ground between Paganism and Eco-Paganism, pointing out particular

Eco-Pagan emphases where relevant.

'Nature' and the Knowing Body

Western mainstream culture has a pragmatic approach to the

environment and at best an ambivalent attitude to the body. But for

most Pagans the body and our sensual relationship to our environment

is fundamental, and engenders an embodied understanding. As

LaFleur points out (1998: 48) how we understand the human body

reveals our deeper metaphysical assumptions, and by placing the

sensual body at the heart of spiritual experience Paganism can

challenge the dominant ideology at both a physical and a symbolic

level. For Harvey ''[e]mbodied reality is authoritative in

Paganism''because Pagan understanding is located in everyday life and

experience (Harvey, 1997: 187). Raphael describes Goddess spirituality

as a ''somatic spirituality” (Raphael, 1996: 75) that resacralizes the

body (Raphael, 1996: 82), while Salomonsen comments that the

symbols used in Reclaiming Witchcraft are grounded in ''the human

body, sexuality and parenting, as well as the earth and the seasonal

cycles of the natural world''(Salomonsen, 2002: 14). This is typical of

Pagans in general (inter alia, Adler, 1986; Hardman and Harvey, 1995;

Harvey, 1997; Pearson, Roberts and Samuel, 1998).

In an interview in People of the Earth Alexei Kondratiev expresses his

belief that ''attunement to the natural world''is the main contribution

Paganism can make to the modern world. This attunement ''is not just

an intellectual understanding''but rather ''a gut feeling”, and he

explained that Pagans ''react in a very personal and visceral way to

Nature''(Hopman and Bond, 1995: 25). In her study of US Pagan

Festivals, Pike suggests that the dancers in a fire ritual ''construct their

identities around the fire by moving back and forth between verbal and

somatic ways of knowing” (Pike, 2001: 189). This helps create a new

relationship to the body that rejects socialized values and celebrates

those of contemporary Paganism, such as sacred sexuality. During the

ritual ''the body both expresses and constructs meaning’’ (Pike, 2001:

197-198).

This validation of embodied knowing is especially common in

literature related to Eco-Paganism. Salomonsen quotes Reclaiming

witch Francesca, for whom significant understanding comes from a

profound physical involvement:

You get involved with your whole being, with your god spirit,

with your sacred animal nature, with your passion – you bring

all parts of you and you experience it (Salomonsen, 1998: 144).

Francesca's experience illustrates Starhawk's understanding that if we

are to move beyond the ''thought-forms of estrangement''we must

focus on the physical: ''what we can see and touch and hold’’

(Starhawk, 1982: 29). Starhawk - a Reclaiming founder member -

prefers symbol to abstraction ''because it evokes sensual and

emotional, not just intellectual, responses''(Starhawk, 1982: 11) and

concludes that "[o]ur economic and political systems, our science and

technology, are rooted in our alienation from our bodies and from the

realms of deep feeling" (Starhawk, 1982: 137). Eco-Pagan activist

Alisha Little Tree spoke of the ''knowledge in our bodies that tell us

what's right''(Taylor, 2001: 231-232) while academic Eco-Pagan Plows

describes the experience of protest camp rituals in similar terms:

We were tuning into the Earth’s heartbeat, to a frequency you

find only through faith and instinct (Plows, 1998a: 289).

Taylor describes similar practices at activist gatherings in the US.

Although some used hallucinogens and alcohol, most activists sought

ecstatic spiritual experience through drumming and dancing:

Fuelled by hard-driving music and drumming, some activists

report mystically fusing with the cosmos, 'losing themselves' and

their sense of independent ego, as they dance into the night

(Taylor, 2001: 228).

(Eco-)Pagan Space

Beyer opines that Pagans valorize physical place, stressing relationship

to what is local (Beyer, 1998: 17 and 19), and this is certainly true of

Eco-Pagans, for whom this belief is expressed in the practice of

building a relationship with the spirit(s) of a place, the genius loci (see

inter alia, Patterson, 1991; Taylor, 2001). But how true this is of Pagans

in general is debatable, as evidenced by the degree of attention paid to

UK 'sacred sites' like Avebury, Glastonbury and Stonehenge (Bowman,

2000: 92; Harvey, 2000: 159) as well as more exotic places like Delphi

and Crete all of which are "popular destinations" for Pagan pilgrims

(Rountree, 2006: 95).

Pagan festival gatherings, which last from a few hours to a week or

more, provide a space where participants can overcome the alienation

Starhawk speaks of (Pike, 2001: 24). Pike is concerned specifically with

large7 Pagan gatherings in the USA:

Dimensions of self and space are interconnected for Neopagans;

boundaries are fluid between self and other, imagination and

reality, and human and nature. Festival space dissolves

these boundaries by telling participants through their senses

that the space belongs to them and is different from the other

spaces they live in (Pike, 2001: 28 –29).

It is illuminating to compare the sacred liminal space of contemporary

Pagan festivals with that of the Eco-Pagan protest camps, as both

create a ''shared reality''that is very different from conventional

experience, (which Pikes’ respondents call ''Mundania”), but is

considered ''more 'real' because [it embodies] an ideal reality''(Pike,

2001: 21). Letcher notes that the ''enchanted world''of the protest camp

is a ''forgotten, and truer [aspect of] reality’’ (Letcher, 2001b: author's

emphasis). In each case the contrast is moral and ontological, and

celebrates the carnivalesque. Although both festival and protest space

are established using narrative, ritual, and imagination, there are

significant differences: Whereas the laws of Mundania permit festival

space, confrontation defines the Eco-Pagan camp. The festival lasts for

7 Such festivals usually included over a hundred people. Similar events are held less

frequently in the UK and Europe.

a brief, set period of time – usually no more than a week - but a protest

camp has no pre-determined end point, so creates a tension that

magnifies the sense of liminality. While most protest sites are based in

wooded areas, the East London M11 Link Road protest was a notable

exception that nevertheless exemplified the unique qualities I've

identified. In November 1993 the protest culminated in the occupation

of Claremont Road, a street of over 30 houses, and by the Summer of

1994 it had "transform[ed] into a 'festival of resistance'" (Butler, 2003:

384).

Practice and Belief

Because practice and experience are more important than belief,

Paganism has little or no creed and the question of what to believe is

open to the individual (Davy, 2007: 13; Harvey, 1997: 161). Beyer

considers ''a strong experiential basis where personal experience is a

final arbiter of truth or validity''to be a defining feature of Paganism

(Beyer, 1998: 17), while for Starhawk, Witchcraft is not a belief system

at all, but simply an ''attitude of joy and wonder to the

world''(Starhawk, [1979] 1989: 108). Vee Van Dam, editor of Spiral

magazine (circa. 1989), agreed:

I do not even think of Paganism as a religion; I perceive it as a

‘feeling’ and when clear about things as a ‘knowing’ … many so-

called Pagan religions … lose the ‘feeing’ of the Spirit for the sake

of dogma, tenets, rules and often useless rituals.

Van Dam’s definition of Paganism is quoted approvingly by UK Eco-

Pagan Richard Westwood in Earthwise magazine (Westwood, 1988:

12).

Although there is agreement that "Paganism is not so much a set of

beliefs as a way of relating to the world" (Harris, 1996: 153), the

specific practices of Eco-Paganism introduce an inevitable tension.

Adler once assumed that Paganism would ''consider the protection of

the earth a religious duty''and so ''anyone who did not feel this way ...

was not a 'real Pagan'" (Adler, 1986: 399). Activist academic Letcher

held a similar view:

if Pagans are not taking a leading role in the struggle against

environmental destruction then they not only disempower

themselves, but their religion and that which they hold to be

most sacred (Letcher, 2000).

Letcher concludes that there are ''inconsistencies within modern

Paganism''and compares 'Radical' activist Pagans with the 'virtual'

Pagan mainstream (Letcher 2000).

Deity

The prioritization of practice over belief is apparent in relationships

with deity, which vary enormously. Not only do Pagans disagree on

every aspect of this relationship, but may hold apparently inconsistent

beliefs or have no beliefs at all: Philip, a Wiccan, wrote:

I am monotheist, duotheist, pantheist, panentheist and atheist

and find no contradiction in that whatever (Philip, pers. comm.

11/10/2006).

Inquiring into how Pagans practically relate to deity is more useful

than asking about belief, and we can differentiate between 'working'

with deity and 'worship'. Most contemporary Pagans "devote

themselves to one or more gods or goddesses" (Cowan, 2006: 179), but

acts of worship often blur into practical work with or through deities to

empower a spell, ask for counsel or invite some degree of possession

(Harris and Nightmare, 2006: 234).

Beyer's claim that Pagans stress relationship to what is local (Beyer,

1998: 19) is again not borne out, as reference to local deities is unusual

and generally linked to the kind of specific 'sacred sites' referred to

above. Many Pagans work with a generic Goddess, a God and Goddess

partnership (Pearson, 2002), or deities from ancient pantheons of

Egypt, Greece, Rome or Celtic or Nordic Europe (Pearson, 2002;

Harvey, 1995). For Druid priest Philip Shallcrass "[a]ll Gods are one

God, and all Goddesses are one Goddess" (Shallcrass, 1998: 164), and

this is true for many Wiccans (inter alia, Greenwood, 1998: 101;

Crowley 1998: 170) and Pagans in general (Cowan 2006: 180). The

most common alternative view is that each deity is a distinct entity

(Cowan, 2006: 180) sometimes understood as "powers of nature"

(Restall Orr, 2005: 10) with the Goddess conceptualized as "the Earth

Mother" (Stuckey, 2002: 115). Some Pagans have a more psychologized

understanding of deity as "role models" (Davey, 2007: 18) or the "inner

motivations ... of a persons life" (Harvey 1997: 75-76) and Wicca in

particular has been influenced by Jung (Greenwood, 1998: 105;

Crowley, 1995).

Ritual

Ritual is difficult to define (see Grimes, 2000) but for the purpose of

this thesis I use my own definition of contemporary Pagan ritual:

A Neopagan ritual is a process played out through performance.

It is set apart from the mundane and involves physical activity

and symbolic verbal or non-verbal communication expressed

through multiple sensory modalities. Some Neopagan ritual

intends to engage with 'ultimate reality' or mystical powers and

takes place in the context of a heightened emotional state (Harris

and NightMare 2006: 217).

According to Adler, Kelly claimed that "the Craft ... is totally defined in

terms of the ritual" (Adler, 1986: 170), and given the many functions

that it fulfils it is no surprise that it serves a "vital need" for many

Pagans (Harris and NightMare, 2006: 234). Some form of ritual is

important to most - perhaps all - Pagans, but it is practised in a wide

variety of ways: Wiccans claim that their religion "can only be

expressed and experienced though direct participation in its rituals"

(Pearson, 2007: 69), so Wicca is ritually orthopraxic, but other Pagan

rituals are more eclectic or ad hoc, and can include simply sitting in the

woods (Harvey, 2000: 158), dancing (Pike, 2001) or other intentional

performances.

Although my 1996 paper claimed that ecstatic Pagan rituals could heal

"the rift between body & mind" (Harris, 1996: 153), Hutton notes an

emphasis on control in contemporary witchcraft rituals which ''lack the

ecstatic, euphoric, and abandoned quality of many tribal and

shamanist ritual practices; the object is usually not to lose

consciousness but to enhance and deploy it''(Hutton, 1999: 407). Given

the pervasive influence of the Craft on contemporary Paganism (inter

alia, Hutton 1999; Melton 1993; Kelly 2002), my claim must be

understood as selective at best.

Magic

Melton classifies Paganism within the "Magick Family" (Melton, 2002)

but magic is tricky to define because "[t]he word magic works far too

hard" (Glucklich, 1997: vii). Glucklich later offers Middleton's

definition as authoritative: Middleton identifies as "magic" actions

performed with the intention of bringing "about certain events or

conditions" without any scientific "cause and effect relationship

between the act and the consequence" (Middleton, 1987: 82).

Middleton's understanding accords with Melton's belief that

''[i]nherent in the magical world-view is the notion of control and

manipulation''(Melton, 2002: 173). Pearson offers a more nuanced

view that contrasts such "occult magic" with the more "'ordinary magic'

of everyday life" that enables "interaction with other people or the

Earth" (Pearson 2007: 101). This latter form of magic is concerned with

"feeling[s] of connectedness with the sky, the trees, the soil" (Pearson

2007: 101) and distinguishes "stellar-based occultist magic from earth-

based pagan magic" (Woodman, J., 2000, cited by Pearson, 2007: 101).

Earth-based and Esoteric Paganism

In our 2006 paper Welch and I traced the genealogy of contemporary

Paganism through diverse currents of influence, the most important of

which we described as "earth-based" and "esoteric" (Harris and Welch,

2006). Although these currents are not isolated from each other, they

carry distinct ideological characteristics and attract different socio-

political groups. The Western Occult Tradition is the primary current

flowing through Wicca, which has in turn influenced mainstream

Paganism (inter alia, Melton 1993, Kelly, 2002 and Hutton, 1999.) This

esoteric current is rooted in an ideology of anthropocentrism

(Greenwood, 2005: 187), personal power and hierarchy (Hutton, 1999:

83; Kelly, 2002) that tends towards a patriarchal sexism (Salomonsen,

2002: 92-93). Given how much Paganism drew from this esoteric

tradition, Harvey finds it unsurprising that "some Pagans do or say

things which denigrate matter", and suggests that this leads to "a form

of schizophrenia in which the celebration of Nature is assented to while

disembodiedness is sought" (Harvey, 1997: 139). Greenwood claims

that this high magic influence leads Wicca to be more concerned with

"personal spiritual transformation" than "reverence for spirits of place"

or the environment (Greenwood, 1998: 101-102), while Hutton notes

that none of the many witches he researched had ever joined a protest

camp ''in sharp contrast with Pagan Druids and non-initiatory

Pagans''(Hutton, 1999: 405).

However, an alternative current flows from the free festival culture of

the 'new-age travellers' and biker scene into several interconnected

streams. McKay claims that there were ongoing exchanges between

travellers and peace camps throughout the early 1980's and quotes

Don Aitken (20 Years of Festivals) that "[i]t was from the new

Travellers that the Greenham women learned about benders8" (McKay,

1996: 58). Letcher opines that protest site Eco-Paganism, with its

''romanticised gypsy life, and a new tribalism''also emerged from the

free festival travellers (Letcher, 2005: 557). This same current blended

with Druidry at Stonehenge to create the ‘alternative’ Druidry of the

Glastonbury Order, Secular Order and the Loyal Arthurian Warband,

many of whom identify as Eco-Pagans. Greenwood offers a similar

model that focuses more on underlying ideologies than cultural

influences. She compares the roles of esotericism and organicism in

"nature spiritualities" and "highlights many contradictory and internal

and inconsistencies that may throw doubt" on claims that Paganism is

"inherently ecological" (Greenwood, 2005: 172-173).

We do not propose a dichotomy between two distinct groups, as many

Pagans do not fit comfortably into any classification, but argue for ideal

types. A typical earth based Pagan develops a spontaneous and

intuitive practice where ritual is unstructured, ecstatic and focused on

celebration. Earth based Pagans dislike organisation and some resist

identifying as 'Pagan' at all. Esoteric Pagan groups, typically run by

traditional Druids or Wiccans, tend to have a hierarchical organisation

and ritual practice that inclines towards the formal and non-ecstatic.

Crowley's brief description of Pagan worship provides an eloquent

illustration: She points out that some Pagans mark the seasonal

festivals with "complex ritual" while others "simply sit and meditate or

8 A bender is a low impact dwelling commonly used at UK protest sites. It is made by bending

coppiced wood to create a dome, which is then covered with a tarpaulin and lined with

blankets.

go outside to commune with nature" and suggests that these

differences effectively mark "low and high church, field and temple

Pagans" (Crowley, 1996: 169). Initial research suggested that earth

based Pagans would be common in alternative Druidry and Eco-

Paganism and my research confirms that this is indeed the case.

ECO-PAGANISM

Eco-Paganism has not yet been extensively researched and I have

examined all material referring to the UK including magazines and

grey literature. Although I have read material on US practice, I have

not researched the movement in detail beyond the UK, though Eco-

Paganism is widespread in the USA, and practised across Europe, in

Canada, Australia and South Africa.

There are clearly similarities between Eco-Paganism and mainstream

Paganism, but significant differences remain. First, there is a strong

political dimension to Eco-Paganism that is often absent in the

mainstream form. (See, inter alia, Harris & Scullion, 2004; Hine,

2000; Starhawk 2002). Plows, for example, reports that ''spirituality

often informs a political stance''and notes that it was through

Paganism that she became radically politicised (Plows, 2001: 4).

The concept of Eco-Paganism emerged within the last 20 years, and

the term itself is even more recent, with the earliest reference in

Moonshine magazine # 7, which lists Wood & Water as a ''goddess

orientated eco-pagan magazine''(Westwood and Westwood, 1987b).

The first discussions of UK Eco-Paganism were also in Moonshine

magazine (Westwood and Westwood, various dates), and in the late

1980's several key articles were collected into the booklet encouraging

Pagans to be more ecological and to apply magic to political ends.

While Moonshine is clearly significant, Letcher opines that Eco-

Paganism properly begins with the practical protests on Twyford

Down the 1992 (Letcher, 2005: 556).

Who are Eco-Pagans?

Some Eco-Pagans are involved in a Pagan Tradition, counting

themselves as, inter alia, Wiccans, Druids or Heathens (Harvey, 1997a,

Letcher, 2000, 2002), but many are " 'detraditionalized' ", a term

Letcher uses to describe the "elective and affectual spiritualities of

protesters living more permanently at protest sites" (Letcher, 2005:

557), which emerged with the Twyford Down Donga Tribe (Plows,

2005). These two groups are not mutually exclusive (Letcher, 2003):

Druids and Wiccans are found at protest camps (Roberts and

Motherwort, 1997; Pendragon and Stone, 2003) and Eco-Pagans

typically move from one circle of influence to another: They may, for

example, be part of the Dragon Network, an initiated Druid and a

member of a protest camp tribe. Letcher’s model has heuristic merit in

defining ideal types, and I refer to detraditionalized and traditionalized

Eco-Pagans throughout this thesis. According to Letcher,

detraditionalized protest camp Eco-Pagans practice syncretic

spiritualities that incorporate elements of ''Buddhism, Shamanism, the

New Age, Theosophy, 60s psychedelia, the Rainbow movement, and

British folklore, whilst retaining a core Pagan doxa''(Letcher, 2005:

557). This eclecticism supports his claim that this ''religion of the

people ... has emerged from the community of protesters and their

collective stories''(Letcher, 2001b). Letcher's model is valuable, but we

also need to distinguish between the Eco-Pagans he identified on

protest sites and more urban Eco-Pagans. Boundaries between all

these categories are fluid, and at a given time a site Eco-Pagan may be

a member of a Pagan Tradition or not, and others of either persuasion

may be living a more urban lifestyle.

Bearing in mind the complexity of the distinction, traditionalized Eco-

Pagans fall primarily into three groups: Reclaiming, Dragon and

various Druid orders. Reclaiming is the best known, primarily because

of the wide influence of activist Witch Starhawk, and though California

Reclaiming has been extensively studied (Salomonsen, 1998 and

2002), research into the UK branch, founded in 2001, has been

minimal (Dougherty, 2004). Although the UK based Dragon

Environmental Network (founded by Harris in 1990) has a firm place

in mainstream Paganism, it has been described as ''the Dragon

Tribe''(personal recollection, but see Butler, 2003: 399) and some

detraditionalized protest camp Eco-Pagans count themselves as

‘Dragons’ (Harris, 1996). Several Druid orders are environmentally

active, notably The Loyal Arthurian Warband and The Secular Order of

Druids. The British Druid Order, which has now branched into the

separate Druid Network, organized ritual protests at Newbury, but

neither Order has the same level of activist involvement as the

Warband.

Some Eco-Pagans remain largely ignorant of Traditional paths or even

hostile to them. Rowe, a member of the Donga Tribe, refused the name

‘Pagan’ but felt it was close to what she felt: ''I don’t like to worship and

idol [sic]. I worship the land because I live on it and I can feel the

energy from that. I don’t like structures and rules’’ (interviewed by

Berens, 1994). Rowe’s attitude is not uncommon, and reflects a distrust

of urban Pagans who are initiated into one of the Traditions which are

sometimes seen as hierarchical, rule bound and remote from the

protester's spirituality, which is grounded in a life close to the land.

When visiting Wiccans invited the Eco-Pagan protesters living in

Lyminge Forest to join their ritual, they were told: ''We don’t need your

rituals. We live it every day''(Roberts and Motherwort, 1997: 26).

Several features of mainstream Paganism are emphasised in Eco-

Paganism. Obviously environmental practice is fundamental to Eco-

Paganism, and stronger than mainstream Paganism activity. Letcher

claims that the New tribalism 9 (Letcher, 2002: 85) found in Paganism

is central to the construction of identity for many protest site Eco-

Pagans. He adds that the aesthetic aspects of spirituality which are

apparent throughout Paganism may be more significant for protest site

Eco-Pagans (Letcher, 2002: 85), especially in the form of storytelling:

''Stories are extremely important in the formation and maintenance of

vernacular spiritualities. Eco-paganism is shaped, not by books or

charismatic leaders, but by the language spoken and by the myths and

narratives shared around the campfires, the hearths of the protest

camps''(Letcher, 2001b). His point is borne out by the mythologised

story of Claremont Road told by "Crow, the Shaman":

a small tribe living at the East End of a Great Town, at the Edge

of a Great Forest ... They then called up the magical peoples -

the Dongas and the Dragons; tribes who came from nowhere and

whose place was with nature. ... the tribes dressed up the palace

of Claremont in strange colours and decorated it with mystical

symbols, splendid icons and mysterious idols. They created a

sacred place of pilgrimage and made it loud with foreign drum

beats, music and dance (Butler, 2003: 399).

According to US activist Greg Sotir one of the ''prime tenets''of Eco-

Paganism is the belief in ''taking an active stand to stop the rape of the

planet'', and he emphasises the importance of re-connecting with

nature that is enabled by this practice (Sotir, 2003). Clysdale’s

academic discussion concurs: Eco-Paganism is a

''movement''specifically concerned with involvement in direct action

that opposes ''what is seen as an increasing modern separation from

the earth”. Fundamental to this reconnection is the ''nonintellectual

experiential knowledge''which I have described as the "knowledge of

faith, of emotion, of the gut feeling" (Clysdale, 2002: 86, citing Harris,

1995).

The organic environment is sacred to most Pagans, but this belief is

expressed most practically in Eco-Paganism. Clifton and Starhawk

agree that ''participation in the natural cycles of the region empowers

people’’ (Davy, 2002: 92), while protest site Eco-Pagans often have an

emotional, embodied understanding of the genius loci. Although many

lack ''specific knowledge''about local ecology, site Eco-Pagans ''often

feel intense emotional bonds with the tree in which they live, or the

land they are defending’’ (Letcher, 2005: 557).

A connection with elemental nature is an important aspect of site Eco-

Paganism and is enabled by the simple practice of camping or living in

a low impact dwelling like a bender or tree house. Anderson notes that

9 See Bauman 1993; Maffesoli 1996 for more on "neo-tribalism”.

everyday life on a protest site creates "ties between self and place", at

least partly because of "heightened awareness of the local

environment’s agency", which "ties participants closer to their

cosmological value systems as they experience at first hand

unmediated positioning with a broader ecological system" (Anderson

2004: 51). Although Pagan festival camps like those researched by Pike

(2001) achieve this to some extent, those living on a protest camp will

experience it most intensely. Life on a protest site makes the reality of

our relationship to the environment starkly clear: Dealing with the

mud, the rain, and the use and misuse of resources is everyday life:

''The very act of living out, however dependent on wider society for

food and so on, puts one in touch with nature in a way that is real, not

virtual’’ (Letcher, 2000). However, Letcher also found that Eco-Pagans

lacked environmental sensitivity and noted that those at the Newbury

protest ''trampled the flora into a quagmire and scared off the

fauna''during rituals (Letcher, 2001c). This has not always been the

case, and Plows emphasizes the importance of a ''Practical

paganism''that respects ecology (Plows, 2001).

Past research observed rudimentary protest site Eco-Pagan rituals that

focused on celebration or protection (Plows, 2005: 505). Letcher

claimed that ''[s]uch celebrations are a product of the movement’s

origins in (free) festival, and so-called 'new-age traveller'

culture''(Letcher, 2005: 557). Ethnographies from the late 1990's found

that rituals were more likely to emerge spontaneously amongst Eco-

Pagans at protest sites than they would in a more urban context, and

they often had a wild Dionysian edge (Letcher, 2002; Plows, 2001).

MacLellan described such rituals as ''a mixture of traditional

witchcraft, street theatre and odd bits of traditional shamanism''and

confirmed Letcher’s conclusion (Letcher, 2002: 84) that these rituals

enabled practitioners ''to give shape to their feelings about the earth

they are trying to protect’’ (MacLellan, 1995: 145).

Deep Ecology and Ecofeminism

Environmental philosophy has influenced the activist movement and

Eco-Paganism, primarily through Deep Ecology and ecofeminism. The

activist group Earth First! assert that their "actions are tied to Deep

Ecology, the spiritual and visceral recognition of the intrinsic, sacred

value of every living thing" (Earth First! Worldwide, 2007), and Davy

notes the membership overlap between Earth First! and Eco-Paganism

(Davy, 2007: 178) that was apparent at Twyford Down (Plows, 2005).

Deep Ecology - a movement as much as an identifiable philosophy -

emphasizes that human beings are only part of the ecology of the

planet and that only by understanding our ecological

interconnectedness can we fully realize our humanity (Naess, 1989).

Ecofeminism, which has always had a spiritual dimension (Primavesi,

1996: 46), is more influential on Eco-Paganism than Deep Ecology.

Ecofeminism has a complex history that makes it difficult to

summarise, but it is rooted in the belief that the domination of women

is fundamentally linked with that of nature, so environmental activism

is integral with work to overcome female oppression (Harris, 2007).

Taylor claims that some of the rituals enacted by US Eco-Pagans are

''informed explicitly by ecofeminist beliefs’’ (Taylor, 2001: 230), while

Lecher suggests that the Eco-Pagan understanding of nature is at least

partly grounded in ecofeminism (specifically Merchant, 1980) and

Goddess spirituality (Letcher, 2003). The relationships between

Goddess spirituality, feminism and Eco-Paganism are intricate, and I

will not attempt to unravel them, but those "drawn to Paganism from

the women's movement are often more politically aware than longer-

term Pagans" and bring a "pro-environmental" stance to their

Paganism which we might infer is otherwise absent (Crowley, 1996:

170). Some Eco-Pagans emphasize the ecofeminist celebration of the

erotic (LaChapelle, 1992; Spretnak, 1989). Eco-Pagan Webster claims

that the "cultural forces that are damaging the earth" also repress the

erotic, which is "an archaic mode of perception that uses merging as a

method to know the other" (Webster 2006: 3). She thus echoes

Starhawk's injunction to "love nature ... carnally, with our meat, our

bones" (Starhawk, 1982: 143).

Eco-Paganism and the Direct Action Movement

Although there is a long history of non-violent direct action in this

country, the protest that began at Twyford Down in 1992 marked the

arrival of Earth First! to the UK, and ignited the direct action

movement in Britain. Twyford Down was an Area of Outstanding

Natural Beauty and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, but the

Government decided a new road was needed, so a 250 metre wide and

40 metre deep cutting now slices through the chalk downland. The

protest was intense and involved hundreds of activists some of whom -

the Eco-Pagan Donga Tribe - lived at various camps on the Down. The

fact that the Donga Tribe were named after the Iron Age track ways on

the Down illustrates their "very strong self identification with the land"

(Plows, 2002: 45). Because the Donga Tribe were the first site Eco-

Pagans and formed the core of the key UK protest, their "actions and

worldviews had a significant influence on the wave of activists that

followed" (Plows, 2005: 505). In common with later site Eco-Pagans,

the Donga Tribe practised a "very earthy" Paganism that saw

"[e]veryday nature ... as magical", and combined basic herbalism with

simple rituals that "often" involved entheogenic mushrooms (Plows,

2005: 505). Twyford Down marked the beginning of the protest

movement which was active at the M11 (1993), Newbury (1996) and

"an estimated 200 anti-road campaigns" (Butler, 2003: 383), before

merging into the 'anti-globalization' protests of the Global Justice

Movement (inter alia, Seattle, 1999 and Scotland, 2005).

Worthington opined that "[f]rom the beginning the road protesters

demonstrated a raw, untutored form of grass-roots eco-paganism that

went further than any previous protest movement in embracing the

land as sacred" (Worthington, 2005: 214), while Butler noted how

"various expressions of 'spirituality', or 'energy' as it was often termed"

united the otherwise diverse protesters at Claremont Road (Butler,

2003: 386). Although many protesters wouldn’t call themselves

‘Pagan’, boundaries blur between Eco-Pagan and protester, with most

sites revealing shades of Pagan-to-protester. A '' 'Pagan discourse'

[underlies] the [protest] movement’’ (Letcher, 2000), and Plows

confirms that a ''sense of connectedness''contributes to "a fairly

‘standard’ activist spirituality" which she describes as ‘practical

paganism’. Taylor asserts that the US radical environmental movement

''can aptly be labelled ‘pagan environmentalism’ ”, and notes that each

issue of the US Earth First! activist journal is dated by Pagan festivals

(Taylor, B., 2001: 178).

Letcher suggests that Eco-Paganism, ''in particular ideas of nature'',

has had a profound influence on the protest movement (Letcher, 2003:

6), but the influence is reciprocal, and Eco-Paganism in its current

form would not exist without the direct action movement. Doherty

argues that a "protest camp can be understood as a heterotopic space

in which it becomes possible to express a new way of life without

posing a direct challenge to the social order" (Doherty, 1997: 13).

Letcher opines that the liminal space of a protest camp may encourage

an Eco-Pagan culture to flourish and points out that the pressure of

inevitable eviction places protesters in a “festival-like” time out of time

(Letcher, 2001a: 63).

Conclusion

Paganism is a complex movement which suffers from a schizophrenic

split between its identity as a 'nature religion' and its esoteric origins.

This split is highlighted by the existence of Eco-Paganism. Although

there is much common ground between mainstream and Eco-

Paganism, there are significant differences in emphasis, attitude and

approach. Eco-Pagans are typically politicised activists with a strong

sense of place. Eco-Paganism is found as a sub-culture within

Traditional Paganism and amongst environmental activists, notably at

UK road protest sites. These groups are not mutually exclusive and

both are influenced by ecofeminism, valorize embodied knowing and

tend to practice ecstatic rituals focused on celebration.

Although Eco-Paganism is a significant spiritual phenomenon,

research into it has been minimal: MacLellan wrote that the future of

the urban shaman lay in the protest camps (MacLellan, 1995: 145),

while Harvey suggests that Eco-Paganism tests ''our understanding of

what ‘spirituality’ might mean''(Harvey, 1997b: 3). It is also apparent

that embodied knowing is particularly significant in Eco-Pagan

spirituality, as intuition and 'gut feelings' have priority over intellectual

approaches and understanding emerges from physical involvement.

Furthermore, Pagans sometimes experience the boundaries between

body and environment as fluid (Pike, 2001: 28 –29) and Eco-Pagan

spirituality is closely related to a sense of connection (inter alia,

Letcher, 2005; Plows, 2002: 166). However, research into the

relationship between embodied knowing and spirituality is lacking and

fails to explain why Eco-Pagans are more motivated than mainstream

Pagans. Existing research suggests that embodied cognition is

fundamental to these processes and that further investigation into its

distinctive role in Eco-Paganism will unearth more of its magic.

Chapter 3: Embodied Cognition Literature Review

Probably 95 percent of embodied thought is non-cognitive,

yet probably 95 percent of academic thought has concentrated

on the cognitive dimensions of the conscious 'I'.

(Thrift, 2000: 36).

Although western culture privileges rational self-conscious thought, we

intuitively know that our understanding is shaped by feelings that lie

beyond the realm of ‘objective knowledge’ and conscious cognition.

Extensive research concludes that these processes are in some sense

embodied. Although as yet there is no fully articulated epistemology of

embodied cognition, a consistent interdisciplinary model is emerging,

as researchers are apparently discussing the same phenomena from

disparate but consistent perspectives.

This chapter reviews the literature on embodied situated cognition in

order to contextualise my work and establish the grounds for

synthesising a coherent theory I can apply to my ethnography of Eco-

Paganism. Considering the perspectives of phenomenology,

anthropology, sociology, religious studies, cognitive neuroscience and

ecopsychology reveals an interdisciplinary consensus about embodied

situated cognition. Different disciplines repeat key themes: embodied

situated cognition is practical, pre-reflective, and blurs conventional

understandings of ‘self’ and ‘world’.

Embodiment and the Body

References to 'the body' are common, but the term 'embodied' is

generally to be preferred whenever we consider the phenomenological

condition of our being:

When we examine the body in everyday life, we might therefore

more accurately speak of a sociology of embodiment rather than

a sociology of the body (Nettleton and Watson, 1998: 4).

Csordas emphasises the fundamental point that:

If embodiment is an existential condition in which the body is

the subjective source or intersubjective ground of experience,

then studies under the rubric of embodiment are not 'about' the

body per se. Instead they are about culture and experience

insofar as these can be understood from the standpoint of bodily

being-in-the-world (Csordas, 1999: 143).

Although the term is complex, Thrift suggests that embodiment has

four fundamental characteristics, all of which are pertinent to this

review:

First, it has to be seen through Merleau-Ponty's notion of 'the

flesh', as a reversible and reflexive fold between subject and

object … Second, embodiment is practical … it is involved in a

relation with the world … Third, embodiment always involves

other objects … fourth, embodiment is expressive. That is, the

body is not just a passive surface on which society is inscribed

(Thrift, 1997: 139-140).

Embodied cognition is an expanding interdisciplinary topic, so the

boundaries set on this review must make it both cogent and

comprehensive. The pace of research makes any work before Polanyi

(1958) redundant, while to stay as current as practically possible I

reference The Cambridge Handbook of Situated Cognition (Aydede

and Robbins, in press), which is expected in 2008. I excluded work

about non-Western cultures because my thesis concerns Western Eco-

Pagans, and all my references are available in English. My focus on

embodied cognition in everyday life excluded research into its role in

teaching and learning. I also excluded physiology and

mind/brain/body biochemistry, because they lie beyond the notion of

embodiment set out above, and would add unnecessary complication.

PHENOMENOLOGY

While Erricker claims that it is "pointless to search for a strict

definition of phenomenology" (Erricker, 1999: 83), and cautions

against treating it as a distinct discipline (Erricker, 1999: 75), we can

identify certain fundamentals. Phenomenology is essentially the study

of phenomena, that is things as they appear in our lived experience

(Allen, 2005: 188) and Allen lists five characteristics; descriptive

nature, antireductionism, intentionality, bracketing and eidetic vision

(Allen, 2005: 188). Although phenomenology is not "merely

descriptive", and provides an important tool for understanding

(Bowman, 1992: 14), Erricker suggests its descriptive emphasis opens

phenomenology to accusations of "hermeneutical naivety" that are only

deflected by applying a theory of interpretation (Erricker, 1999: 82).

Antireductionism emerges from phenomenology's concern with the

richness of phenomena as experienced, while intentionality refers to

the way that all consciousness is "consciousness of something" (Allen,

2005: 189). If we are to attend to the phenomena itself, we must

recognise our assumptions and the "natural attitude" of everyday life

(Moran, 2002: 15), so that we can bracket them out of our

understanding. Such bracketing enables us to clarify our immediate

intuition of phenomena - our eidetic vision (Moran, 2002: 11-17).

Phenomenologically "[t]he body is primarily a way of being in the

world. It is a form of lived experience which is fluid and ever-shifting.

And it is also a way of interacting with one’s environment, of shaping it

and being shaped by it" (Cavallaro, 1998: 88). Cognitive

neuroscientists like Varela take the phenomenologists as their

philosophical precursors because they demonstrated how "knowledge

depends on being in a world that is inseparable from our bodies, our

language, and our social history - in short, from our embodiment "

(Varela et al., 1991: 149; author's emphasis). There is, therefore, a

common consensus that to understand embodiment we require

"a cultural phenomenology" (Csordas, 1999: 143).

Merleau-Ponty

Merleau-Ponty was fascinated by our 'being-in-the-world' - the way

our consciousness is incarnate in the world. Our awareness does not

emerge from a disembodied mind located somewhere outside the

physical, but is part of an active relationship between embodied

humans and the world:

The properties of the object and the intentions of the subject …

are not only intermingled; they also constitute a new whole

(Merleau-Ponty, 1963: 13).

Merleau-Ponty concluded that the process by which we come to

understand the world emerges from a unity between subjects and

objects that is the direct result of our embodiment. As he puts it, "[m]y

body is the fabric into which all objects are woven" (Merleau-Ponty,

1962: 273). Though his primary concern was with perception as an

embodied process, he understood our entire being-in-the-world in the

same way:

As I contemplate the blue of the sky … I abandon myself to it and

plunge into this mystery, it 'thinks itself within me,' I am the sky

itself as it is drawn together and unified, and as it begins to exist

for itself; my consciousness is saturated with this limitless blue

… (Merleau-Ponty, 1962: 249).

This practical, embodied knowing is quite different from the more

discursive knowledge we can talk about. Crucially, it is also an

interested knowing that is bound up with practical life. As Merleau-

Ponty puts it, this is a "knowledge in the hands, which is forthcoming

only when bodily effort is made, and cannot be formulated in

detachment from that effort" (Merleau-Ponty, 1962: 144). This upsets

the Cartesian world-view, because it is a form of knowing that

transcends subject/object dualism: The 'I' that knows is tangled with

what is known.

Abram

Abram applies Merleau-Ponty's work to develop an embodied

environmental philosophy which understands the body as "a sort of

open circuit that completes itself only in things, in others, in the

encompassing earth" (Abram, 1996: 62). Abram claims that

[e]ach place has its own mind, its own psyche. Oak, madrone,

Douglas fir, red-tailed hawk, serpentine in the sandstone, a

certain scale to the topography, drenching rains in the winter,

fog off-shore in the winter, salmon surging in the streams - all

these together make up a particular state of mind, a place-

specific intelligence shared by all the humans that dwell

therein ... (Abram, 1996: 262).

Thus our immediate environment influences our thinking:

A large boulder, its surface spreading with crinkly red and grey

lichens, is able to influence the events around it, and even to

influence the thinking of those folks who lean against it - lending

their thoughts a certain gravity, and a kind of stony wisdom

(Abram, 2004).

Abram asserts that oral cultures are fully aware that we are

"corporeally embedded" in a "living landscape" (Abram, 1996: 65), but

anyone can experience this reality under certain circumstances. He

explains how his fieldwork experiences shifted his senses so that he

began to perceive the world in a new way:

When a magician spoke of a power or "presence" lingering in the

corner of his house, I learned to notice the ray of sunlight that

was then pouring through a chink in the roof, illuminating a

column of drifting dust, and to realize that that column of light

was indeed a power ... influencing the whole mood of the room;

although I had not consciously seen it before, it had already been

structuring my experience (Abram, 1996: 20).

This experience revealed to him that perception is participatory in that

it always involves "the experience of an active interplay, or coupling,

between the perceiving body and that which it perceives" (Abram,

1996: 57).

Gendlin

Gendlin often expresses the idea that many things are, in a special

sense, 'implied' in a situation with five dots, ".....". To make this

specific use clear, I shall write this as ". . . . ." to distinguish it from the

more conventional "..." which designates the removal of a section of

text.

Gendlin develops Merleau-Ponty's ideas to show how interaction is

more fundamental than perception: Our perceptions function as part

of our interaction with the world and so become part of how we behave

in any given situation. The "body senses the whole situation, and it

urges, it implicitly shapes our next action. It senses itself living-in its

whole context - the situation" (Gendlin, 1992: 345). This bodily

interaction opens us to a sense of the world beyond what we

conventionally call perception. Gendlin explains this by inviting us to

consider an imaginary scenario. Imagine you're alone walking along an

unknown street late one night and you become aware of a group

following you. Your "body-sense" of the situation is much more than

your perceiving them behind you; it includes "your hope that perhaps

they aren't following you, also your alarm, and many past experiences -

too many to separate out, and surely also the need to do something -

walk faster, change your course, escape into a house, get ready to fight,

run, shout . . . . ." (Gendlin, 1992: 346). The ". . . . ." can encompass

"more than we can list" including perceptions and emotions, but also

memories of past situations and options of what to do next. There is

nothing mysterious about this intricate "body-sense", and in fact it

grounds our conscious awareness. In everyday language we lack a

language to name it, but in the therapeutic practice of Focusing it is

called the 'felt sense'10 where it describes an embodied tacit knowing

that Gendlin describes as "a special kind of internal bodily awareness

… a body-sense of meaning" (Gendlin, 1981: 10).

The 'knowing' of the felt sense may not be immediately apparent, and

may in some way contradict our more 'rational' understanding of a

situation. Continuing to explore the scenario outlined above, Gendlin

invites us to imagine we are with a friend who has a lot of experience of

the district, and who thinks you should turn the next corner and enter

the nearest house, but at the same time confides that "the idea makes

her body feel intensely uneasy" though she can't think why (Gendlin,

1992: 348). Gendlin suggest that you would be unlikely to ignore your

friend's feeling, which is a felt-sense. It is immediately clear from such

experiences that "body and cognition are not just split apart" (Gendlin,

1997: 181), and Gendlin echoes Polanyi’s famous comment when he

writes that “your body knows much that you don’t know” (Gendlin,

1981: 39). The conscious mind doesn't usually articulate a felt sense

immediately, and indeed, may never do so. How easily people access

the felt sense varies considerably, as shown by the Experiencing Scale

(Gendlin, 1961: 243) developed by Gendlin and colleagues, but anyone

can learn to access and verbalise the embodied knowing of the felt

sense using the Focusing technique (Gendlin, 1981).

Although Gendlin describes the felt sense as a "bodily sensed

knowledge" (Gendlin, 1981: 25), we need to be clear that his approach

requires "a new conception of the living body" as a process by which

"the body means or implies" (Gendlin 1997: 19) and - in common with

other thinkers discussed here - the Gendlian 'body' extends beyond the

skin. For Gendlin 'the body' "is a vastly larger system" (Gendlin, 1997:

26) such that the felt sense is the entire situation (Gendlin, 1992). Yet

the felt sense is "a physical sense of meaning" (Gendlin, 1981: 69) with

"a BODILY quality, like heavy, sticky, jumpy, fluttery, tight" (Gendlin,

1986: 53; author's emphasis). Obviously there are bodily sensations

that are not meaningful (Gendlin, 1981: 69), but in practice it becomes

quite clear what Gendlin is referring to.

Although Gendlin doesn't discuss how Focusing might relate to

spirituality, Fisher touches on the connection (2002: 101), while

Campbell and McMahon established the Institute for Bio-Spiritual

10 Gendlin usually uses the term 'body-sense' in his philosophy and 'felt-sense' in his

psychotherapeutic work. Although these contexts mean they can sometimes be read as

subtly different, I treat them as equivalent.

Research to explore the relationship (Campbell and McMahon, 1985).

ANTHROPOLOGY

Bateson

Bateson's notion that “the mental world - the mind - the world of

information processing - is not limited by the skin” (Bateson, 2000

[1972]: 460), has been highly influential on discussions of embodied

cognition, notably in Burkitt, Greenwood and Ingold. Bateson's key

insight here was that

[t]he individual mind is immanent but not only in the body. It is

also immanent in pathways and messages outside the body; and

there is a larger Mind of which the individual mind is only a

subsystem (Bateson, 2000 [1972]: 467).

If "Mind" refers to a cybernetic system of patterned information, then

it becomes difficult - or even nonsensical - to try to specify where an

individual mind begins. Bateson imagines he is a "blind man" using a

stick as a guide, and asks:

where do I start? Is my mental system bounded at the handle of

the stick? ... Does it start at the tip of the stick? (Bateson, 2000

[1972]: 465).

Bateson concludes that these are "nonsense questions" (Bateson, 2000

[1972]: 465), a prescient understanding confirmed by cognitive

science.

Ingold

Ingold perceives a dualism in Bateson (Ingold, 2000: 16) and applies

Hallowell's study of the Ojibwa to move beyond dichotomy:

For the Ojibwa, knowledge is grounded in experience,

understood as a coupling of the movement of one's awareness to

the movement of aspects of the world. Experience, in this

sense, does not mediate between mind and nature, since these

are not separated in the first place (Ingold, 2000: 11).

This “poetics of dwelling” is grounded in a relational notion of

personhood where the self inheres “in the unfolding of the relations set

up by virtue of its positioning in an environment” (Ingold, 2000: 11).

In this fully embodied ecology the organism integrates with its

environment: “ 'organism plus environment' should denote not a

compound of two things, but one indivisible totality” (Ingold, 2000: 9).

Body and mind are thus simply different ways of describing the same

process, “namely the environmentally situated activity of the

human organism-person” (Ingold, 2000: 171). This mode of being-in-

the-world engenders a knowledge Ingold calls ‘sentient ecology’

(Ingold, 2000: 116-17) that is grounded in “practical application” and

“based in feeling, consisting in the skills, sensitivities and orientations

that have developed through long experience of conducting one's life in

a particular environment”. Ingold suggests that this is simply another

word for “intuition” (Ingold, 2000: 25), but he clearly refers to the

situated, practical and tacit embodied knowing consistently discussed

in this review.

Csordas

Csordas defines "somatic modes of attention" as "culturally elaborated

ways of attending to and with one's body in surroundings that include

the embodied presence of others" (Csordas, 1993: 138). Because we are

"always already in the world", we cannot attend to a bodily sensation

without simultaneously attending "to the intersubjective milieu that

gives rise to that sensation", and thus the sensation "can tell us

something about the world and others who surround us" (Csordas,

1993: 138-39). There is a clear parallel with Gendlin's description of

how the "body senses the whole situation" (Gendlin, 1992: 345), and

Csordas's 'somatic modes of attention' and Gendlin's 'felt sense'

describe overlapping phenomena. Gendlin's felt sense is "a special kind

of internal bodily awareness … a body-sense of meaning" (Gendlin,

1981: 10), or what Csordas calls "bodily sensation". Furthermore,

because we learn to understand its meaning when using Gendlin's

Focusing approach, the felt sense is also "culturally elaborated".

The key difference between 'somatic modes of attention' and the 'felt

sense' lies in the theoretical development of each term. Csordas is

primarily descriptive: He describes the situations where somatic

modes of attention occur, but fails to offer the kind of sophisticated

theoretical underpinning provided by Gendlin (inter alia, Gendlin

1996). Furthermore, because Csordas is not concerned with the

therapeutic potential of bodily ways of knowing, he has no equivalent

to Gendlin's Focusing procedure.

Syme

Syme explains that deep cultural "knowings" in Scottish/Irish Gaelic

speaking cultures are grounded in "bodily" knowledges, which are:

what one feels in one’s body, the psychic mediumship of

particular individuals within the community and the oral

tradition (Syme, 1997: 206).

There are correlations with theoretical approaches already reviewed,

most notably her description of how the body learns. Syme poetically

recalls how as a child she came to learn her mother's knowing:

"I know" my heart said. She’s speaking to me … voice of baking

bread, voice of heartbeat, voice of early morning gardener, voice

of rocking arms, tapping feet, voice of stirring pots of food to the

left, to the right, turn the teapot three times, once for your self,

once for the culture, once for the world. My body finally knows

my mother’s voice. No words. Not one word between us (Syme,

1997: 212).

It was her mother's physical activity that taught her a situated,

embodied knowing. She compares this experiential mode of knowing

with learning Balinese dance:

if you want to learn the dance I, the teacher must physically

move your body. I turn your hand up, your foot out, your head to

the left until you know. In the Gaelic, tap, tap, tap; stir, stir, stir;

beat, beat beat; cake, babies, fishing nets, pounding cloth, think

rhythm; think, feel, touch rhythm; repeat … (Syme, 1997: 214).

As a result of honouring this "alternative epistemic … we ourselves

become more … We come to know that we are part of, that we belong"

(Syme, 1997: 216). This sense of a embodied deep connection to a

specific place is particularity relevant to the emerging field of

ecopsychology, discussed below.

Tacit and Explicit Knowing

Polanyi

Like Gendlin, Polanyi concluded that “we know more than we can tell”

(Polanyi, 1966: 4), referring to a tacit knowledge which is experiential

and cannot be made explicit (Polanyi, 1958). This distinction between

explicit and tacit knowledge is fundamental to the work of several key

researchers (inter alia, Polanyi; Nonaka & Takeuchi). Explicit

knowledge is variously called ‘propositional knowledge’, “embrained

knowledge” (Quintas & Ray et al., 2001: 27), “knowledge that” (Ryle,

1949) and “knowledge about” (James, 1950). It is usually abstract and

can be expressed formally in “words and numbers, scientific formulae,

codified procedures or universal principles” (Quintas & Jones, 2002:

47). Nonaka & Takeuchi describe tacit knowledge as:

not easily visible and expressible. Tacit knowledge is personal,

context-specific and hard to formalize and

communicate ... Subjective insights, intuitions and hunches fall

into this category (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995: 56 and 75).

Tacit knowledge is fundamentally practical, situated and emotionally

charged, and skills held as tacit knowledge are taught through

observation, imitation, and practice (Nonaka, 1994: 19). Quintas & Ray

et al. note that “[t]he mere transfer of information will often make little

sense, if it is abstracted from associated emotions and specific contexts

in which shared experiences are embedded” (Quintas & Ray et al.,

2001: 47 – 48). I therefore conclude that tacit knowledge is embodied

and situated.

Several researchers suggest that metaphor and analogy can be used to

work with tacit knowledge, which is significant in the light of the work

of Lakoff and Johnson (1999), considered below. Nonaka & Takeuchi

(1995) propose that metaphor and analogy “might enable colleagues

to share, amplify and reinforce explicit representations of what

had previously been tacit” (Quintas & Ray et al. 2001:47 after Nonaka

& Takeuchi, 1995).

SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES

Several sociologists opine that a form of embodied tacit knowledge

underpins social interactions. Games are a good example of how this

might work. The rules of the game, strategies and complex physical

movements combine in ways that mean a footballer often has no time

to think thorough how to play: They must feel the game 'in their bones'.

The principles of the game are embodied, and the full meaning can

only be expressed in actions. Bourdieu, Foucault and Mauss all discuss

these ‘techniques of the body’. Although Foucault doesn't explicitly

explore notions of embodied knowledge in depth, the concept runs

through his work. Given Foucault's belief that power and knowledge

"[d]irectly imply one another" (Foucault, 1977: 27), the process by

which power inscribes itself onto the body can be described as a form

of embodied knowledge (Foucault, 1980).

Bourdieu

Bourdieu describes a form of embodied knowledge called habitus (after

Mauss, 1979). Habitus is a set of dispositions that the body learns and

can use given the right social context. Because our social relationships

create habitus, it is bound up with relations of power: How a class or

group stand and move provides a social understanding of who they are.

Bourdieu calls these characteristic ways of holding the body and

gesturing the hexis, “[a] way of walking, a tilt of the head, facial

expressions, ways of sitting and of using implements” (Bourdieu, 1977:

87). The hexis is expressed in activity as habitus. The result is a

powerful technique of the body:

Bodily hexis is political mythology realised, em-bodied, turned

into a permanent disposition, a durable manner of standing,

speaking and thereby of feeling and thinking (Bourdieu, 1977:

93; author’s emphasis).

Our behaviour is not determined by this system, but rather it provides

a practical sense that inclines us towards one behaviour rather than

another. It is a way of being-in-the-world rather than a considered

reflection, and so it operates at a level that is at least partly

unconscious. The beliefs that order our behaviour are not states of

mind but rather “states of body”, "instilled by the childhood learning

that treats the body as a living memory pad". These states, Bourdieu

claims, operate through generating "countless practical metaphors"

(Bourdieu, 1990: 68-69). The embodied cultural knowledge of habitus

only exists in practical activity, so the concept entirely concurs with the

consensus understanding emerging from this review of embodied

cognition as tacit, practical and rooted in the body.

Bourdieu tends to emphasise the controlling aspect of habitus, but it

can be understood as enabling. Jackson claims that changes in "the

unitary field of body-mind-habitus" can free "energies bound up in

habitual deformations of posture or movement" and thus "produce an

altered sense of self" (Jackson, 2006: 328). For Syme the “internal

knowledge” of belonging, which is the practical sense of the habitus by

another name, is founded in a connection to both human physicality

and to the earth - more specifically “to the particular history of the

land” (Syme, 1997: 208). Trusting such inner knowledge “provides a

platform for staying “connected” or in touch with one’s Self” which

“contributes to a sense of psychological integrity and wholeness …”

(Syme, 1997: 207).

Burkitt

Burkitt claims that “[a]ll knowledge is embodied and situated, created

within that fundamental unity between subjects and objects which

is the product of having an active body” (Burkitt, 1999: 74). As we have

seen, many others come to similar conclusions, but his key insight is

that the development of cultural artifacts enabled new ways of thinking

through the emergence of extended thinking bodies (Burkitt, 1999:

26). Extended thinking is not confined to the body within the skin, but

is inseparable from the social and material contexts in which it takes

place (Burkitt, 1999: 3). Burkitt references Mauss (Mauss, 1979), and

there are clear resonances with the work of Foucault and Bourdieu, all

of whom agree that techniques of the body can shift subjectivity. As

Burkitt says:

[o]ur way of 'being-in-the-world', of acting, knowing and

thinking, is largely dependent on artifacts and how they re-form

embodiment (Burkitt, 1999: 36).

Burkitt agrees with Bateson’s central insight – echoed by many other

thinkers in this review - that we are always and already engaged in the

world. Like Bateson, he concludes that “mind is itself immanent in the

ecosystem, as a sensitivity to everything with which it is related, and as

an ability to orient itself within those relations” (Burkitt, 1999: 69).

Although Burkitt notes “the meaningful relationship of humans to the

nonhuman world”, (Burkitt 1999: 72), his work remains focused on

“artifacts, quasi-objects and mediating tools” (Burkitt, 1999: 73), so

fails to consider the potential of intimate engagement with that

nonhuman world.

RELIGIOUS STUDIES

Greenwood

Greenwood's "magical consciousness", which she describes an

"informal way of knowing" (Greenwood, 2005: 15), is reminiscent of

the participatory perception which Abram's describes (Abram, 1996:

20) in that it is a "participatory and expanded aspect of consciousness"

(Greenwood, 2005: viii). Greenwood gives various descriptions of

magical consciousness as "a heightened awareness of an expanded

connected wholeness" (Greenwood, 2005: 47), an altered or

"shamanic" state of consciousness, or a perception of "non-ordinary

reality". Magical consciousness is usually induced though a technique

like dancing or drumming (Greenwood, 2005: 89), but simple

"participation with nature may bring an expanded awareness of the

deep connections between elements of nature" (Greenwood, 2005: 46).

Greenwood draws mainly on Bateson's notion of an ecology of mind to

theorise how magical consciousness operates, and her work remains

essentially an anthropology of "magic and consciousness" (Greenwood,

2005: vii) that ignores wider dimensions.

Ritual Studies

Bell claims that ritual is a “bodily strategy that produces an incarnate

means of knowing” (Bell, 1992: 163), while Grimes (Grimes, 1995)

makes the provocative suggestion that ritual is a bodily way of knowing

designed to move consciousness from the head to the body. Though

Grimes doesn’t elucidate, Asad applies Mauss's notion of the habitus to

problematize the distinction between religious ritual and more general

bodily practices. Asad concludes that the role of ritual is not to express

a symbolic meaning but to influence habitus, thereby helping to create

district subjectivities (Asad, 1993: 131). Crossley makes a similar

argument that rituals “are a form of embodied practical

reason” (Crossley, 2004: 31). Drawing primarily on the work Mauss,

Merleau-Ponty and Bourdieu, he concludes that rituals are “body

techniques”, that is to say “forms of practical and pre-reflective

knowledge and understanding” (Crossley, 2004: 37). As such they can

“effect social transformations” through transforming our “subjective

and intersubjective states” (Crossley, 2004: 40).

COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE11

Peterson provides a valuable study of the significance of cognitive

neuroscience for theology and concludes that:

Our 'spirit,' however we may define that, emerges out of the

11 I include two philosophers (Clark and Preston) in this section of my review who, though not

cognitive neuroscientists, base their theories largely on work within the field.

activities of the mind/brain, which in turn are intimately

connected to the body. A spiritual transformation, therefore, is

in some sense also a biological one (Peterson, 2003: 94).

Until recently the dominant scientific model for human cognition was

the symbol-processing, cognitivist model of the mind/brain as like a

computer processing data (Bredo, 1994: 86 -87). Although in

dominance for a quarter of a century, this approach failed to make

progress, mainly because it "had moved too far from biological

inspirations" (Varela et al., 1991: 86 -87).

Two philosophical assumptions underpin the cognitivist approach:

First, it is profoundly dualistic, assuming a split between language and

reality, mind and body (Bredo, 1994). Second, it relies on a belief in

“representationalism”, a philosophical stance notably critiqued by

Rorty (Rorty, 1979). As a result, much of the older material in cognitive

neuroscience retains a dualistic taint and there is often an assumption

that the mind/brain/body remains somehow separate from the wider

environment.

However, ‘second-generation’ cognitive neuroscience “begins with the

realization that the body … grounds and shapes human cognition”

(Rohrer, 2007: 21 – 22), and provides “a wealth of converging evidence

from various empirical disciplines that shows how our conceptual

systems … are grounded in patterns of bodily activity” (Johnson, 1999:

85). This approach, emboldened by the success of an embodied

strategy to artificial intelligence research12, can be usefully described as

an “embodied cognitive science”. Although I discuss key aspects of the

theory in detail below, one conclusion is consistent: "human cognition

is fundamentally shaped by embodied experience" (Gibbs, 2006: 3). In

their extensive discussion of the evidence for "embodied theories of

knowledge", Barsalou et al. draw on evidence from cognitive

neuroscience, social psychology and cognitive psychology to conclude

that if the argument between embodied and symbol-processing

(representationalist) theories of cognition "were to be decided on

purely empirical grounds at this point in time ... there would be no

contest" and the embodied approach would triumph (Barsalou et al.,

2005: 25). Niedenthal and colleagues likewise conclude that "[i]n sum,

accumulating evidence from cognitive psychology and cognitive

neuroscience supports embodiment theories of knowledge"

(Niedenthal, et al., 2005: 188).

Enactivism

Varela and colleagues build on Merleau-Ponty's work to develop a

model of cognition as "embodied action", a process they call "enactive"

(Varela et al., 1991: xx). They concur with the principle above that

12 See, for example the work of Brooks, 1999

cognition is embodied and factor in the wider "biological,

psychological, and cultural context" (Varela et al., 1991: 173). By

emphasizing action they highlight that cognition is an aspect of the

sensory body (Varela et al., 1991: xx) and that “knower and known,

mind and world, stand in relation to each other through mutual

specification or dependent coorigination” (Varela et al., 1991: 150). The

enactive approach to cognition “is based on situated, embodied agents”

(Varela, 2001: 215) and explicitly rejects representationalism,

bypassing the "logical geography of inner versus outer” by

understanding cognition as embedded in a total “biological/

psychological, and cultural context” (Varela et al., 1991: 172-173). They

conclude that “organism and environment enfold into each other and

unfold from one another in the fundamental circularity that is life

itself” (Varela et al., 1991: 217).

Varela presents four "fundamental insights" of enactivism which he

claims to be "established results" (Varela, 1999: 71). The first

fundamental is that the mind is embodied and therefore "[t]he mind is

not in the head" (Varela, 1999: 72; author's emphasis) and what we

conventionally think of a 'subject' and 'object' are co-arising. Because

the mind is embodied and arises out of "an active handling and coping

with the world", then "whatever you call an object ... is entirely

dependent on this constant sensory motor handling". As a result an

object is not independently 'out there', but "arises because of your

activity, so, in fact, you and the object are co-emerging, co-arising"

(Varela, 1999: 71-72). The mind "cannot be separated from the entire

organism" (Varela, 1999: 73; author's emphasis) or the "outside

environment" (Varela, 1999: 74). Varela's second point focuses on the

emergence of complex cognitive processes from much simpler sub-

systems. The global process of cognition emerges from a huge number

of simple interactions between "neural components and circuits"

(Varela, 1999: 76). The relationship between local and global processes

creates a "two-way street"; just as simple systems give rise to the

complexity of conciousness, so what we consciously think impacts

those local components (Varela, 1999: 76). From this stance it is no

surprise that Varela introduces intersubjectivity, though he notes that

this area is "not well charted yet". Our everyday assumption -

reinforced by older "cognitive and brain science" - is that "a mind

belongs inside a brain, and hence that the other's mind is impenetrable

and opaque". However, he claims that recent research shows "that

individuality and intersubjectivity are not in opposition, but

necessarily complementary" (Varela, 1999: 79). Varela points to

consistent evidence that "all cognitive phenomena are also emotional-

affective" and that affect is a "pre-verbal" and "pre-reflective dynamic

in self-constitution of the self". Thus our pre-reflective sense of self is

"inseparable from the presence of others" (Varela, 1999: 80-81).

Varela's final point is "far less consensual than the preceding ones" and

concerns issues of the philosophy of a "neurophenomenology" that lie

beyond the scope of this review (Varela, 1999: 82; author's emphasis).

Johnson's pursuit of the enactivist approach leads him to conclude that

the way we conceptualize and reason depends on "the kinds of bodies

we have, the kinds of environments we inhabit, and the symbolic

systems we inherit, which are themselves grounded in our

embodiment” (Johnson, 1987: 99) In short, reason is embodied

(Johnson, 1987:100) and grounded in an environment that includes

"our history, culture, language, institutions, theories, and so forth"

(Johnson, 1987: 207).

Both Csordas and Gendlin suggest that Johnson's cognitive approach

fails to engage with our existential being-in-the-world. Csordas claims

that Johnson misses the phenomenological dimensions of

embodiment, and comments in a footnote that he is concerned

with”the body as existential ground of culture" whereas Johnson

(1987) "analyses the body as cognitive ground of culture" (Csordas,

2002: 289, fn#2). Gendlin writes that he and Johnson are engaged in a

"friendly discussion" but criticizes Johnson's emphasis on "spatial

movements" rather than considering the priority of the body "living-in

its environmental situation" (Gendlin, 1997c: 169; author's emphasis).

Csordas and Gendlin's criticisms are not directed at enactivism per se,

but at Johnson's particular approach. In fact the core conclusions of

enactivism - that key aspects of cognition are embodied, situated and

grounded in practical activity - are widely accepted within cognitive

science, and we see correlations with the work of Clark, Damasio,

Merleau-Ponty and many others in this review.

Johnson joined cognitive linguistics researcher Lakoff to develop a

theory of language and reasoning based on embodied metaphors. They

claim that we reason using metaphorical concepts that are based on

our embodied experiences. The way we use the metaphor 'more is up'

provides a simple example: Because in health we stand up and sickness

brings us down, we tend to think metaphorically of 'more' as being 'up'

('price rises') and less as down ('stocks plummeting'). These conceptual

metaphors are learnt, and can be expressed in grammar, gesture, art or

ritual. Lakoff and Johnson conclude that "[b]ecause our ideas are

framed in terms of our unconscious embodied conceptual systems,

truth and knowledge depend on embodied understanding" (Lakoff &

Johnson, 1999: 555). Their conclusions lead them to propose an

ecological, embodied spirituality that recognises that the

“[e]nvironment is not an 'other' to us … it is part of our being" (Lakoff

& Johnson, 1999: 566).

Steen (Steen, 2000) is critical of Lakoff and Johnson's approach

because they rely so much on linguistic evidence and so, he claims, fail

to account for the deeper complexity of thinking. I conclude that

Gendlin's work, which correlates with that of Csordas in many ways,

currently goes deeper into pre-conceptual and extra-verbal experience,

and provides a fuller account of the relationship between language and

thought than either Johnson or his joint project with Lakoff. However,

embodied metaphor theory is not incompatible with Gendlin's

approach, and Gendlin values Johnson's "beautiful work" on metaphor

(Gendlin, 1997c: 174), suggesting they could "cooperate in a 'third

generation' cognitive science" (Gendlin, 1997c: 169).

Despite these criticisms, Lakoff and Johnson's work has potential and

others have already developed it. According to their original model we

primarily use embodied metaphors as the source to makes sense of a

target domain beyond the body. The process is one-way – the

embodied source to the conceptual target. Other theorists, notably

Faucounier and Turner (1995: 2002), argue for greater feedback

between target and source and propose a more sophisticated theory,

“conceptual blending”. This recognizes the frequent situations where

we blend an embodied cognitive metaphor with cultural, emotional

and conceptual elements. Imagine, for example, that "you are watching

the rain fall, responding emotionally and intellectually to what you

see". We cognitively blend different ways of relating to such an

experience, "a film version, a sketch of the rain, a verbal description",

and these are "all connected by vital relations" (Turner, M, 2006: 17).

Emotion

According to Depraz and Gallagher, the "leading hypothesis" is that

emotions are "inextricable from every mental act" (Depraz & Gallagher,

2003: 8), and Damasio presents the most developed theory of the role

of emotion in cognition. Damasio claims that most of our decision

making needs to be made quickly, so is accomplished by "body-

related ... somatic-marker[s]" (Damasio, 2003: 148) which make

emotion and feeling "indispensable" to the process of reasoning

(Damasio, 2003: 145). Because we retain the knowledge of how

previous responses impacted on our lives, we revive the "emotional

signals" associated with those circumstances when a new situation

arises (Damasio, 2003: 147). We are sometimes aware of this process,

as for example when we get a "gut feeling" about something (Damasio,

2003: 147), but somatic markers also operate outside awareness

producing "alterations in working memory, attention, and reasoning"

(Damasio, 2003: 148). Damasio's theory is supported by "substantial

evidence" (Damasio, 2003: 149) and correlates with Gendlin's notion

of the felt sense.

Embodied Situated Cognition

Philosopher Clark draws on the insights of cognitive neuroscience to

answer a question that is central to this review: “Where Does the Mind

Stop and the Rest of the World Begin?” (Clark, 1977: 213). He

concludes that “extra-bodily resources constitute important parts of

extended computational and cognitive processes”, and in some cases

this “seepage of the mind into the world” challenges western notions of

self. Clark follows Bateson in concluding that what we normally accept

as "mental processes" extend beyond the "skin bag" into the local

environment (Clark, 1977: 214). Clark avoids claims about the

self/other boundary and does not suggest that “individual

consciousness extends outside the head”, but concludes that what we

refer to as mind is much more widely extended than the brain, and can

“encompass a variety of external props and aids” (Clark, 1977: 215).

This process, which Clark calls “robust cognitive extension” only occurs

in special cases where “the relationship between user and artifact is

about as close and intimate as that between the spider and the web”

(Clark, 1977: 218). However, “beliefs, knowledge, and perhaps other

mental states" sometimes depend on "aspects of the local

environment” creating “hybrid entities” made up of “brains, bodies,

and a wide variety of external structures and processes” (Clark, 1977:

218).

Such conclusions are widespread13: In his survey of the field Peterson

notes that for a “significant number of researchers … to understand the

mind/brain in isolation from biological and environmental contexts is

to understand nothing” (Peterson, 2003: 43). Theories of cognition

beyond the ‘skin bag’ have spawned a new approach in cognitive

science called “Embodied Situated Cognition” (ESC). Although ESC

emerged from artificial intelligence research, it has become an

interdisciplinary field enabling advances in psychology, philosophy of

mind and social interaction theory (Almeida e Costa and Rocha, 2005).

Evidence from neuroethology14 supports the ESC approach: MacIver

rejects what he calls ‘craniocentricism’ - the idea that what is really

important is what goes on inside the skull - and concludes that the

complex behaviour of organisms arises out of “a tight interplay of body,

brain, and environment” (MacIver, forthcoming, 2008: 25). For these

researchers embodiment means “the body-in-space, the body as it

interacts with the physical and social environment” and they conclude

that it ”is not just that the body shapes the embodied mind, but that

the experiences of the body-in-the-world also shape the embodied

mind” (Rohrer, 2007: 5).

Embodiment and Space

Preston applies ESC to environmental philosophy by claiming that

"part of the feeling of attachment to place is quite literally an

attachment of a portion of our cognitive architecture to the lands we

inhabit" (Preston, 2003: xv). Preston recounts an experience the

anthropologist Basso had with a Western Apache cattleman named

13 Brothers usefully describes this approach as “externalism … the idea that the mind is not “in

the head” but in the individual's embodied interactions in the world”

(Brothers 2005).

14 Neuroethology is a field that describes "animal behavior in terms of how the nervous system

works". International Society for Neuroethology http://www.neuroethology.org/

Dudley Patterson, who explained that particular places on tribal lands

held a wisdom that could not "be grasped purely cognitively".

Patterson needed to take Basso on horseback to these places of wisdom

for him to "experience the places with his body", because "[t]he

topography of the land had to filter through his limbs, the smell of the

vegetation had to permeate his clothes, and the sweat created by the

struggle of getting there had to drip from his body onto the ground"

(Preston, 2003: 83). Culture is a key factor in this process, but Preston

concludes that "[t]he physical environment is not just a site in which

mind operates; it is a characterful place that influences the products of

the mind" (Preston, 2003: 88).

Preston illustrates his argument with his own experiences, that echo

those of Abram, above. Preston spent one summer volunteering for the

National Park service in Alaska and found that the place "played itself

out on my body and made its way into my body". As a result his "being-

in-the-world ... took on a local character". This change took just two

months, and Preston wonders how much greater the change might

have been if he had lived there for years (Preston, 2003: 92). Although

he adds that such dramatic examples are rare (Preston, 2003: 97), he

emphasizes his key point that "people craft some of their very cognitive

identity in communion with a landscape" (Preston, 2003: 100).

ECOPSYCHOLOGY

The Wilderness Effect

Ecopsychology is a new and "diverse field committed to placing human

psychology into an ecological context", that proposes that the mind is

"tangled up with" the natural world. (Fisher, 2005: 557-558). Perhaps

the best established theory of ecopsychology is the 'wilderness effect’

which Greenway claims is "increasingly accepted as a given"

(Greenway, 1995: 128). There are several aspects to the wilderness

effect, but fundamentally it involves “feelings of expansion or

reconnection” which Greenway unhesitatingly describes as “spiritual”

(Greenway, 1995: 128), and current research into the effect concurs:

Davis reports that regularly "being and becoming in nature" over a long

period of time becomes a form of ritual, “a potent spiritual practice"

(Davis, 1998: 95). Baetz opines these kinds of experiences can "bring a

spiritual and emotional (even a mystical) component not just to our

personal lives, but to the modern environment movement as well"

(Baetz, 1998: 3). Key concluded that "[t]here are so many examples" of

spiritual experiences catalysed by wilderness "that it is almost ironic to

seek to validate these kinds of experience when they are the basis of so

many religions, traditions and forms of art" (Key, 2003: 65).

The wilderness effect is most apparent during ‘wilderness’ 15 treks

15 Inevitably, I need to refer to ‘wilderness’ by which I mean open outdoor spaces with (at

lasting for more than a week 16, but ecopsychologists generally agree

that “simply spending meaningful time communing with nature”

(Shaw, 2006) is beneficial, and the full effect is a difference of degree

rather than a difference in kind. Greenway agrees that there is “a

gradient of the ‘wilderness effect’ - ranging from ‘none’ (no effect) to a

complete blowout of one’s usual programs for processing reality”

(Greenway, 1995: 132).

l Greenway (1995: 128-129) provides a list of key aspects of the

wilderness effect (cited by 60% of participants or more):

l 90% "described an increased sense of aliveness, well-being, and

energy"

l 90% "stated that the experience allowed them break an

addiction";

l 77% "described a major life change upon return";

l 60% of the men and 20% of the women "stated that a major goal

of the trip was to conquer fear, challenge themselves, and

expand limits";

l 60% "stated that they had adopted at least one ritual or

contemplative practice learned on the trip";

l 92% "cited 'alone time' as the single most important experience

of the trip";

l 73% cited "getting up before dawn and climbing a ridge or peak

in order to greet the sun ... as the second most important

experience of the trip".

l 80% cited " '[c]ommunity' or the fellowship of the group ... as

the third most important experience";

l 76% of all participants reported "dramatic changes in quantity,

vividness, and context of dreams".

He concludes that we are witnessing a profoundly shifted consciousness

"writ vividly on the psyches of those experiencing extended stays 'away

from cultural reinforcement' and 'vulnerable' to the natural dynamics of

wilderness" (Greenway, 1995: 130).

Explanations

Various theories have attempted to explain this shift, with some

emphasising sensory acuity while others suggest an awakened innate

understanding. Roszak postulates a largely dormant “ecological

unconscious” (Roszak, 1992) which can be awakened, while Wilson’s

'biophilia hypothesis' claims that we have an inbuilt affiliation for nature

(Wilson, 1975). Cohen (Cohen, 1995) estimates that people in western

civilisation spend “over 95 percent of their lives indoors, cloistered from

nature", and concludes that this lack of sensory contact results in our

least) minimal management of flora and fauna.

16 Most of those studied by Greenway lasted for two weeks, although some were for three or

four weeks long. Greenway, 1995: 124. Later studies have been made of 7 day excursions

(Fredrickson, L. and Anderson, D., 1999).

common disconnection from ‘nature’17. Sewall suggests that for many

people perception has been dulled (Sewall, 1995) – a point also made by

Harper (Harper, 1995: 189) - and they have thus lost connection with their

environment. Research by McDonald and Schreyer (McDonald and

Schreyer, 1991) and Beck (Beck 1987) conclude that the wilderness

experience enhances sensory acuity, so supports this explanation.

Fredrickson and Anderson's research illustrated the importance of the

"social dynamics between group members", which "played a large part in

interpreting the wilderness place setting as spiritually inspirational". They

emphasize that though their participants experienced the organic

environment as "spiritually inspirational per se", most couldn't articulate

these feelings without also "addressing the more social aspects of the

place" (Fredrickson and Anderson, 1999: 36). They conclude that it is a

"unique combination of social interactions and landscape characteristics

that render a place as spiritually inspirational" (Fredrickson and

Anderson, 1999: 38). Similarly, Stringer and McAvoy noted "camaraderie"

as a "contributing factor" to spiritual experiences in wilderness (Stringer

and McAvoy, 1992: 69). This research helps to explain the importance of

community to the wilderness effect, and acts as a valuable corrective to the

asocial explanations offered above.

Greenway argues that the effect is due to "a shift from culturally

reinforced, dualism-producing reality processing to a more nondualistic

mode” (Greenway, 1995: 131) which is experienced as "immersion in the

reality in which you are swimming - of which you are a dynamic part"

(Greenway, pers. comm, 2006). Bateson's influence is again apparent, and

Greenway's claim concurs with discussions in this review regarding the

relationship between mind and world. Greenway suggests that "self-

reflective consciousness" (Greenway, 1995: 130) has "run amok" and led

to the dualistic illusion that we are separate from "natural processes"

(Greenway, 1995: 131). Key agrees, concluding that "[a]dventure in wild

places" can awaken us from the dream of "metaphysical dualism that lies

at the root of the current ecological impasse" (Key, 2003: 68).

Childhood Influences

In his introduction to the Japanese edition of Cobb's The Ecology of

Imagination in Childhood, environmental philosopher Shepard writes

approvingly of her theory that:

Children ... are engaged in expanding awareness from body to the

organic surroundings, from self to the ecosystem ... In this play of

body and earth the landscape becomes a model and method of

anticipated knowledge, juxtaposing the systems of the body and the

structure of the living nature (Shepard in Cobb, 1986).

17 Cohen appears to gloss over two meaning of ‘nature’: The first reference I take to be

equivalent to my term "organic environment". His second use – the ‘nature’ Westerners are

disconnected from – is more complex and perhaps romanticised. However, his points remain

pertinent to my thesis.

He claims that Cobb describes "a new meta-physiology, connecting the

most prized human faculties with the pungent presence of soil, leaves and

butterflies ... a source of metaphors that bond body and planet, thought

and place by the seemingly aimless, rhythmic frolic of children" (Shepard

in Cobb, 1986). The ecology of mind Cobb describes is confirmed by

recent research into childhood play from Cornell University (Wells and

Lekies, 2006). Furthermore, ethnographies by Plows (1998b: 136) and

Shaw confirm that that "childhood encounters with nature" (Shaw, 2004:

132) have a significant influence on adult environmental activism.

Fisher's 'Radical Ecopsychology'

Fisher powerfully applies Gendlin's work to ecopsychology, suggesting

that as the felt sense is "the source of all our inwardly arising symbols", it

is "the place where we discover the aims or intentions, the needs or

claims, of the soul itself (the soul being the personification of the

unconscious)" (Fisher, 2006: 228, endnote #69). He provides an example

of one of his conversations with "nonhuman others":

I feel a sudden resonance, where a message unmistakably comes

through, as when a Raven flew onto a nearby branch of a hemlock to

tell me who is boss and whose world I should be paying attention to.

Such experiences need no justification beyond themselves for

meaning is transmitted in them, and I feel a clear change in my

existence, in the way I sense things following them (Fisher, 2006:

102-103).

This experience can become part of daily life and Fisher notes that "[t]he

more I am able to attune myself to the natural world the more I discover

that it is correspondingly attuned to me." (Fisher, 2006: 103).

Conclusion

When Merleau-Ponty articulated the phenomenology of the embodied

mind, he concluded that in knowing the world we become part of it, and

thus the conventional subject-object distinction was illusionary. Gendlin

developed Merleau-Ponty's work, showing how an intricate "bodily sensed

knowledge" (Gendlin, 1981: 25) emerges from our bodily interaction with

the world. This felt-sense accords with anthropologist Csordas's 'somatic

modes of attention', which are ways of "attending to and with one's body"

(Csordas, 1993: 138). Other anthropologists have theorised aspects of

embodied knowing: e.g. Bateson notably concurred with Merleau-Ponty

that mind is immanent in the world. The sociological approach is

significant for Mauss's notion the habitus, which was further theorised by

Bourdieu. The habitus carries embodied cultural knowledge that is tacit

and practical, so is consistent with Merleau-Ponty's theory.

Several religious studies scholars, frequently drawing on Bateson,

Bourdieu, Merleau-Ponty or cognitive neuroscience, conclude that

embodied situated cognition is fundamental to spiritual practice and

experience. Second-generation cognitive neuroscience is especially

influential, and confirms that cognition is embodied, situated and

intricately tied in with emotions. Cognitive neuroscience also supports the

position held by Merleau-Ponty, Gendlin, Burkitt, Bateson and others,

that at least some fundamental aspects of the mind-body extend beyond

the skin. Preston develops this discussion by claiming that we think with

place, and this has a fundamental impact on our being-in-the-world.

Enactivism is currently the most developed model of embodied situated

cognition, and emphasizes that what we conventionally think of a 'subject'

and 'object' are co-arising. Some enactivists (Lakoff and Johnson)

emphasize the role of embodied metaphors in cognition. Their work has

been criticized, but is influential and is likely to remain as part of an

integrated model of enactivism.

Ecopsychologists concur with the consensus of this review that mind and

world cannot be separated. Ecopsychology identified the wilderness effect,

which demonstrates that spending time in the organic environment can

catalyse profound spiritual experiences. The mechanism remains under

discussion, but social and spatial factors seem significant. Related

research suggests that childhood play in the organic environment has a

significant influence on adult environmental activism.

A consensus emerges from this review that embodied cognition is situated

and grounded in practical activity. This process is largely non-verbal and

pre-reflective, and depends on an affective, sensual mode of being-in-the-

world that reveals a fundamental integration between what we

conventionally understand as ‘self’ and ‘world’. Because of the intimate

relationship between 'self' and 'world', place can have a profound impact

on our thinking and our entire being-in-the-world. My next chapter

presents a model of embodied situated cognition based on this research

that I then apply to my fieldwork.

Chapter 4: Embodied Situated Cognition: A Synthesis

"The heart has reasons that reason cannot know".

Pascal, Pensées.

Until the late twentieth century Pascal's point was well made, for our most

fundamental motivations and the wisdom in our bones lay beyond

rational understanding. But the synthesis I offer reveals how reason can at

least learn to listen to the reasons of the heart. Embodied situated

cognition is a complex phenomenon that cannot be adequately understood

from a single perspective. A dance serves as a useful metaphor: We can

analyse the choreography, music and physical execution of a dance, but

this can't tell us how it feels to perform or watch it. Similarly we can

interview the dancers, the audience and perhaps dance the steps

ourselves, but we still won't understand how and why the choreography is

effective. I thus adopt two complementary perspectives throughout: one

focused on the phenomenological and experiential intimacy of embodied

knowing and other on the physiological body engaged in embodied

situated cognition. My experiential analysis draws primarily on

phenomenology and anthropology, while my more physiological

perspective integrates the cognitive science of embodied situated

cognition with Bourdieu's theory of habitus

Despite a remarkable degree of agreement across a wide range of

disciplines, the considerable insights of cognitive neuroscience have rarely

been integrated with those from sociology or anthropology, and even

those who have attempted such a synthesis don't draw on the breadth of

material I have. We are still at an early stage in embodied situated

cognition research, and I don't attempt to construct a full theory. I do,

however, claim that new insights emerge that can illuminate the path of

ethnographic exploration. I explain this synthesis in three thematic

sections based on theoretical approaches reviewed in the previous

chapter: theories concerned with metaphor and habitus; perspectives

emphasising cognitive extension; and those studying the role of

perception. I highlight interdisciplinary coherence, reveal previously

unrecognised relationships between theoretical strategies and thus

present a systematic integration. In some cases one theory can strengthen

another: for example, Lakoff and Johnson’s cognitive metaphor theory

can elucidate the mechanism underpinning Bourdieu's habitus. I also

introduce new material, including Gibson’s “affordances" (Gibson, 1979),

that are not strictly concerned with embodied situated cognition, but

make a useful contribution to my model. I then consider challenges and

critiques to the claims of embodied situated cognition. Throughout this

chapter I apply different theoretical stances to existing fieldwork,

sometimes drawing on my review of Eco-Paganism literature, and in the

final section I demonstrate the explanatory power of my model.

THE ENACTIVE PROCESS MODEL

Embodied cognitive science "requires thinking through evidence drawn

from a multiplicity of perspectives on embodiment, and therefore draws

from multiple methodologies" (Rohrer, 2007: 14). Embodied cognitive

science thus offers a sound basis for an interdisciplinary theory of

embodied knowing, and enactivism is one of its foremost theoretical

programs. Enactivism, which has a "reputable pedigree" (Preston, 2003:

30) and is grounded in "about fifty years of good research" (Varela, 1999:

71), builds on the insights of Merleau-Ponty and is either consonant with

or has explanatory value for all the thinkers reviewed. Ingold's "sentient

ecology" (Ingold, 2000: 116-17) is fundamentally an enactivist approach,

as is Abram's less theorised model (Abram, 1996), while Preston applies it

in his program of grounding knowledge in place (Preston, 2003). I

described above how Lakoff and Johnson's (1999) enactivist model

plausibly explicates Bourdieu's habitus, and although enactivism is more

radical than Clark's stance, it is by no means incompatible with it. For all

these reasons, enactivism forms the core of the model I apply to my

fieldwork.

Gendlin can be understood as an enactivist, although he does not identify

as such. However, on Gendlin's conception 'the body' extends beyond the

skin into "a vastly larger system" (Gendlin, 1997: 26) in a way similar to

the model offered by enactivism. Given that Gendlin's implicit is grounded

in our memories, history and culture as well as immediate sensory input, I

expect that it has a tight relationship with habitus, which I have already

linked to Lakoff and Johnston's embodied metaphor theory, but this must

remain a hypothesis that would benefit from further research.

By combining enactivism with Gendlin's philosophy of the implicit, I

synthesize a model of embodied situated cognition with more explanatory

power than either has alone. This model is consistent with other theories

discussed, and in several cases elucidates them. Given that Gendlin's key

exposition describes his theory as A Process Model (Gendlin, 1997), I

henceforth refer to this as the enactive process model. The enactive

process model reveals that our being-in-the-world is bound up with the

immediate environment and embodied cognition draws on it as a source

of material to think with. Because different local environments provide

different metaphors to think about the world they enable different ways of

thinking such that in a given place there will be some thoughts we simply

cannot think, because we lack the metaphorical substrate.

The Cognitive Iceberg

Fig 1: The Cognitive Iceberg

My 'cognitive iceberg' schematically represents the complex processes of

embodied situated cognition. It is inevitably an oversimplification,18 and

18 One fundamental element that I have not included is the considerable influence of the

hormonal and immune systems. I decided that factoring in this aspect would over complicate

presents the local environment and physical body as more separate than

the enactive process model suggests. I explain the enactive process model

in detail below, but in summary, the whole 'iceberg' triangle represents the

physical body, while the area below the wavy line represents the "cognitive

unconscious" (Lakoff and Johnson, 1999: 10). This contains the Primary

Metaphors (PM) that underpin Complex Metaphors (CM), and sets of

interrelated Complex Metaphors (Lakoff and Johnson, 1999) which I

interpret below as habitus seen from a different perspective. The physical

body is engaged in a dynamic relationship with the local environment

through extended cognition, perception and what Gibson calls

"affordances" (Gibson, 1979). As 95 percent of embodied thought occurs

below our consciousness (Thrift, 2000: 36), most of this processing never

reaches everyday awareness, which is at the iceberg's tip.

At the top of the triangle – the tip of the proverbial iceberg – is everyday

conscious awareness, which as we have heard, is a very small percentage

of who we are. Consciousness is simply what we are aware of, the minimal

aspects of a complex process, but because we identify our 'self' with

consciousness we tend to discount the deep body 'self' that actually

governs much of our behaviour. This top level of awareness is quite

narrowly focused and tends to heighten our impression of a subject/object

distinction. The dotted area just below the apex designates 'gut feelings' or

felt senses. Further down the triangle awareness widens out into what I

call the deep body, becoming less focused and blurring the distinction

between self and other, shown in the graphic by the gaps appearing in the

sides of the triangle. A distinct boundary marks off the cognitive

unconscious because it's normally inaccessible to intentional influence or

conscious awareness. However, this line is wavy, because under certain

circumstances - in ritual for example (Asad, 1993: 131) - the deep body can

access and influence at least some of what lies below the line.

The enactive process model (illustrated by the cognitive iceberg diagram)

is a synthesis of several theoretical approaches. Some theories emphasize

how cognition involves the individual body, and focus on stance,

movement and gesture (see, inter alia, Bourdieu, Mauss, Syme). This

approach typically suggests that cognition relies on cultural and embodied

metaphors (Bourdieu, 1984: 172-3; Lakoff and Johnson, 1999; Syme,

1997). Several theorists conclude that as we are always and already

engaged in the world, embodied situated cognition involves the immediate

environment. Such cognitive extension may involve people, physical

objects, light levels, sounds, the ordering of space, and the other-than-

human world as tools to think with (see, inter alia, Abram, Bateson,

Gendlin, Ingold, Varela et al.). Both the gestural/metaphorical and the

cognitive extension models emphasize different aspects of the complex

processes of embodied situated cognition/knowing and are not mutually

exclusive, as complex feedback loops operate between the elements/sub-

systems described by each approach. Cognitive neuroscience estimates

what is already an extensive analysis without a significant gain in insight.

that only 5% of thought is conscious (Lakoff and Johnson, 1999: 13), so

most of these processes occur in what Lakoff and Johnson call the

"cognitive unconscious"19 (Lakoff and Johnson, 1999: 9 -15).

In most cases, each theoretical stance was originally presented in

isolation: Bourdieu, for example does not consider how the habitus might

relate to cognitive extension. Therefore, although the enactive process

model shows how different approaches mesh in complex

interrelationships, I explain each aspect as a separate thematic

perspective: I consider metaphor and habitus, cognitive extension,

metaphors as scaffolding, and perception.

Metaphor and Habitus

Bourdieu’s habitus is fundamental to gestural/metaphorical strategies,

which illustrate how the practical sense of the habitus is rooted in

metaphors that are embodied in the body schema20 and the immediate

environment. Furthermore, this practical sense orders our perception,

thereby delineating what we attend to and how we apprehend it.

Jenkins (1992: passim, 76-80) is critical of Bourdieu’s concept of habitus,

claiming that it fails to explain how habitus actually functions. Jenkins

argues that Bourdieu glosses over this issue with vague references to

‘unconscious’ processes, but Lakoff and Johnson’s conceptual metaphors

may be useful in clarifying how habitus functions. Lakoff and Johnson’s

theory claims that we reason using metaphorical concepts based on our

physical experiences (Lakoff and Johnson, 1999). The "practical

taxonomies" which Bourdieu used to decipher the meaning of Kabyle

culture, are similarly rooted in the bodily schema: Male/female,

front/back, up/down, hot/cold, are examples of practical metaphors that

Kabyle culture – and, no doubt, our own – use to make sense of the world

(Bourdieu, 1990: 10). This embodied "socialization instils a sense of the

equivalences between physical space and social space and between

movements (rising, falling, etc.) in the two spaces and thereby roots the

most fundamental structures of the group in the primary experiences of

the body which, as is clearly seen in emotion, takes metaphors seriously"

(Bourdieu, 1990: 72).

On Lakoff and Johnson’s model, Primary Metaphors are the basic units of

embodied understanding, grounding simple assumptions like ‘More Is Up’

(Lakoff and Johnson, 1999: 56). Primary Metaphors build into Complex

Metaphors that help construct our conceptual systems, and "affect how we

think and what we care about" (Lakoff and Johnson, 1999: 60). We can

explain how Bourdieu’s habitus functions in terms of Primary and

Complex Metaphors, as shown in fig. 2.

19 This is not to be confused with the Freudian or Jungian unconscious. Lakoff and Johnson’s

concept is based on an entirely different model.

20 The body schema is a preconscious system that helps manage posture and movement

(Gallagher and Cole, 1995).

Fig. 2: Embodied Metaphor and Habitus

Primary Metaphors (PM) underpin Complex Metaphors (CM), and sets of

interrelated Complex Metaphors can be understood as habitus seen from a

different perspective. The stoic ‘stiff upper lip’ serves as a good example:

‘Stiff Is Strong’ is a Primary Metaphor that becomes Complex in the

context of the emotional feeling of distress where the upper lip trembles.

In a social context, the stiff upper lip, seen as an aspect of habitus,

exemplifies a class bound moral imperative. A slightly adapted version of

figure 2 is integrated into the cognitive unconscious on my cognitive

iceberg diagram (fig. 1).

Cognitive Extension

Although there are variations in how theorists understand the relationship

between 'self' and environment, they agree that place can enable cognitive

processes we would otherwise be incapable of (Preston, 2003). Bourdieu’s

practical sense engages with the local environment in a way that is

analogous to cognitive extension, and this process is apparent in

Bourdieu’s analysis of the Kabyle house (Bourdieu, 1990). The space of the

house is organised according to the "practical taxonomies" described

above in the section on Metaphor and Habitus: the house itself is female

as opposed to the outside world of men, while within the house are light

(male) spaces used for social activities and dark (female) areas set apart

for more organic aspects of life like sleeping and sex (Bourdieu, 1990:

274). The house thus becomes cognised space (Rapoport, 1994) that is

integral to the process of enculturation. As Benton says:

social relations take as their terms not just persons … but also

physical objects, spatial 'envelopes', land, material substances and

other living things, which are, likewise, space-time embedded

(Benton, 1991: 21).

This is apparent in Butler's description of the space of resistance Eco-

Pagans21 created at the M11 link road protest:

[T]he culture of resistance created at Claremont22, the people who

21 Not all those involved with the M11 protest were Eco-Pagans, but, as noted in Chapter 2,

there is "a Pagan discourse underlying the [protest] movement" (Letcher, 2000). This is

apparent in Butler's description.

22 The whole of Claremont Road was occupied by activists during the height of the M11

protest. Protesters were evicted in December 1994.

inhabited it and the rituals performed in the space functioned as an

'auto-critic' of everyday life in that the art and artefacts, the

landscape itself, were purposefully (re)-created to 'display' and to

confront this potential (Butler, 2003: 377-378).

Butler quotes Tilley to further her point:

Spaces open up by virtue of the dwelling of humanity or the staying

with things that cannot be separated: the earth, the sky, the

constellations, the divinities, birth and death … Cognition is not

opposed to reality, but is wholly given over in the social fact

of dwelling, serving to link place, praxis, cosmology and nurture

(Tilley, 1994: 13 (quoted in Butler, 1991: 377).

Butler, Benton and Tilley are describing processes that involve cognitive

extension, although none of them use that term: cognition is bound up

with spaces, and as people transform an environment they are creating

ways of thinking, of making sense of things.

Metaphors as Scaffolding

Neither Burkitt nor Clark explore the possibility that the other-than-

human world might serve as scaffolding in the way described above, but

applying Lakoff and Johnson’s work suggests how this could work.

Although Lakoff and Johnson’s embodied metaphors are rooted within

the skin enclosed body (Lakoff and Johnson, 1999), cognitive extension

can explain how we use aspects of our environment as scaffolding

metaphors. Bourdieu suggests as much in his analysis of the use of

practical metaphors in the spatial layout of the Kabyle house (Bourdieu,

1990: 93), while Thrift concluded that practical knowledge "tends to be

based upon organic analogy or metaphor[s]" which "are usually based

upon proximity" (Thrift, 1996: 102). To illustrate the point, Thrift quotes

from Jackson’s ethnography of the Kuranko of Sierra Leone, who "use the

word kile (‘path’ or ‘road’) as a metaphor for social relationship" (Jackson,

1982: 16). The metaphor source is the way a local species of grass "bends

back one way as you go along a path through it, and then bends back the

other way as you return along the path" and the changing direction of the

grass has become a metaphor for reciprocity:

Thus, in Kuranko one often explains the reason for giving a gift,

especially to an in-law, with the phrase kile ka na faga, ‘so that the

path does not die’. However, if relations between affines or

neighbours are strained, it is often said that ‘the path is not good

between them’ … (Jackson, 1982: 16).

Abram's ethnography provides similar examples (Abram, 1996), while his

suggestion that a boulder might lend our "thoughts a certain gravity, and a

kind of stony wisdom" (Abram, 2004) neatly illustrates Finch’s conclusion

that the organic environment can provide "an external template for

internal emotions, a way of recognizing, giving shape to, an inner

process". Finch suggests "that the physical natural world might in fact be

the source of our emotional, psychological, and even spiritual lives"

(Finch, 2004: 44). Examples of this process abound in Eco-Pagan

practice, where metaphors are grounded in "the earth and the seasonal

cycles of the natural world" (Salomonsen, 2002: 14).

How we understand our world influences our notion of self, and to the

extent that we use environmental scaffolding metaphors, they will help to

construct our being-in-the-world. Thus, if we predominantly draw on the

metaphors of a restricted environment to scaffold our cognition, we may

invite an impoverished existence. But our thought is not simply steered by

cognitive extension using artifacts or environment: Because complex

cognitive processes exist in a reciprocal relationship with simpler sub-

systems, what we consciously think impacts on those primary processes

(Varela, 1999: 76). Therefore "complex, human-generated … belief

systems" can "interrupt feedback … from the sociocultural and biophysical

environments" which underlie cognitive extension (Stepp et al., 2003).

The enactive process model helps explain several aspects of the wilderness

effect. Using richer metaphors from the organic environment will have an

impact on cognition, so could potentially shift our being-in-the-world or

catalyses spiritual experience. Furthermore, Greenway notes that people

can easily resist the wilderness effect, which is to be expected given the

point made by Stepp et al. (2003). He opined that psychological "entry

into the wilderness is relatively rare - people I think tend to have fairly

deep-seated resistance to any basic change in viewpoint, habit, value,

behaviour. The body is in wilderness, the psyche is hanging on to one's

culture" (Greenway, pers. comm., 2006).

Perception

In as far as cognition uses the local environment as scaffolding, our

sensory modalities will impact on the cognitive process. If my sensory

acuity is constrained, then the extent to which I can draw on my

environment for cognitive scaffolding will be reduced. In effect then, a

finely tuned perception enables more effective cognition, a point

supported in various ways by Merleau-Ponty and Ingold. Furthermore,

given that wilderness experience improves sensory acuity (Beck 1987;

McDonald and Schreyer, 1991), the perceptual dimensions of the

wilderness effect will be enhanced. Thus, if the wilderness effect leads an

individual to seek more wilderness experiences, a positive feedback loop

would be established.

Habitus is a significant influence on sensory acuity: In simple terms, how

I stand (slouching or tall), hold myself (head held up or down) and move

through the world will inevitably have an impact on my sensory acuity.

Bourdieu's "practical taxonomies" guide our "perception and our practice

…" (Bourdieu, 1989: 73); they therefore determine what we pay attention

to and may restrict our perceptual field.

Our intentions are also significant: Perception is not a simple process of

receiving sense data from an objective reality of external objects, but

emerges from "our whole involvement with the world, emotional and

practical as well as purely intellectual" (Matthews, 2002: 54). For Gibson

our perception of the world is active, and structured by what he calls

"affordances":

The affordances of the environment are what it offers the animal,

what it provides or furnishes, either for good or ill. The verb to

afford is found in the dictionary, but the noun affordance is not. I

have made it up. I mean by it something that refers to both the

environment and the animal in a way that no existing term does. It

implies the complementarity of the animal and the environment

(Gibson, 1979: 127)

Affordances emerge from the relationship between the organism and the

environment, and are represented on the right side of the cognitive

iceberg (fig. 1). Affordances can relate to our physical capacities, acquired

skills and "our acquired cultural embodiment" (Dreyfus and Dreyfus,

1999: 104).

Strictly speaking, I am concerned with Norman's adaptation of Gibson’s

term: For Gibson an affordance is a possibility presented by the

environment that is independent of our recognition of opportunity,

whereas Norman’s more subjective perceived affordances depends on an

individual’s intentions, values and beliefs (Norman, 1999). Such

affordances both constrain and enable behavior. Examples include "a path

that beckons people to walk safely along it, a wood that is a repository of

childhood memories, trees that invite young children to climb and so on"

(Macnaghten and Urry, 2000: 169). Perceived affordances are culturally

determined, and as a result "[i]ndividuals in different societies differ in

what they perceive and value in their perception" (Rodaway, 1995: 12).

Because of these processes and influences, we hear what we are culturally

tuned to listen for and see what we are culturally focused to look for, and

our sensory acuity shifts accordingly:

What we perceive, for example, cannot be cleanly separated from

how are moving our bodies, what emotions or desires we are

feeling, what we are thinking, or what kind of language we have

acquired. All of these are intertwined aspects of a single bodily

existing (Fisher, 2006: 244).

The role of positive feedback loops is clear: My habitus guides my

perceptual expectations and inclines me towards a particular way of

being-in-the-world, both of which then reinforce my habitus.

CHALLENGES AND CRITIQUES

On-line and off-line Cognition

It is generally agreed within cognitive neuroscience and psychology that

that there are two fundamentally different modes of cognition; on-line and

off-line (see, inter alia, Corr, 2006). It is important to grasp the difference,

because several of the criticisms of embodied situated cognition only

apply to off-line cognition. On-line cognition is concerned with

"immediate input" from our local environment (Iverson & Thelan, 2000:

37), and deals with "here-and-now" tasks (Bassili, 1989: xiv) that require

fast moment-by-moment processing. We switch to slower, off-line

cognition to make more careful considerations, like when we make a

mental check on something odd or plan future behaviour (Corr, 2006:

468). Everyday activity and conversations use predominantly on-line

cognition, as does reading, but when the usual flow is interrupted we

switch to off-line processing. To make this clearer, read:

The old man the boats.

You will probably use off-line cognition as you start to read that sentence

(taken from Meyer and Rice, 1992: 199), but then, as that approach fails,

re-read it off-line to interpret the meaning correctly. On-line cognition is

always situated in the sense that "all the elements of the problem are

physically there in a given context and the organism manipulates them to

generate an effective response" (Day, 2004: 110), while off-line cognition

is only sometimes situated, as in the reading example just given.

Immediate location is irrelevant for some off-line cognition, as for

example, when we imagine a 'what-if' scenario to plan some hypothetical

activity.

Existing fieldwork illustrates that Eco-Pagans predominantly use on-line

cognition, drawing on metaphors based in the immediate environment for

cognitive extension. Eco-Pagan practice engages with the place itself, the

actual trees, rivers and plants, and is not concerned with theological

issues of belief that would require off-line cognition (see inter alia:

Harvey, 2000; Letcher, 2000, 2002; Plows, 2005; Taylor, B., 2001).

Wilson's Critique

Wilson usefully summarizes the six claims of the "emerging viewpoint of

embodied cognition":

1) cognition is situated; 2) cognition is time-pressured; 3) we off-

load cognitive work onto the environment; 4) the environment is

part of the cognitive system; 5) cognition is for action; 6) off-line

cognition is body-based (Wilson, M, 2002: 625).

She argues that some of these claims "are more controversial than

others" (Wilson, M, 2002: 625) and cautions against over extending the

application of the theory: Wilson's critique is comprehensive and includes

all the key challenges to this stance. While the sixth claim, that "off-line

cognition is body-based", "may in fact be the best documented and most

powerful" (Wilson, M., 2002: 625), she argues that the remainder are, at

best, "at least partially true" (Wilson, M., 2002: 625).

Her criticism of the first claim, that "cognition is situated" (Wilson, M.,

2002: 625), does not impact on my application of the theory. She notes

that "large portions of human cognitive processing" cannot be situated,

and Kirsh and Anderson concur (Anderson, 2003: 116; Kirsh, 1991: 171).

Specifically, these are off-line cognitive processes that involve "our ability

to form mental representations about things that are remote in time and

space" (Wilson, M., 2002: 626). However, I concluded at the end of the

previous sub-section that Eco-Pagan practice primarily uses on-line

cognition, so it is not subject to this critique.

I concur with Wilson that the second claim - that cognition is time-

pressured - is too broad, as many of our daily activities "do not inherently

involve time pressure" (Wilson, M., 2002: 628). However, this claim is not

required or implied by the enactivist process model. Wilson supports the

third claim, that "we off-load cognitive work onto the environment"

(Wilson, M., 2002: 625), as long as we recognize that it is only applicable

to on-line cognition (Wilson, M., 2002: 629), which is exactly how I apply

the theory.

Wilson mounts a fairly robust attack on the fourth claim that "the

environment is part of the cognitive system" (Wilson, M., 2002: 625),

which, given the centrality of this claim to my approach, I need to discuss.

Wilson’s critique hinges on what we mean by "cognitive system". On this

basis she concludes that what she call the "strong version" of extended

cognition, "that a cognitive system cannot in principle be taken to

comprise only an individual mind", will not hold (Wilson, M., 2002: 631).

There are two types of cognitive system: "Facultative systems are

temporary, organized for a particular occasion and disbanded readily",

while "obligate systems ... are more or less permanent, at least relative to

the lifetime of their parts" (Wilson, M., 2002: 630). Because I am

explicitly concerned with embodied situated cognition in quite distinct

locations, I work with a model that uses facultative rather than obligate

systems. Wilson accepts this "weaker version", which she concludes offers

"a promising ... avenue of investigation" (Wilson, M., 2002: 631).

Wilson critique of the fifth claim, that cognition is for action, once again

focus on limitations rather than general validity. Although this claim is

supported by much of the available evidence, it doesn't apply in all

examples of cognition (Wilson, M., 2002: 632), notably excluding most

off-line cognition. As discussed above, this does not impact on my

application of embodied situated cognition theory to on-line processing.

APPLYING THE MODEL

My literature review typically addressed cognition during 'normal'

consciousness, but I now apply the enactive process model to alternative

states of consciousness. I am not positing some 'normal' state of

consciousness, as we spend much of our time in some kind of alternative

state or trance. However, it serves my purposes to assume a normal

baseline state, illustrated in my cognitive iceberg diagram (fig. 1), to which

I can compare.

Certain circumstances and techniques allow us to become more aware of

the blurred boundary between self and world. As the waves ride up the

side of a real iceberg, what is above the water and what is below changes

constantly. So it is with conscious awareness: At times we are unaware of

the deeper processes of embodied situated cognition - the sea around the

iceberg is still. But at other times the sea is rough, and what lies beneath

and above the waves shifts constantly. Our experiences make this

apparent, as Leder vividly describes on an occasion when he was walking

in the woods, caught up with his own concerns:

a paper that needs completion, a financial problem. My thoughts

are running their own private race, unrelated to the landscape. ...

The landscape neither penetrates into me, not I into it. We are two

bodies (Leder, 1990: 165).

Leder's mind is working off-line, and on my model his awareness is

focused at the tip of the cognitive iceberg. But the "rhythm of walking" and

the peace of the wood calm his mind and induce an "existential shift", so

that he begins to notice the beauty around him. Gradually

[t]he boundaries between the inner and the outer thus become

porous. ... I feel the sun and hear the song birds both within-me and

without-me. ... They are part of a rich body-world chasm that eludes

dualistic characterization (Leder, 1990: 165-6).

Leder's awareness has slipped down the cognitive iceberg, broadening

into what Greenwood calls magical consciousness (Greenwood, 2005),

and this change in "body-mind-habitus" produces "an altered sense of

self" (Jackson, 2006: 328). A fundamental aspect of this change in habitus

is the deepening sense of personal embodiment which results from

shifting awareness down the cognitive iceberg. This shift blurs the

distinction between self and other, enhancing Leder's sense of connection.

The experience Leder describes correlates with the wilderness effect,

which is present in the beneficial effects of "spending meaningful time

communing with nature" (Shaw, 2006), and recalls Greenway's comment

that the effect results from moving from a "dualism-producing"

consciousness "to a more nondualistic mode" (Greenway, 1995: 131).

Shifting awareness even slightly down the cognitive iceberg increases our

sense of connection, enhancing empathy and thus contributing to a richer

social community. Given that the wilderness effect correlates with this

kind of shift, my model helps explain the tight relationship between the

wilderness effect, a spiritual sense of connection and community.

Greenway notes that 80% of participants on wilderness trips cited the

sense of community as very significant (Greenway, 1995: 128-129) while

other researchers found correlations between close social interaction and

spiritual experiences (Fredrickson and Anderson, 1999; Stringer and

McAvoy, 1992).

Ritual, trance and meditation all help shift awareness to the deep

embodied self, and can thus blur the boundary of the skin enclosed body,

enabling a flow of information between ‘self’ and ‘other’ that ultimately

makes nonsense of both terms. Questions concerning which mode of

awareness is more 'real' are moot, as according to Varela the "mind is not

about representing some kind of state of affairs", but is "fundamentally a

matter of imagination and fantasy" (Varela, 1999: 77; author's emphasis).

In everyday states of consciousness - which are clearly variable - the mind

is "constantly secreting this coherent reality that constitutes a world"

(Varela, 1999: 77): We construct a reality of apparent subject/object

duality even though the mind is in a "non-place of the co-determination of

inner and outer, so one cannot say that is outside or inside" (Varela, 1999:

73).

Focusing

The Focusing technique first described by Gendlin (1981) requires a form

of attention that usually engenders an alternative state of consciousness.

Fig. 3: Focusing and the Felt Sense

In fig. 3 I adapt my cognitive iceberg diagram to show the felt sense and

illustrate the process of Focusing. The entire space of the triangle below

the apex forms the ground of Gendlin's implicit, which emerges from our

emotions, memories, history and culture as well as immediate sensory

input. As before, the dotted area just below the apex designates 'gut

feelings' or felt senses. Metaphor plays a key role in situated embodied

situated cognition, and the implicit, in common with the cognitive

unconscious, speaks the language of metaphor, which is how the felt sense

is usually expressed. The felt sense emerges from the relationship between

conscious awareness and the implicit, which is meditated through

Focusing.

Ritual

Ritual can use all of the aspects of embodied situated cognition - stance,

movement and gesture, cognitive extension, metaphor, the felt sense and

perceptual manipulation - but often more explicitly 23. Because rituals take

place within a space and time set apart, and often use techniques

deliberately intended to shift consciousness, including breathwork,

rhythm, movement and dance,24 the processes of embodied situated

cognition can be used more intentionally:

Because we experience ritual in a heightened emotional state, a

gesture or physical movement becomes loaded with symbolic

23 As noted in my literature review, contemporary Pagans deliberately create their rituals.

24 Entheogens, most usually ‘magic’ psilocybin mushrooms, are used in a sacred context but

rarely in ritual.

power: What would be a simple wave of the arm in everyday space

becomes an invitation to deity in the sacred circle (Harris and

Nightmare, 2006: 226. Also see Bell, 1992: 93-117).

As a result, a ritual can enable the participant to access "know-how" that

would otherwise "remains unintelligible and inaccessible to our reflective

consciousness" (Crossley, 2004: 37). Thus, as Raposa says, rituals offer a

means of "a thinking through and with the body" (Raposa, 2004: 115) that

enables embodied thoughts and modes of thinking that are otherwise

elusive. The enactive process model has considerable explanatory power

for ritual studies: It elucidates how ritual "produces an incarnate means

of knowing" (Bell, 1992: 163), moves consciousness from the 'head' (the

tip of the iceberg) to the deep body (Grimes, 1995), influences habitus

(Asad, 1993: 131) or transforms "subjective and intersubjective states"

(Crossley, 2004: 40).

Trance

Trance ranges from the shallow trance of watching television to deep

states where conscious awareness is apparently absent, and I am mainly

concerned with shamanic states at the deeper end of this scale. Vitebsky

describes shamanic trance as a "technique of dissociation25 with a high

degree of control" (Vitebsky, 2000: 59) that allows the practitioner access

to a "dimension of reality" that "is not accessible to ordinary people, or in

an ordinary state of consciousness" (Vitebsky, 2000: 58).

25 The term dissociation is drawn from psychology and psychiatry where it describes mental

states ranging from daydreaming through hypnosis into what can be considered pathological

like amnesia, the feeling that one's surroundings are unreal and depersonalization which

involves "experiencing oneself as detached from one’s own body or mental processes"

(Brunet, Holowka & Laurence, 2001: 3).

Figure 4: The Trance State

Trance is complex and an extensive discussion lies beyond my remit, but

the enactive process model again has explanatory power, as shown above.

Figure 4 shows an 'ideal' deep trance state: trance takes many forms, and

some degree of conscious awareness is common, so it is rarely as profound

as shown here.

When an individual enters trance, their awareness begins to slide down

the cognitive iceberg, and the apparent boundary between 'self' and 'other'

becomes increasingly blurred. They soon begin to dissociate, a sensation

that is often apparent even in light trances like daydreaming. As a

practitioner moves into deeper trance states, conventional maps of 'reality'

begin to break down, but up to a point the Shaman's training enables

them to remain in control. There is a lack of research into what happens

during this process, but I hypothesise that the Shaman uses whatever

cultural maps are available to make sense of what she or he experiences.

According to Varela "you can give an (enactively embodied) organism

anything at all as an excuse for sensory-motor interaction, and it will

immediately constitute a world which is shaped, which is fully formed. It's

an amazing conceptual shift from thinking that there are properties of the

world that you need to apprehend in order to make a coherent picture of

reality, to the notion that almost anything would supply an excuse to

invent a reality" (Varela, 1999: 77).

Conclusion

The demands of clarity required me to present each perspective on

embodied situated cognition as if they were distinct, but as we have seen

these different aspects interrelate in complex ways. Such analysis, which

has been essential to understanding, inevitably distorts, and this model

may appear to be quite instrumentalist: There is little sense here of a

relationship or a conversation with the other-than-human world, and it

suggests that we simply use the organic environment as a tool to make

sense of our lives. This may be true in many cases, but the process can be

experienced like a dance that enables deep communion. The steps of the

dance are ancient, and when we make those old familiar moves we are

once again in tune with the other-than-human world. There is a point

where self and other bow and acknowledge one another before the dance

begins. This is the ethical relationship of ‘self’ and ‘other’ upon which

Levinas founds his ethics26. But in just a few fluid steps the self/other

dance becomes a process in itself. If I learn the steps well, then suddenly -

phenomenologically and spiritually – 'I' am no longer the dancer but the

dance, at which point 'I' am not.

I have demonstrated how the enactive process model can elucidate

26 For Levinas, if there is no division between subject and object, then there is no ‘other’, so on

his terms, there is no ethics. His approach is very different from the Buddhist and Deep

Ecology view, but my dance metaphor offers a compromise.

existing ethnography, the wilderness effect, Focusing, ritual practice and

trance. In Section II I apply this model and my cognitive iceberg diagram

to my fieldwork, where it powerfully illuminates embodied knowing in

Eco-Paganism.

Chapter 5: Embodied Philosophy: My Ontological and

Epistemological Grounding

"How words are understood is not told by words alone".

Wittgenstein (1981: 144).

Reflexivity lies at the heart of this thesis: I seek to understand - to have

knowledge of - a particular way of knowing. There are echoes of this

reflexivity in my literature review of embodied cognition, where I

discussed attempts to think about how we think. This reflexive circle need

not be 'vicious', in the sense of tying me into a knot of self-reference, if I

apply the tools of phenomenology and hermeneutics. Phenomenology is

fundamental to much of the work on embodied cognition (see, inter alia

Gendlin, Varela, and Merleau-Ponty) and as I explain later, hermeneutics

takes a central role in my methodology.

It is from this background that I now discuss my philosophical stance and

how it is grounded in the enactive process model. After framing my

discussion using Kasulis's intimacy and integrity orientations (Kasulis,

2002), I discuss the failure of dualistic ontology and epistemology before

describing how an embodied naturalized epistemology (Quine, 1969)

emerges from Gendlin's process philosophy (inter alia, Gendlin, 1997). By

considering my ontological and epistemological stance, this chapter

contextualizes the thesis in general and my methodology in particular.

INTIMACY AND INTEGRITY

In his 1998 Gilbert Ryle lectures, Kasulis proposes two alternative cultural

orientations: Intimacy and integrity. Briefly, an 'intimacy' orientation

understands that "self and other belong together in a way that does not

sharply distinguish the two" and understands knowledge as "somatic"

with "an affective dimension". In contrast, a culture of 'integrity'

prioritizes "external over internal relations" and requires knowledge to be

objective and "empty of affect" (Kasulis, 2002: 24-25). This "heuristic

tool" (Kasulis, 2002: 172) describes normative discourse and does not

essentialize a group or culture: Individuals within a culture may use both

orientations in different contexts and the culture simply foregrounds one

or the other (Kasulis, 2002: 134-135).

Kasulis originally developed his intimacy or integrity model to assist

understanding the difference between Western "philosophical

modernism" and Japanese traditional culture (Kasulis, 2002: 24) but his

audience proposed many other correlations. Some suggested that in the

West, feminine gender emphasizes intimacy over masculine integrity,

noting the importance of intimacy in many feminist epistemologies

(Kasulis 2002: 137), while others pointed to US subcultures that "seemed

to be oriented more toward intimacy than integrity" (Kasulis, 2002: 24).

Although he does not pursue the idea, Kasulis proposes that we consider

the epistemology of the 'Dark Ages' as more intimate, shifting to the

integrity orientation of the Enlightenment (Kasulis, 2002: 140-141) that is

now challenged by postmodernism (Kasulis, 2002: 175).

Kasulis's provides a useful context to understand some of the underlying

challenges of this thesis. The enactive process model clearly lies within his

intimacy orientation: I have somatic affective knowledge when I have "the

right feel" for something (Kasulis, 2002: 43). Such knowledge is "dark" in

that its source "is not obvious even to those involved" and "is absorbed

into the body somatically through praxis" (Kasulis, 2002: 79). Kasulis uses

the example of how he might know that his child is worried through a

sense "that my son is 'not his usual self'" (Kasulis, 2002: 48). Within the

epistemology of intimacy "knower and known are not fully discrete"

(Kasulis, 2002: 77), just as in the enactive process model.

Figure 5: The Duck/Rabbit Drawing

Kasulis compares the switch between intimacy and integrity orientations

with alternating between different languages (Kasulis, 2002: 153) or

possible views of a bistable image (Kasulis, 2002: 22) like the duck-rabbit

above. Some people will initially see this as a drawing of a duck, others as

a rabbit, and most people can learn to switch between the two. But we

cannot see it as both at once, just as we cannot adopt both an intimacy and

an integrity orientation at the same time. In the "Introduction" I took an

identical approach to differentiating embodied cognition and embodied

knowing although both are intimacy terms, while the enactivist model (see

inter alia, Varela et al., 1991) marks a shift within an integrity orientated

scientific discourse towards intimacy.

As Kasulis argues, neither orientation is 'more true' or 'better' than the

other, though each has clear benefits and costs (Kasulis, 2002: 141-149).

Western epistemology originated from an integrity orientation and, a

fortiori, so did traditional academia, although significant challenges to the

tradition mean that intimacy orientations are increasingly influential. As

Kasulis points out, the integrity orientation can lead to an "internal

dissociation of the self" resulting in a "split between the intellectual and

the affective/somatic" if it is "pushed too far" (Kasulis, 2002: 143). Clearly

this is often the case in the West, and although Kasulis does not discuss

the epistemological ramifications of this situation, it is at least partly

responsible for the failure of traditional ontology.

THE FAILURE OF DUALISM

Traditional Ontology

The "bipolarity paradigm" of the integrity orientation entails an

ontological dualism (Kasulis, 2002: 100) that postulates a 'real' world that

exists independently and ultimately beyond the grasp of the human

subject. On this representationalist model our knowledge consists of

representations of an independent reality: true knowledge requires an

accurate correlation between what appears to the mind and what exists in

an entirely separate outside world (Wolterstorff, 1999: 311). This

traditional Western philosophical ontology splits nature from culture,

mind from body, reason from emotion and subjective from objective.

In the late twentieth century this established tradition was subjected to

sustained critique by feminism and postmodernism, resulting in a "crisis

of representation" (see, inter alia, Flick, 2006: 83-84; Rorty, 1979). My

consideration of dualities like culture/nature in my "Introduction",

mind/body in "A Theory of Embodied Knowing", and even

ethnographer/field in my autoethnography, has repeatedly revealed their

intrinsic flaws. I conclude, with many others (inter alia, Braidotti, 1991;

Rorty, 1979), that we have inherited an inadequate model for

understanding such fundamental concepts. Dualistic ontology offers a

model of the world that ceases to function when applied to complex

systems and processes. The situation is parallel to that in physics, where

Newtonian theory is entirely adequate at a human scale, but fails once we

consider the quantum level of the sub-atomically small. In a similar way

conventional dualities function perfectly well in many contexts but as we

study increasingly complex systems such divisions blur and finally

collapse. The emergence of the 'intimate' enactivist model of cognition,

driven partly by the failure of integrity orientated symbol-processing

(representationalist) approaches may parallel the shift from Newtonian

integrity to the more intimate quantum physics (Capra, 1975; Davis and

Gribbin, 1991). One difficulty is that we are so used to using a dualist

ontology that we sometimes struggle to think without it. We lack any

equivalent of the mathematical language that enables physicists to

articulate unintuitive concepts and negotiate the peculiar world of

quantum physics, so we must find a new vocabulary to make sense of our

emerging understanding. I will argue that just such a vocabulary is

provided by Gendlin's philosophy of the implicit.

Traditional Epistemology

Although the main themes of Western epistemology can be found in Plato,

it rose to prominence largely through the influence of Descartes and

Locke. Descartes is most famous for the ‘cogito’ - his belief that 'I think,

therefore I am' (Descartes, 1968 [1640]: 103). His profoundly influential

idea that the body and mind are entirely separate (Descartes, 1968 [1640]:

156) led to three centuries of epistemology based on the assumption of a

disembodied thinker. This ties in with my discussions above: Kasulis

identifies Descartes as influential on the emergence of the 'integrity

orientation' which culminated in the Enlightenment and positivism

(Kasulis, 2002: 24), while Locke's representationalist view of perception

(Wolterstorff, 1999: 311) underpins symbol-processing theories of

cognition.

Any dualistic epistemology is prone to haunting by the spectre of

skepticism because of the gap between internal representation and

external 'reality', and Quine's response was to call for a thorough empirical

investigation of how our beliefs are actually formed. Such a program

meant "naturalizing epistemology" by applying science to the question of

how we come to know. Epistemology then "simply falls into place as a

chapter of psychology and hence of natural science" (Quine, 1994: 25).

Feminist and Postmodern Alternatives

The main challenges to Western epistemology have come from feminism

and postmodernism. There is no single 'Feminist Epistemology' and three

strands are immediately identifiable: feminist empiricism, feminist

standpoint epistemologies and 'feminist postmodernist' epistemologies

(Harding, 1987b: 182). Feminist empiricism remains grounded in a

conventional epistemology that seeks "objectivity" (Harding, 1991: 289)

and so remains within the traditional realist ontology discussed above.

Feminist standpoint epistemologies initially show more promise since

they begin with the realization that as embodied beings, our knowledge of

the world comes "from a particular socially situated perspective"

(Anderson, 2007). Because our physical location, political, social and

gendered perspectives determine how we know, epistemology must be

situated. In place of the dominant epistemology that valorizes masculine

values over those associated with the feminine, Hartsock proposed a

feminist standpoint epistemology that opposes dualisms and values the

relational (Hartsock, 1983). She claimed that this would provide a less

prejudicial and thus more accurate understanding of reality - i.e. one that

was more objectively true. Notwithstanding her claim to greater

objectivity, the main difficulty with Hartsock's theory is its mistaken

assumption of trans-cultural sex relations (Longino, 1999: 333). Harding

attempts to recover feminist standpoint epistemology by arguing for a

multiplicity of standpoints that reflexively recognize their own

understanding (Harding, 1993) but Longino argues that this reduces it to

a series of equally valid perspectives (Longino, 1999: 333). Harding

considers this as a strength because it emphasizes the need for reflexivity,

while Haraway rejects Hartsock's attempt at epistemological closure

(Haraway, 1991). Feminist standpoint epistemologies may in due course

offer a suitable model of an epistemology of embodied knowing, but

currently remain embroiled in debate.

Whereas feminist standpoint epistemologies assume there is an objective

reality that we can know, some feminist postmodernists opine that such

claims "rest upon many problematic and unexamined assumptions" (Flax,

1990: 56). Feminist postmodernism is a diverse school of thought, but in

general it seeks to deconstruct a perceived Western philosophy of

transcendence and objectivity by emphasizing intersubjectivity,

relatedness and intuition. Although feminist postmodernism sometimes

speaks the language of embodiment, it rarely steps beyond the theoretical

body. Because postmodernism begins with the primacy of discourse it

cannot make any phenomenological engagement with the experience of

the lived body, and so ultimately fails to develop a truly embodied

epistemology.

Postmodernism in general has provided a powerful and valuable critique

of Western epistemology (see inter alia, Braidotti, 1991). However, as I

point out above, it remains largely trapped by a discourse model in which

language is free-floating and dislocated from any given reality. Similarly

"actions get their meaning from their relations to other actions, rather

than from their relation to some pre-linguistic realm of human nature or

natural law" (Anderson, 2007). I conclude that the very principles of the

postmodern challenge to Western epistemology simultaneously refuse the

possibility of a knowledge grounded in our embodiment.

Natural Science and the Humanities

In response to the dilemmas outlined above, I turn to the naturalized

epistemology recommended by Quine (1969), a move which leads me to

briefly consider the often fraught relationship between natural science and

the humanities. Dilthey argued that the two are fundamentally different:

The natural sciences are concerned with explanation (erklären) while the

humanities seek understanding (verstehen) (Green, 2005: 397). Green

notes that though religious studies scholars are often sharply divided into

those who follow Dilthey's approach and those who "seek the objectivity of

scientific explanation", most, including myself, acknowledge that both

explanation and understanding are required (Green, 2005: 397). Kasulis

can provide clarity: In Dilthey's late 19th century world science rested

soundly on an integrity orientation in opposition to the intimacy of the

humanities. Thankfully the 21st century offers more sophisticated

approaches where science and the humanities can be in harmony. This is

clear from the synthesis I presented as "A Theory of Embodied Knowing",

where the enactivist model of cognition, which offers an explanation, and

the phenomenological approach which seeks understanding, share an

intimacy orientation.

EMBODIED SITUATED EPISTEMOLOGY

A methodology must be grounded in an epistemology, and although I have

provided a theory of how embodied knowing functions, I have not yet

underpinned that with an embodied epistemology.

I propose that there are two fundamentally different ways of knowing:

Propositional knowledge and embodied knowledge/knowing. I have

conscious propositional knowledge that Paris is the capital of France, but I

also have an emotional, sensual knowing of Paris – the smells of Paris, the

taste of Paris, that odd little back street that I couldn’t tell you how to find

but that I could walk to with ease. This fuzzy, wordless, poetic knowing is

embodied. Propositional knowledge is validated by Kasulis's integrity

orientation (Kasulis, 2002), and is described by Belenky et al. as "separate

epistemology". Embodied knowledge/knowing is recognized within the

intimacy orientation, and in many ways correlates with "connected

knowing" (Belenky et al., 1986: 113). Although a PhD. thesis is a formal

academic text, and as such primarily intends to provide propositional, not

embodied knowing, this does not present a theoretical hiatus. First, it is

apparent that we can discuss and understand about embodied knowing

using propositional knowledge; second, we can use more explicitly

creative approaches like autoethnography to enable the reader to gain a

more empathetic (intimate) understanding (see Chapter 7); and third, we

can use phenomenological exercises like those Merleau-Ponty and

Gendlin provide, to allow the reader to have direct experience of instances

of embodied knowing.

I turn then, to the contemporary philosopher and psychologist, Eugene

Gendlin. Gendlin's process philosophy emerges from Pragmatism and is

grounded in the embodied phenomenological experience of tacit

knowledge. Rather than starting with metaphysical puzzles or theory,

Gendlin's philosophy begins with the phenomenological experience of

having a bodily sense of a situation, and then asks what this entails. A

dualistic or postmodern epistemology cannot make sense of this process,

and neither can existing physiological models of the body, but the fact that

it does occur is obvious to anyone who takes a moment to observe their

own process of creating meaning. Because Gendlin is both a psychologist

and philosopher, he is well placed to offer the kind of naturalized

epistemology which Quine called for. Although he acknowledges the value

and power of science, Gendlin believes that the epistemology which

underpins it cannot adequately deal with "living things" and proposes a

"process approach" as an alternative (Gendlin, 2001). This approach

understands "living bodies as self-sense making processes" (Gendlin,

2001). Propositional knowledge is not a process: I know now that Paris is

the capital of France just as I did 30 years ago. But some embodied

knowledge is a process - for example knowing how to find that "odd little

back street" in the warren of the city - and it is these embodied processes

which concern me here.

Many postmodernists conclude that "nothing can be prior to language and

history" (Gendlin, 1992: 342) and as an example Gendlin quotes

Foucault's claim that our once animal bodies were destroyed by history

(Foucault, 1977b). But Gendlin seeks to move the discussion of language

beyond postmodernism (see Levin, 1997) by showing that it emerges from

the implicit ". . . . ." of the body-sense discussed earlier ("Embodied

Cognition Literature Review"). To recall this notion, imagine you are

writing a paper and trying to find just the right phrase for ... for what?

Something as yet unexpressed but there. "The . . . . . knows what we want

to say. It knows with a bodily gnawing, very much like something

forgotten". The implicit is not preverbal; it clearly understands language

since it will reject words that do not 'fit' and will resonate with those that

do (Gendlin, 1997b: 17). But the new words are not simply floating in the

implicit and neither do they represent it. This becomes apparent with the

change in the implicit when we find the right phrase - a "carrying forward"

that is sensed as a release of tension (Gendlin, 1995: 547). Language, then,

is not a representation but a carrying forward of the implicit, making it

explicit in symbols. As Levin puts it, "speaking is itself a further living in a

situation" (Levin, 1997: 49), which he then explicates:

Symbols do not represent; rather, they relate to what we want to

say in such the way that feeding relates to hunger. Feeding does

not represent hunger; nor is there a hidden feeding underneath

hunger (Levin, 1997: 50).

On Gendlin's model, language - or any form of expression - is where the

implicit is carried forward and becomes explicit. Meaning only emerges

when the implicit is carried forward by explication (Gendlin, 1964), so it is

clear that "[f]eeling without symbolization is blind; symbolization without

feeling is empty" (Gendlin, 1962: 5). Thus Gendlin "forges a continuity in

which knowing is both an embodied and languaged process" and each is

required "in the rhythm of closeness and distance that is required for

meaningful knowing to occur" (Todres, 2007: 34).

To sum up, the bodily or felt sense emerges from the implicit and can be

made explicit though symbolization. I can best express this using the

metaphor of the implicit as a huge ball of string and the felt sense as one

strand that we can pick up, perhaps using Focusing. As I pull on a strand

(the felt sense) it slowly unravels (carries forward) the ball of string (the

implicit) into my hands (the explicit).

This is a radically different conception from that offered by the

representationalism of dualistic epistemology. Instead of an internal

representation of an external 'reality', we have a process of knowing that is

grounded within our embodied experience of a specific situation. Gendlin

thus avoids the problematic 'view from nowhere' (Bordo, 1993; Braidotti,

1991), satisfies the need for reflexivity emphasized by feminist

epistemology, and highlights the relationship between epistemology and

ontology (Haraway, 2000: 78; Stanley, 1990: 14). Yet contra

postmodernism, language is not free-floating but grounded in a pre-

conceptual embodied knowing. For Fisher such "[a]uthentic speech"

enables us to speak from our place in the world:

Language is not a closed system of verbal forms, but a mode of

poetizing, of allowing for the disclosure of new meanings, new

forms, in our dwelling on or listening to the earth (Fisher, 2002:

132).

The Felt Sense

While Gendlin often uses the term "bodily-sense" (or occasionally

"feeling") in his philosophy and "felt sense" in his psychotherapeutic work

(Gendlin, 1981: 10), these terms are equivalent and he uses each as

appropriate to the context. I generally use the term "felt sense" as this

phrase is used most in the context of Focusing which forms a key strand of

my methodology.

Gendlin’s notion of the felt sense emerged from his empirical research

into the frequent failures of psychotherapy and why it works when it does

(Gendlin, 1981: 3). Those who were successful in therapy came to an inner

knowing which Gendlin called the "felt sense", "a special kind of internal

bodily awareness … a body-sense of meaning" (Gendlin, 1981: 10) which

the conscious mind is initially unable to articulate. A felt sense is more

than just an emotion, though it usually has an emotional aspect: In

everyday terms, the felt sense describes the fuzzy feelings that we don’t

usually pay much attention to - a vague 'gut feeling' or that inexpressible

sense of unease we express as 'I'm not quite feeling myself today' or 'I just

got out of bed the wrong side this morning'. A intuitive understanding of

the felt sense is required to really understand Gendlin's work, so I will give

a few more examples. Imagine you are at a conference and spot someone

that you have 'a bit of a history' with. How does that feel? Maybe some

butterflies. Maybe some vague memories. A mixture of things. That feeling

is a felt sense. Or let's say you're taking a walk on a beautiful fresh

morning, just after a rain storm, and you come over a hill, and there,

hanging in the air in front of you is a perfect rainbow. As you stand there

and gaze at it you feel your chest welling up with an expansive, flowing,

warm feeling. That feeling is also a felt sense. In many such ordinary

situations we sense that something is wrong - or right - but may find it

difficult to express just what that wrong - or rightness - is.

We have all had a sense of not knowing what we're looking for, but being

certain that we will know what it is when we find it. A poet, graphic artist,

or indeed theoretician, will often have a sense of what their creative work

needs to move forward, but it may initially be beyond their grasp. In such

situations there is a knowing and a not knowing at the same time. What is

known in this case is tacit and embodied and we seek to shift it into

explicit conscious knowing. In each example the missing something - the

next step in the process - is 'implied' by what is already there and this

implied 'implicit' is one of Gendlin’s central concepts. If we delve into our

felt sense of the implicit, it begins to open up and "comes to imply more

and more", revealing itself as an "unseparated multiplicity" (Gendlin,

1997b: 16; author's emphasis). Thus our experience suggests that the

"bodily . . . . . [the 'implicit'] can contain information that is not (or not

yet) capable of being phrased" (Gendlin, 1992: 349). But how? Gendlin's

explanation meshes with the understanding of embodied situated

knowing described by enactivism: The body "is an ongoing interaction

with its environment" (Gendlin, 1992: 349) and this explains how the felt-

sense could access "a vast amount of environmental information" and how

new creative work can emerge from it. Furthermore "if such a self-sensing

body could also think, and could use its bodily . . . . . in its thinking, well, it

would always think after, with, but with more than conceptual and

language forms. This more would be realistic since it would be the body-

environmental interaction" (Gendlin, 1992: 350). Gendlin emphasizes

that as a result of this approach the subject/object distinction collapses:

"We will move beyond the subject/object distinction if we become able to

speak from how we interact bodily in our situations" (Gendlin, 1997b: 15).

Gendlin closes his 1992 paper by asking the reader "[w]hat will you say

about my paper" and points out that though his audience probably have

not yet articulated a response in words, it exists as an "internally

intricate . . . . . bodily implying of speech and thought" (Gendlin, 1992:

353). With this example of what Levin calls his "reflexively constituted

practice" Gendlin reveals what he asserts is happening in the very process

of his sense-making (Levin, 1997: 45).

Experience

In the examples I gave earlier, of being followed by someone ("Embodied

Cognition Literature Review"), or seeking just the right phrase to

complete a sentence, there are two basic aspects: the explicit symbol and

the implicit felt sense. The symbol is the form our experience takes; "a

thought, a behavior, a sight or sound, an emotion ... an image, a rite, an

event, some words" (Fisher, 2002: 56), while the felt sense is the "rich,

intricate sensed experience of our situations" (Purton, 2007). All

experience is just this "interaction between feelings and 'symbols'

(attention, words, events) . . . . ." (Gendlin, 1964: 129). Symbols and the

felt sense are in a dynamic relationship: The implicit felt sense becomes

explicitly known when it is carried forward into a symbolic form that

creates meaning, and a felt sense can be invoked when we are inspired by

something richly symbolic. So as Fisher says, "[s]ymbols and feelings are

thus mutually formative or determining: the traffic between them moves

in both directions" (Fisher, 2002: 56). Furthermore my immediate

experience draws on an implicit intricacy that is fed by a lifetime of

experiencing complex situations as well as "imagined situations,

situations about which we have read in novels or myths or biographies

and so on" (Purton, 2007).

Conclusion

Gendlin provides a naturalized epistemology grounded in our

phenomenological experience of the felt sense and consistent with

enactivism, that enables me to discuss embodied knowing from the

perspective of propositional, academic knowledge. The intricate embodied

knowing of the implicit is carried forward to be symbolized in explicit

awareness as, for example, speech, gesture or thought. Gendlin's

philosophy collapses the subject/object distinction in just the same way

that enactivism does (Varela et al, 1991) by showing that the body is "an

ongoing interaction with its environment" (Gendlin, 1992: 349), and thus

avoid the problems intrinsic to dualism.

My methodology chapter builds on this epistemology to demonstrate how

Gendlin's Focusing approach accesses embodied knowing, and can

underpin an embodied hermeneutics. This allows me to explore embodied

knowing using an embodied methodology that is underpinned by an

embodied epistemology, and thus grounds me in a virtuous circle of

reflexive understanding.

Chapter 6: Research Design and Methodology

There has been a paradigm shift in the academy: Positivist notions of

objectivity are unhinged by postmodern epistemologies, while the empire

of signs that has dominated since the 1960's is challenged by a

sensual revolution. This sea change requires us to develop methodologies

that "articulate the importance of the body on an experiential and

subjective level of ‘the everyday’" (Ahmed, 2004: 286). Such

methodologies demand new ways to demonstrate rigour and validity: “In

order for qualitative research to pursue embodied understanding, it

requires procedures that show phenomena in both experientially

evocative as well as structurally coherent ways” (Todres, 2004: 24). The

methodological approach I develop embraces the need to respect the

mind/body/self intersubjectivity of "the mind in the body" (Csordas,

1994: 20), and develops an "ethnography of experience" that recognises

"that the self is constituted out of visceral processes as much as expressed

through them" (Kleinman & Kleinman, 1991: 293). It follows Gendlin's

"reflexively constituted practice" (Levin, 1997: 45) in that it uses a

methodology of embodied knowing to explore embodied knowing.

I begin by setting out the requirements of my methodological approach,

which Action Research and feminist methodologies to some extent meet.

However, hermeneutics ultimately serves my purposes best, so after

discussing the general background and issues, I explain how an embodied

hermeneutics can answer McGuire's call for a "mind/body/self

intersubjectivity" (McGuire, 2002: 209) by adapting Gendlin's Focusing

technique. I then describe my methodology in practice, beginning with a

brief discussion of my sample selection procedure. Although my pilot

phase proved valuable, the methodology I'd developed was inappropriate,

so I took a different approach, developing the semi-structured interview

into the 'Focusing Interview', which I describe in detail. During this

fieldwork phase I had a "complete membership role" (Adler & Adler, 1998:

97) that enhanced my observation of life on protest sites. I explain how

the insights gained from this role fed into my autoethnography, which

provides an aesthetic texture to my research. Finally, I describe my

application of an embodied hermeneutics to the interpretation and

validation phases. As discussed in my introductory chapter, I prioritise the

term ‘embodied knowing’ in this chapter because my primary concern

here is with the phenomenological aspect of this process.

Methodological Approach

I needed a methodology that satisfied four key criteria:

1. It needed to allow me to access knowing that may normally lie

outside conscious awareness.

2. It had to facilitate the emergence of valid research material.

3. Philosophically, it was important that it recognised different ways of

knowing – what Heron calls an "extended epistemology" (Heron,

1996). Although we can make propositional statements about

embodied cognition, embodied knowing emerges from engaged

experiential understanding.

4. It had to be congruent with my personal integrity as an insider.

Although I found valuable strategies and theoretical approaches common

to Action Research (New Paradigm Research) and feminist

methodologies, neither satisfied my needs but remained influential on my

methodology. The New Paradigm Research (NPR) described by Reason

and Rowan (1981) is a methodology which falls within the range of

approaches known as Participatory or Action Research. I chose not take a

full Action Research approach, which requires goals and methods to be

defined by participant researchers, because I had a clear aim from the

start of my project. However, I followed the Action Research model in

several important ways. The fundamental criteria of Action Research is

that we conduct research with people rather than on them (Dick, 2007),

which necessitates producing knowledge that will be useful to participants

who have in turn been involved in dialogue about research conclusions.

The itinerant lifestyle of many participants made dialogue impractical, but

I discussed research outcomes with representative participants before

coming to final conclusions. Action Research recommends the "planning,

acting, and reflecting" cycle (Koshy, 2005: 5) wherein the researcher

begins with a tentative plan which they action and then reflect on. In

principle, reflection informs a new plan and the cycle begins again, but in

practice this valuable process is "more fluid, open and responsive" (Koshy,

2005: 5).

Although Harding rejects the notion of a "distinctive feminist method"

(Harding, 1987a: 1), she makes recommendations, claiming that "[t]he

best feminist analysis ... insists that the inquirer her/himself be placed in

the same critical plane as the overt subject matter". This locates the

researcher, thereby revealing them "as a real, historical individual with

concrete, specific desires and interests" (Harding, 1987a: 9). Many

feminists (though not all) affirm this rejection of the "ethos of scholarly

objectivity" confirming the now widely held view that "there is no

dispassionate, disinterested scholarship" (Christ, 1987: 497. See, inter

alia, Harding & Hintikka, 1983; Stanley 1990a). For many researchers this

stance has "replaced misleading notions of scientific objectivity, complete

impartiality, and metanarrative, with issues of reflexivity, diversity, and

difference" (Wallis, 2004: 195). Both Action Research and feminist

methodologies use research to stimulate change, and if the researcher and

participants share experiences (Harding, 1987a: 9) we would expect

change in all parties. In practice my spirituality was first challenged and

then nourished by my research, which simultaneously contributed to Eco-

Paganism via my workshops, talks and articles.

New Paradigm Research and feminist methodologies have influenced my

approach through their concern with lived experience, accountability,

reflexivity, and emotional engagement. Feminist methodologies have the

obvious additional concern with gender, notably the gender linked

dualisms already mentioned in chapter 5, "Embodied Philosophy". Given

the complex and sometimes controversial discussions around women's

ways of knowing, intuition and the 'masculinity' of objectivity, I remained

sensitive to issues of gender and knowledge throughout my research.

HERMENEUTICS

The embodied hermeneutics at the heart of my methodology is in no way

incompatible with the principles discussed above, and in some ways

develops from them. There is no "general theory of hermeneutics"

(Penner, 2000: 65), but in principle it is a "theory or philosophy of the

interpretation of meaning" (Bleicher, 1980:1) which different thinkers

have variously developed. Some emphasize philosophical hermeneutics

while others focus on methodology, while Heidegger (1962 [1927]) applies

hermeneutic philosophy as method. Gadamer claims that hermeneutics

allows "what is alienated by the character of the written word or by the

character of being distantiated by cultural ... distances to speak again"

(Gadamer, 1979: 83) while Ricoeur emphasises reflexivity, describing

hermeneutics as "explicitly or implicitly, self-understanding by means of

understanding others" (Ricoeur, 1974: 17).

Hermeneutics has a long and complex history which I will not review

extensively. Briefly, hermeneutics originated as a Medieval technique of

biblical interpretation which Schleiermacher broadened to apply to textual

interpretation in general. Dilthey then extended it further to encompass

the process of interpreting all "human behaviour and products"

(Honderich, 1995: 353), opening the way for Heidegger to transform it

into a phenomenological hermeneutics that could interpret Being itself

(1962 [1927]). More recently Gadamer emphasized using hermeneutical

dialogue to deepen understanding of our shared world though a "fusion of

horizons" (Gadamer, 1989).

Several insights of contemporary hermeneutics will be familiar from the

discussion of New Paradigm Research and feminist methodologies.

Hermeneutic philosophy rejects 'objectivism' because it recognises that we

always bring understanding to a situation - what Gadamer called our

prejudices (Bleicher, 1980: 77) - so we cannot approach with a "neutral

mind" (Bleicher, 1980: 2).

Fig. 6: The Hermeneutic Circle

This insight is based on the fundamental notion of the hermeneutic circle,

a reflexive and subtle form of "connected knowing" (Belenky et al., 1986:

113) that has parallels with the Action Research cycle. In fig. 6 above,

Gallagher (1992: 106) shows the hermeneutic circle operating on two

levels, in a general context and a more specific one. Our foreknowledge,

labelled 'Tradition', inevitably influences (a) the interpreters

understanding (b) of a text, person or situation (unfortunately named the

'Object'). Foreknowledge may be tacit, but in any case makes any claim to

objectivity partial at best. We cannot escape our foreknowledge as such

"[p]rejudices" are the very "conditions whereby we experience something

[that can say] something to us" (Gadamer, 1976: 9). Once we accept that

our knowing takes place within the hermeneutic circle, it can facilitate

understanding: As far as possible we note the extent of our foreknowledge

and then turn to what we wish to interpret (b). What we learn from our

engagement with that text, person or situation gives us greater

understanding (c) which we can once more apply to the question (b). The

process is thus cyclical and may provide new understandings profound

enough to change our foreknowledge, as indicated by (d) above. For

Fisher intuition is essential because we need to be sensitive to "a taste or

feeling for that which has yet to be formulated" and allow intuition to

guide us into deeper understanding (Fisher, 2002: 40).

Penner (2000: 66) summarises three fundamental hermeneutic

assumptions as central for religious studies:

1 Hermeneutics seeks to understand our "lived experience"

(Erlebnis), "the familiar, unreflective, everyday world which

involves a tacit knowledge and orientation" (Penner, 2000: 59).

2 All lived experience emerges from our historical and cultural

context, including our consciousness and any interpretations we

make. This entails problems of relativism which I discuss below.

3 Hermeneutics tends to view the history of science with "suspicion"

(Penner, 2000: 66) as evidenced by debates about whether the

study of religion is a science of religion or not.

I have already discussed the third point in my chapter on embodied

philosophy, but I need to unpack the first two.

Understanding 'Lived Experience'

On Maanen's phenomenological hermeneutic model we research

meanings "as we live them in our everyday existence, our life-world"

(Maanen, 1990: 11), translating lived experience into a text that - ideally -

expresses its essence in a way that allows the reader to re-live it (Maanen,

1990: 36). For this process to succeed we must recognise the 'prejudices'

we inevitably bring to a situation before seeking engagement and greater

understanding. A hermeneutic engagement is a dialogical (Bakhtin, 1981)

"conversation with few hard and fast rules" (Fisher, 2002: 36) that seeks

to widen our original horizon of understanding in an effort to meet that of

the unknown in a "fusion of horizons" (Gadamer, 1989: 306). In

hermeneutics the "keys to understanding are not manipulation and

control but participation and openness, not [data] but experience"

(Palmer, 1969: 215) and the process is transformative because it leads us

to "gain self-understanding ... through our interaction with others"

(Fisher, 2002: 39). Thus, as Rorty understands it, a hermeneutical

discourse is "supposed to be abnormal, to take us out of our old selves by

the power of strangeness, to aid us in becoming new beings" (Rorty, 1979:

360; author's emphasis).

Historical and Cultural Context: Validity and Relativism

The hermeneutic insight that we can never come to any situation with a

neutral stance collapses the "the insider/outsider question" because it

recognises that we all carry prejudices into our research. In recognition of

my own prejudices, I note that I've been an Eco-Pagan for over a decade.

However, I conclude that an insider will be more adequate to this task

because researching embodied knowing benefits from an empathetic

approach from within. I understand the experiences of research

participants by reference to my own experience, which in hermeneutic

terms means that my initial horizon of understanding is close to theirs.

Moreover, because I am exploring embodied knowing in a group of which

I am a member, my own reflexive understanding becomes part of my

research data. (See Autoethnography, section below, and Wallis, 2004). I

thus exemplify Wylie’s assessment that our situation as insider

researchers "should be regarded as a resource, not a liability" (Wylie,

1995: 268-70). However, I am aware that my prior experience of Eco-

Paganism will influence my research, so I am particularly reflexive in my

interpretation of material about which I have a strong feelings or

opinions.

If all lived experience, including the process of interpretation itself, is

simply an individual's perspective, in what sense is any interpretation

valid? Scholars either avoid the issue or appeal to "the given", often via a

phenomenological strategy (Penner, 2000: 61). Maanen's

phenomenological hermeneutics is a good example: "a good

phenomenological description is collected by lived experience and

recollects lived experience - is validated by lived experience and it

validates lived experience" (Maanen, 1990: 27; author’s italics). The lived

experience of the reader becomes a key element in its validation, as

credible study presents "something we can recognise as an experience that

we have had or could have had" (Maanen, 1990: 27). Caputo takes a

similar tack: the 'rightness' of a hermeneutic interpretation "comes down

to its ability to provoke the ultimate hermeneutic response: 'That is what

we are looking for. That puts into words what we have all along

understood about ourselves'" (Caputo, 1987: 81). Such hermeneutic

validity is a felt 'rightness' in a specific context that does not claim to be

objectivity true at all times for all people.

AN EMBODIED HERMENEUTICS

I have presented a theory of embodied cognition and an embodied

epistemology, and on these foundations I build an embodied

hermeneutics that can articulate the embodied knowing of a particular

individual or social group.

Fisher notes that Gadamer remains focused on writing and interpreting

texts and "tends toward kind of linguistic idealism" (Fisher, 2002: 38).

Clearly a hermeneutics which emphasis the textuality of experience may

dry the flesh on the body, and Stoller cogently asks if it "is it not

problematic to use the body as text metaphor in societies in which the

body is felt and not read?" (Stoller, 1997: 5-6). To answer Stoller's

question I discuss embodied approaches to understanding lived

experience, and then show how they can be integrated into an embodied

hermeneutics. Davidman suggests that we use "alternative sources of

knowledge, such as our own emotions and feeling states ... to understand

and convey the experiences of those we meet in the field" (Davidman,

2002: 20), and McGuire's work provides an excellent example of how this

works in practice. McGuire describes an interview she made while

researching attitudes of farm women in rural Ireland. Both McGuire and

the interviewee were mothers, and McGuire was nursing her child as they

spoke. McGuire describes how she related to the other woman through

feeling "the sheer physicality of our mutual understanding. We

understood each other, not only cognitively or emotionally, but also with

our bodies ... I remember this moment now with my body/mind, not just

mentally" (McGuire, 2002: 204). McGuire explains that their shared

experience of nursing provided a "shared physical experience", which

drew on her own "body/mind experience" (McGuire, 2002: 205).

Kleinman and Kleinman argue for such an "ethnography of experience" as

an antidote to the de-humanising tendencies of science:

We live in the flow of daily experience; we are intersubjective forms

of memory and action ... the self is constituted out of visceral

processes as much as expressed through them (Kleinman and

Kleinman, 1991: 293).

McGuire notes the Kleinmans' claim that the ’mind/body/self’ "can be

intersubjectively understood and that it can intersubjectively know

others" (McGuire, 2002: 205), adding that if we could train ethnographers

to use this understanding "by raising intuition to the level of

consciousness" (McGuire, 2002: 208) they could apply this

"mind/body/self intersubjectivity" to social situations (McGuire, 2002:

209). McGuire has been unable to develop such a methodology, but

suggests the work of Csordas as a possible model (McGuire, 2002: 209). I

discussed Csordas in my embodied cognition literature review, but briefly,

he proposes a 'cultural phenomenology' that attends to "somatic modes of

attention" (Csordas, 1993). These are culturally constructed ways of being

aware of a situation through the body; for example in a ritual healing the

healer might feel, see or hear visions that provide information about the

healing process. McGuire concurs with Csordas that phenomenology is

the appropriate tool for a methodology of mind/body/self intersubjectivity

as long as it demonstrates "precision and rigour about exactly how we

know what we claim to have apprehended" (McGuire, 2002: 209), and

Gendlin's phenomenological hermeneutics provides exactly that. As

Madison explains, "Gendlin has described the hermeneutic interactions

between our experience and symbols in a way that supports an

intersubjective understanding while remaining verifiable in our lived

experience" (Madison, 2001: 10). This process of verification is called

Focusing.

Focusing

A felt sense is "readily accessible in experience and thus we are able to

work with it phenomenologically" using Focusing (Madison, 2001: 7).

Although Focusing is initially taught as a series of steps, it is actually more

an approach than a technique, and different teachers present the steps in

different ways (see Cornell, 1996; Gendlin, 1981 and "Appendix 1:

Focusing Instructions"), but the principles remain the same. Focusing

begins when we sense our bodily response to something, which can be our

felt sense of an interview question or a fieldwork situation. We then seek a

symbol for that response - what Gendlin calls a handle (Gendlin, 1981) -

and sense whether that symbolization fits our felt sense. If it does, we can

spend time exploring the symbol and allowing it to carry forward our

initial felt sense (adapted from Jordan, 2005: 6). In chapter 5, "Embodied

Philosophy", I referred to the sense of release we experience when we find

just the right word or phrase to express an understanding that had been

implicit. If we come to a similar sense of completion in Focusing we

experience a bodily 'felt shift', a physical affirmation that we have brought

some significant knowledge from the implicit into conscious awareness. A

'felt shift' describes just what we mean by an 'Aha! moment' that is

accompanied by a release of bodily tension (Gendlin, 1981: 39).

Descriptions of the therapeutic use of Focusing speak of a process similar

to McGuire's description of mind/body/self intersubjectivity.

Psychotherapist Madison explains how throughout a Focusing session he

keeps his attention on the "one intersubjective world" occupied by him

and his client "as it exists each moment in our individual bodies"

(Madison, 2001: 12). Another Focusing psychotherapist describes the

experience of what Csordas calls "somatic modes of attention": "In my

work I have felt an ache in my chest in the presence of a patient's grief, or

a tingling in my arms and legs in response to another's anger etc. and I

frequently consult my own body sensations (and my reveries and stray

thoughts) to help me understand my patients' experience" (Solomon, pers.

comm., 2007). Solomon uses Focusing in this process of consulting his

body27, and describes it as a way of "speaking from the body rather than

about the body" (Solomon, 2006: 9; author’s emphasis).

27 Solomon notes that he began attending to his body sensations before he became aware of

Focusing. His body sense had been enhanced by Tai Chi, Bio-energetic therapy training and

Vipassana meditation.

Gendlin appreciates that Focusing can be a "very helpful innovation for

phenomenologically-orientated research", suggesting that it "may result in

outcomes that are different and deeper than other qualitative research

practices" because it "opens up the whole vast implicit experiential level"

(Gendlin, 2003, quoted in Todres, 2004: 25). Todres has discussed the

use of Focusing in qualitative research (Todres 1999, 2004 and 2007) and

uses Gendlin's work to explore the role of "interembodied understanding"

(Todres, 2007 [1999]: 39)28. Focusing has also been applied within

Grounded Theory (Rennie and Fergus, 2006) and in Heuristic Research,

which does not use Focusing in interviews, but recommends it to elucidate

the researchers own process of self awareness because it allows them to

"identify qualities of an experience that have remained out of conscious

reach" (Moustakas, 1990: 25). Although few researchers use Focusing to

access embodied knowing in an ethnographic context, I have been in

contact with several, one of whom, Jane Bacon, Reader in Performance

Studies at the University of Northampton, advised me on my application

of this methodology and I have referenced her specific contributions.

My embodied hermeneutics has five principles:

A Recognising that the body "is an ongoing interaction with its

environment" (Gendlin, 1992: 349) moves us "beyond the

subject/object distinction" (Gendlin, 1997b: 15). This intimate

involvement with the world defines the "conditions whereby we

experience something" (Gadamer, 1976: 9).

B The circumstances of our being-in-the-world (principle A) enable

our awareness of what McGuire calls the "mind/body/self

intersubjectivity" of social situations (McGuire, 2002: 209)

which we can access by various means including Focusing.

C Researchers can develop this awareness in themselves and help

facilitate it for their participants. (See, inter alia, Gendlin, 1981;

Solomon, 2006).

D This awareness affords an embodied phenomenological

hermeneutics grounded in "lived experience" (Maanen, 1990:

27; Penner 2000: 59).

E Gendlin's description of the "hermeneutic interactions between our

experience and symbols" (Madison, 2001: 10) brings hermeneutic

validity to this "embodied understanding" (Todres, 2007: 40) by

grounding it in a felt 'rightness' (Caputo, 1987: 81).

Of the four methods I use to understand the process of embodied

28 Todres' 1999 paper has recently been reprinted in Todres, 2007 where I came across it for the first

time. Although it did not inform my methodology this paper supports the approach I developed

independently.

cognition/knowing, three are underpinned by these principles: (1) I used

my phenomenological experience of mind/body/self intersubjectivity both

in the field and during and after personal interactions with participants,

applying Focusing to deepen this awareness during the later stages of my

research. (2) Focusing was also integrated into my interview practice, as

discussed in detail below, and contributed to (3) the interpretation phase.

The fourth, my use of existing ethnographies, provided additional

material to contextualise my fieldwork.

Triangulation

I have drawn on existing ethnography and my own observations to

identify the research field and possible interview topics, while interview

data, observation and auto-ethnography have in turn informed the

emergence of my hermeneutic analysis. Using several complementary

approaches to data gathering in this way is often called methodological

triangulation (see, inter alia, Flick, 2006: 289; Richie & Lewis, 2003: 44:

73).

Massey is highly critical of triangulation, claiming that "many misleading

and invalid claims are made" in its name (Massey, 1999: 183). Massey’s

critique proposes that the term ‘triangulation’ is an inappropriate

description of how social scientists use multiple methods because it is

based metaphorically on land surveying, which has a different

epistemological and ontological stance. As a result it can lead to “claims of

convergence, truth, validity, control of bias, completeness and so on

looking far more solid than they really are” (Massey, 1999: 194). Further,

the claim that triangulation can in some way validate (see inter alia,

Schwandt, 1997: 163) implies the existence of a fixed social reality, a

notion that most social theorists refute.

However, Richie notes that this is a “longstanding debate” (Richie &

Lewis, 2003: 43) and many researchers have embraced the concerns

expressed by Massey. Several authors emphasise that triangulation should

be used to provide a richer understanding that is “not necessarily a more

certain one” (Richie & Lewis, 2003: 44) while Flick emphasises

triangulation as an alternative to validation that increases the scope,

depth and consistency of research (Flick 2006: 390). The origins of the

term are indeed unfortunate, but given that the qualitative research texts I

use are aware of the issues and avoid implausible claims for triangulation,

and I see no problem in adopting it.

METHODOLOGY IN PRACTICE

My involvement with the environmental protest movement spans over

fifteen years and I was involved at the UK's first road protest camp at

Twyford Down (1991-1994), the London M11 link road protest (1993-1995)

and Newbury (1995-1996). This background gave me an understanding of

protest site activism and helped build rapport with research participants.

Sample Selection and Size

My Eco-Paganism literature review noted that Eco-Pagans can be

categorized using two typologies: Letcher identified those explicitly

involved in contemporary Paganism (traditionalized) and the more

eclectic detraditionalized (non-aligned) Eco-Pagans (Letcher, 2004),

while I distinguished between ‘protest camp’ and ‘urban’ Eco-Pagans.

Although individuals do move between these fluid typologies, they are

useful in providing a synchronic structure for my analysis which I present

as a scatter diagram (figure 6). I sought interview participants in physical

spaces, via organisations (for example The Pagan Federation - see 'Web

Sites' references), the Internet (e-mail discussion groups and web sites)

and through word of mouth.

Ethnographic Sites

Because there are very few protest sites in the UK at any one time, my

ethnographic sample was self-limiting. I used several sources to locate

sites including protest organisations such as Road Alert and Earth First!

(see 'Web Sites' references), e-mail discussion lists (see 'E-mail discussion

lists' references) and word of mouth. I visited all current (2004 -2007)

road protest sites in England, Scotland and Wales, and two that are no

longer active. My first visit took place in February 2004 with a week at site

A 29. In October 2005 I gave up the tenancy on my flat, placed my property

in storage and went to live at protest site B. This became my main

ethnographic location and I spent just over three months living there full-

time. In January 2006 I moved back into a house but continued to live

part-time at site B for several months, gradually reducing my time there as

I moved into the interpretation phase. I remain in close contact with site B

to date (January 2008). I visited site C for a few days in February 2006; I

visited site D twice for a total of eight days (July 2006 and January 2007)

and site E on several occasions between June 2006 and September 2006

for a total of nine days. I explore my personal experience of this research

in Chapter 7, " 'You're not studying it - you're living it': An

Autoethnography".

Site A was located in ancient woodland just outside a South Wales town.

During my visit there were a total of about 12 people living in two small

encampments and there was strong local support for the campaign. The

protest lasted for about 3 months and has now been evicted. Site B was a

long term encampment on a narrow strip of land which was part of a local

park in a suburban town in southern England. It was notable in that it

included an ancient burial site. The number of full-time residents varied

over the two years of my involvement from 2 to about 12. Although local

support was strong, site B has been targeted by arson and other attacks. At

the time of writing (January 2008) site B remains threatened by a road

widening scheme. Site C was a Somerset protest to stop the felling of an

estimated 200 trees for a retail development. The camp, which lasted

29 To help preserve the anonymity of my participants I label these sites alphabetically in the

order I visited them.

about 6 weeks, consisted of a few very basic tree platforms and, briefly,

part of a squatted factory. Numbers varied widely from one to 30

protesters and local support was mixed. It has now been evicted. Site D

was established in June 2002 in a patch of woodland on the edge of a

Scottish town and at the time of writing is ongoing. Numbers on-site

varied but there were 6 to 8 living there during my visits. There was strong

local support for the campaign but this has waned over time. Site E is an

ongoing road protest in southern England established during May 2006 in

several patches of woodland - some ancient - on the edge of a town. There

are two camps and again numbers on-site varied, but during my visits the

main camp had an average of ten residents while the second had 5. Local

support has varied over time. Sites B, D and E had some well built low-

impact dwellings and communal spaces.

Protest site Eco-Pagans are often itinerant, so I also attended key protest

marches and events such as the first Climate Change Camp (August 26th

to September 4th 2006) and the Earth First! Summer Gatherings in 2004,

2005 and 2006. This provided the opportunity to meet protest site Eco-

Pagans, deepened my understanding of protest culture and built on my

existing credibility, thereby contributing to rapport. Some urban Eco-

Pagans attend events organised by The Pagan Federation or specific

Traditions like British Reclaiming or the Druid Network (see 'Web Sites'

references). I attended several such events each year between in 2004 and

2007. In addition, my long-term involvement with the Dragon Eco-Pagan

Network provided access to potential participants from across the

typological spectrum. (See 'Web Sites' references).

Participants

I chose the urban/protest site axis to identify participants because my

literature reviews and initial fieldwork suggested that this was more

significant than the traditionalized/detraditionalized axis. I undertook

twenty-three interviews in a variety of contexts, including protest sites,

organised events and private homes. I interviewed people from a range of

geographical locations representing a wide selection of different types of

Eco-Pagan to allow comparison, as follows:

Urban Eco-Pagans:

6 women.

4 men.

Protest site Eco-Pagans:

5 women.

8 men.

The gender differences reflect the situation in the field, as women are

slightly more common than men amongst urban Eco-Pagans while men

are more prevalent than women on protest sites. Four of the protest site

interviews (three women and one man) took place during the pilot stage of

my research but I include them as there was no major change in my

research agenda. There are slightly more protest site interviews as I

wanted to complete a full study of all the Eco-Pagans on site B (eight

people, four of each gender), without compromising the breadth of the

study. This sample, when integrated with my other strategies, has allow

me to achieve theoretical saturation (Glaser & Strauss, 1967).

Pilot Phase

At the outset of my research I assumed that ritual was fundamental to

Eco-Pagan practice, a conclusion based on personal experience and my

literature review. I therefore developed a workshop based methodology

for exploring Eco-Pagan ritual using the work of Edgar, Strobel and

Halprin (Edgar, 2004; Halprin, 2002; Strobel, 2000). I planned to 'warm

up' with Edgar's imagework, which seemed ideal as it uses what Pagans

call 'visualisation', so would be familiar to participants. Strobel's

'Performance Hermeneutics' has been used to analyse Deep Ecology ritual

(Strobel, 2000), while Halprin's therapeutic work serves as a useful

adjunct as it focuses more explicitly on embodied knowledge as revealed

through movement and creative expression.

My initial protest camp fieldwork made it clear that this approach was

inappropriate: First, it became apparent that conventional ritual practice

was far less significant than I or others had believed;30 second, it was

entirely impractical to run the kind of workshop I proposed on a protest

camp. In retrospect this latter limitation should have been obvious, but I

assumed that protesters would to take the time to participate. I could have

used this approach with urban Eco-Pagans, but that would mean applying

very different methodologies with different research populations, thereby

compromising any comparisons I might wish to make. I therefore decided

to develop an entirely different approach.

The Focusing Interview

Postmodern and feminist ethnographers emphasise the importance of

relationship in interviews (Fontana & Frey, 1998: 51), and the semi-

structured interview is the key technique of the latter. Feminist influenced

interviewing "requires openness, emotional engagement, and the

development of a potentially long-term, trusting relationship between the

interviewer and the subject" (Denzin and Lincoln, 1998: 36). Semi-

structured 31 interviews are also called depth, in-depth, focused,

unstructured, nondirective, open-ended, or active interviews (Holstein &

Gubrium, 1995; Fontana & Fey 1994; McCraken, 1988), and what I call a

'Focusing interview' is based on this model. Whereas the structured

interview seeks precise data that explains behaviour according to a pre-

established pattern, the semi-structured interview attempts to understand

30 The reasons for this are discussed in my fieldwork chapters.

31 Rice, P. and Ezzy, D. (1999) dislike the term 'semi-structured interview' as they think it

implies "that the important issues in qualitative interviews are a watered down version of

structured interviews".

complex behaviour in a more open way. According to feminist ethicist

Raymond such open-ended questions "maximise discovery and

description" (Reinharz, 1992: 18) and many ethnographers agree (Flick

2006: 149).

In their discussion of the 'depth interview', Reason and Rowan explain the

importance of personal engagement and care. Because the "interviewer is

genuinely concerned with the interviewee as a person", a greater level of

rapport is achieved. The interviewee, sensing the interviewer's attitude,

"seeks to respond in appropriate depth". In contrast with a more

conventional interview, where the researcher asks the questions and the

participant responds, this New Paradigm approach, in common with some

feminist methodologies, invites sharing. Depth interviews have an open

time frame and the interviewee may dialogue with the interviewer,

"exploring intent, seeking clarification" and "actively participating in the

process of seeking understanding" (Reason & Rowan, 1981: 203). The

effectiveness of this approach has been demonstrated by empirical

research from humanistic psychology: Jourand’s work shows that the best

way of getting someone to tell you something about themselves is to share

the same kind of information about yourself, and this is especially true

when the topic is intimate or personal (Rowan, 1988: 47. Also see Rice

and Ezzy, 1999). As Oakley pithily put it, there is "no intimacy without

reciprocity" (Oakley, 1981: 49). My own experience bears this out: One

woman commented on my interview style, saying she liked it and found it

easy to fully respond to my questions. Focusing enhances the effectiveness

of the semi-structured interview because it engenders an attentive open

attitude that facilitates the empathetic rapport required.

If, as Gendlin claims, the embodied implicit underpins all explicit

meaning, then any interview approach would be advised to take it into

account. A depth interview - and, perhaps, especially what I call a

Focusing Interview - can enable the respondent to carry forward a felt

sense to "complete and form" (Gendlin, 1964; author's emphasis) an

implicit meaning into one which is explicit and verbal. It is important to

recall that implicit and explicit meanings are fundamentally different:

implicit meaning is preconceptual and so does not in any sense conceal

explicit meanings. This understanding supports the theoretical framework

that underpins existing practice in semi-structured interviewing, which

emphasises that "meanings are continually constructed and reconstructed

in interaction" (Rice and Ezzy, 1999: 54). I do not seek to unearth an

explicit knowledge that my respondent has hidden within them:

"Respondents are not ... repositories of knowledge - treasuries of

information awaiting excavation" (Holstein and Gubrium, 1995: 4).

Explicit, verbal meaning emerges from the dialogical process of the

interview and so respondents "are constructors of knowledge in

collaboration with interviewers" (Holstein and Gubrium, 1995: 4).

Gendlin allows us to understand more clearly how this process occurs.

Todres suggests that applying Gendlin's insights can inform discussions

on "the 'truth values' of qualitative research" (Todres, 2007 [1999]: 30)

and outlines the four phases where it can be applied as "the informants

task, the interviewer's task, the task of analysis, and the task of the reader"

(Todres, 2007 [1999]: 36). Although I do not use Todres terms, his

approach illuminates my own. Bacon suggests that Focusing works well as

an integral part of the depth interview (Bacon, pers. comm., 2006) where

it has two aspects: (a) I Focused during and (optionally) after the

interview and, (b) where appropriate, I facilitated the respondent in using

Focusing to access their embodied knowing. I began by explaining that

because I was interested in accessing "what the body knows", I used an

unusual interview technique and I might invite them to pay particular

attention to how their body felt. I explained that it can be quite hard to put

embodied understanding into words and suggested using metaphors,

sounds, movements or anything else that might help.

1) Interviewer Facilitates

Todres points out that participants use "a process of 'lived body'

referencing" to authenticate the "'truth value'" of the words they use in an

interview (Todres, 2007 [1999]: 37) and notes the value of Focusing to

enhance that process. By clarifying the "process by which an informant

brings phenomena to language" Gendlin provides the researcher with "the

opportunity for a rigorous connection to the fullness of the phenomenon-

as-experienced" (Todres, 2007 [1999]: 37-38). Todres offers useful

theoretical underpinning, but does not specify in detail how Focusing

might be applied to an interview, and my discussion with Dr. Bacon

informed the practical aspects of the approach I developed.

Fisher notes that "felt meaning" is "called forth" when we interact with

something whose symbolic character arouses a feeling in us (Fisher, 2002:

56). An effective question will do exactly that, calling forth a felt sense and

helping the respondent to articulate an explicit meaning. It was important

that participants engaged with how they felt about a situation and

carefully phrasing questions helped:

"How was that for you?" or "How did you feel then [and/or] when

that happened?" (Cornell, 90: 1996).

In most cases I then invited the participant to become aware of how these

feelings might be expressed in the body as a felt sense:

Do you sense any bodily feelings or sensations related to that

experience/ this place/that moment? (Harris, interview topic guide,

2007).

I also used such phrases more generally, for example to help them access

their felt sense of the protest site or tree or wood they were defending:

How do you feel about the site/the wood/this place? (Harris,

interview topic guide, 2007).

More explicit Focusing often helped a participant articulate a felt sense

about their spiritual practice. During the pilot phase of my interviews a

participant would sometimes find it hard or impossible to articulate their

embodied knowing of a spiritual practice, and would say something like "I

can't really put it into words ..." In the Focusing Interview I invited

participants to become aware of their felt sense and this often enabled

them to articulate their embodied knowing.

2) Interviewer Focuses

Before asking my first question I practised what Cornell calls 'attunement',

which is a simple process of bringing awareness into your body (Cornell,

1996: 97). Cornell – a practising therapist – claims that this process

enhances the therapists intuition, allowing them to become aware of

material that is "not from your logical mind" and suggests that it is

possible to become aware of "felt senses in your body that are not yours"

(Cornell, 1996: 4-5. Cf. Madison, 2001: 12, quoted above). Todres likewise

writes of an "interembodied experience" that emerges between the

interviewer and the participant that provides an "embodied

understanding" of their interaction. While Todres claims that he can

confirm the existence of this "interembodied experience" by sharing some

of the implications of his own "embodied understanding", he notes that "it

remains a large task to consider the extent to which this can happen"

(Todres 2007 [1999]: 39). I agree on both counts, so while "interembodied

experience" can emerge in an interview, I chose not to share my embodied

understanding given the issues of validity this could raise.

In practice this approach proved to be quite powerful, as exemplified in

my interview with 'Zoe',32 an urban Eco-Pagan. This long interview had

been valuable, and I had asked all the questions on my interview guide.

But as I concluded the interview I had a bodily prompting - a felt sense -

that I had missed something. My process is apparent in the transcript:

Adrian: Wow! Thank-you, That was super! [Zoe: Yeah?] Yeah, really

interesting. Um. [LONG PAUSE] Ah. [LONGER PAUSE] Er, mm,

er. [Adrian makes a few muttered noises]. Something that isn't

down here [on my interview guide]. Something about connected,

connection. [Zoe: Mmmm.] 'Cos we talked about connecting,

earlier. [Zoe: Mmm, yeah.] [LONG PAUSE]

I spend another half a minute trying to get to the meaning of my felt sense

until I say:

We've already talked about connecting to a place. [Zoe: Mmm.] I

have a sense that there's something more there. [Zoe: Mmmm.]

32 The names of most participants referred to have been changed.

[LONG PAUSE] How - Do you feel your body has a particular role

when you're connecting to a place?

What followed was one of most valuable sections of an already rich

interview which I explore in more detail in chapter 8, 'Listening to the

Threshold Brook: Urban Eco-Paganism', but without a sensitivity to the

"embodied understanding" expressed by my felt sense that there was more

to be said, I would never have asked the question.

Because I Focused from the start, I had a empathetic attitude towards the

interview process that sometimes profoundly shifted the dynamic. Much

of our spiritual experience is not rational, so any impression that I wanted

'rational' responses would close down the whole conversation, but

Focusing helps create a space that encourages the freedom to

communicate non-rational, spiritual feelings using more poetic modes of

expression. Although the felt sense is usually articulated in a word or

phrase, it can begin as a gesture, facial expression, movement or other

bodily response, so the Focusing interviewer must be especially attentive

to such details (Bacon, pers. comm., 2006). After the interview, I

sometimes chose to Focus on the interview itself or some handle that

emerged. In practice I did not find this added very much to what had

already emerged, but it did help me settle after one particularly emotional

interview.

Topic Guides and Recording

Arthur and Nazroo strongly recommend using topic guides that act as "an

aide-memoire which guides the researcher during fieldwork and ensures

some consistency in fieldwork approaches" (Arthur & Nazroo, 2003: 115).

In practice topic guides are used flexibly to "enhance rather than inhibit

responsive questioning" (Arthur & Nazroo, 2003: 136). Although I did not

use topic guides for my initial interviews, I subsequently found them

useful for the reasons Arthur and Nazroo suggest and developed several

for use with different participant groups.

Although I used a cassette recorder to tape the interviews, I carefully

noted any non-verbal elements that might be important. Gorden notes

four kinds of non-verbal communication:

Proxemic communication is the use of interpersonal space to

communicate attitudes, chronemics communication is the use of

padding of speech and length of silence in conversation, kinesic

communication includes any body movements or postures, and

paralinguistic communication includes all the variations in volume,

pitch and quality of voice (Gorden, 1980: 335).

Chronemic and paralinguistic elements are apparent on the tape

recording and could be noted later, but other non-verbal aspects of the

interview needed to be noted at the time on my topic guide. I briefly

described the location and context of the interview, and provided space

where I could note proxemic and kinesic aspects of communication next

to a key word to remind me of when it occurred.

Fig. 7: Topic guide showing notes on chronemic and

paralinguistic aspects of the interview.

Because my research often took place at protest sites, it was not always

possible to undertake a Focusing interview. In one such case ('Adam') I

used the "ethnographic interview" described by Spradley "as a series of

friendly conversations into which the researcher slowly introduces new

elements to assist informants to respond as informants" (Spradley, 1979:

58-59).

Interview Transcription

My interview transcriptions were verbatim and because spoken sentences

rarely have the grammatical structure that a written sentence has, I used

punctuation to show timings (chronemics) not structure or meaning:

l A comma, means a very short pause. Just a moment - as long as you

would give a comma if you were reading a sentence out loud.

l A full-stop shows that a spoken sentence has ended and at the same

time indicates a pause longer than a comma.

l [Pause] means a brief pause - the length of a long breath. I use ...

when a sentence fades off and this will also mean there is a brief

pause.

l [Long Pause] means a longer pause of up to three long breaths.

l I use a hyphen - when there is a break in the flow of meaning in a

sentence but no pause.

Observation

Although my embodied hermeneutics developed during - and out of - the

so-called 'fieldwork' phase (a notion I problematizes in my

autoethnography chapter), the fundamental principles were apparent

throughout. As an active Eco-Pagan I had a "complete membership role"

(Adler & Adler, 1998: 97) which embraced a Heuristic research

recommendation that the researcher “get inside the question, become one

with it” (Moustakas, 1990: 15). Jackson cogently suggests that to

understand "bodily praxis" the researcher must inhabit the same world as

the other person:

Participation thus becomes an end in itself rather than a means of

gathering closely observed data which will be subject to

interpretation elsewhere after the event (Jackson, 1989: 58).

Although such involvement may be ideal, retaining a reflexive perspective

is crucial, so I initially strived to retain what Douglas calls the 'theoretic

stance' (Douglas, 1970: 22) as opposed to the 'natural stance' I might

adopt outside the research context. My experience has, however, blurred

this conventional notion of having a 'research stance' and a ‘natural

stance’ to the point where a reflexive attitude has become second nature.

Though the term 'observation' implies visual data gathering, "all of the

senses can also be fully engaged in this endeavor, from smell to hearing,

touch, and taste" (Adler & Adler, 1998: 80). I extended this notion beyond

the outdated five senses model to include, amongst other perceptual

modes, proprioception and intuition, developing my sensitivity to what

Brooks Gardener describes as the "Click! Experience" – those moments

where a comment, action or feeling reveals its deeper emotional

significance (Adler & Adler, 1998: 81). I followed Mehan & Wood's

recommendation that initial observations be descriptive and quite

general, shifting to selective observations as my research questions

became more focused (Mehan & Wood, 1975). Throughout this process my

observations were supported and integrated with the other aspects of my

methodology, as this is when observation works best: Used "as part of a

methodological spectrum that includes … strategies such as depth

interviewing or participant observation, it is the most powerful source of

validation" (Adler & Adler, 1998: 105).

Participant Observation of Ritual

The discussion above is relevant to my role as participant observer of Eco-

Pagan rituals, but there were several additional points to consider, notably

the difficulty of recording what occurs in the ritual while fully

participating in it. In practice, there are usually several opportunities to

unobtrusively look round the group and count the number, age and

gender of participants, and I took time out soon after a ritual to draw a

simple map of the ritual space and note who was there, what they did, and

how I felt during the ceremony. After a ritual any paraphernalia and

offerings were usually left for long enough for me to take notes and/or

photographs if appropriate. On one occasion I followed up a ritual with

interviews with participants, but as my research proceeded it became

apparent that formal ritual was less relevant than I had assumed, so I did

not repeat this.

Autoethnography

Autoethnography describes the process of the ethnographer creatively

exploring his or her own experience in order to illuminate the research

and "questions the dualism of the insider-outsider paradigm" (Wallis,

2004: 197). In a sense my research has been autoethnographic from the

start, as it originated from my experience of a "somatic, physical knowing"

in Eco-Pagan ritual (Harris, 1996: 151); I have thus always been a key

'respondent' in my research. This is particularly important given the tacit

nature of embodied knowledge and the embodied hermeneutics I

developed, because I was able to observe my embodied knowing and

thereby better understand the experience of my (co)participants. In this

way I became a sensitive instrument tuned to the subtle nuances of the

research material. Furthermore, my exposure to hermeneutics, New

Paradigm Research and feminist methodologies revealed that abandoning

the illusion of the objective, faceless interviewer required personal

exposure and an openness to learn about myself as I try to understand

others (Crapanzano, 1980). This realization is intimately related to

embodied hermeneutics, as a researcher using an embodied methodology

“must recognise the multiple subject positions that are invoked by the

presence of their own body and the materiality of their fieldwork"

(Ahmed, 2004: 286). Although I have already discussed such embodied

reflexivity in theoretical terms above, it will become fleshed out in my

autoethnography chapter.

Autoethnography can also challenge conventional notions of what counts

as knowledge and offer alternative ways of knowing. As Tierney says

"autoethnography confronts dominant forms of representation and power

in an attempt to reclaim, through self-reflective response, representational

spaces that have marginalized those of us at the borders" (Tierney, 1998:

66). For Ellis and Bochner a fundamental aspect of the power of

autoethnography is that it can enable the reader to "feel the truth" of the

writer's stories and so "become coparticipants" (Ellis & Bochner, 2000:

745). By evocatively expressing my embodied ways of knowing I enable

the reader to come to their own felt sense of that knowing. Todres suggest

that through aesthetic forms of writing the reader can be "intuitively

empowered ... to engage with the phenomena in a more direct and

personal way" (Todres, 2007 [1999]: 41), thus providing an "experientially

evocative" (Todres, 2004: 24) "texture" that enhances our understanding

of thematic "structure" (Todres, 2007: 47). Whereas most of this thesis

presents an analytic approach to structured data, I intend my

autoethnographic chapter to provide a more intuitive, felt understanding

of my research through an aesthetic "texture".

INTERPRETATION and VALIDATION

Interpretation

Most discussions of working with qualitative data speak of analysis, a term

originally found in hard sciences like chemistry, where it means "to break

down a whole into component ... parts" (Schwandt, 1997: 5). Schwandt,

who portrays this widespread procedural approach as quite mechanical

and grounded in behaviourism, prefers other models, notably

hermeneutics. Hermeneutics engages the researcher in a dialogue with

the material to create an interpretation. This contrast leads me to consider

Denzin's emphasis on the art of interpretation (Denzin, 1998: 313), which

portrays the field worker as a storytelling bricoleur weaving a narrative

from the field notes. As a corrective perhaps, Flick, having been somewhat

critical of Denzin's apparent dismissal of method (Flick, 2006: 407),

concludes that qualitative research requires both "art and method" (Flick,

2006: 408; author's emphasis). Hermeneutics is indeed a method and an

art, so Flick's stance reflects my own. On the one hand, I am, like Denzin,

concerned with what story the data can tell, but on the other I apply an

embodied hermeneutic method.

The hermeneutic circle describes a process where interpretation is not

limited to a fixed 'post-fieldwork' phase. For example, my recognition of

the interpretative value of 'wilderness effect' theory came during fieldwork

and emerged from a sensitivity to patterns of experience. At the stage

where my only relationship was with a corpus of text, not a body of flesh,

more conventional hermeneutic methods, such as considering language

use and context, became valuable. However, I retained an embodied

hermeneutics throughout. In practice some of the conventional

approaches of qualitative data analysis, like coding text for themes, were

useful, but my approach always emphasised context and sought to

syntheses themes into related patterns of meaning. The concept of

'themes' is often left vague, but I based my understanding on Maanen's

model of themes as "like knots in the webs of our experiences, around

which certain lived experiences are spun and thus lived through as

meaningful wholes" (Maanen, 1990: 90).

In Practice

Because my embodied hermeneutics evolved during my research, some of

my early interpretation strategies were more ad hoc, but in the main there

were three phases: I transcribed the tape verbatim, noting pauses, pacing

and any emphasis on words, which inevitably meant listening several

times to write the words exactly as they were spoken. Gendlin's research

showed that hesitation and vagueness often accompanied the search for a

felt sense, so it is important that I transcribed hesitations, pauses and fill-

in phrases. I took notes during this phase. I then listened again while

adopting a Focusing attitude, which provided an intuitive sense of what

was being expressed. Again I took notes. Then I carefully read the

transcript, looking for themes, relationships and patterns, and

highlighting sections of text with different colours. My fieldwork notes

were too extensive to apply this process, but as the material was from my

own lived experience it was adequate to re-read my notes, again looking

for themes, relationships and patterns, and transcribe relevant sections.

In common with the majority of qualitative researchers, this process

began early on, influencing my process in a series of hermeneutic cycles

that culminated in the interpretations presented in 'Section II: Fieldwork'.

Most interpretation relies on rational analysis whereas I used both

rational analysis and my intuitive felt sense of the meaning of the text.

Listening to the recording allowed me to be sensitive to the pace of

speech, the tone and volume of the voice, and subtle verbal nuances that a

transcription would miss unless it were so precise as to be almost

unreadable. Even then, the actual experience of listening to the tape is

more sensual - more embodied - that reading a transcription: The text of a

transcription can only have the words; "Birds singing in the background".

The 'text' of a tape recording actually has the sound of the birds singing,

which helped me to get a much richer sense of the context of an interview.

During the transcription and, especially, the Focusing phase, I sometimes

got a very tangible bodily sense of what the participant was talking about.

The words describing their feelings evoked a felt sense in me that

provided a deeper understanding of their experience. This often felt odd,

even slightly disturbing, as if I were stepping into the other person's mode

of awareness as it was at a given moment.

Finally, having thematically coded the text of all interviews, field notes

and interpretative comments, I began to explore related patterns of

meaning using Mind Maps from which I developed my interpretations.

Validation

Cresswell lists eight "primary strategies" to ensure validity: Triangulation,

member-checking, rich, thick descriptions, explicitly stating the

researchers stance or possible "bias", presenting material that runs

counter to the interpretation, extensive time in the field, peer debriefing

and the use of an external auditor (Cresswell, 2003: 196). If we allow my

long term involvement with Eco-Paganism as "extensive time in the field",

I use all of these strategies.

Furthermore, Todres illustrates the value of Gendlin's felt sense in

providing "intersubjective validity" (Todres, 2007 [1999]: 31). Gendlin

shows that our "bodily-participative-knowing" is "not just reasoned but

recognised" in a "lived process by which languaging and embodying

interact" (Todres, 2007 [1999]: 34). Focusing is thus more grounded than

many phenomenological approaches because it is rooted in an identifiable

felt sense that is embodied: As Madison says, the felt sense "is not a

theory. It is there" (Madison, 2001: 7; author's emphasis). In addition the

felt shift provides an unmistakable confirmation of the integrity of our

intuitions: For Todres the recognition of rightness that is expressed in a

felt shift provides the "source of accountability" (Todres, 2007 [1999]:40)

that Caputo referred to above as the 'rightness' of an interpretation: "

'That is what we are looking for. That puts into words what we have all

along understood about ourselves' " (Caputo, 1987: 81).

Conclusion

I am concerned with an embodied hermeneutics and a hermeneutics of

embodiment: the former is grounded in embodiment, while the latter is

focused on understanding some aspect of embodiment. While my current

methodology encompasses both, I can envisage embodied hermeneutics

being applied to a situation where embodiment was less primary. The

embodied hermeneutics I have presented develops the work of Bacon,

McGuire, Moustakas, and especially Gendlin and Todres, to provided a

consistent methodology that fulfils the criteria set out by New Paradigm

Research and the feminist methodologies discussed above. It also fits the

requirements of the methodology of mind/body/self intersubjectivity

proposed by McGuire, as it can readily be taught and has both "precision

and rigour" (McGuire, 2002: 209). In practice it is a powerful and flexible

means of researching embodied knowing which builds on existing

research to make an original contribution to social science methodology.

The power of this approach will become apparent in the fieldwork

chapters, to which I now turn.

SECTION II: FIELDWORK

INTRODUCTION

Having laid out the parameters of this thesis in Section I, I now turn to my

fieldwork. Section II begins with an autoethnography which gives a

embodied sense of what life on the road protest sites was like. The second

and third chapters of this section present my fieldwork findings and

analysis of urban and protest site Eco-Paganism. Section II concludes with

a discussion of all of my fieldwork in the context of a unifying model of

embodied knowing in Eco-Paganism.

Between Protest Site and Urban Life

Letcher classifies Eco-Paganisms into two non-exclusive groups; those

who are part of a given Pagan Tradition and more eclectic

“detraditionalized" Eco-Pagans (Letcher, 2005: 556). Letcher's model is

useful, but as not all protest site Eco-Pagans are detraditionalized, I

distinguish between protest site and urban Eco-Pagans to provide a

second axis, although boundaries between all these categories are fluid.

Many Eco-Pagans will always live an urban life simply because of their

temperament or circumstances, while some may occasionally visit protest

sites for a few days, as I did for many years. Very few - if any - Eco-Pagans

live entirety on protest sites. All activists occasionally need time off site

simply to avoid 'burning out', so will occasionally return to an urban

environment to recuperate from illness, have a bath, visit family or friends

etc. Protest site activists typically spend a few months or perhaps years

living on one or more sites and then settle into a somewhat more

conventional existence, although often not an especially urban one. Some

choose to return to the protest site life occasionally and this cycle can go

on for decades.

Combining Letcher's categorization with my own urban to protest site

distinction provides a useful typology for understanding how my

participants lived and practised over the period covered by my fieldwork.

Although the scale is not intended to be precise, fig. 7, below, accurately

maps my respondent’s lifestyle at the time I interviewed or knew them.

Those further to the Urban side have had less experience of protest site

life: Sekhara, Sally and Jocelyn had never visited a site, Mark, Gordon and

Barry had, while Emily and Michael had stayed briefly at a site. Millie,

Jake, Debbie, Dave and Lauren spent a significant amount of time in

conventional homes during my research period, Jan and Oak lived in

woodland away from a protest site some of the time, while John, Rob and

Ian were nomadic. John, Jo and Zoe were members of Druid orders, while

I placed Ian and Adam at the opposite end of the Traditionalized -

detraditionalized scale for reasons that become obvious. Sally and I were

probably the clearest examples people who had become more

detraditionalized over time, while John was a paradigm case of a move in

the opposite direction

Fig. 7: A Typology of Eco-Paganism

100

Chapter 7: Autoethnography: “You’re not just studying

then - you’re living it.”

"I should not talk so much about myself if

there were anybody else whom I knew as well".

Thoreau, Walden or Life in the Woods.

lREVISED

lChapter 7: Autoethnography: “You’re not just studying

then - you’re living it.”

"I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I

knew as well".

Thoreau, Walden or Life in the Woods.

Autoethnography is an aesthetic activity as much as an academic one in

that it tells stories that invite the reader "to put themselves in our place"

(Ellis and Bochner, 2000: 751). As such I must create an evocative

reconstruction of life on protest sites that remains true to my experience.

Although I've made minor additions to my original material for

clarification, all substantive comments are verbatim and events occurred

as described. Aliases are used throughout.

As autoethnographer, I am "a boundary-crosser" whose writing reveals

"multiple, shifting identities" (Reed-Danahay, 1997: 3) that reflexively

locate my personal sense of the research process. It thus becomes

apparent that "in the field we are in dialogue with ourselves as much as we

are in dialogue with others", and how fieldwork becomes a "'personal

voyage of discovery'" (Bruner, 1986: 15). An autoethnographer's work

typically reveals the "contradictions they experience" (Ellis and Bochner,

2000: 738), and such contradictions are an inevitable part of life on a

protest site. We are inevitably caught in these contradictions, and the

extent to which I lacked that awareness while on site reflected my

embodied situation. Denzin emphasizes the way autoethnography

combines autobiography with ethnography (Denzin, 1989: 27), and I

integrate my wider life experience because it " has ethnographic interest"

(Reed-Danahay, 1997: 9) and provides valuable material for analysis in

chapter 10, 'A "sacred relationship with the world"'.

BOUNDARIES

We usually imagine the border between academic discourse and

101

emotional engagement to be well policed, but I now know it to be

frangible. I sit in the lofty white space of ‘Humanities 1’ in the British

Library, sitting dutifully at desk number 2177. But I am not engaged in

bookish research. My reading has been closed by a memory of such

emotional intensity that I almost weep. Reading Beverley Butler's33

account of the M11 link road protest suddenly flashes back the laughter,

the pain, the passion and the madness of it all. She visited Clairmont Road

as an academic at the moment of its greatest wonder: I visit her written

account as an activist long after its demise. Mine is a very different

journey, and I am marked by it.

The moment brings to me the slippery nature of this work. It is not head

work, all neat and analysed. Nor is it art, an overflow of feeling flooding

the page. My work must live in some third space that celebrates emotional

involvement yet honours academic discourse. I’ve glimpsed such a hybrid

in the work of others, so I know at least that it is more than mythic.

My supervisor sits back in his chair. “Well, your chapter headings are fine

…” Dramatic pause. “… if you just want to produce a piece of philosophy”.

He poses like Rodin’s Thinker.

“No, I want to ground it in fieldwork. I’ve included an outline of that in

Chapter 9.”

Oh yeah, I think to myself; after 'Embodied Metaphor in Magico-religious

Practice', 'Phenomenology, Embodiment and Ecological Understanding'

and 'Knowledge and the Body'.

“OK. If you want to do fieldwork, then this is out of balance. There’s too

little and it comes too late”.

I know that what he’s getting at: How much time do I want to spend on

theory and how much on fieldwork? I’m really interested in how

embodied knowing might tie in with ritual and changes in subjectivity, so

I guess that means I need to leave the warm familiarity of the library and

get out into the unknown world of fieldwork. Scary!

The Visit

Field notes:

It's January and I’m on a train going west. It started snowing just as the

train left London and the fields all around are now dusted. Not ideal

conditions to arrive in! Still, it may delay work on the road. I hope so.

When I spoke to Jill on the phone she emphasised how “bloody beautiful”

the woods are.

It was snowing pretty steadily as the train arrived at my destination

33 Butler, in Harvey 2003.

102

and the bus driver joked that I’d need skis in the woods. I smiled through

my mixed feelings: I have the usual slight anxiety at heading into an

unknown situation, tempered with a certainty that this is where I need to

be right now and all will be well. Why am I so certain? My first thought

is that this is in accord with the pattern of my life. Not being here would

be a denial of how I identify myself. It’s living the life I’ve created.

Dusk is falling as I get off the bus but within 15 minutes I find myself

walking down the rough path towards the camp. A voice hollers out a

"Hello!" from the bank above me. "Hi! It’s Adrian – I phoned the camp a

couple of days ago." I’m aware that at this moment I’m no more than a

shadow in the dark, so I want to reassure them that I’m a friend. "Oh, hi!

Come on up. There’s a gap in the fence over here". A guy who introduces

himself as Bob meets me with a smile and leads me to the fire pit where

five others sit huddled round the warmth.

“Hi, I’m Adrian. I’m an old mate of Jill’s and she was telling how amazing

it is here.”

“Hi. Good to meet you. Always good to see new people. You staying long?”

“ No. Just for a few days.”

“OK - Always good to have visitors! Have you got a tent or something? You

can always sleep in the communal bender if you like.”

“I’m OK. I’ve brought a tent and stuff. Guess I’d better pitch it before it

gets too dark.” I head off and find a spot to pitch my tent near a tree. It’s

not exactly sheltered, but it’ll provide some protection from the wind. I

hope.

Back at the fire, I get chatting to a young woman of about 20 who’s ‘site

name’ 34 is ‘Ness’. When I tell her a bit about my understanding of Eco-

Paganism she smiles with recognition and says "Oh, I guess I’m an Eco-

Pagan then!" I smile with a different kind of recognition as this experience

is quite common in Paganism in general. You don’t get converted but just

realise there’s a name for what you already believe. My problem is that the

name ‘Pagan’ doesn’t fit me so well these days. I remember how the first

draft of my Literature Review became a rant about how disconnected from

the land mainstream Paganism is and my growing sense that it’s lost the

plot. If it ever knew it in the first place! I keep quiet about my doubts as

we chat round the warmth of the fire for fear I might break the spell.

After a few rounds of red wine it’s time for bed, so we all crunch through

the snow to tents dotted round the camp. The snow is inches deep now

34 About a third of the people I met on protest sites used an alias which they referred to as

their ‘site name’. Typically this was only used while on the site or involved in a protest action.

Although the site name was supposedly to avoid identification by the authorities it appeared

to have little practical value.

103

and even wearing all the clothes I have I’m cold as I struggle to get some

sleep. We must all be crazy.

Next morning is bright and cold. The fire pit is warm and Bob has made

some porridge. Joy!

"Hey, Bob, Any idea where that came from?" A spotlight of morning light

picks out a Brigid's Cross hanging in a tree opposite. It's woven from corn

and tied with a thin red ribbon, just like similar crosses I've made myself

to celebrate the recent Pagan festival of Imbolc.

"Oh yeah. A couple of Wiccans came down a few weeks back and put them

up".

I'm intrigued now and pleased to see such overt Pagan practice. "Really?

Are they around much?"

"No", Bob replies, a little sadly. "They came down for a quick visit and we

haven't seen them since."

I share his sadness, but for more complex reasons: I was initiated into

Wicca over ten years ago but have seen very little in the way of

environmental action amongst those who share that path. It would

enhance more than just my ethnography to meet Wiccans on the site.

Field notes:

Jill came over last night and we sat by the fire to catch up over a cuppa.

It's been a few years since the last big round of road building, and she

had a sense that this marks the next turn on the spiral that started at

Twyford Down. Ah, Twyford! Jill and I reminisced about those younger

104

days and how she has a sense that the magic is turning, rising to inspire

a new generation of eco-warriors. We’re both part of the ‘old school’, the

veterans who were at Twyford and Newbury who thought we’d beaten

the Tory road builders only to see a new and smarter foe emerge. But

protest is growing and perhaps we can turn the tide.

The next few weeks are crucial as the contractors are rattled by the

protest and behind schedule. Morale is high and we’re building more

defences everyday. Jill moved house recently so can't spend much time

here now, but she thinks we can win this one. Let’s hope so: There are

bats, owls, badgers, dormice and toads in these woods. Sadly I need to

get back to London tomorrow and I feel a little frustrated to be leaving

so soon. A part-time PhD makes this kind of fieldwork almost impossible,

so somehow I have to get funding to go full-time.

Arrival

Field notes:

Late autumn and my studentship has turned my life upside down: I have

time to do in-depth fieldwork and now I can't afford the rent on my

London place I have a push to do it! A few long days ago I was in

London phoning the camp from my flat. Now the flat is empty and my

material life sits in store. No word from any of the Housing Co-ops I’ve

applied to, so it’s up and off.

I arrive at camp in darkness and wander towards a fire which burns

brightly in an old washing machine drum. A circle of faces look up as I

come into the light.

"Hi. I'm Adrian. I spoke to Dave a few days ago about staying over."

"Oh, yeah. Hi! That's me. Grab a seat and sit yourself down. Always happy

to see new people!"

Dave introduces the site crew: Phil, Ray, Jan, Tom, Oak, Debbie and

Lauren. Lauren explained that she's "just a visitor" for now, so will be

headed home soon. "Don't worry - We'll soon get you moved in!" Said Phil

with a laugh.

We sit and chat for a while and then Dave offers to show me a good spot

for my tent. "So, you staying for long?" He asks as he helps me set up.

"Not sure yet. I'll be here for a couple of weeks at least."

"OK" Says Dave with a smile. "See you in the morning. Sleep tight!"

After a cold night it's inevitably late morning by the time I struggle out of

105

my sleeping bag and head briskly towards the communal bender for

breakfast. A head pops out of a tent: Jan wishes me "Good morning" with

a smile.

In the communal bender, more smiles. "Hi, I'm Sam. Cuppa?" Says a

bright, friendly woman as we meet over the kettle. "Yeah, love one thanks.

I'm Adrian. I don't think we've met?"

"No. I live nearby, in town." She says, by way of explanation. "But I visit

every week. Are you living on site now?"

"Yeah. I'm doing research into the spirituality of protest sites - studying

what I call Eco-Paganism. Well, that and helping with the protest. I used

to be really involved years ago and it felt like time to get my boots dirty

again." Suddenly we're talking about the M11, Twyford Down and

Newbury. Sam has heard of them but has been more involved with

Greenpeace style campaigns which are much less anarchic. "So are you an

'Eco-Pagan' then?"

"Yeah - Have been for years." I say with a shrug.

"Oh." she responds, with a smile: “You’re not just studying then - you’re

living it.”

I nod, thoughtfully. She's hit the mark of course, and makes me even more

aware of my dual status here, the ambiguity of my motives. I try to change

the subject a little. "Are there many Pagans involved here?"

Sam hasn't told me much about herself until now, but, perhaps following

my lead, shares. Yes there are several Pagans involved with the campaign,

including her friend, Millie, who I haven't met yet. Sam tells me Millie

might be popping in tomorrow, so we should talk. "I do like the Pagan way

of looking at things, but I'd call myself a Christian, though I'm not

involved with the Church".

We sit and chat about spirituality for a while until Sam finishes off her tea

and gets up to leave."See you later!" Sam says, as she wraps up in her coat

and heads out into the cold.

Field notes:

The activist in me hears that 111 trees are under threat, while the

researcher notes that Millie is a Pagan. To be honest I feel more activist

than ethnographer, but a ‘third position' 35 perceives that there need not

be any conflict between the two, and in fact my activist status should

enhance my ethnography. I’d really like to talk to someone with

35 I’m using the term ‘third position’ in the sense used in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP),

where it means “a step outside your view and the other person’s view to a detached

perspective. There you can see the relationship between the two viewpoints”. (O’Conner,

2001: 33)

106

experience of this kind of dual role. Maybe Susan Greenwood? I’ll call

her.

I wake up and cringe: I've been here ten days now and I’m getting fed up

with having to leave site to go to the loo. Most people use the public toilets

that are about 20 minutes walk away, though there’s evidence that not

everyone bothers. So I suggest to Oak that we build a compost toilet.

“Yeah. Go ahead. Maybe down the far end of site.” For a moment I’m not

sure if he realises that I don’t have a clue about how to do it. I have all the

practical skills of a highly trained academic – zero. But this isn’t South

London; I can’t just phone up a compost toilet builder or ask my landlord

to sort it out. We do it or it doesn’t get done. So I grab a spade and get

digging. Once I’ve started, Oak is happy to make suggestions about how it

might work, and by the afternoon we’re both banging nails into the pallet

wood walls. As we finish off the compost toilet, Oak explains his next

project: He wants to build a really high and well defended tree-house –

one that will be really hard to evict. And he’d like me to help build it.

Field notes:

Several people here – or visiting regularly – are ‘Pagan’ in some sense.

Millie celebrates (at least) some of the main festivals and attends the

local Pagan moot. I asked her about the moot, and she said they weren’t

very interested in environmental activism. I let that pass without

comment. Still, I get the impression from talking to people here that

some form of intuitive spirituality is common. I know Andy [Letcher]

said as much36.

Time passes strangely on site: days feel short yet looking back over a week

it seems like a fortnight. My second week has been enjoyable, though I've

become increasingly confused about my role at the camp, so it's been a joy

talking to Susan about my fieldwork. She doesn’t just know the issues

academically – she’s been there.

“I sometimes wonder whether I’m doing what I should – As it is the

University just paid for me to build a compost toilet on a road protest

site!”

I’m making a joke of it, but my quandary is serious.

“Don’t worry – That’s all part of your work. I learnt how to bake cakes

during my PhD fieldwork”. She grins, and then goes on. “All that is part of

your ethnography. You need to live the life to really understand it.”

Fine, but that’s not really why I’m here.

“But I get confused about my role there. It’s just the kind of place I would

have been anyway a few years ago, but now I’m not there as an activist,

36 Letcher, 2000.

107

but as an academic. Or am I? I dunno. I feel like I need to keep ‘switching

hats’ from one to the other and it’s been doing my head in."

Susan shrugged: “It’s simple – You’re both all the time.”

It was like someone turned the lights on in a room at dusk. “Ahh! I see! So

it’s not a problem – being one or the other - I’m both”.

“Well, you decide, but it sounds like it from what you’ve said. You’ve been

mixing the two for years anyway. We can’t split ourselves up into boxes –

How you feel will obviously influence how you think, so own that. You

might be able to actually use it in your research. Note down how you feel

about living there. Given that you’re researching embodied knowing you

might get something useful from it.”

I leave Susan's place with a smile. Realising I can be both activist and

academic without compromising either is the best news I’ve had in ages.

Back at the camp, I'm welcomed with hot food and as I sit down to eat I'm

aware of a sense of real belonging.

THE TURNING

Enchantment

I slept like a log last night and get up early, keen to get to work. First

things first: The compost loo is a real boon and gives me an odd sense of

pride every time I use it. That feels a bit peculiar, but I guess I've never

thought of myself as being remotely practical, so helping to build

something so fundamental to our lives here is significant. That's all great,

but I can't help wondering how long I can stay here just on the principle

that I’m doing good work for the campaign! I really need to make some

progress with my ethnography or I can't justify being here. But then Susan

did say just being here is all part of the ethnography. Might as well enjoy it

then!

"Fancy a cuppa tea?" I'm doing myself one and always ask round. '"Yeah -

Builders, please" says Oak. "And a herbal for me", Jan adds. They're

chatting away in what serves as our lounge when it isn't a crash space - a

small, slightly better waterproofed area where we keep extra bedding. I

wander over with the tea and sit on an old sleeping bag. Then my ears

suddenly prick up:

"I'd like to do a Land Blessing. We've been here a few weeks now and no-

one's done anything for the site yet". Oak isn't particularly talking to me,

but to Jan. They're old mates who've done ritual before, so she's the

obvious person for him to share the idea with. I listen for a moment, and

then chip in. "I'd really like to be involved if I can."

108

"Oh right, yeah, you're Pagan aren't you? Sure. Have you done anything

like this before?"

I realise that I've kept fairly quiet about my own practice as I wanted to

give space to hear other people's voices. In fact I have some ten years of

experience and have facilitated several rituals on protest sites in the past.

But the last thing I want is to be seen as some kind of expert, so I keep the

details to myself as I say: "Yeah, some."

"Great! Fancy inviting an Element or something?"

Perfect! "Yeah - Cool! When?"

After some discussion we agree that a week on Sunday will give us enough

time. "Excellent! Looks like we have a plan!" Says Oak with a grin.

Field notes:

I met Jo today. She’d visited the site before I arrived, and I’ve seen her e-

mail messages on the ‘Pagan Warriors' e-mail list. She’s just read an

article in the latest 'Pagan Dawn37 about our escapades at the G8 last

year, so that got us talking about Pagans and activism. We agreed that

it was great that Pagan Dawn was publishing more about activism now,

but Jo didn’t think it would make any difference to most Pagans. She

sometimes goes to the local Pagan moot, but she doesn’t think they are

interested in our campaign. Worse, one of them told her we were

wasting our time. Jo went off on one then, and went on to describe a

Pagan fair she’d been to in London where everyone was wandering

around clad in black velvet robes. She couldn’t understand why they

weren’t more interested in the environment and implied they were quite

shallow. I told her I’d come to accept that some Pagans were not

environmentalists, which isn’t quite true: I understand that

academically, but still can’t embrace it emotionally.

I wake up and give a broad grin: That's one of my last nights in my cold,

cramped, tent. I'm building myself a place to live, so Oak, Ray and I are

headed over to some nearby woods to cut bender poles this morning.

With that happy thought, I wander down to the communal for breakfast to

find Jan is also a very good mood, despite piles of washing up.

“You look happy this morning!”

“Yeah, I’m going to plant seeds today. I love doing that.” I look vague,

wondering why. She give me a big smile as she explains. “It makes me feel

like I’m talking to the Goddess.”

I'm still pondering the profundity of Jan's joy as we arrive at the woods

where we'll cut the bender poles. Oak and his partner live here in a

37 Pagan Dawn is the magazine of the Pagan Federation.

109

wooden house he built for them. Ray and I both need poles, so Oak shows

us what to look for: The poles need to be straight, not too thick and nice

and long. It looks easy enough, but it's not: I just can't see the wood for the

trees! After a while looking far too hard for the right poles, I begin to get

the knack: It needs a particular sensory acuity that feels like I'm relaxing

into it and opening myself up to the space. Now I'm looking less and

seeing more.

I seem to be doing OK, but then Ray starts going on about how "Oak made

it look so easy" and we can’t find the poles like he can. I begin to lose my

confidence as I take his doubts on-board and suddenly the bender poles

disappear into the trees again. Still, all's well, as when it comes time to

leave we have more than enough.

Sitting outside my new bender watching the waxing moon, I think, "This

is my Paganism!" To worship something you have to be separate from it,

but I don’t feel a need to worship nature. Actually, its stronger than that: I

don’t feel it would make sense, because I am nature. My Paganism is an

expression of a deep love for nature that doesn’t seek to reify it.

[N.B. I FIRST NOTED THIS FEELING WHILE VISITING A

DIFFERENT CAMP, BUT STILL FELT THE SAME WAY AT THIS ONE.

IS IT OK TO LEAVE THIS HERE? I'LL CUT IT OTHERWISE].

In the trees over by the railway I hear crows squawking. On the opposite

side of the Camp the road drones by. The contrast seems poignant: Life in

place, as part of a sustainable ecology sits opposite an oddly pointless

series of individual journeys.

Field notes:

I’m still not sure how to describe the bodily feelings which arise during

spiritual work. Last night we talked about how the site ‘felt’ to us. Dave

110

said he had a strong feeling from the site in the first few days. I ‘felt’ a

strong ‘energy’ when I held ‘Mr. Pointy’ [Oak’s antlered stag skull] and I

had a different feeling when I was opening up my senses to the woods

while looking for bender poles. But how can I articulate those feelings?

They are the very essence of the work I want to do, but they are so

outside conventional language use.

Are Eco-Pagans more conscious of aware of using embodied cognition?

Is that what I mean when I say that the most important thing I’ve learnt

from Paganism is how to listen to my intuition? Note that I crossed out

‘more conscious of’ and used ‘more aware of’. I am mistrustful of the

conscious/unconscious duality. I suspect it will turn out to be an illusion,

or at best, a misleading oversimplification.

Before I came here I had all kinds of notions about keeping academic

distance during fieldwork. Ha! Such ideas are now lost amidst the rush of

life here, and I find myself sitting in the communal bender helping Debbie

come up with a way of inviting the Spirit of Fire to our Circle this

afternoon. My being here inevitably has an impact and trying to artificially

minimise it seems naive and insincere. So I leap in and behave exactly as I

would have years ago at the M11 or Twyford.

"So what does fire mean to you?" I ask. I am careful not to impose my

ideas, but try to help Debbie find a calling to Fire that works for her.

"Heat, flames, passion, red, ..." Debbie has an affinity with fire anyway,

and words and half-expressed feelings are quickly sparking. Before long

we've forged a short but powerful calling that Debbie can truly own. And

not before time, as Jan looks in to call us to the Circle.

Field notes:

Ritual went well. I nearly wept after Jan’s short and very simple

invocation of the Goddess though it wasn’t much more than one line:

“Welcome to the Goddess of the Well”. Oak suggested that this was

because she expressed such a strong belief. That resonates.

Ray wept openly at the end and I did a grounding meditation with him.

He found the Elemental callings very moving, but isn’t sure why. I did

some interviews after the ritual. Fascinating!

I wake up with the remains of a dream. All I can remember is a man

saying to me that answers don’t come in a simple moment. He didn’t say

any more, but the implication was that solutions emerge over time.

Mulling over my dream, I wander down to the communal for breakfast. I

need some food before getting to work on what I suspect will be a long

day.

Looking up into the branches, I forget myself for a moment and speak my

111

thoughts out loud. "God, that looks sketchy!"

"Yeah. I don't like going up, but it's gotta be done". Ray gives me a crooked

grin, and starts to climb. Building work on the tree house hasn’t been

going well. It’s pretty high and getting a shape, but it’s really not safe. It

occurs to me that no-one bothered to check with the tree before sticking a

house in her branches. We should at least do a simple ritual or make some

kind of offering. I’ll get a bottle of something and go up this evening when

the day’s work’s done. But right now I need to give Ray a hand. Oak is

planning to leave the area to do some travelling in a few weeks, so we need

to get as much done as we can while we have the numbers. Whether we

get this finished by then or not, I’ll really miss him.

By late afternoon work on the tree house is done for the day so I gather my

stuff into a small rucksack: a bottle of wine and a Dragon Tree Rune38 on a

cord. I’ve opened the bottle and stuffed the cork back in - I don’t want to

be fiddling about with a corkscrew up there. It’s a beautiful afternoon -

cold but bright without much wind, for which I’m most grateful. I can

cope with the height, but if the wind is up it gets a bit hairy. The climb is

easy today. That bodes well. I get up high to where the platform will be

and settle in as best I can. Laying back on the branch, I sink into myself

and beyond, into the tree. I can sense anger at the intrusion. We’ve been

careful not to damage the tree but it’s used to birds not hairless apes! I

spend some time visualizing two possible futures: one with the tree house

and maybe many more summers here; the other without our efforts and

probable felling within the next few months. I get a sense of

understanding from the tree and come back to my usual, ‘sitting 20

metres up a tree’ awareness. I tie the Dragon Tree Rune onto a small

branch near my head and share some wine with the tree. Though I

probably enjoy red wine more than the tree does, the symbolism feels

right. With a sense of something having been settled, I carefully climb

down to earth and head off to the communal fire. No point wasting the

rest of the wine!

Field notes:

When I lived in London I used do a brief ritual to greet the Elements.

Why aren’t I doing my Elements ritual anymore? ‘Cos it’s all here!

Everyday I go and collect water, everyday I light a fire; I walk on the

bare earth and spend most of the day under the open sky. In London I

needed to make an effort to stay connected – here it just happens.

It's Sunday, so wandering into the communal space at 8.30 I'm surprised

to see people already up, clutching mugs of hot coffee. It turns out the

Jehovah’s Witnesses came this morning. "Bastards!" Says Dave, with a

good natured grin. "They turn up at 8 o’clock on a Sunday morning with a

magazine called Awake!’ Gotta laugh I suppose."

38 The Dragon Tree Rune is symbol used by the Dragon Network as an amulet.

112

Ray kicks off with a bit of a rant about their last visit and how they’d said

God would sort everything out. "I told them don’t believe in God – well,

not their God anyway. I believe in the Earth, not religion".

As we have breakfast a visitor arrives: Paul introduces himself by

explaining that he's a long-term activist and when he heard about us

decided he'd like to help out for a few days. We share a cup of tea and I

offer to show him round. As we walk round and admire the trees, he says,

“There’s an energy you get living outside that you don’t get in a house.” I

smile. I know just what he means, but wonder how I'm ever going to

translate it into my PhD. Later, as we chop wood enthusiastically, he

returns to his theme. "That energy I was talking about is what was keeps

you going when there's loads of work to do".

Even munching on lunch I still need to be attentive, as a simple comment

can be profound. Jan reflects on life on site: “I feel free here. I’m back to

being myself.”

Free. Yes, I’ve felt that myself. A feeling of lightness, sense of openness.

It's great to hear other people express that too - It's not just me then! Once

again, my own unspoken experiences are confirmed in apparently quite

casual moments. There's certainly something special about this place - A

sense that anything is possible. Yesterday when a car drove past shouting

abuse, I joked that “The inmates are restless.”

Dave laughed, but we both knew that my joke had a more serious edge. I

later commented that when I’m not here I see it as a ‘bubble of sanity’. Jan

laughed at that, but she understood what I meant. I then explained how I

see this as the staff room of the asylum. Perhaps the subtlety of that

escaped some of those gathered, but others chuckled with approval.

While cleaning my teeth tonight I watch the cars drive past. I stand on

grass, beside a tree in a space lit by the light of the half moon. They sit in a

metal box, closed off, closed in. Although we are only separated by a short

distance – maybe 10 metres – psychologically we occupy different worlds.

The fence that surrounds this camp draws a very significant line between a

self-created space of freedom and one of control. Lighting my wood

burner tonight I think of Thoreau at Walden. Although our lives are quite

different in many ways, I suspect there are deep resonances between us.

That evocative phrase from Robert Greenway that ‘civilization is only four

days deep’ comes back to me, and I suspect it is even more fragile than

that: removing just some of the trapping of the 21st Century can

profoundly shift our awareness. That is a powerful phenomenon, and it is

perhaps what lies at the heart of the protest movement.

Field notes:

I’m feeling a bit rough. I read recently about how hard ethnography can

be, and I’m feeling it today. So much to juggle! The demands of life on the

113

site, work on defences, the emotional intensity of this place, my own

spiritual puzzles, plus the constant need to watch myself and others for

ethnographic data. That is an emotional strain of a quite unique kind.

There have been quite a lot of changes here lately. Oak’s gone and better

weather has brought lots of new people on site who are still an unknown

quantity. More people are good for the site in lots of ways, but it has

cranked up the intensity. It’s a bit like living in a soap opera here

sometimes; there's always some minor – or not so minor – crisis. To be

expected I guess. Large numbers of people passing through a liminal

space will interact at a more intense level.

Feeling and Focusing

“Hey, Adrian - Wanna beer?”

“No – thanks.” I smile politely. Just sitting round the fire pit with some of

the crew tonight, but feeling a bit odd. Bored and a bit restless. Probably

need a bit of time out. “Just going to get a fleece from my bender,” I lie,

and wander away from the glow of the fire. What’s up with me? Wish I

knew. Then I remember a book I just got on Focusing (Gendlin, 1981)

that’s supposed to help you get to stuff like this. Seems like a good time to

give it a try.

After a quick read over the instructions, I lie on my bed and I close my

eyes.

1: Clearing a Space.39

OK. So what’s here, inside? Somehow I’m missing how the site was a few

weeks back ... And I’m missing Oak ... Unsure about the new people … I

don’t get any feeling like ‘bored’ though … Maybe that wasn’t it at all …

2: Felt Sense.

… sense how it feels in your body when you think of it

as a whole …

Oak going has left a hole … a kind of emptiness … but sticky … and dark.

The felt sense is the holistic unclear sense of the

whole thing … It is murky, fuzzy, vague.

It’s changing now and is more than emptiness … It’s wobbly … no … sort

of unsafe, like standing on rotten floorboards that aren’t quite safe.

3. Handle.

What is the quality of the felt sense?

39 The instructions on Focusing that follow are from Gendlin, 1981

114

Yeah – ‘standing firm on rotting floorboards’. Mmm. That feels right. I’m

feeling better, but can’t remember what the next step is. I pick up the book

again.

4. Resonating.

Oh, yeah. I guess I’ve just done that. Next comes:

5. Asking.

Now you can ask it what it is … One of the most

important procedures in focusing is this asking of

‘open questions’.

Ah. Kind of like an interview. “I’m curious to know what you might be

about.” A sense like ‘falling’ comes to me. “Are you about fear of falling?” A

twinge – Yes, it’s a kind of ‘fear’. That unsafe feeling comes again. “Is

‘unsafe’ right?” Another twinge, but that’s not quite it either. It’s like

playing 'hotter-colder' when I was a kid. There’s something not as strong

as ‘fear’ but not just ‘unsafe’. Yes – my felt sense twinges again like it’s

saying “yes – warmer.”

Circling patiently I slowly get the sense of it: There’s my own feeling of

insecurity, but mixed with that there’s a need to be strong for the camp, to

help hold the space safe. When Oak was here it was easier, partly as he

was really grounded and partly as things weren’t so unpredictable then.

Cool! A grin comes across my face. Weird – How come I’m smiling but

haven’t sorted anything?

The body shift is mysterious in its effects. It always

feels good, even when what has come to light may not

make the problem look any better …

Oh, OK. And finally:

6. Receiving.

Whatever comes in focusing, welcome it. Take the

attitude that you are glad your body spoke to you,

whatever it said.

God, that feels better! I think I’ll just lie here for a bit and ponder this. I

had no idea that something so simple could work so well. A moment later

my mobile chirps: I have a text.

[You OK? Hol x]

115

I smile and text back:

[Yeah. Fine. Back in a mo. A x]

Changes

My mobile sings. I have a text from an old mate in one of the Housing Co-

ops I applied for. With a shock I read that they have a vacancy in the

house – Can I come for interview? Well, yes ... And before I know I‘m

booked for Wednesday night.

“Looks like I might be offered a place in a housing co-op. Some old mates

have a vacancy.”

“Oh. Great …” Says Jan in a tone which translates that into “Oh. Shit ...”

I’ve been both dreading and looking forward to this. I’ve been finding it

increasingly stressful here trying to manage needs – my own, other

peoples, my research. But I know this won’t be an easy transition for any

of us.

Wednesday comes round fast and here I am, back in London. The

‘interview’ is more like a reunion as we’ve all known each other for years.

As the room is already empty they’re keen for someone to move in soon –

and even keener that it’s me! On one hand, I’m delighted as it means I’ll

have a stable base. Writing up is a nightmare on site and here I can get my

books out of storage and get down to trying to make sense of what's going

on. But somehow I don’t feel ready to return to this more conventional life

and feel strong emotional ties to the Camp.

“I’d love to move in. But if I do, I will be spending a lot of time at the

Camp. Is that going to work for you?”

“That’s fine! We thought you might say that …” Smiles. “When can you

move in?”

It needs to be soon or I’ll lose my chance, so a day next week is agreed.

Smiles and hugs all round as I leave to head back to the Camp.

Thankfully I get back late so no-one can ask me how it went. I need a

nights sleep before telling everyone here what they pretty much already

know – My ‘exit strategy’ has begun.

The next week drags on, and finally I wave a temporary goodbye to the

Camp. “I’ve told them I’ll be spending a lot of time here and I’ll be back in

a couple of days”. That seems to have eased the way and I get a sense that

people are really pleased for me. Still, it feels very odd getting on the train

for London knowing I’ll be sleeping in bricks and mortar again tonight.

116

And so it’s done. The wheel turns again and I’m back living not very far

from my old flat, where it all looks so very familiar. But everything has

changed and there is no simple return.

RE-TURNING

Life is as strange as ever. I’d imagined that having a base in London would

somehow make it easier when I’m at the Camp, but it hasn’t worked like

that at all. In many ways it’s harder now, as one mode of life rebounds off

the other, echoing through the days. The result is an oddly dislocated

time, and I often wake up wondering whether I’m about to open my eyes

to four square walls or the curve of a bender.

I'm reading about the M11 again in Butler's article, and as before I have to

stop for a moment. My eyes water, as emotion rises in a flood. I recall an

awkward moment in the British Library when I almost bust into tears

reading this same article. Butler tells the story of Crow, the Shaman, but I

just can’t read it now. I lived that story: I was one of the Dragon people

Crow speaks about, so I’m part of that myth. I guess I still am, as past and

present are caught up in my long journey: First realising the paradoxes at

the heart of Paganism, then finding another Paganism on protest sites,

and now beginning to articulate it from my own perspective – one which I

hope will be true to our shared experience.

Reading about approaches to fieldwork now makes me smile: My

experience makes nonsense of any naive assumption that there is a ‘field’

we enter and then later make a dignified ‘exit’ from. It’s become clear to

me that in some fundamental sense I never left the field – or ever ‘entered’

it. I am the field and at the heart of my research methodology lies a

heightened reflexive awareness of my life world that enables me to sense

the process of embodied knowing.

Proverbios y Cantares 29

Walker, your footsteps

are the road, and nothing more.

Walker, there is no road,

the road is made by walking.

Walking you make the road,

and turning to look behind

you see the path you never

again will step upon.

Walker, there is no road,

only foam trails on the sea.

(Machado, 2004).

Conclusion

117

In addition to providing a vicarious experience of life on a protest site, and

thus enhancing felt understanding, this autoethnography develops several

of the thesis' themes. It contributes to my ethnography of Eco-Paganism

by providing details of how it feels on a site: for example the physical

exposure, the camaraderie and the way time passes. The gradual influence

of the place on my own spirituality is also apparent. The chapter

problematizes several conventional dualities, including academic

discourse versus emotional engagement and entering/leaving the field,

thus developing an ongoing theme. My spirituality, my relationship with

mainstream Paganism, and my activism, are all relevant to how I

approach and interpret my fieldwork, so this chapter also provides a

reflexive frame for the ethnographic chapters that follow.

118

Chapter 8: Listening to the Threshold Brook: Urban Eco-

Paganism

"... contented so to look

On mists in idleness - to let fair things

Pass by unheeded as a threshold brook".

John Keats, The Human Seasons

This thesis developed from experiences as an urban Eco-Pagan that led

me to believe that a "deep knowing of the sacredness of the Earth"

emerged from "ecstatic Pagan ritual" (Harris, 1996: 153). In fact I had only

glimpsed part of a complex process of greater subtlety that is ultimately

more powerful than I ever imagined. Perhaps I was too entranced by the

drums to hear the voice of the threshold brook, but my respondents had

sat quietly and listened, just as I have now listened to them.

In general my findings are in accord with other accounts of contemporary

Paganism, as urban Eco-Pagans show a pattern of simple practice

informed by emotion and an embodied sense of the sacred. However,

three obvious features are distinctive: ambivalence about identifying as

'Pagan', a lack of spell-work and the minimal role of formal ritual

compared to mainstream Paganism. More significant is a relationship

with the land or specific places that is catalysed by various processes of

connection. This connection is often understood thorough a felt sense and

can pattern a sacred relationship to the world.

Introducing the Research Participants

I interviewed a representative sample of ten urban Eco-Pagans, six women

and four men, from a variety of backgrounds and locations. They included

one Druid (Zoe), one Reclaiming Witch (Mary), three Shamans with

different approaches (Barry, Gordon and Sekhara) and five very different

eclectic Pagans whose were influenced by a variety practices of including

Witchcraft, Voodoo, Shamanism, Druidry, Goddess spirituality, Buddhism

and Christianity. Mark, one of these five, identified as a "shamanic

pagan". Michael, Mark, Zoe, Sekhara and Sally are members of the Dragon

Eco-Pagan Network. Four lived in London, two in the West country, two

in the West Midlands, one in Essex and one in Derbyshire. Nine had been

involved in protest activism while one has focused on community work.

Seven of those nine had been active at one or more UK protest sites. In

several cases their occupations are relevant: Barry Patterson and Gordon

MacLellan worked in environmental education, Zoe worked with fair trade

imports from Palestine, Sekhara and Michael practised spiritual healing,

Mary was a counsellor and Jocelyn Chaplin was a psychotherapist.

Participants' ages were between late twenties and early fifties, with most

in the middle range. In most cases names have been changed but Barry,

Gordon, Mark and Jocelyn have kindly agreed to me using their real

names. My explicit fieldwork with urban Eco-Pagans between 2004 and

119

2006 is grounded in my own long term involvement - I have been an

urban Eco-Pagan since at least 1990 - which provided insight and prior

expectations.

SPIRITUAL PATHWAYS

Finding a Name

The first of several surprises was the common ambivalence about

adopting the name 'Pagan'. Other scholars have noted that coming to

Paganism is a process of recognition rather than conversion because "you

don't become a Pagan; you find out that there's a name for what you

already were" (Harrow, 2002: 113). Sally exemplifies Harrow's point when

she says: "when I first found Paganism ... I thought, 'Oh fantastic I

understand what I am'". This often profound insight brings a sense of

'coming home', but a newly identified Pagan's "hopes may be fulfilled or

disappointed" (Harrow, 2002: 118), notably if the Pagan community

seems to have a very different practice. Meeting Pagans who had different

enthusiasms and lacked ecological awareness made many participants (8)

uncertain about naming their own path. Was Paganism about a sacred

relationship with the world or was it more about getting dressed up

(Jocelyn and Mark) to join a "Gothy, jewellery flashing social scene"

(Barry) down the pub (Zoe)?

While most researchers identify socio-cultural experience as the primary

influence on Pagans, my research suggests otherwise. Ezzy opines that the

Pagan 'coming home' experience results from an individual recognising

"an integrated framework of thought and practice that incorporates a

variety of more general ideas" (Ezzy, 2006). Social experiences are clearly

significant, and Ezzy mentions "boring church services, dissatisfaction

with repressive cultural norms, leaving home, relationships with

boy/girlfriends etc." (Ezzy, 2006). His model loosely fits three of my

participants: Mary came to Paganism via feminism, Michael through his

girlfriend and Mark from books. But the other seven recalled a 'Pagan'

spirituality in childhood and six cite experiences in the organic

environment as fundamental: Emily grew up on a small holding; Sally

remembered "feel[ing] the grass growing" when she was young, which

"was the most lovely feeling, to feel attached to the earth", while Barry

spent time in the countryside and "grew up" with a sense of "a presence in

nature". Although all of them later read about Paganism, the first spiritual

spark was the organic environment.

Although the cultural factors Ezzy outlines are significant, he, along with

most other scholars (inter alia, Salomonsen 2002: Taylor, B., 2001: York,

1995), ignore embodied situated cognition. The enactive process model

helps explain how playing in the organic environment can inspire spiritual

experiences: As we have heard, embodied cognition uses the immediate

environment to think with, and this process is enhanced when we can "use

all the senses directly, without other people intruding or mediating that

120

experience", so that an "embodied sensuous relationship with nature" can

be afforded (Macnaghten & Urry, 2000; 170-171). This finding also

confirms previous research that childhood play in the organic

environment encourages adult environmental awareness (inter alia, Cobb,

1977; Wells and Lekies, 2006).

PROCESSES OF CONNECTION

Connection

Almost all participants talked about the importance of place and the land

(9), which was understood as sacred (4) and healing (6). They spoke of

having a "sacred relationship with world" (Zoe), loving or deeply

connecting with nature and/or the land, and how they celebrated and

appreciated relationships with specific places. The so-called Pagan 'Sacred

sites' were unimportant to urban Eco-Pagans, and several commented

that they no longer (or never) had the feeling that they must "find some

ancient sacred site" (Gordon). Those who mentioned them at all felt that

the importance of sacred places was "over estimated" (Jocelyn). A

consistent theme emerged that different places are special for different

people, and potentially "[e]very bit of land is sacred" (Jocelyn) and

"wherever you are in the world is worthy of celebration" (Gordon).

Although every bit of land is sacred people felt very attached to particular

places. Emily felt she was "indigenous" to an "actual patch of land", while

Mary's sense of "the Land" was grounded in "that bit of Land down there

that I look at everyday and is so beautiful". This connection was rarely

expressed in the abstract: The sacred is "about my locality" (Zoe); it is

being somewhere that woos you "to lie down on the ground and hug it and

stroke it. Just that feeling of being in the right place. [...] Where

something in me, my spirit, but more than that, who I am, in my body

needs to be in that place at that moment" (Sally). Sally commented that

focusing on a particular place (Cross Bones cemetery) was very helpful in

making a more general connection: "I find having a focus attaches me to

everything really". Thus an intimate relationship with somewhere specific

enables some urban Eco-Pagans to sense sacred relationship in itself:

Paganism is [...] about making sacred relationship with the world

that's around you. [Pause] And that could be with the spirit of your

house or it could be with the dandelion in your drive or the tree or

the old lady who lives next door to you (Zoe).

Just as the tiniest fragment of a hologram holds a perfect image of the

whole, so a relationship with the "dandelion in the drive" or "honour[ing]

the little weed in the garden" (Jocelyn) can pattern a sacred relationship

to the world.

121

The Threshold Brook

The fundamental importance of this communion with place and the

wisdom it can bring is perhaps best expressed by Barry:

[I]f you have a little threshold brook 40, if there's a little stream like

this running through your garden, everyday you get up and you go

to work, it's just there, it's the background. You're not giving it any

attention. That threshold brook is life passing you by, it's a source of

delight to the sensitive soul like Keats. And yet the accountant, with

his head in the cloud, and the deadline and a horrid commuting

journey in the car through the rush hour traffic, doesn't pay any

attention to the threshold brook. And their life is impoverished as a

result. [...] The threshold brook is there. Now how about I actually

spend some time with it? How about I actually show some

appreciation to it? And how about one day, after maybe months or

weeks or however long it takes, maybe how one day no matter how

cynical or jaded or sceptical or clever, or over analytical I was, that

one day this special brook actually did speak to me. And told me

what I needed to hear. And then I got up from sitting by the

threshold brook and walked back into my world a different person.

And that blessing that comes through threshold brooks, using that

as a designator for that kind of experience, [pause] then that is a

very healing thing, and if everyone were doing that then we'd all

have more respect, and we'd moderate our behaviour and we'd get

on better.

Learning to listening to the threshold brook takes time. Michael told me:

For a long time I was only interested in human activity then slowly

came to notice things - or take extra notice of things - maybe that's

the key - I started to take extra notice of things and I tried to get

closer to the animals and the birds.

An important part of his approach "is not to use the mind [...] so that I can

feel rather than think".

Healing

Barry describes the threshold brook experience as "very healing", and

most (6) of my participants made specific reference to the healing power

of place, but I will focus on one particularly rich example. Sally lives in

London and is regularly visits Cross Bones cemetery, an unconsecrated

burial site that was primarily used to inter prostitutes from Medieval

times. For Sally "Cross Bones is a really happy place [and ...] a really

healing place and I will always go there if I'm upset". Cross Bones has

become a sacred site for several London Pagans, and "when the bombs

40 The phrase "threshold brook" is from John Keats' poem in The Human Seasons: "Fair things

pass by, unheeded as a threshold brook".

122

went off in London in July the other year, we did a little ritual at Cross

Bones. It feels like a real place to go with your pain or your grief" (Sally).

The Urban Environment

For many participants the power of place is apparent in urban

environments, and nearly all my participants said the city was special, or

as sacred in its own way as the countryside. For Sekhara "[t]he city is a

place of power" and Jocelyn spoke of the "incredible ancient energy" of

London. Others noted that human beings are nature: Michael lived in

London and is aware that "[t]here's nature all around me - People". For

urban Eco-Pagans anywhere can be sacred, and it "doesn't matter if you're

in the city or the countryside" (Zoe).

Not everyone celebrated the human constructed world, and Emily

preferred "being away from things constructed by humans". Barry was

more ambivalent, and though he recognised the value of urban

environments, was concerned that the city can easily become "a space

built from symbols, a virtual reality, rather than physical structures &

patterns of relationship" (Patterson, n.d.).

Ritual

My literature review explained the importance of ritual for Pagans, so I

was initially surprised that it apparently had a low priority for

participants, with half saying ritual was unimportant or marginal. Gordon

rarely does "formal rituals" and believed that it is "too easy to get caught

up" in "big rituals [...] to save the Earth" which actually distract us from

working actively for change. Sally did not particularly like ritual, and

added that "[i]t isn't really the way that I connect", while Mark did "what

would probably be called a ritual, but a lot of the time I don't see it as

such". However ritual was part of Zoe's everyday life, as she would usually

bless her food, becoming aware of "all the webs and strings of association

and life and death" around it. Her rituals could sometimes be quite

"elaborate or formal", but must be local. Although formal ritual generally

wasn't important, informal ritual practice was, and my participants

enjoyed "spontaneous" expressions of spiritual feeling (Sally); Gordon

created "whatever we need at the time" while Sekhara's rituals were

"impromptu and [...] dr[a]w in all kinds of stuff".

The lack of formal ritual is not surprising given that urban Eco-Pagans are

'earth based' Pagans (Harris and Welch, 2006) who tend towards

spontaneous, unstructured rituals. Eco-Pagan practice contrasts with

Greenwood's ethnography of mainstream Pagans, which found that "there

was more emphasis on ritual ... than a connection, or interest even, in the

environment" (Greenwood, 2005: 175). A comment from Mary is

apposite: "When I do ritual it's Wiccan. [...] That's what I do. But what I

feel is more amorphous, Pagan, love of the Land". The practice that Mary

designates as ritual comes from the Reclaiming form of Wicca, so emerges

123

from the esoteric current. Although Reclaiming have removed the "sexist

crap" (Mary) from Wicca, the " 'unclean' heritage lines" (Salomonsen,

2002: 94) are not so easily cut. It is notable, then, that the amorphous -

and embodied - feeling that underpins Mary's practice is more earth based

than the more self-aware and formal ritual.

Dance and the Erotic

Dancing was part of Gordon's daily ritual practice and was fundamental to

his spirituality:

It's a really big part of who I am and how I express myself. And um,

and, I'm [...] a very sort of sensual physical person. And, dance is

the best way [pause] of expressing that.

Dance "draws you into a different sort of passion" that "fills you and it

shakes you and um, [pause] makes you complete - makes me complete.

Like the aftermath of good sex. It's that sort of- it's a deep sensuality".

For both Gordon and Zoe the erotic knowing of dance connected and

communicated in a way words cannot. Gordon's communication with

spirits and deities often used dance, which is an ideal medium for a being

"who doesn't really communicate through words", and we have heard how

linked dance and passion were for him. Powerful emotion runs like a

stream through Zoe's interview. She explained that her connection to a

place, animals or trees was in her heart and she thought it was "very

important [...] to respond emotionally, really emotionally to [...] what's

happening to our world [...] [a]s well as cerebrally". Later she described

leaving a special place for the last time as "like leaving a lover or a good

friend". She expressed how both feelings and connection come together in

ritual dance:

Adrian: Do you feel your body has a particular role when you're

connecting to a place?

Zoe: [...] If I'm in, ritual, the walking, the walking of the Circle.

[Pause]. The movement that I choose to make. The offering of

something. The movement in my offering. It's like, it's a dance - It's

like - It is like making love to a place. It's a very, conscious, bodily,

sensation of the way my body moves in that place. [...] it's like my

body takes on, a different way of moving if I'm in a sacred place or,

you know a landscape that I'm consciously trying to honour or make

ritual in. Um, so it's like a dance. [Pause]. It's a different way of

moving.

Mary seeks that same passion in her rituals, but unfortunately the local

'Erewhon Pagan Group'41, who she occasionally worked with, "don't get it.

They're not ecstatic pagans. They're cerebral pagans and they do this ritual

41 The name of the group has been changed to preserve confidentiality.

124

- that's sort of 'now we do this and now we do that and then we'll have a

little reading about the meaning of the Circle'42 and all that. But I want to

get out of my head - it's the ecstasy, you're losing yourself in the dance in

the chant, just being completely out of it". Her comparison of "ecstatic"

and "cerebral" pagans correlates very well with the distinction made

earlier between earth based and esoteric Pagans (Harris and Welch,

2006).

When Mary explains that ritual is "like sex" it becomes clear that this is

more than a simple analogy. In ritual:

"[y]ou build it up and you build it up, and there is a sense of the

energy building and you have to peak it and you have to let it go,

and when you let it go you know the ritual is over [...] [The

'Erewhon Pagan Group'] have these rituals where you get to the end

of what's planned, and it's still unsatisfying. And it is a sense in you

body of 'I'm not ready to finish yet'. It's like sex that's got half way

and then you go off and make a cup of tea and come back and have

another go but you never actually get to orgasm or you sort of half

get there and then you lose it and you go away afterwards feeling

sort of ... twitchy. A ritual that raises power without sending it off

makes me twitchy [...] After a cone of power your body feels

different to how it felt before and it's that post orgasmic, Ahhh! Now

I can go home. Well, we can feast or whatever."

Jocelyn talked about the power of the "true erotic that's in the earth itself"

and the importance of "pan-sexuality":

Pan-sexuality being an ability to experience sexual energy and

sexual connection with all kinds of beings, not just with the partner

who you happen to be sleeping with. I think that's a very important

part of of Eco-Paganism in a way, because it also means you can

love nature, um, at an erotic level as well as at a heart level and a gut

level.

Her words echo ecofeminist themes discussed in my Paganism literature

review, especially Eco-Pagan Starhawk's injunction to "love nature ...

carnally, with our meat, our bones" (Starhawk, 1982: 143). Jocelyn later

explicitly ties this theme to my thesis:

I suppose there's something about, not just being embodied wisdom

and embodied knowledge that comes, um from other parts of the

body, it also comes from the sexual, the sexual energy, part of the

wisdom, part of the knowing.

Before concluding this section, I note that three of the four participants

who spoke in terms of the erotic were women and the fourth is a gay man.

42 Mary later clarified that she meant the meaning of the Festival the circle was celebrating.

125

Even allowing for the slight gender imbalance of my interview group (six

women and four men), this may be significant. I return to this topic in my

fieldwork overview, ' A "sacred relationship with world" '.

Magic (Spell work)

Half of my respondents did not mention spell work at all, and those who

did were often critical, like Jocelyn who spoke of those who practice

"dressing up and [...] high magic." Mark also talked about spells in a

critical context when describing people who do not grasp the ecological

element of Paganism for whom "[i]t's more a concept of somebody,

casting spells and um doing rituals and wearing the clothes as opposed to

a Witch". He does do spells if the need arises, but they are "just part and

parcel" of a wider practice. Mary provides the very cogent comment that it

was Hutton's work (Hutton, 1999) that explained to her "why we're using

an essentially magic tradition, to worship the Goddess and to express a, a

spirituality that's to do with the land". Hutton explains how tightly the

notion of magic is tied to esotericism, the same tradition of "high magic"

criticised by Jocelyn, and how esotericism fed into contemporary

Paganism via Wicca. Thus the earth based/esoteric model helps explain

the initially surprising fact that magic (as in spell work) is hardly

mentioned.

The magic that urban Eco-Pagans disparage is the "occult magic"

(Pearson, 2007: 101) of "control and manipulation" (Gordon Melton,

2002: 173). But when they do practice magic it is usually the kind of "

'ordinary magic' " that enables a sense of connection (Pearson, 2007: 101).

One recent example illustrates this well: Shortly after the announcement

of a collapse in many honey bee colonies, a message was posted to the

Dragon Network listserve suggesting members join in an "Appreciation of

Honeybees". The message originated from Arizona Shaman Jade Wah'oo

Grigori, who explains the spell:

... move your awareness into that of appreciation. Perhaps meditate

upon someone for whom you have appreciation and gratitude, an

event that stimulates a sense of deep gratitude. When this is a felt-

sense, a palpable experience within your body ... [d]raw into this

state the image of honeybees ... how they sound, their buzzing

about, their beauty and grace, the wonders of honey as a food and as

a wonderful sweetener of life! Feel that joy rushing through your

body as you contemplate the honeybee (Dragon-network listserve,

2007).

Intrigued by Grigori's references to the felt sense, I contacted him and

asked if he was using Gendlin's work. He replied that he didn't know of

Gendlin or Focusing, but was "sure it is a form utilized by many, as it

works" (Grigori, pers. comm., 2007; author's emphasis). Grigori's

reference to the felt sense is significant, as I identify this technique as

126

fundamental to how Eco-Pagans connect with place. The power of this

approach is apparent in my interview with Zoe: When I asked her about

this spell she responded that "it was very fulfilling" and she "could really

feel [...] a very full heart feeling - Wow! You know a sense of wonder and

appreciation".

Meditation

All participants practised some form of meditation. For Barry meditation

was a "primary process" for being self aware and "unconditioned", while

Jocelyn found it enabled her to be more sensitive to "the energies of

nature". Sally practised a lot of meditation during a year long Priestess

training, and it really got her "attached to the earth":

getting up really early and just sitting still, really focused my mind

on what was happening outside and I would hear the crows, and

they'd get up at a certain time every day and then when the clocks

changed they weren't there any more 'cos obviously they were still

doing the same thing weren't they, and it really disturbed me I

thought, 'Oh I feel all' ... You know. It was that really. Doing that for

a year, really kind of made me more aware of the web, I suppose I

would call it the web of life. Made me really aware of that.

Once again we hear how our "being-in-the-world is bound up with the

immediate environment" (chapter 4: 49). Meditation functions as a

process of connection, as it focused Sally's awareness on the equivalent of

Barry's threshold brook, fine-tuning her sensory awareness of the organic

environment and fundamentally shifting her embodied relationship to

"the web of life". Her training had a profound long term impact, and when

Sally refers back to it later in the interview she suggests that it may have

made her body much more sensitive to significant places (see A Sense of

Nature).

The Felt Sense and Somatic Modes of Attention

Bado-Fralick claims that Wiccan training and initiation cultivates what

she calls the "body-in-practice", a phrase she treats as equivalent to the

'somatic modes of attention' described by Csordas (Bado-Fralick, 2005:

130). Wiccan training enables the witch to "regain the body as a maker of

knowing ... through engagement of the body-in-practice" so that they can

learn to "how to listen to their bodies" (Bado-Fralick, 2005: 80). Given the

link between Wicca and Reclaiming, it is not surprising to find similar

processes in the training of Reclaiming Witches, who learn to "see, hear,

feel, touch and taste with the inner senses" (Salomonsen, 2002: 177). By

working with "inner pictures and feelings" Reclaiming Witches

communicate with what the Tradition calls "Younger Self" (Salomonsen,

2002: 177), the emotional body/mind which operates largely outside

conscious awareness (Salomonsen, 2002: 137) and parallels what I call the

127

deep embodied self in chapter 4. Druidry, which also has close links to

Wicca (Shallcrass, 1996: 69), exhibits the same pattern: Druid Orders

offer training in mediation and visualization, and work with the Awen,43

which "go[es] thorough your whole body" (protest site Eco-Pagan Druid,

Jo, 17/06/07). Many Shamans also learn to listen to the body: Gordon

writes of how the physical ecstasy of dance connects him to a "world that

thinks" (MacLellan, 1996: 147) while Barry explains that a "conversation

with a tree is first and foremost a feeling in your body" (Patterson, 2005:

136). Shamanism however, is more diverse than Druidry or Witchcraft,

and some practice, for example Sekhara's, is less embodied and more

psychologized.

Notwithstanding Bado-Fralick's preference, Gendlin's theory is more

useful than Csordas's notion for discussing this common process. I have

already compared Gendlin and Csordas's models, and explained how we

can describe Focusing as a somatic mode of attention that trains the

practitioner to listen to the felt sense ('Embodied Cognition Literature'

review and 'Research Design and Methodology'). I conclude that my

participants, like Bado-Fralick's and Salomonsen's Witches, listen to their

bodies and become aware of a felt sense, although none of them were

familiar with Gendlin's work. The felt sense is a fundamental process of

connection, as this form of embodied knowing plays a key role in how

Eco-Pagans relate to place: In Embodied Situated Cognition, below, I

explain how the felt sense enables Eco-Pagans to build these intimate

relationships.

OTHER ASPECTS OF PRACTICE

Deity

Practice that involved deity44 brought another surprise, as it was less

significant than expected. My literature review suggested that most

contemporary Pagans "devote themselves to one or more gods or

goddesses" (Cowan, 2006: 179), but while most participants worked with

or worshipped deity some of the time, it seemed to be a fairly marginal

practice.

Michael said emphatically "I don't work with any gods or deities. I don't

disrespect them, but I just don't ask them or call to them. [...] I work only

with the Earth". Zoe "[r]arely" worked with deity and although she was "a

bit intimidated by the idea of deity", she did "have a relationship with a

43 The Awen is a Druid term that refers to divine bardic inspiration and is often slowly chanted

during Druid rituals (Bowman, 2002).

44 Mainstream Paganism - especially Wicca, my own background - often refers to "working"

with deities and this was the terminology I used in my interview question. It was only when

a site Eco-Pagan queried the phrase that I reflected on my usage and I now conclude that it

may have emerged from the esoteric current discussed earlier, although this remains

inconclusive. None of my urban respondents commented on my use of the phrase and most

(7) spoke about "work" or "working" with deity or spirits so I continue to use these terms

here.

128

couple of our native gods and goddesses". Sekhara said deity work

"doesn't seem like a thing I need to put an emphasis on". She worked "a

lot with local spirits" including the Thames as the "spirit of London", but

not with "what you call your serious big scale deities". Brigid was Mary's

"home deity", but she did "work with" others who she thought of "more as

Saints. You have St. Christopher if you're going travelling and St. whatever

if you need a parking space". Brigid, however, was quite different. Brigid

was "not just [...] part of the pantheon", and in fact for Mary, Brigid was

understood "not so much as a sort of person, but just as ... Land".

Although Mary would sometimes anthropomorphize the Land "because it

makes it easier", she was generally critical of this approach. As we heard

above, Mary would sometimes celebrate with the the local 'Erewhon

Pagan Group’ who invoke the "Lord and the Lady" in their rituals. She

noted that "there's a sense that they're invoking the Lord and the Lady as

people [...] rather than the Land. For me, you don't have to

anthropomorphize it like that." This "very anthropomorphic devotional

stuff" was what Mary learnt when she started in the Craft, but this had

become quite alien to her and it was the "Land as sacred that really

informs my spirituality and my activism". Mark was eclectic but worked

"[m]ainly with Egyptian" deities because Egypt had "deep significance". In

a sense this is fairly arbitrary because for Mark, as for many Pagans, "[a]ll

aspects of the Goddess are still the Goddess. All aspects of the God are still

the God". Pagans "worship nature [...] and the Goddess and the God are

physical and spiritual representations of what is actually there".

Urban Eco-Pagans tended to work with a few local deities who are not

part of a pantheon, and while this is not true of everyone, it was a common

tone across their spectrum of relationships to deity. Jocelyn's feeling that

"the idea of worship is a bit hierarchical for most Pagans", although

perhaps not accurate of mainstream Paganism, seems to reflect urban

Eco-Pagan practice. I noted in my literature review that mainstream

Pagans rarely refer to local deities except in the case of those related to

'sacred sites'. In contrast, urban Eco-Pagans not only often have a

relationship with local deities, but don't especially venerate those places

commonly designated as 'sacred sites'.

Uncommon Aspects

For the sake of transparency I note topics which were mentioned briefly

by a few participants. Three people mentioned chakras in passing:

Sekhara described how she would travel to the Lower world via her "base

of spine Chakra", and Jocelyn suggested that loving nature "at an erotic

level as well as at a heart level and a gut level" is like "letting the energy

flow to all chakras". Two people mentioned entheogens, but they didn't

play a significant role in their current practice. Sally noted that wherever

we are in London we stand on bones, and this link to "ancestors and how

people go back and back" was important, partly because she needed "to be

able to tap into that to look at the future as well". Zoe also mentioned that

she will sometimes get a "sense of, my ancestors or the ancestors of the

129

place being around me".

EMBODIED SITUATED COGNITION

Situated Embodied Knowing in Spiritual Healing

Although I adopt Gendlin's model overall, two of my participants gave

clear examples of what Csordas calls somatic modes of attention. The

spiritual healers Csordas researched would often get a feeling that

provided information about the healing process (Csordas, 1999: 151-152),

and Mark experienced the same phenomena in his Reiki practice:

I would feel a physical effect in my body where that person was

having their energetic problems [...] say I got a pain in my kidneys,

because that person was having a pain in their kidneys - without

me, obviously questioning them, knowing anything about them. My

body world have a physical reaction to what it was experiencing on a

energetic level from that other person.

Mary described the same kind of experience with "hands-on healing":

if I've got my hands on their shoulders and suddenly my shoulders

felt really sort of hunched and tight, then that's a sign to me to sort

of move their shoulder blades back and free up their shoulders.

My methodology chapter described a Focusing psychotherapist using very

similar experiences (Solomon, 2006: 9), and I noted in my 'Embodied

Cognition Literature Review' how Focusing can train people to use

somatic modes of attention. Mary was taught that the first stage of healing

is to "tune in to the person", and to do this "[y]ou put your hands on their

shoulder and just think 'What am I feeling?' ". The parallel with learning

Focusing, which begins with gently asking yourself how you feel, is

unmistakable (Gendlin, 1981; Cornell, 1996).

What is particularly interesting is that Mary uses the same process to

"tune in to" trees and places:

So that's how you do healing. You feel it in your own body - so I

think in trees, I feel in my body a different feeling which I assume to

be from that particular tree. And sometimes in places generally.

Sometimes I just get a feeling of a place. The feeling is how it makes

my body feel. [...] And this is the same as doing healing.

Mary repeatedly links her felt sense of trees with her healing, which

suggests that learning hands-on healing helped her to learn to attend to

her felt sense more generally, though Salomonsen's research

(Salomonsen, 2002) suggests both may be grounded in her Reclaiming

training.

130

A Sense of Nature

Nearly all my participants described experiences of a felt sense in their

spiritual practice. Gordon notes that rather than following the traditional

dates of the Pagan Wheel of the Year45, he senses the "changing pulse" of

the seasons, while Jocelyn senses the very subtle "vibrations of the tree".

Emily likewise has "quite a strong sense of tree species" and some plants

give her a feeling with a very specific meaning. She describes how "if I

meet ivy I have a kind of a sense of that's a question to me to reconnect

with my motivation". Barry has a highly developed felt sense of plants:

During one section of the interview Barry explained his animist "pattern

of consciousness", and I asked if there was a physical sense associated

with this pattern:

Barry: Definitely. Absolutely definitely. [....] when you said the

physical sense, and I focused there and I went there, I moved into

that, I turned the volume up on that and I put my awareness into

that, and what I got was a sense of embodiment which was much

richer and more strange than your normal body awareness. Um,

and so in a sense what happens is the hawthorn buds about to burst

into May blossom became a physical sensation within my body [...]

You know what I mean?

Adrian: Kinda. Whereabouts in the body?

Barry: OK. I'll do hawthorn buds. Oh, yeah, there is a practice I do

that's related to this locating it in the body. Hawthorne buds are

very much in my upper arms, and my chest. [Pause]. My shoulders.

Like a kind of - You couldn't call it a buzz, I'm not talking about a

buzz - I'm talking about a kinda, something, delicate.

Two respondents provide examples where a felt sense is a reaction to

environmental destruction. Mary recounts an occasion when she watched

a small patch of ground that had been left "wild" being dug up by a

mechanical digger, and said she "hurt physically" as the machine cut into

the earth. Zoe explained how she got "a feeling in my body, when I make a

connection with something or somewhere that's being damaged". There

are similar examples amongst protest site Eco-Pagans (see 'The Power of

Place: Protest Site Eco-Paganism'), where the same process of attending to

a felt sense is apparent.

Relationship to the land or to specific places is a key theme in interviews,

and again this is often understood thorough a felt sense. Sally has a

particularly interesting physical reaction to significant places:

45 The 'Wheel of the Year' consists of eight evenly spaced festival dates that mark the changing

seasons.

131

Sometimes I find that when I go to places that resonate with me [...]

I get diarrhoea or something. Like my body cleanses itself. [...] And

I always think 'Oh, that's my body doing its reacting to the land, to

the ground that I'm on'. It's an odd thing, and I've only really

noticed that since I did that year of kind of ... [Priestess training]. I

think I didn't think about it before. Probably it was happening and I

just didn't notice. I think it's that probably that I notice now.

Sally's embodied awareness is tuned to the point where her body acts like

a barometer that can sense the spiritual pressure of place, and although

the role of her Priestess training remains ambiguous at the very least, it

enhanced her bodily awareness.

Situated Embodied Knowing in Trance

Greenwood's model of magical consciousness (Greenwood, 2005) applies

Bateson's model of an ecology of mind (Bateson, 2000 [1974]) to

understand the way Gordon uses dance to communicate with the other-

than-human world:

Gordon's dance is about participating in such an interconnected

system as an inspirited pattern - a web of wyrd - whereby the act of

dancing enables spirits, energy and people to meet in a world that is

alive (Greenwood, 2005: 97).

Bateson suggested that dance could serve as an "interface between

conscious and unconscious" (Bateson, [1972] 2000: 138), offering a

means of understanding messages that the dancer is consciously unaware

of. This does not involve a Freudian unconscious but one built on an

ecology of mind and is therefore consistent with the enactive process

model. This process is apparent in Greenwood's description of an occasion

when she watched Gordon dance with his spirit family:

As the drumming increased, it was evident to me that there was a

participatory communication between Gordon and the spirits in

process, the other than human was coming into the human form. At

times there seemed to be a non-verbal discussion going on as

Gordon's body appeared to act out questions and answers in a

swirling profusion of expressive movements (Greenwood, 2005:

94).

This is a perfect example of how trance functions within the enactive

process model; Gordon shifts his awareness to a deep embodied self that

melts the boundaries between subject and object, enabling

communication with the "other than human".

132

Figure 4: The Trance State

(Reproduced from chapter 4)

Greenwood raises the question of "whether the spirits are 'real' or whether

they are a part of Gordon's ... imagination" and concludes that we must

understand the process within its own terms, thereby "by-passing the

issue" (Greenwood, 2005: 96-98). While this is an appropriate emic

position, it appears problematic given my philosophical stance, as the

spirits Sekhara and Gordon describe appear to have no physical form and

it is not clear how an incorporeal being could exist on my current model.

There is also the question of Shamanic journeying: When a Shaman - or

any Pagan - journeys some believe that their 'spirit' is, in some sense,

focused beyond the body.

We can move the discussion forward using the enactive process model.

The first point to note is the apparent lack of consistency in the experience

of different Shamans: Barry described how he could pragmatically shift

his belief paradigms to suit the situation, allowing his consciousness "to

fall into [...] patterns". On one occasion his consciousness could "fall into

an animistic pattern", on another "consciousness will fall into a more

monotheistic pattern", or perhaps, he suggested, "I contain all this and it

is a virtual reality". Each mode of consciousness was treated like "game

rules" with the option of asking "[w]hat game am I going to play today,

because they're all just games". All these modes are embodied states of

consciousness:

Each different trance state means you experience your body in a

different way, just as each differ trance state means your experience

the world - the sensory world - in a different way. The sensory world

133

is a creation of the body [...] The real world is out there [... ] but our

experience of the world is a creation of the body and the brain and

the mind. And so each trance state means that you experience the

body differently and you experience the world differently.

Barry's world view is compatible with the enactive process model, and he

described obtaining knowledge through heightened sensory acuity and via

the extended cognition of what I call the deep body. Mark's experience of

obtaining knowledge through Shamanistic trance also fits this model.

When I asked where information obtained in trance came from, Mark

suggested it was ultimately from "a higher state of consciousness" or the

"Gaian super mind". For Gendlin the body "is an ongoing interaction with

its environment" that potentially has access to "a vast amount of

environmental information" (Gendlin, 1992: 349). Although not a "Gaian

super mind", such a body could access a profound amount of local

knowledge. Although Mark did not discuss the role of the Shaman, both

Barry and Gordon emphasized that it is a "path of service to the

community" (Barry), so the Gendlian body could readily supply the kind

of information a Shaman would seek. For Mark the body is fundamental

in accessing this information because "you can't separate that [the role of

the body] from anything". Although a trance state means the Shaman is

working with "non-ordinary states of reality", the body remains a key

source of information:

Any effect you have on the physical body will effect you emotionally,

mentally and spiritually. [...] Anything that effects one of those will

effect all of them to some degree. [...] So that physical reaction

you're having [...] is actually a response to what's going on in every

other level of your being.

When Mark goes on a Shamanic journey he becomes "almost super aware"

of his physicality "because you work on, on every sense of the body really,

um, particularly sort of intuitive senses." As a result

it's the emotions, it's where it effects me in my body - that plays just

as much a part as what I'm seeing or experiencing in my mind or

what have you, if you want to call it that [...] So in one way you're

completely out of your body but at the same time being more in

your body than you are normally, really.

Sekhara initially describes what sounds like a quite disembodied

experience:

I think the feeling is that I'm not so much conscious of my body at

all, which is good 'cos I end up doing stuff in a lot of extremely

uncomfortable places. Getting cold or whatever. When I come back

into my body from doing a journey, even though my body's been

conscious of the time that I've been here, I'm not [...] I think a lot of

134

it is about not being in my body in a sense. Not in a way that I don't

want to be but that's the state to be in to do these things.

But she later describes the experience as much more like a change in

embodied awareness:

I think it's focused attention really, like you know when your typing

you're not aware of what's going on around you or you're reading

and you're lost in your book. People can talk to me when I reading

and I don't hear then so it's that very focused kind of attention [...]

It's kind of a shift of awareness.

When I probed on this subject she unpacked her understanding that "to

some extent your soul manifests your body". That aspect of her being that

manifests her body can shift "into something else rather than being taken

out of it and put into something else". Her metaphor makes this clear: It

is "[k]ind of like a cathode ray tube projecting onto a screen, and the

screen's the body but the projector kind of pulls a step back and projects

somewhere else". This clarification leads her to explain that "[t]hat's why

in a sense, I wouldn't say out-of-body".

Some of Gordon's Shamanic communication can be understood in a

similar way as it "often" comes "out of a physical contact or connection,

but not always". In such cases "it's usually feeling [...] that can be very

precise". Similarly, though Gordon does visit the Otherworld, it "isn't

separate from this world". This world and the Otherworld are "kind of the

same place, but looked at - perceived from a different point of view", but

"when you're operating in the Otherworld, you're not operating in our -

this current physical world". The distinctions between - or identity of -

this world and the Otherworld are subtle, but comprehensible on the

enactive process model without resorting to reductionism.

When I explained this model of trance earlier using my cognitive iceberg, I

hypothesised that as a practitioner moves into deeper trance states and

conventional maps of 'reality' break down, the Shaman would use familiar

cultural maps to make sense of their experiences. Obviously different

cultural maps provide different shamanic worlds, and even the few

interviews I have undertaken illustrate Vitebsky's point that "there are

many shamanisms (Atkinson 1992), just as there are many monotheisms"

(Vitebsky, 2000: 55).

Although I follow Greenwood's lead in understanding these experiences in

context, I develop the discussion by applying the enactive process model.

My enactive process model of trance awareness is based on the

"established results" of current cognitive neuroscience research (Varela,

1999: 71) and correlates with the experience of dissociation. Furthermore

it helps makes sense of the experiences described by participants, and can

explain why Shamans from different cultures describe their Otherworld

135

journeys differently. However this remains no more than a hypothesis,

and at this stage in the development of cognitive neuroscience and

ethnographic research it would be absurd for me to try to develop an

'explanation' what spirits might - or might not - be. It remains unclear

how an incorporeal spirit could exist on my current philosophical model,

but this is understandable given the complexity of human consciousness,

which Dennett describes as "the most mysterious feature of our minds"

(Dennett, 1987: 160).

Situated Embodied Knowing in Ritual and Dance

We saw above how dance can speak a language beyond words, and this

reveals two interrelated aspects of embodied cognition: First, dance allows

a place or spirit to communicate to the dancer, and second, the dance can

serve as a bridge between the dancer's deep embodied knowing and their

conscious awareness. These aspects work together when a place or a spirit

communicates with the dancer through a deep embodied knowing that

must be expressed in dance to become conscious. This process becomes

apparent in the interview with Zoe when we read how her body has "a

different way of moving" that is "like a dance" when she is connecting to a

place. When Zoe's "body moves then something is able to move" and this

dance enables "inspiration and the expression" to "flow through". The

"something" that moves is "[i]nspiration. The Awen. The - What the place

is trying to tell me", which can be "an insight" or "a sense of, my ancestors

or the ancestors of the place being around me". The movement of the

dance is fundamental and without movement there is no contact: "If [...]

I'm frozen in some way physically, then I can't hear. I can't listen. Nothing

will flow through me. So I have to move in some way with it, how ever

simple it is, I have to move physically in some way".

Although a felt sense is usually carried forward by a word or phrase, a

gesture or movement can be more appropriate (Gendlin, 2000: 263), and

this is often how Zoe's dance functions. Her embodied knowing is often

expressed with a typical felt sense:

if there's something difficult that's trying to speak, then there will be

a lump in my throat, um, grief will be further down my body, will be

quite heavy round my hips and belly.

At other time she will use "dance and movement as well [...] [l]istening to

what's there and seeing how it wants to move. So, kicking out or swirling

or just rocking or something like that to bring that out of my body so that I

know what it is". The movement helps her to understand what a sensation

is about:

I'll get an idea, of what it's about. 'Oh, this is about grief'. But I won't

necessarily understand the depth of it or how that moves until I

move. [...] there are patterns that my body makes repeatedly. Um.

136

Ways in which my body moves that I'm getting used to that indicate

that something's going on. You know, something needs to rise to the

surface and come out. So that I can understand it a bit better.

Zoe experienced a similar sense when working ritually with a particular

site:

half way up the hill, there's an old hawthorn tree. So I would always

stop there as I felt she was the guardian of the outer, ring. I've no

idea if anyone else ever felt this, but I would have to stop there [...]

ask her permission, and then wait for the answer. And the answer

would come in a bodily sense. [...] It's like a sense of permission in

my body.

This permission was sensed as a slight pressure on her back: "It was like a

propelling forward motion from behind. Like 'Yes!' You know. Pushing me

gently forward". Once past this stage Zoe would come to "the inner level"

where she would often

receive a 'no'. That would be like a frontal sense - like a closing

down. I could feel it, yeah, it's definitely a front of body closed

down. [Holds her open palms in front of her body]. Like someone's

just drawn a curtain or shut a door in front of me.

The way that place communicates with Zoe within a ritual via a felt sense

also occurs more generally in the process of thinking with the land.

Thinking with the Land

The enactive process model claims that we think with our immediate

environment, and several instances in my interviews can be interpreted as

thinking with place. As we heard, Sally often visits Cross Bones cemetery,

a prostitutes graveyard in South London. Her sense of the place is not

simply historical or cultural, and she is clear that "if I intellectualize it, I

think it should be a sad place, it should make me angry". But Cross Bones

is much more than that: It provides "a connection with the city" and "an

idea of the ancestors and how people go back and back. I feel I need to be

able to tap into that to look at the future as well". It also "taps into [...]

feelings about the way women are treated and feminism and eco-feminism

and the way the Earth's treated and all those things." Cross Bones thus

offers a powerful pattern for emotional and spiritual understanding.

Mary's experience of tuning in to trees and places using the felt sense,

discussed above, offers another example. Mary explains how she

sometimes experiences feelings which she assumes are from a particular

tree or place: "The feeling is how it makes my body feel". She is unsure

whether these feelings necessarily originate from the spirit of the tree or

place, so interpreting this in terms of thinking with place does no violence

137

her own understanding. Zoe's experience can also be understood as a

process of thinking through an issue using the mind/body/environment,

although she understands it purely in terms of spirits of place. This need

not be as reductionist as it at first appears: Enactivism illustrates the

artificially of subject/object distinctions, and extended cognition proposes

that the mind reaches beyond the "skin-bag", so it is by no means clear

where Zoe's mind ends and the spirit of place begins. This complex way of

understanding 'thinking with place' challenges our conventional notions,

but can be understood as a meta-level equivalent to communication with

the spirit of place.

Thinking with place involves specific locations, so helps explain why many

urban Eco-Pagans felt a special attachment to a particular place. Often

such special places serve as a "threshold brook" that provides a

"deepening sense of place" (Patterson, n.d.) for Eco-Pagans, who often

listen to its voice using the felt sense. As Barry explained, when the

threshold brook speaks, the hearer’s world changes forever because it

reveals our "sacred relationship with the world" (Zoe): Thus one place can

pattern a sacred relationship to the world. With this point in mind, I close

with Barry's discussion of thinking with place, which he has developed out

of over 20 years of practice. He has concluded, in general accord with

enactivists like Varela, that we are a "kind of [pause] panoramic

unconditioned presence", part of a system "rather than an object or a

subject". At times "the system that generates the virtual image of Barry

and the system that generates the virtual image of the Genius loci [...]

engage with one another and they become one system. And there's no

limit to what that could be". When this happens "you become one facet of

awareness in a vaster and bigger and wider and richer and deeper kind of

reality than the one we usually inhabit" and this is one way in which Barry

understands Shamanic experience.

Because our consciousness is tightly woven into the wider system, Barry

concludes, as do extended cognition theorists like Preston (2003), that

"our sense of meaning and our sense of value is actually conditioned by

our surroundings, so if we're constantly surrounded by human artifacts

then we're being conditioned by that". Unfortunately, for most Western

people the local environment is a "poverty stricken" "sensory desert". The

"world of human artifacts and symbols, is very charged with meaning, but

if that's the only meaning we're exposed to then we lose contact with the

bigger world. 'Cos I think that's a very narrow frequency range". But if "we

get out into the dirty, messy, tangled, luxuriant, deep, smelly world that is

commonly designated the natural world [...] we start feeling things we

don't usually feel". This is because the natural world has a "[s]ensory data

richness" that we don't get "in most human environments". It takes time

to become sensitive to this data richness, but given time and the right

intention we can develop our awareness and thereby our connection to

place. This returns us to a major theme of my interviews; connection.

Barry's "threshold brook" symbolises the subtle power of that sensory

138

richness, and if "we spend enough time by the threshold brook, and listen

to it we hear more and more". As Barry - and all my participants -

understand, this is a deeply healing process: "If I've got a bit of a headache

or I'm feeling down and depressed I'll go for a walk in the woods, and I'll

feel a hell of a lot better for doing that, mate. And we all do that". This one

refrain can be heard in every interview: Connecting to the other than

human world brings spiritual healing and understanding.

Conclusion

Most urban Eco-Pagans experienced a powerful childhood recognition of

their connection with the organic environment that inspired an earth

based spirituality grounded in an embodied knowing. Nearly all urban

Eco-Pagans experienced some disillusionment in their interactions with

other Pagans, many of whom do not share their enthusiasms. However

many urban Eco-Pagans benefited from the training they received in

mainstream Traditions, typically becoming more sensitive to their bodies

in general and their felt sense in particular. The felt sense served as a key

process of connection: By learning to become aware of how we think with

and through the embodied situated self, urban Eco-Pagans enhanced their

embodied communion with places, flora, fauna and spirits, thereby

enriching their practice and nourishing a life-long spirituality. As well as

being profoundly healing, these intimate local relationships - this listening

to the threshold brook - patterned a sacred relationship to the world. It is

the recognition of our connection with the organic environment that

ignites and feeds the fires of urban Eco-Paganism. In the next chapter

('The Power of Place: Protest Site Eco-Paganism') we will see the impact of

spending extended periods of time in the organic environment, and I draw

these threads together in 'Eco-Paganism: A "sacred relationship with the

world" '.

139

Chapter 9: The Power of Place: Protest Site Eco-Paganism

"[K]nowledge of spiritual phenomena without understanding its physical

context is like making love with a man who does not know himself,

because he has lost his connection to the earth ..."

(Syme, 1997: 217).

The relationship between spiritual experience and the organic

environment is an ancient theme (Bernstein, 2005) that is increasingly

voiced today (Fox, 1996; Taylor, B., 2005). However, although the

significance of this intimate connection has been pondered by many, few

have considered its deeper roots: By applying the enactive process model

to my ethnography, I demonstrate that this connection is grounded in

embodied situated cognition.

My 'Eco-Paganism Literature review' identified two fluid groups: urban

and protest site Eco-Pagans. Having considered the role of embodied

situated cognition for the former, I now turn to the latter. My

autoethnography (Chapter 7), described my own experiences and now

serves to frame a more analytical view. Although urban and protest site

Eco-Pagans crossover to some extent and are similar in many ways, this

chapter unearths significant differences, and continues to piece together a

pattern of the power of place.

Although many site Eco-Pagans practice a spirituality without labels, it is

deeply felt and emerges from an embodied knowing of connection gained

through powerful processes that include meditation and ritual. Training

helped urban Eco-Pagans to articulate the felt sense and although site

Eco-Pagans eschew formal training, the felt sense remains significant,

though less well articulated. The most important process of connection for

site Eco-Pagans is the wilderness effect, which catalyses a sense of

spiritual connection, increases personal empowerment and can alter the

sense of self. Amongst other things, this helps explain site Eco-Pagan's

"very strong self identification with the land" (Plows, 2002: 45), which is

seen "as sacred" (Worthington, 2005: 214). The processes of connection

can blur the boundaries between self and other, enabling a powerful

communion with the genius loci which empowers activism, inspires

spirituality and informs site Eco-Paganism.

Introducing the Research Participants

I interviewed a representative sample of thirteen protest site Eco-Pagans

from various of backgrounds. They included two Druids (John and Jo),

one Heathen (Oak) and six eclectic Pagans whose practice was influenced

by a variety of traditions including witchcraft46, Druidry, Shamanism,

Heathenry, Wicca and Buddhism (Adam, Dave, Ian, Jan, Millie and Rob).

46 I deliberately do not capitalise the term witchcraft to distinguish this eclectic set of practices

from any Craft Tradition.

140

Dave, Debbie, Lauren, and Ray felt drawn to Paganism at the time of my

interviews but the latter three were ambivalent about labelling their

spirituality.

At the time I interviewed them, eight participants lived on site B (Ray,

Dave, Jake, Debbie, Jan, Jo, Lauren and Millie), while Oak lived in

woodland not far from the site and was a regular visitor who often stayed

overnight. The interviews with Oak, Debbie, Jan, and Millie47 took place

during the pilot phase but I have included them as there was no major

change in my research agenda. John, Rob and Ian were itinerant and

Adam48 lived in a caravan in the West Country. Nine of my participants

had lived49 on more than one protest site and most of those nine had been

involved for several years (John, Dave, Debbie, Ian, Jan, Lauren, Oak,

Ray, and Rob). By the conclusion of my fieldwork only Jake and Jo were

still living full-time at site B, as the rest had moved on to other protests

(Ray), settled woodland communities (Oak, Jan and Lauren) or more

conventional homes (Dave, Debbie and Millie). Participants ages were

between nineteen and early sixties, with the overall age range slightly

more in the twenties. Although given the size and distinctiveness of the

protest community complete anonymity is impossible to guarantee, in all

cases names have been changed.

SPIRITUAL PATHWAYS

Protest site Eco-Pagans I met had a great deal in common with their

urban counterparts, notably in that they all emphasised connection with

the land or place. Everyone related this connection to their spiritual

experiences, and in some cases it resulted in profound - sometimes life

changing - experiences. This sense of connection was encouraged by a

strong preference amongst most participants (9) for intuitive, embodied

ways of knowing: Such knowing of the heart (John) or stomach (Adam)

was considered to be far more important than "head" knowing. For some

this was reflected in a reluctance to "give names to stuff" (Debbie),

especially labelling one's spiritual path (4). None of this reluctance was

due to disappointment with any perceived lack of environmental

awareness in mainstream Paganism, although some participants (6) knew

of Pagans who lacked ecological awareness. Most who adopted the name

'Pagan' didn't identify with mainstream Paganism, so had less of a sense

of disappointment than the urban Eco-Pagans (7). However, for John and

Jo, both Druids, it was a source of considerable anger and even confusion,

and they frequently complained about the situation. Both remained active

within their Tradition and energetically promoted environmental

47 My interview with Millie was truncated and lasted about half as long as other interviews on

site B. However, given that I lived on-site with Millie for about a month I am confident that I

my understanding of her practice is sufficient.

48 Circumstances required me to interview Adam using the ethnographic interview technique

described in my methodology.

49 I define living at a site as having your own personal sleeping space on the site for at least a

month.

141

awareness.

Finding a Name

In common with their urban counterparts, many site Eco-Pagans (7) had

explicitly taken the name "Pagan" and two felt it fitted them, but several

participants (4) resisted names because they felt their spirituality was

evolving and labelling it was limiting. Ian's spirituality was "inseparable"

from the rest of his life:

It's a way of life. [...] I don't like to focus on saying 'Oh this is my

spirituality' 'cos that's only what other people call it. [Short laugh].

[...] Not much is separable, it's humans that create the separations.

[...] I see things are all part of each other.

Rob spoke in similar terms, though he accepted the name fitted:

Neopaganism - that’s probably what someone would call me, the

way I synergize that … spiritual aspect of my anarchism and the

fight to defend nature and things like that. [...] so it’s all quite

connected [...] spirituality kind of gives me the energy for [direct

action], keeps me going, and it’s not just a raging against the system

or whatever, its also a celebration of life as well.

Jan, Lauren and Debbie also gave the impression that spirituality was an

integral part of life that did not require any specific practices.

"Paganism" was the name Jo found in her early 20's for her "love of the

land, a love of nature, and a lot of history". She began with a Wiccan

approach as it was the one of the Farrars' books (e.g. Farrar, J., and

Farrar, S., 1981) that introduced her to Paganism, but after a few years she

moved on:

it took a long while for me suddenly think 'OK, I think my path is

more nature based', and that's how I sort of moved towards

Druidry. [...] the Druid path seemed to go more towards the

ancestors, and nature and the trees.

However she had been struggling as she felt her path lacked depth, and

was emphatic that moving on to a protest site was "definitely part of [her]

Journey" because "as a Pagan [...] I have to fight for the land because, the

land is what I hold as sacred". Jo's experience is typical of the more

traditionalized site Eco-Pagans, and is echoed by Motherwort, a Wiccan I

met at Lyminge Forest protest in 1998:

I do not pretend to talk for the pagans living at Lyminge, but for me

protesting is definitely part of my spiritual growth. It reconnects me

to my mother, the earth and helps me to sort out what is really

142

important in my life (Roberts and Motherwort, 2006. Capitalization

as in original).

Like some other site Eco-Pagans, and many in the urban group, Jo found

it:

very disheartening that, the majority of Pagans don't see it that way.

[...] I do despair a lot of the time that a lot of them aren't [pause] in

it because they really care about the land and the Earth. It's more

themselves. It's something they want to do and their egos and they

like the dressing up, but they don't wanna get their - don't get their

velvet dirty is what I always say! [Laughs].

She suggested this might be because "they spend too much time indoors"

and wondered if other Pagans "see it as part of the same thing? I mean a

lot of people just see it as, 'I do magic, I do spells, I do ritual' ". Her

comments were the most eloquent, but were typical of several site Eco-

Pagans, significantly the six who are closest to the Traditionalized end of

the scale on my quadrant diagram in 'Section II: Introduction': Jo, Jan,

Oak, Jake, John and Millie.

For detraditionalized site Eco-Pagans spiritual growth was often part of a

life changing activist experience: Dave explained that he had become

"drawn towards Paganism" while at site B, so had made himself a Pagan

staff and attended "a fair few Pagan ceremonies" 50 (interview and field

notes, 24/05/06). In comparison with other Eco-Pagans, his path had

been unusual: From age 17 to 28 Dave "was a full on boy racer with the

second loudest car stereo in the country", and had worked in factories for

22 years. He hadn't spent much time in the organic environment as he

was always "[s]tuck in a factory or in a vehicle!" But he had been involved

with the local Greenpeace group for six years before coming to site B, and

soon after arriving gave up his factory job, which changed everything:

Actually giving up your paid job to do activism full time is a very big

thing. If your job goes, pretty much your house, flat or whatever

goes, and if that goes what do you do with your stuff? Your

possessions go, so that's a huge thing to do protesting and

environmental stuff full-time, to actually live it every single day of

your life. [...] It's been the most amazing years of my life.

Dave was attracted to Paganism because he had met Pagans who were

very "caring about the environment, about nature", but a "powerful energy

and a very powerful presence" on the site was a significant factor in his

spiritual emergence.

Spirituality Without Labels

50 Dave was handfasted at a Pagan wedding ritual in November 2007.

143

Jo tried to create rituals that were suitable for "people that follow a nature

path and don't call it Paganism". Some of those whom I identify as site

Eco-Pagans resisted adopting the name 'Pagan', so prompting the

question of why I still designate them as such. Participants like Rob and

Ian felt that because "words carry great preconceptions" (Ian) naming

something tended to limit it, but given the vagueness of the term they

would acknowledge Paganism as a suitable label for core aspects of their

spirituality. Debbie was aware of her ambivalence towards Paganism but

her resistance was not to Pagan practice, which she enjoyed, or Pagan

beliefs, which reflected her own. However, she didn't want to define her

spirituality:

I have been, like ‘Oh you are a Pagan’, an all that, but I’m not

putting a name to myself. [...] I don’t put names to stuff. [...] I

believe in Mother Nature, not as a God or a Goddess.

Debbie had known about Paganism from friends for well over a year when

I met her, but for Ray it was still very new and the site B Land Blessing in

October 2006 was his first such experience:

I'd never experienced anything like that before, we're all stood there

in a circle, which meant something really big I know, the whole

circle thing, standing in a circle with everyone, feels quite powerful

[...] I cried at that one.

Ray had "always been spiritual, about the love for the Earth" but he didn't

"particularly have a religion" although he added that "Paganism is the

closest that I've seen". His spirituality had become "deeper" since he first

came to live on a protest site partly, he suggested, because he had "lived

outside now, near trees" and through meeting "people that are more

spiritual" and getting "involved in some of the Pagan ceremonies". Many

Pagans find a name for a spirituality they already have, and Ray had "felt a

very strong connection with the Earth" for many years, but had no name

for the spiritual dimension of that feeling.

Lauren's experience was more complex, as for most of her life she'd

avoided religion and had "decided there wasn't such a thing as

spirituality". But when she began to visit the Twyford Down protest in the

early 1990's, this began to change:

it was the first time I'd ever done chanting and drumming round a

fire and I just loved it. Drumming and dancing and chanting round

a fire! So fantastic, and spirit days and all that sort of stuff.

Although she later came to understand that these were spiritual feelings,

at the time she "didn't want to know what it was, because it was something

that I couldn't comprehend". But her sense of discomfort grew as a "sort of

144

spirituality was waking up" and she became "really scared because I didn't

know where to go with it [...] because the only thing I knew was Church of

England or Catholics or whatever, and I'd really just dismissed the whole

lot of it".

Lauren's spirituality grew out of a series of profound encounters with the

organic environment which began at Twyford Down:

Twyford was such a wonderful piece of land. As you stepped onto it

you just thought, 'What's happening to me?' And it was - I suppose

it was in a way what first started it all but I couldn't cope with it. [...]

the reason I think I had the breakdown was because it presented the

real me to me and I just didn't recognise it or was able to cope with

it.

Her experiences at Twyford were "just all too much" and she had a

breakdown, but her spiritual sensibilities were to return over 10 years

later when she arrived at site B:

When site B started it was to me exactly like Twyford Down. [...] I

really wanted to go down there, and be part of this, [pause] but I

didn't go because, I was scared. I was scared the whole thing would

happen again.

Inevitably perhaps, Lauren started to spend time at the new site and one

night her spiritual development "really crystallized":

I was in a bit of a funny state anyway, because I'd had this really

chilled out, sitting at B [pause] and learning, I don't know, learning

about the land again. Learning the power of the land? Something

like that? And then, everyone had gone to bed - at least I thought

they had - And I went down to the loo - the compost loo. [...] at

night sometimes I didn't bother to drop the curtain 'cos I was

usually in a hurry [laughs]. And as I sat there, I saw what I thought

was a man. And I didn't realise it was anything at the time - I just

thought it was somebody peeping at me while I was weeing, and my

immediate thought was absolute annoyance and anger that

somebody could look at me [...] so when I stood up and then I

realised that it wasn't, and it was just as though it was this figure -

there was this man. It led out of the afternoons talking, so I was in

that frame of mind and it was just this vision of this Green Man

looking at me and it was as though it was just calling me, and I just

felt [pause] frightened - shaky. [...] This huge figure, and I can only

call it the Green Man [...] it had never really happened except that

night when I sat at Twyford Down, [pause] I kind of had it. I call

that one of my deep spiritual experiences sitting there that night

when I knew I'd never be back there, just looking across that land,

and I couldn't cope with that being destroyed.

145

As I was the only other person awake on site Lauren asked me to come

and see the "figure in the tree by the toilet":

We went back there together and she saw the figure as not

frightening but protective. She said she believed the Earth is

drawing people to protect Herself. Bit like the 'Rainbow Warriors'

(her phrase). I laughed as she said in the same breath that she isn't

spiritual! (Field notes, 05/07/06, site B).

After Lauren and I talked about it the next morning, I noted that:

For her the figure represents a spiritual presence defending site B

and crucially somehow bringing her a message. She was more

freaked out that it wasn't a human and that it was a spiritual

experience. [...] When she came to see me in the communal [space]

she was quite shaken. [...] [But not by the thought of a peeping

tom.] It was actually the idea that there was a spiritual dimension.

She admitted to me that she was afraid of the whole idea of the

spiritual (field notes, 06/07/06, site B).

Lauren later told me that it was this experience "that really kicked me off

with this whole spirituality Earth bit", and inspired her to write a poem

linking activism with "ancient" wisdom and the power of the Earth. A few

weeks after the interview, Lauren told me that she had been to a political

conference and found herself to be so sensitive to the space that she had to

leave. Her rational mind had said "Oh, come on Lauren - You don't get

affected by atmospheres", but she felt it so strongly she had to go. She

explained this as the most recent example of a heightened sensitivity to

place that had emerged since the night of the Green Man experience.

Given their practices and beliefs, it is appropriate from a religious studies

perspective to count Debbie, Ray and Lauren as Eco-Pagans, even though

they may not adopt that title themselves. We might call them 'proto-

Pagans', but that implies that they will become 'full' Pagans when their

spirituality matures, so is inadequate to describe this often carefully

considered position. I use the alternative term 'edge Pagan', which more

accurately describes this slightly uncomfortable place on a border away

from the centre ground facing an intimidating option, and carries the

sometimes appropriate connotation of critical sharpness. The term edge

Pagan can also be appropriately applied to several of the urban Eco-

Pagans in the previous chapter who have moved through the centre

ground of Paganism to somewhere nearer the edge.

PROCESSES OF CONNECTION

146

In his survey of wilderness spirituality, Ashley found that a sense of

connection was most commonly cited as fundamental (Ashley, 2007),

while my Eco-Paganism literature review noted a “sense of

connectedness” amongst activists (Plows, 1998: 168). My fieldwork

confirmed this research: Rob explained that his “connection with the

earth” had become “a major part” of who he is, while Jan expressed it very

explicitly: “That’s what Paganism is all about – connection with

everything” (field notes, 11/10/05, site B). A comment made by an activist

at site E tied the sense of connection with the theme of alienation

discussed below (Attitude to Urban Life):

Sitting round the fire pit [...] explaining my research to Ian. Others

chipped in. Ben said (approx):

"It's blatantly all connected. If you can't see that it's just because

you're closed down - conditioned" (field notes, 06/09/06).

Several factors contributed to this sense of connection, including

meditation, ritual, entheogens and the wilderness effect. Greenway claims

that "both the psychedelic and meditation experiences ... closely parallel"

the experience of the wilderness effect, and that such awareness seems to

have the "capacity to open consciousness to Mind - that is, to the more

natural flows of information from nature" (Greenway, 1995: 132).

Meditation

Many (7) participants used some form of meditation or contemplation.

Rob learnt techniques from Vipassana meditation that showed him how

"your environment shapes the way you think". He also used a less formal

approach:

just spending time out in nature, just listening. Just looking. Not

really thinking too much. It’s good to kind of not think, just become,

just let it flow though you I guess.

Jo described a very similar practice:

you just sit there and you just - if you give it a moment, peace - it

will just come in and, it's like a wash that floods through you.

Debbie tried to explain the sense of connection that comes to her when

she spends time in the organic environment:

you look up and look around you and you understand. I feel very

honoured that fact that I’ve been allowed to understand it and I’ve

been allowed to see.

This understanding remains as she walks home afterwards:

147

I’m walking down the road and I’ve got a smile on my face. I

understand everything, and other people walking past, and I’ll have

an even more of big smile and I’ll go 'I understand this world we live

in and you really don’t have a clue do you?' [Laughs].

Debbie explained that this understanding could come from "[j]ust sitting"

in any "[n]atural places, beaches wherever", but especially from "living in

the woods".

When I asked Adam where he learnt his spiritual understanding, he told

me that it was from "the land", sitting quietly and "the stone masons and

wood workers". He added that if mediation means "doing without

thinking" then he did "what you might call meditation all the time when

I'm with the land".

Eco-Pagan Letcher also recommends "solitude, stillness and sensitivity"

as a means of reconnecting with an organic environment (Letcher 2001c),

and this simple technique of spending time quietly "sitting out" has a long

history in Heathen practice (Blain 2001: 61-62; Richardson, 2007). Both

popular literature (Ferguson, 1980) and academic accounts confirm my

participants experience that meditation enhances sensory awareness, and

thereby enables a deeper sense of connection. According to Greenway

"[p]ractices such as mediation, when seriously undertaken, are explicitly

designed to facilitate the arousal of nonegoic awareness" (Greenway, 1995:

133), while Braud states that:

Entering a state of relaxation and quietude helps reduce bodily and

other distractions that ordinarily prevent the efficient deployment

of attention [and allow us] to be fully aware and attentive to

everything that happens with a 'beginner's mind' (Braud, 1992: 3).

Ritual

Six participants found ritual valuable (Jo, John, Oak, Dave, Ray and

Debbie), but it was not very important for Ian, Adam, Jan, Rob, Jake or

Millie, and Lauren disliked it. Simple rituals were much preferred by

everyone, and even Lauren didn't mind something "very very basic".

Nearly all the protest site rituals I observed took place at site B and were

most often facilitated by Jo, who was also the one who found ritual most

important. Jo found rituals important for "marking the Seasons [...] to

appreciate where we are at in the year" and felt it was important to "keep

it natural, and have the sort of natural things on the altar".

Most of those who were fairly new to Paganism found ritual very

significant (Debbie, Dave and Ray). The first ritual at site B was a Land

Blessing facilitated by Oak and Jan which Ray found especially powerful,

and it was

148

probably the first time I connected properly with the - realised no

actually, realising this bit of land is here and we're actually

protecting it and saving it and loving it.

For Ray the ritual was a process of connection with both those in the circle

and the place itself. Millie likewise noted that it was "[n]ice because of the

sense of us all being there in the community. Sharing something. [Were

all] connected. The land and us were connected".

Jan facilitated the ritual purely for the benefit of other people as she found

it unnecessary:

I don’t differentiate between what we did in the circle and what I do

on a … quite a regular basis, so … Just talking to whatever’s out

there. So I felt glad for everyone else. I didn’t feel too different in

myself, because I think I earth myself quite well, and I don’t find it

that different really.

Jan's daily practice consisted of a contemplative walk

I have a little walk up and down everyday to kind of keep the energy

… [...] I’m feeling quite cut off ‘cos of the road, so I like to keep in

touch with what we have got here, and so there’s all the little things

under the ground and they form a little network of energy or life or

whatever you want to call it, and all little creatures, the grass and

the plants, and there’s different things out there and they’re all alive

in their own way and it’s nice just to walk past them and say hello.

Ritual seemed to be largely irrelevant to those who, like Jan, integrated

their spiritual practice so tightly with their everyday lives that specific

rituals become superfluous. Rob and Millie only mentioned ritual briefly

in interviews, while neither Ian nor Adam mentioned ritual at all. This

attitude is exemplified by the experience of Motherwort, a "member of a

local coven" who went to Lyminge forest during the protest of the late

1990's:

I asked them how they would feel about joining our circle to raise

energy to protect the forest. Most were favourable, but one turned

round and said very pointedly to me "we don't need your rituals, we

live it every day, working to save the forest right here and now, if

you want to help us come and live here too" (Roberts and

Motherwort, 2006).

Protest site rituals were less varied than the urban variety, tending to use

the simplified Wiccan structure that is common in public rituals, and were

facilitated by experienced practitioners for a mix of Pagans, non-Pagans

and edge-Pagans. This was true of a ritual at the G8 protest, facilitated by

Starhawk, one at Climate Camp, facilitated by a Reclaiming Witch and all

149

the group rituals at site B. My Paganism literature review suggested that

protest site rituals emerged spontaneously and were often ecstatic

(Letcher, 2002: Plows, 2001), but although I took part in such rituals at

Twyford Down during the early 1990's, I found no evidence of them now.

Pending further research to explain this change, I suggest that the

comparative remoteness of sites like Twyford Down and Newbury

encouraged ecstatic ritual. This has brought some positive changes:

Letcher noted that the Eco-Pagans rituals at Newbury “trampled the

flora ... and scared off the fauna" (Letcher, 2001c), but all those I

participated in during my fieldwork took care to minimize any adverse

ecological impact.

Entheogens

Plows and Letcher refer to the use of entheogens by site Eco-Pagans to

facilitate contact with nature spirits (Letcher, 2005: 557; Plows, 2005:

505), and four participants had found entheogens useful. Ian described

himself only half jokingly as "a trainee medicine man", and said he did

"lots" of meditation using entheogens like "ayahuasca, extracted DMT,

planted rue seeds [and] corn with ergot on it". Jake explained how his

early experiences with "hallucinogens" changed his "perception of reality

as such and the way I thought about things". These experiences presented

him with a "beautiful [...] vision" that he had kept at "the back of my soul

or whatever and it's sort of driven me [...] that is what we're trying

towards". Lauren sometimes smoked cannabis, and felt that "when you've

got so much to learn and move away from this patterning that's happened

in your life, all your life, you actually need something like that".

Entheogens had also been important in Rob's spiritual journey:

magic mushrooms [...] open these channels up and let you connect

with nature in a way that, [...] perhaps you never knew existed

before and er, gives you a real sense of how you’re connected with it

[...] I can’t sort of underestimate the importance that that’s had on

my, connection with nature. LSD as well, is particularly important.

[...] Using substances to enhance your perception of the world is

very important [...] [but are] by no means necessary - I’ve had these

experiences without taking drugs at all [...]

As we saw with the two urban Eco-Pagans who had worked with them,

entheogens can act as stepping stones that catalyse a deeper level of

connection that makes them unnecessary. This was true for Jay who said

he no longer used entheogens: "They're my drugs now - birds, wild

animals, trees ..." (field notes, 21/07/06, site D).

Life Experiences

Childhood play in the organic environment was very significant for many

urban Eco-Pagans, and most site Eco-Pagans (10) described similar

150

experiences: Rob's sense of "connection with the earth” originated from

childhood trips to the countryside while Ray said much the same, adding

that he "always loved going to the beach or going to the woods". This

confirms existing research into activist motivation discussed in the

Ecopsychology section of my 'Embodied Cognition Literature Review'.

Other people had life experiences later in life that helped create a sense of

connection. Jo said that childhood play in the garden was where "seeds

were planted for my future love of the land" which later bore fruit: In her

early 20's Jo gave up her job to grow her own vegetables, and it was this

experience of "sowing the seeds and working with the land, and in

weather and the environment" that inspired her Paganism. John had a

long term physical connection with the organic environment because he

had a "nomadic" lifestyle, and would often "just sleep out". Such

experiences are widespread: Newbury activist Jim Hindle explained in his

autobiographical account of the protest "how long walks on the South

Downs ... brought about an awakening within", and a similar shift drew

his friends Tami and Ceilidh to Newbury:

We had both awoken to the land around us and felt the calling

ringing in our ears, as though we'd been asleep a very long time ... It

was the same with Ed, who had had some kind of experience with

the oak at Fairmile51 and had known, once he'd returned to his

hometown, that he had to go back. Once you'd felt it, there was no

mistaking it (Hindle, 2006: 100 - 102).

The effect of these processes of connection on an individual's being-in-

the-world can be profound, and in some cases life changing. It is

significant that the two participants who made the most marked life

changes had also had the least prior exposure to the organic environment:

Dave and Lauren experienced dramatic shifts that culminated in both of

them selling up their homes and adopting a more nomadic lifestyle.

Neither had experienced much opportunity to 'play' in an organic

environment - as children or adults - before arriving at a protest site, so

we might expect a greater impact from such an intense and unfamiliar

encounter with the power of place.

The Felt Sense

Many urban Eco-Pagans became more sensitive to their felt sense through

training in mainstream Traditions, so given that most site Eco-Pagans are

detraditionalized, we might expect a less developed awareness of the felt

sense. However, almost everyone sometimes recognises a felt sense, even

if it is just 'butterflies' in the stomach, and site Eco-Pagans often refer to

meaningful bodily feelings. Debbie described how she felt during the Land

Blessing ritual at site B:

51 The Fairmile road protest site in Devon was evicted in January 1997.

151

And [pause] you know when if something’s so overwhelming if you

got it in your stomach, and it’s like [pause] I take a breath, and like

'Wow!', and I got really really emotional [...]. Overwhelming really.

Really really overwhelming. I could feel it in here, in my stomach.

Oak has similar feelings during the ritual, especially when he invites Odin

- the God he is dedicated to - into the Circle:

Like a fantastic beautiful shining light in your soul, sort of. [...]

everything is just wonderful and great and it’s just in you. Rather

than, you know … It’s not an external experience. You’re not viewing

it and not feeling it. It’s a very internal experience.

Although this feeling is felt "all over the place", it is a more focused in the

chest, and "it’s not a head sort of experience, it’s a chest sort of

experience". I then invited Oak to explore the meaning of this felt sense:

Light, energy, power. Um. Charged, fully charged, and light

standing in a beautiful light, fully loved, completely safe and that

sort of thing. Full on experience.

As we have seen (Gendlin, Chapter 3), the felt sense can often carry

information that is not immediately accessible to conscious awareness,

and this is apparent in Lauren's description of her last night at Twyford

Down:

I knew that I would never be back at that place until it was all over

and something was wrong. I didn't know what was going to happen

but I knew I'd never get back there. And I cried almost all the way

home, from Twyford Down to Winchester station to [home].

These examples are typical of Gendlin's description of a felt sense (inter

alia, Gendlin, 1981), where someone experiences a meaningful bodily

feeling and is - sometimes at least - able to become consciously aware of

its significance. But in the previous chapter we saw many examples of a

more complex process where urban Eco-Pagans 'tune in to' or

'communicate' with places, plants or trees using the felt sense (A Sense of

Nature, Chapter 8). Lauren spontaneously experienced the same process

when she saw a shaft of autumn sunlight illuminate a small Scottish

waterfall:

And there was this one little waterfall, and when it started it was

nothing but, suddenly the sun, just caught it, and it was just so alive

with colours. It was pink, and then there was white - the middle

central stream was absolutely white, this shining whiteness out of

this dark water, dark and inky, on the other side there was this sort

of brown and then round the sides a very deep blue - sometimes

when you get a very deep brown it's almost blue - and then there

152

was this green on the other side of the moss.

The waterfall was not only beautiful, but also eloquent:

And I just looked at it, and had this amazing feeling of just, sort of

talking to the Earth. I can't describe it any other way - It was as

though the Earth was just talking to me.

This is clearly a felt sense that she could understand consciously:

But standing on there, I also - you know - got this message about all

sorts of things - I really kind of got sorted out. I just stood there, and

my head just went through things, and it was as though logically, I

knew what I had to do about X and me, and I knew what I had to do

about the woodland and, I knew what I had to do about Y and Z and

it was all there coming to me. And it was a feeling more than words.

It was just - You know, my mind was making words out of the

feeling. It was fantastic.

Her sense of "a feeling more than words" that her mind could make

"words out of" is a perfect description of the process Gendlin calls

Focusing, which some people do without training (Gendlin, 1981: 4), and

can be life changing. Lauren's experience was indeed profound and

powerful:

It was just, um, the only way I can equate it is like being, when I

first found out I was pregnant - I just wanted to run down the hill

and tell everyone saying 'I've just been spoken to by the Earth!' I

mean I really felt that connected with this one site.

As Merleau-Ponty says "[i]t is the body which points out, and which

speaks" and this "immanent or incipient significance in the living body

extends, as we shall see, to the whole sensible world" such that we can

"discover in all other 'objects' the miracle of expression" (Merleau-Ponty,

2002 [1962]: 230). Gendlin, who develops Merleau-Ponty's work, is clear

that a felt sense can be one of recognition, and that symbols, which

"includes anything that may have the role of a symbol (including things,

persons, behaviors, and whatever)" (Gendlin, 1997: 91; author’s

emphasis), can evoke felt meanings.

Several researchers opine that intention is important to spiritual

experience in wilderness (Stringer and McAvoy, 1992; Greenway and

Taylor, 2006), and this is clearly the case here. Lauren explained the

importance of her attitude, which includes an openness to spiritual

experience:

I think it was because I was there all on my own, and I was the only

person in the whole world that was sharing and was looking at it at

153

that moment, and it was this uniqueness. [...] I thought 'This is just

for me. This is just for me because I can't get anyone else. No-one

else can share it. I've got to take this in me and tell other people

about it'. [...] I liked it because it was a nothing bit of Scotland, it

was an ordinary waterfall, but that particular moment it was just so

beautiful, And it might do it everyday, but I'm not there everyday.

But I was that day. And it was the going to Coulport, sitting there,

getting wet, walking up there at that precise moment, and that's

what I mean about feeling guided and doing stuff.

We can continue to unpack this experience by applying the enactive

process model: Lauren has lived a long full life, so on my model her deep

body - the source of Gendlin's implicit - will have a very rich sense of the

world. This is inarticulate, and perhaps better understood as a source of

potential knowing (see Chapter 5). The understanding that is implicit in

this richness may never become explicit if it is not evoked by experience,

but in the case of Lauren's waterfall a particular place at a particular

moment does evoke some of that deeply embodied potential knowing: One

day Lauren stands before a waterfall and its beauty, in that particular

moment, calls forth an implicit knowing into explicit awareness. In an

important sense she is "talking to the Earth", because the explicit knowing

is co-created by Lauren and that particular place. Lauren is thinking with

the place, and the ambiguity of that phrase is fortuitous: In a sense she is

using the place to evoke her embodied knowing, but on a more

sophisticated reading Lauren and the place are thinking together, through

the process of extended cognition. Both perspectives oversimplify

somewhat, as to some extent they use the subject/object paradigm which

this thesis problematizes, and it is clear from the enactive process model

that at a more fundamental level 'Lauren' and 'the place' are aspects of one

ongoing process. My embodied philosophy chapter could only began to

tease out the threads of this complex enactive co-creation of the world, but

it is clear that it is intrinsic to the Eco-Pagan understanding of the sacred.

We can never fully articulate this mystery because it is implicit, and thus

we gain understanding of spiritual communion with the other than human

world without diminishing it: A sense of the ineffable remains because the

ultimate source of understanding will always remain implicit and

mysterious, and yet it can be evoked by ritual, poetry or experiences in the

organic environment. Because it relates to the experience of both urban

and site Eco-Pagans, I discuss this complex relationship between the felt

sense and spiritual understanding again in the next chapter, 'A "sacred

relationship with world" '.

The Wilderness Effect

Greenway argues that “civilization is only four days deep” (Greenway,

1995: 129) and that even such a brief time away from 21st century life is

deeply transformative. To date the wilderness effect has only been noted

in the context of extended wilderness trips, but ecopsychologists agree

154

that “simply spending meaningful time communing with nature” (Shaw,

2006) is beneficial, and the full effect is a difference of degree rather than

a difference in kind (Greenway, 1995: 132). We would then expect that

long periods in less than pristine wilderness would have a similar impact

to short, intense wilderness exposure. My fieldwork shows not only that

the wilderness effect occurs at protest camps, but that it catalyses a

spiritual experience that leads some protesters to describe themselves as

‘Pagans’. As we have seen this experience can be "a heavy shake-up: one's

perception, dreams, perspective, awareness vividly and rapidly changes"

potentially "to the point where people become more or less incapacitated

when they return to their normal lives" (Greenway, pers. comm., 2006).

Although the effect was first noted on North American wilderness treks,

there are many correlations with felt experience at a road protest camp.

Although such spaces may have been culturally mediated, they retain

certain aspects of true wilderness: Relative openness, no advertising,

absence of most 21st century technologies (flick-switch lighting, hot

running water, instant heating, t.v. etc.), low tech. living spaces, etc.

Before I pursue the connection, it is important to note that wilderness

trips are generally focused on personal therapeutic goals and any human-

nature connection is a bonus (Baillie, 2006). Further, as Shaw points out,

there “is no guarantee that this process will lead directly or indirectly to

environmental action” (Shaw, 2006). However, I am not suggesting that

spending time in an organic environment inevitably makes us more

environmentally aware, but that the wilderness effect helps explain many

key aspects of protest site Eco-Paganism.

There are many obvious similarities between a wilderness trek and life on

a typical protest camp. Most significant of these is the practical connection

with the elemental forces of nature. In my site B field notes of 27/10/05 I

write:

Simplicity of life on camp allows us to attend more closely to our

embodiment. It’s also highlighted by the life itself – physical work,

need to keep warm and attend to physical well-being52.

As Letcher says: “The very act of living out, however dependent on wider

society for food and so on, puts one in touch with nature in a way that is

real, not virtual” (Letcher, 2000). Living in a bender provides a much

more intimate connection with the immediate environment which is why

Ray doesn't "want to live in a house, ever again":

in a house [...] you're just sealed off [holds hands up palm to palm

in front of his head] from any - anything that could possibly connect

with outside of it you know? Other than probably another box which

is the television. Like you don't realise it until - well I didn't realise

52 I lived for three months (over winter) at this particular protest camp (‘site B’) and spent

approximately another six months there part-time.

155

until I had the opportunity to live outside in a bender. [...] you hear

the birds when you wake up in the morning and that's nice, [...]

Sometimes you'll hear a wasp fly by or something [...] you kind of

connect with what's outside of it, a bit more than you would in a

normal home.

I asked Ian if it felt different when he was in the woods. He smiled and

said:

Does it feel different? No, it feels different when I'm not - when I'm

in a box or on a street. That's when it feels different.

Similar experiences are described in autobiographical accounts of road

protest life. Newbury activist Jim Hindle describes how he

became accustomed to the sound of the wind in the trees at all

times. It wasn't a thing I necessarily listened to, but the silence that

fell whenever I stepped inside a building was eerie and

disquietening. ... It was like being connected to a great river, the

source of all life ... and years of separation between us and the Land

were falling away like an old skin (Hindle, 2006: 70-71).

Research reviewed earlier concluded that the wilderness experience

enhanced sensory acuity (McDonald and Schreyer, 1991; Beck 1987;

Harper, 1995; Sewall, 1995) and this is apparent in Rob's interview. In the

city he has to engage sensory filters to “block out information, to block out

noise, to block out the chatter of things [...] going into you mind, because

if not you’ll go absolutely insane because there’s just so much going on …”

On returning to a more natural space he would find the silence

overwhelming and “it was so goddam quiet it almost hurt”, but this

passed:

And it was only when you actually started to listen that you realised

it wasn’t quiet at all but the river was flowing, the wind was in the

trees, the birds flying. All of these things were going on which we

weren’t hearing because we had these filters on. And I keep

repeating it but it’s an important point, because people do live their

entire lives in an urban environment and they just don’t get the

connection, um they don’t get that connection with nature.

We hear later that several participants were similarly critical of urban life,

and Greenway comments that the wilderness effect can place "the

individual in more or less severe conflict with [urban] culture" (Greenway,

1995: 128). Greenway doesn't discuss why, but a heightened sensory

acuity and the sense of connection described above are likely factors.

Protest site life has one significant extra factor which a wilderness trek

lacks: Those who live on site are protecting it, and this enhances the sense

of connection. As Jo explained:

156

you're giving your life over to try and protect that piece of land, so

you have a more intimate relationship than you would, somewhere

else [...] you've got that bond that you're trying to protect it, and I

think it knows that you're trying to protect it, and it's your land

because it's your home as well, and it's the home of the people that

you share you life with.

Most of the key aspects of the wilderness effect (see Chapter 3) correlate

closely with lived experience on a protest camp: a sense of connection,

well-being, major life changes, contemplative practice and community.

There are clear explanations for those that do not strongly correlate:

Social drinking is common on site, so I would not expect alcohol addiction

to be alleviated; my participants were not on a trip with a fixed period, so

major goals will be stated in different terms but were similar; sadly, there

was never the opportunity to go "climbing a ridge or peak in order to greet

the sun"; finally, dream patterns were not considered in my research

(Greenway, 1995: 128-129).

The Wilderness Effect: Freedom

Greenway describes the sense of freedom felt by those on a wilderness

trek: “For many the wilderness experience means release of repression –

release of the inevitable controls that exist in any culture” (Greenway,

1995: 128) and protest site campaigners commonly describe a feeling of

freedom. My site B field notes of 12/12/05 attempt to put it into words:

I can’t quite describe it, but have an image of Camp [site B] as like a

bubble, an enclosed safe, crazy-sane place. It’s a bit like ELFS53

actually – that same feeling of liminality, of freedom to be who you

are, of safety and possibility.

Visitors often referred to a camp as a place “of freedom” as opposed to the

world outside (quote from a visitor, field notes, 12/03/06, site B) and

Merrick, a protester at Newbury, explains how that feeling of freedom

allows for self-expression:

Not all far-gone behaviour is actually craziness; a lot of it is the

release of tension that, in the outside world, people would be too

inhibited to express (Merrick, 1996: 80).

Again my ethnography bears this out. In a discussion over breakfast, Jan,

who had previous experience of camp life and had lived at site B for about

two months said: “I feel free here. I’m back to being myself”. Debbie, who

had been at site B for about a month and who had also lived on site before,

responded that being there allowed her to “be who I really am”. She

commented that her partner had ruefully said she had “the site bug again”.

Jan went on to say that on site she did things she didn’t normally do

53 ELFS is a annual week long Wiccan camp. I have changed the name for ethical reasons.

157

because she’s otherwise too shy, and added: “I don’t know who I am.

When I’m here everyone knows who I am and it’s really affirming” (field

notes, 14/11/06, site B).

The Wilderness Effect: Connection

For Greenway connection – or reconnection – is fundamental to the

wilderness effect: “When entering the wilderness psychologically as well

as physically, participants most often speak of feelings of expansion or

reconnection” (Greenway, 1995: 128). As we have already seen, a sense of

connection lies at the heart of Eco-Paganism and is common to both

urban and protest site groups, so I need not repeat my discussion of its

importance. However it is clear that the wilderness effect is closely related

the other processes of connection I discussed above, and like them is

grounded in embodied knowing: Shaw explains the sense of connection at

the heart of the wilderness effect as “an embodied visceral knowing that

transcends the distinction between the inner and outer landscapes”

(Shaw, 2006).

The Wilderness Effect: Community

A strong sense of community is another key characteristic of the

wilderness effect that is also fundamental for some protest site Eco-

Pagans. Jo had "always wanted to experience community living" and

thought "the community thing" was "excellent" while Ray told me that

living on site was the first time he had lived in a "community" and had

realised that "it's a better way for people to live". My field work noted that

the alternative sustainable community aspect of protest camp living was

central for Jan (field notes, 27/11/05, site B) and she and Oak later moved

to a woodland community. Lauren sold her house in the Autumn of 2007

and bought land to set up something similar.

The Wilderness Effect: Sense of Self

The wilderness effect creates a distinct sense of self:

People often are quite explicit about how their minds feel 'open' and

'airy' in the wilderness, as contrasted with 'turgid,' 'tight,' and

'crowded' in urban culture (Greenway, 1995: 132).

Anderson's field notes describe how it felt to live on site: "I get a slowed

down, rhythmic feeling in the woods and on the meadow, relaxed"

(Anderson, J., 2004: 51). Site life gave him "a sense of possibility, a blast

of fresh air, oxygen rushing to the brain. These protests … are like

stepping into a parallel universe" (Anderson, J., 2004: 51). My field notes

regularly express very similar feelings: "Feeling about being on site:

Lightness, sense of openness” (field notes, 1/12/05, site B: also see

Chapter 7). I became especially aware of this sense when I left camp for a

couple of days for a trip to London:

On the tube I feel more enclosed, less emotionally open, more

158

restricted. We talk about urban congestion. It’s not just roads that

are congested – it’s psyches (field notes, 4/11/05, site B).

Later I expressed a similar feeling as I left camp to travel by train to

London:

As I sat down in this warm, enclosed space I felt odd – slightly

shocked somehow. Now a few minutes later, it still feels strangely

alien. Straight lines hard consistent surfaces. Ordered space. I feel

shut away. I remember sensing a similar difference between cycling

and being in a car: on a bike you’re connected, part of the space you

move through. In a car you’re enclosed in a discrete space. I think

that’s the key to the difference. [...] the inside and outside are less

defined. Even in my bender it’s very obvious what the weather is

like! There are no doors, very few straight lines and no order. The

space is more open, inconsistent, and fluid. Sometimes it has an

organic quality inspired by the materials; my bender is a dome,

shaped purely by the relationship between bent hornbeam and the

space (field notes, 14 /11/05, site B).

Tuan (1974) noted how physical setting influenced perception, and

suggested that the straight lines of conventionally constructed space

requires different skills of perception than the organic complexity of a

natural landscape. Given the complex relationship between perception

and sense of self discussed in my literature review of embodied cognition,

the phenomena Tuan observed will contribute to the wilderness effect.

The Wilderness Effect: Spiritual Dimensions

All research into the wilderness effect concurs with Greenway that it has a

“spiritual” dimension (Greenway, 1995: 128), and Key points out that

there are "many examples" of spiritual experiences catalysed by

wilderness (Key, 2003: 65). In fact the development of Eco-paganism

amongst UK environmental protesters living in liminal temporary

encampments is just the most recent manifestation of the spiritual power

of place.

My literature review noted the importance of a sensual relationship with

nature to some Pagans, and the wilderness effect helps achieve what

Letcher described as "an embodied sensitivity to nature" which is essential

if we are to “come to know the 'genius loci' the spirit(s) of a place”

(Letcher, 2001c). All my participants linked their sense of connection with

the organic environment with their spiritual experiences, and the main

difference between site Eco-Pagans and their urban counterparts was in

their relationship to cities. For most site Eco-Pagans the organic

environment was essential to spirituality. This is apparent in much of

what I have already reported, but Rob is typical:

I find it quite difficult to connect with my spirituality when I’m in an

159

urban environment - It’s only when I get out into nature … and feel

the energy flowing through me and I have that connection […] the

only way to understand it is to be out there and experience it.

Exceptions

Not everyone on protest sites showed as much respect for the places they

lived as the Eco-Pagans, nor did everyone develop a nature based

spirituality. Clearly the processes of connection do not influence everyone

and other factors must come into play. Although I did not interview

activists who lacked a sense of connection, some of these factors were

apparent, notably the influence of alcohol at sites D and E:

It's great here right now, but Bob tells me it can change in a moment

if the 'brew crew'54 turn up. This is a major factor influencing any

wilderness effect (field notes, 21/07/06, site D).

On more established camps there is often very little that needs to be done

and boredom often leads to alcohol abuse. This was also apparent at site

When I arrived I heard [reports] of a lot of drunkenness on site.

This confirmed when I went over on Sunday morning to see 6-8

people drinking cider at 10 am. General reports of fighting,

drunkenness and noise in the evenings. [...] Then in Sunday [night]

things turned round: a fiddle player turned up and it was folk songs

and tea round the main fire! Since then I've seen much less booze so

things may be turning round (field notes, 05/07/06, site E).

Stringer and McAvoy noted four factors that inhibited spiritual experience

in wilderness: Not enough time alone, not enough time in general to "see,

feel and/or experience processes", "too large a group" and simply "not

looking for spiritual experiences" (Stringer and McAvoy, 1992: 69). All

these would be inhibiting factors at protest sites which are often chaotic,

sometimes include large groups and attract people with no interest in

spirituality. Greenway opines that intention - a factor closely related to

this last point - is the key to how powerful the wilderness effect is and

observed that many people "carry" urban culture into the wilderness,

meaning that they resist entering into it psychologically (Greenway, pers.

comm., 2006).

The Impact of Processes of Connection

Spiritual Emergence

Three of my participants became increasingly drawn towards Eco-

Paganism during the period of my research. Ray followed the typical

pattern of finding a name described in the previous chapter: He always

54 The 'brew crew' refers to mostly itinerant alcoholics who typically drink Carlsberg Special

Brew lager which is 9.0% alcohol.

160

had some sense of a spirituality that was rooted in a "love for the Earth",

and had recognised Paganism as a way to express that feeling. Dave and

Lauren are atypical in that this spiritual awareness emerged later in life,

perhaps because they had very little opportunity to play in the organic

environment as children. Although my fieldwork sample is too small to

claim that this is more than a plausible hypothesis, it correlates with

existing research discussed in my embodied cognition literature review.

The wilderness effect had a fundamental influence on the emergence of an

Eco-Pagan spirituality for these three people, and although wilderness

researchers have noted individual spiritual experiences, this is the first

time a fieldworker has observed the emergence of a complex 'nature

based' spirituality in participants in any location. I arrived at site B within

weeks of it being set up, so witnessed all the gradual changes that marked

the spiritual growth of Dave, Ray and Lauren, and the latter's 'Green Man'

epiphany. Because I was experiencing the spiritual influence of the

wilderness effect myself during the same period, I had an embodied

understanding of the process that I could interpret within an academic

context. This unique combination of embodied understanding, thick

ethnography and theoretical analysis has provided significant original

insights into site Eco-Paganism. My research not only bears out Harvey's

opinion that site Eco-Paganism tests “our understanding of what

‘spirituality’ might mean” (Harvey, 1997b: 3): It also demonstrates how

spiritual experiences catalysed by processes of connection have helped

create the sub-culture I call site Eco-Paganism. Letcher claimed that Eco-

Paganism emerged from new-age traveller culture (Letcher, 2005), and

my literature review describes philosophical, religious and political

influences, but the wilderness effect is the real power that underlies all

these subsequent social influences.

This dramatic example of the power of place helps explain several key

characteristics of Eco-Paganism, including participant’s tendency to adopt

the name because it reflects their existing spirituality, the emphasis on

orthopraxy and eclectic spiritual practice. Furthermore, although UK site

Eco-Paganism emerged from the 1992 Twyford Down protest (Letcher,

2005: 556), it is found amongst environmental protesters in other

countries, notably those spending time in wilderness (Shaw, 2006; Taylor,

B., 2001). Given existing evidence of the power of the wilderness effect to

catalyse spiritual experiences, it offers the most plausible explanation for

the emergence of site Eco-Paganism on different continents. Cultural

influences are far less significant: Although Starhawk's work is influential

amongst urban Eco-Pagans, it is largely absent from protest sites, which

remain dismissive of mainstream Paganism.

Blurring Boundaries

I found extensive evidence that processes of connection encouraged a

recognition that “organism and environment enfold into each other”

(Varela et al. 1991: 217), as described by the enactive process model. Rob

161

described how he felt one evening in the woods when a deep realisation of

environmental destruction came to him:

I felt like Gaia was really screaming out through me, saying please

help me. Please help me, and like I started screaming myself and

started saying these words. I felt so connected, so at one with the

earth that this violence was being done towards me. Um, not me

personally, any ego or anything like that, but me as in life, as in this

whole unity which I’m connected with.

His identification with a sense of life itself, which is emphatically not his

ego, is particularly striking and recalls Greenway's conclusion that

processes of connection "facilitate the arousal of nonegoic awareness"

(Greenway, 1995: 133). As we have seen such experiences are not

uncommon. Taylor found that "no small number of activists report

profound experiences of connection to the Earth and its lifeforms"

(Taylor, B. 2005: 47) while Eco-Pagan Jodie concluded that site life

constructed "a different form of consciousness whereby a person felt a

part of nature" (Greenwood, 2005: 107).

Motivation

Environmental campaigners are already committed to activism before

they arrive on a protest site and this may have little or nothing to do with

processes of connection. However, many activists who arrived on site for

rational reasons soon became influenced by the power of place. Although

all embodied cognition involves emotional engagement (inter alia,

Damasio 1994 and 2003), Plows suggest that it is especially important for

activists:

This is a crucial point in activist narratives as will be evidenced time

and again in this chapter, the emotive, personal response - the facts

are felt rather than merely understood (Plows, 2002: 173).

Plows notes four aspects of this powerful emotional motivation, all of

which tie in with my own research findings: First, "[s]ome kind of

emotional, spiritual and/or aesthetic connection to place, for example, is

often peoples’ first action trigger" and as we have already seen, place is

fundamental to Eco-Paganism. Plows found that a respect for "nature, for

animals, for people" were also key motivation factors and this often "had a

spiritual dimension". Relationships with other activists, "ties formed

under (often) extreme conditions" were also important (Plows, 2002: 208,

author's emphasis), and this correlates with research findings on the close

relationship between place and community noted by wilderness

researchers.

Some activists are initially driven by rational reasons, but develop the

kind of feeling for the facts that Plows describes. Kate, a Newbury activist

quoted in Merrick's autobiographical account of the protest, is a good

162

example:

I am starting to forget myself why I first went down, but I know it

was rationalised by well thought out arguments against the Car

Culture. Now these arguments have been replaced by a belief

system, an irrational commitment to the land, to the trees and to the

people who fight to save them (Kate in Merrick, 1996: 128).

Lauren's experience is very similar. Her involvement with environmental

activism began when she watched David Bellamy's television series

Turning the Tide (Bellamy, 1987):

I watched and I thought if only half of what he's saying is true, why

the fuck isn't anyone doing anything about it? [...] I just could not

believe it and that's when I started getting active with Friends of the

Earth, CND - people like that.

Given that Lauren is a retired teacher and "a very logical person" this

rational rather than intuitive approach is to be expected. But, as explained

above, the influence of protest site life changed her outlook dramatically

and after her meeting with the Green Man she concluded that:

what was at Twyford Down is living on - it's turned up at [site B].

This feeling, this love of the land, is growing so much in people now.

And that is what will win through in the end.

Her rational, logical motivation has been transformed into faith in the

power of love for the land. Rob made the same transition, and described

the process explicitly:

I tried for a long time, kind of getting up every morning and sort of

reminding myself of the ethical issues that were at stake here and

you know, trying to each day re-establish my conviction to do

something, and I find that trying to do that on a rational level was

insufficient to to - you know - to fulfilling my aims and giving me

that energy. And over the past kind of year - couple of years I guess -

I‘ve really discovered how much energy one can invoke from nature,

on a very intuitive level, [pause] and that I believe that is far more

powerful and far more, um, deeply ingrained within oneself than

simply rationalising it, and that’s fundamentally based on

experience and based on living essentially, yeah.

For Rob, Kate and Lauren reason becomes replaced by something

ultimately far more powerful; an embodied spiritual understanding of

connection to place. This experience may be far more common that we

realise: Jane, one of Shaw’s informants, was on an anti-uranium blockade

near the Kakadu National Park55 and explained how she “loved to observe

55 Kakadu National Park is situated 250km east of Darwin, in the Northern Territory of

163

the way the protesters from the cities down south would fall slowly into

the rhythms of the land and be captivated by them” (Shaw, 2006). It is

this embodied knowing of connection that inspires and motivates the ‘folk’

spirituality I’ve described as protest site Eco-Paganism.

Attitude to Urban Life

Many of my participants (6) contrasted the connectedness they felt in the

organic environment with what they perceived as the alienating effect of

urban life. Lauren compared her old lifestyle with how she lived now:

It is very difficult when you come from this world, of time and

meetings and writing things down. You get right out of touch with

yourself.

After over a year living on sites, Dave concluded that when we "shed all

[the] stuff" of conventional life "it definitely lets the spiritual side of

yourself come out". Ray concurs with Dave's conclusion:

in this day and age it's just taken away from you [...] your mind's

just filled with so much other stuff - well, crap basically [...]. No-

one's really in touch with what they actually are or anything, or life.

[...] And if you start talking about, you know, the wind and the earth

and the fire and the stars people just start laughing at ya [chuckles].

Ian and Adam believed that this lack of understanding is endemic to

Western life: Ian lamented that "We are bred not to get it", while Adam

told me that we are taught "from the womb" that "this is the way to live",

and social reinforcement is all around us "like smoke". Adam contrasted

this "psychic pollution" with a sense of "peace" that comes from being

"grounded" in the embodied way of knowing that he feels in his stomach.

The sense of connection Adam describes often had a practical expression.

Previous ethnographies described different degrees of environmental

sensitivity amongst site Eco-Pagans, contrasting the respectful “practical

paganism” of Twyford Down (Plows, 2001) with the insensitive rituals

Letcher observed at Newbury (Letcher, 2001c). My own ethnographic

research, which was more extensive than Letcher's, concurs with Plows,

and I observed elements of Permaculture, extensive recycling and

considerable sensitively to local ecology amongst protest site Eco-Pagans.

OTHER ASPECTS OF PRACTICE

Magic (Spell work)

Some typical aspects of mainstream Paganism are less apparent amongst

site Eco-Pagans, notably magic and practice that involves deities. Magic

was only mentioned in two interviews: Jo explained that part of the

reason she drew away from Wicca was that "magic was never really [her]

Australia.

164

thing", while Jake commented that it was not part of his practice. Only

three protection spells were cast by site Eco-Pagans throughout my

fieldwork, including one by me and one which caused considerable

disagreement. Again the earth based/esoteric model helps explain

fieldwork findings, especially in the context of Pearson's differentiation of

"occult" "ritual magic" from the " 'ordinary magic' of everyday life", which

is concerned with "a connection to the Earth" (Pearson, 2007: 101). Her

clarification is useful: Whereas "occult" magic is rarely practiced and often

disparaged amongst Eco-Pagans, the 'ordinary magic' of connection is

fundamental to both urban and site Eco-Paganism. It is this latter

understanding of magic which Greenwood uses in her discussion of

"magical consciousness", which as we have seen describes a form of

embodied knowing (Greenwood, 2005).

Deity

Very few of my participants worked with deity at all, and only Oak

honoured a named pantheon deity. Jan did not like talking about working

with a deity, and has quite a sophisticated understanding of the whole

notion:

Well, I wouldn’t call it work. It’s, I just like to say hello, and you

know. I don’t know. Whether it’s Her, or something else, or just the

land breathing maybe, I don’t know, but it’s the same kind of

feeling. But, I can call Her the Goddess to other people because they

understand.

I asked her what she meant by "the land breathing", she explained:

it’s the mushrooms underneath, and all the roots, and the trees

intertwining underneath. I mean, in a wood all the trees have joined

together and then you’ve got all these layers of different ecosystems

- I think the whole thing makes a complete breathing creature,

almost. Which is why, you know, land clearance is so dreadful [...]

that is the whole breathing entity of which we should be a part, a

symbiotic part, and we’re not. That’s where it all goes wrong,

horribly wrong, isn’t it? That’s the Goddess, that’s who I try and, I

don’t know, communicate with, talk to, sense, um. Yeah, but I felt

wonderful when I was calling Her in and I think people understood

what I was trying to say.

Jan was not particularly concerned with naming this phenomena as

Goddess or ecosystem or both, partly perhaps because she thought that

"we construct our own realities". What was important was her relationship

to the breathing land and to her community. It is significant that when

Jan invited the Goddess to the Circle at the Land Blessing ritual, she did

not call to an unnamed universal deity - The Goddess - or a pantheon

Goddess, but the local Goddess of that specific area.

165

John was emphatic that the power of the Awen came from an external

force, but did not specify any name:

It's coming from the great God, the great Goddess, the Universal

Architect, whichever tradition you come from, it's external. [...] It's

not coming from you, it's coming from something you tap into and

work through.

Jake was not "called to certain deities" and Jo had "never really done

deity", though she added "to me it's the Old Gods and they're there, they're

everywhere". Ray didn't relate to deity because he didn't identify as Pagan

and none of my remaining participants mentioned deity, although they

did talk about spirits, the Fairy Folk (Ian and Adam), or more diffuse

notions of 'energies'.

Ancestors

The ancient burial at site B was very significant for some participants, and

ancestors were important for Jo and Dave. John's ritual focused on the

burial, but significantly he did not mention it in his interview, while both

Jake and Ray only mention the burial in passing. In contrast, the burial

and ancestors dominated my interview with Dave, who repeatedly

mentioned the spiritual importance of the burial:

The whole area is a burial site so how can you not be spiritual? How

can you not be? You're living on a site of ancestors, you know [...]

You know, you're living on top of this sacred part of the earth, how

can you not be spiritual here? It it draws you in whether you like it

or not, you know. They call out to you - our ancient dead.

Jo felt a similar affinity, and felt it was "an honour to work, I think, with

[...] this burial place of an ancestor". The place in general was also

important:

you build up that relationship with that land and [pause] and I feel

now that that what keeps me here is that bond, with the ancestors

and with the spirit that is around us here all the time.

Jo and Dave's fight to protect the site is inspired and supported by the

ancestral spirits as well as the nature spirits of place, and as both are

inherent in the land this relationship ties in strongly with the main theme

of connection. In the previous chapter Cross Bones cemetery illustrated

the importance of the cultural aspects of place, and it's significant that a

burial site evoking a sense of the ancestors once again becomes a powerful

place to think with. Sack's work explored this process by which places

"draw together the natural, the social, and the intellectual" (Sack, 1997:

12), and he opines that this complex weave of cultural and physical

features "enables place to draw together the three realms, and makes place

constitutive of ourselves as agents" (Sack, 1997: 33).

166

The Erotic

The erotic emerged as a theme amongst urban Eco-Pagans and was

important for Rob:

I’ve also discovered the importance of like, sexual energy that

pervades everything as well, it [...] but that’s something as well that

channelled and used for empowerment [...] I think it’s everywhere,

and it’s a natural force that um, one can hook oneself up to.

No-one else mentions the erotic but there is an obvious correlation with

the themes of connection, energy and empowerment.

EMBODIED SITUATED COGNITION AND THE WILDERNESS

EFFECT

We have repeatedly heard how embodied situated cognition uses the

immediate environment to think with, notably in the case of Lauren's

waterfall. Trocco, who led educational field trips into the Everglades

National Park, described an example that illustrates how this process

operates in a typical wilderness context. The group leaders found that the

wilderness effect alone was rarely enough to shift the student's “years of

cultural conditioning”. But “when we associated a student’s community,

and eventually their individual identity, with planetary ecosystems, a

kinship between the human community and wild ecosystems developed,

and the student's bond with the earth was strengthened”. The power of

this approach became an “even stronger tool when the explication was

able to touch an individual's psyche - as the similarity moved beyond

metaphor” (Trocco, 1997). Trocco describes just such an occasion.

Carolyn, one of the students on the trip who had some “tense emotional

issues”, was scared of entering the swamp. Trocco suggest that going into

the swamp would be like going into her “psyche or consciousness":

“perhaps understanding the swamp, can help you understand yourself".

Carolyn agrees to “just think about it as a metaphor” and give it a try, but

Trocco comments “I’m not totally sure it's a metaphor” (Trocco, 1997),

hinting at a blurring of person and place similar to that described by the

enactive process model.

Eco-Paganism typically draws on symbols grounded in “the earth and the

seasonal cycles of the natural world” (Salomonsen, 2002: 14), like Jan's

description of the Goddess as "the land breathing". That is to say, Eco-

Paganism is structured around practices that associate "individual

identity, with ... ecosystems". It is thus equivalent to the techniques

Trocco used to shift cultural conditioning, so on Trocco's evidence we

would expect Eco-Paganism to enhance the wilderness effect. I discussed

the impact of belief systems on cognitive extension in Chapter 4,

167

suggesting that the work of Stepp et al. (Stepp et al., 2003) explained why

it was easy to resist the wilderness effect (Metaphors as Scaffolding). But

their work may also help explain why Eco-Paganism would favour the

wilderness effect: If belief systems can “interrupt feedback … from the

sociocultural and biophysical environments” (Stepp et al., 2003), then

presumably they can also enhance that feedback, strengthening the

cognitive extension described in enactive process model.

The experiences Trocco describes exemplify how the enactive process

model works in practice, as do those of Eco-Pagan Rob's. Rob finds it

“difficult to cope” in urban environments partly because “in an urban

environment everything is constructed um, everything is based on ideas”.

His difficulties are reminiscent of those described by other participants

who found urban life alienating (see Attitude to Urban Life), and echo

Barry's comments in Chapter 8. Embodied situated cognition in an

environment Barry called a "sensory desert" drives Rob “a bit mad”, but in

a more natural environment, his thinking is very different, and he “can

kind of connect and open up those channels again”. In each case cognitive

extension uses the local environment to make sense of the self and this

may be life enhancing, as with Carolyn in the Everglades or difficult, as it

is for Rob in the town.

Trocco and his colleagues utilised the powerful "kinship between the

human community and wild ecosystems" (Trocco, 1997) and this

relationship is clarified by my fieldwork and existing research. First, we

know the wilderness effect can contribute to both spiritual experiences

and help create community; second, studies show that "social dynamics"

and "camaraderie" catalyse spiritual experiences in wilderness

(Fredrickson and Anderson, 1999: 36; Stringer and McAvoy, 1992: 69);

finally, we saw above how important intuitive, emotional ways of knowing

- one aspect of embodied situated cognition - are for site Eco-Pagans.

Trocco used this dynamic to break through the “years of cultural

conditioning” (Trocco, 1997) and it works in a similar way on protest sites.

Fig. 8: Place and Community

168

The synergy of these findings is illustrated in fig. 8: the wilderness effect

(place) catalyses spiritual experiences and helps create community which

in turn reinforces those same experiences. I do not want to imply that

place necessarily comes first: As we saw in the examples of the site B

ancestor burial and Cross Bones cemetery (previous chapter), community

reinforces the significance of place, thus contributing to its spiritual

power. Of course belief and associated practices will be influential too, as

discussed above (Stepp et al., 2003). All these interacting factors operate

though interwoven processes of embodied situated cognition and are,

ceteris paribus, in a self-reinforcing positive feedback loop.

Living on a protest site - or wilderness trekking - will also have significant

effects on what Jackson describes as the "body-mind-habitus" (Jackson,

2006: 328) thus contributing to changes in one's being-in-the-world.

Jackson claims that changes in our habitus can free "energies bound up in

habitual deformations of posture or movement produce an altered sense

of self" (Jackson, 2006: 328), which is exactly what the wilderness effect

does. A fundamental aspect of this change in habitus is a deepening sense

of personal embodiment which I describe above in terms of shifting

awareness down the cognitive iceberg, shown in fig. 1 below, which is

copied from chapter 4. I explained there that shifting consciousness down

the triangle takes us into what Greenwood calls magical consciousness

(Greenwood, 2005) which blurs the distinction between self and other,

shown in the graphic by the gaps appearing in the side of the triangle, and

thus enhances our sense of connection.

Fig 1: The Cognitive Iceberg

(Reproduced from 'Embodied Situated Cognition: A Synthesis')

169

It is this slide down the cognitive iceberg that explains the power of all the

interrelated processes of connection I have discussed. As Greenway and

others have noted, the wilderness effect brings "a shift from culturally

reinforced, dualism-producing reality processing to a more nondualistic

mode" (Greenway 1995, 131). Although "consciousness remains", it is no

longer dominated by "the need-crazed egoic process (especially the

making of distinctions)". As noted above (Processes of Connection), what

remains is "a simpler, 'nonegoic' awareness" which can "open

consciousness ... to the more natural flows of information from nature"

(Greenway 1995, 132).

Conclusion

I have identified several processes of connection that inform and inspire

site Eco-Paganism, each of which functions through embodied situated

cognition. All these processes tend to deepen our sense of connection with

the organic environment, can enhance a sense of community and personal

empowerment and often alters our sense of self: They thus enable a

communion with the genius loci which empowers activism, inspires

spirituality and informs site Eco-Paganism. Meditation, ritual, entheogens

and the felt sense sometimes facilitate site Eco-Pagans in gaining

considerable personal insights from 'communication' with the genius loci

within which they are enactively enmeshed. All of these processes can

shift awareness down the cognitive iceberg making the enactive process of

co-creating reality described in chapter 4 more transparent.

All the processes of connection were significant, but the wilderness effect

was particularity important, catalysing a spiritual emergence for several

people, and playing a fundamental role in the development of site Eco-

Paganism. This dramatic example of the power of place helps explain

several key characteristics of Eco-Paganism including its origins,

emphasis on orthopraxy, and eclectic spiritual practice. Trocco's work

suggests that the practices of Paganism will enhance the wilderness effect

(Trocco, 1997), and considerable evidence suggests that the processes of

connection are mutually reinforcing (inter alia, Berger and McLeod, 2006;

Fredrickson and Anderson, 1999; Greenway, 1995).

Greenway’s evocative phrase that “civilization is only four days deep”

(Greenway, 1995: 129) comes back to me, and I suspect it is even more

fragile than that: Removing just some of the trappings of the 21st century

can profoundly shift our awareness and that powerful process inspires the

spirituality at the heart of the protest movement. In the next chapter I

weave together the strands of urban and site Eco-Paganism to reveal the

full tapestry of spirituality grounded in embodied situated knowing.

Chapter 10: Eco-Paganism: A "sacred relationship with

the world"

170

"To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour".

Auguries of Innocence, William Blake

All participants found a "sacred relationship with world" (Zoe) through

embodied communication with the spirit of place or "honour[ing] the little

weed in the garden" (Jocelyn), a practice Barry described as listening to

the threshold brook. Some protest site Eco-Pagans described similar

experiences, while others explained how simply living in the woods

catalyzed "deep spiritual experiences" (Lauren) that could be life

changing. Although there is much common ground, those in each group

engaged with place in different ways, and applying the enactive process

model can clarify the dynamic relationships between these experiences.

The last three chapters provided a thick ethnography of Eco-Paganism

and introduced a complex weave of related themes. Eco-Pagans from

across the range identified in my typology (fig. 7) interacted with the

processes of connection and thinking with place in different ways. Before

turning to my final conclusions, I apply the enactive process model to

explain these intricate patterns in detail, and demonstrate the correlation

between the threshold brook and the wilderness effect. I thus demonstrate

how urban and site Eco-Pagans find a "sacred relationship with world"

through various means in very different places.

Reflecting on my autoethnography helps illuminate the overall shape of

my fieldwork. This is especially apparent when I unpack my embodied

experiences of the processes of connection. From this context I then

explain the relationship between these processes and thinking with place

using my enactive process model, and identify the importance of intent. In

'Sacred Ecology' I opined that embodied knowing empowered

environmental activists (Harris, 1996), and I can now consider that claim

more carefully.

Although the erotic wasn't talked about much in interviews, I consider its

significance as a subtext, noting the influence of ecofeminism on Eco-

Paganism. This influence may help explain the lack of gender differences

in participants' ways of knowing, but I offer an alternative hypothesis

based on recent research. I conclude by presenting the pattern that has

emerged from my fieldwork that shows how my enactive process model

explains the Eco-Pagan's "sacred relationship with the world".

Reflection: Autoethnography

171

My experiences are notable not only because I lived in both worlds during

my research, but because

I am the field and at the heart of my research methodology lies a

heightened reflexive awareness of my life world that enables me to

sense the process of embodied knowing ('Autoethnography: “You’re

not just studying then - you’re living it”').

Thus, I truly know this sacred relationship - both inside and out. My

autoethnography, which was written before the bulk of interviews took

place, helps illuminate the patterns of my fieldwork from within. My use

of the felt sense is apparent on several occasions, as when "I 'felt' a strong

'energy' while I held 'Mr. Pointy' [Oak’s antlered stag skull]" (thesis: 107).

Later, when sitting in the tree, I "can sense anger at the intrusion", and

then "get a sense of understanding from the tree" (thesis: 108). I

wondered if listening to my intuition was "the most important thing I’ve

learnt from Paganism" (thesis: 107), and indeed my training meant that I

could easily listen to the felt sense. Being aware of the felt sense requires

an embodied reflexivity that enhanced my awareness of my own process,

and this is apparent when I was looking for bender poles. On this occasion

I needed to open up "my senses to the woods", and recognised that the

"the knack" of seeing potential bender poles requires:

a particular sensory acuity that feels like I'm relaxing into it and

opening myself up to the space (thesis: 106).

This sounds like - and felt like - I was shifting my awareness down the

cognitive iceberg into a light trance state that both increased my feeling of

connection to place and my sensory acuity. Several participants describe

similar experiences, notably Rob and Barry.

The impact of the wilderness effect is also apparent when I describe my

"feeling of lightness" and "sense of openness" (thesis: 109), and in my

ambivalence about returning to an urban life. Although my

autoethnography concludes shortly after I returned to London, my

practice changed significantly. While on site I wrote:

When I lived in London I used do a brief ritual to greet the

Elements. Why aren’t I doing my Elements ritual anymore? ‘Cos it’s

all here! Everyday I go and collect water, everyday I light a fire; I

walk on the bare earth and spend most of the day under the open

sky. In London I needed to make an effort to stay connected – here

it just happens (thesis: 108).

I did indeed have to "make an effort to stay connected" on my return to

urban life, and soon began to practice my "ritual to greet the Elements"

again.

172

PROCESSES OF CONNECTION

I identified six related processes which can catalyze a sense of connection

or be used intentionally to enhance an existing relationship. One of the

most complex of these processes is what Barry called the "threshold brook

... experience". This is a moderated wilderness effect which focuses on

specific, perhaps apparently insignificant aspects of the local

environment. The power of a classic wilderness like the Grand Canyon can

become apparent within days, whereas the less than pristine wilderness of

a protest site works its magic over months. In an urban location the

influence of the organic environment is diminished even more, hence the

need to listen carefully for the quiet voice of the threshold brook. Such

subtle embodied communion with place requires an intentional effort

which may involve meditation. However, simply taking time to fine-tune

our awareness of the organic environment opens us to the sensory

richness available in intimate local relationships. As with more typical

experiences of the wilderness effect, the threshold brook is deeply healing

and can inspire a spiritual sensibility.

The processes of connection are closely interrelated and interact in

significant ways, but identifying them individually has heuristic value.

Although the significance of each will vary for individuals and across a

lifetime, they have recognizably different degrees of importance in my

fieldwork overall: In that order, they are the wilderness effect and similar

intimate experiences of the organic environment, the felt sense, ritual,

trance, meditation and entheogens. I have already detailed how these

processes of connection impact on urban and site Eco-Pagans, so focus

here on common threads and how my own experience can illuminate the

emerging pattern.

All of these have influenced my sense of connection, although different

processes have been significant at different times. As I moved between

urban and protest site status during my research, I include myself in

whichever column (see table below) was appropriate when a given process

had the greatest impact. Again my experience is illuminating. The

wilderness effect has had a profound effect, and has made me much more

attentive to the threshold brook, which suggests this will be a lasting

influence. The felt sense has been significant for me in both urban and site

situations, and as I have trained within a Tradition, I would be expected to

find it easy to use. I now realize that I have been using my felt sense in a

fairly ad hoc way for years, in that it is fundamental to many aspects of my

Pagan practice, and again my experience echoes that of participants. In

addition, the way a Focusing interview can reveal an "embodied

understanding" of an "interbodied experience" (Todres, 1999: xx [2007:

39]) parallels the experiences described by participants of the role of the

felt sense in healing and spiritual connection (inter alia, Mary and Mark).

173

Processes of Connection Urban Eco-Pagans

The wilderness

Adrian, Barry, Emily,

effect/threshold brook Gordon, Jocelyn, Mark,

Mary, Michael, Sally, Zoe

Site Eco-Pagans

Adam, Adrian, Dave,

Debbie, Ian, Jake,

Jan, Jo, John, Lauren,

Millie, Oak, Rob, Ray

- Childhood play

Adrian, Barry, Emily,

Adam, Debbie, Ian,

Gordon, Jocelyn, Sekhara, Jake, Jan, Jo, John,

Sally, Zoe

Oak, Rob, Ray

- Gardening

(Adrian) 56

The felt sense

Adrian, Barry, Emily,

Adam, Adrian, Dave,

Gordon, Jocelyn, Mark, Debbie, Ian, Jake,

Mary, Michael, Sekhara, Jan, Jo, John,

Sally, Zoe

Lauren, Millie, Oak,

Rob, Ray

Ritual, including dance Adrian, Barry, Emily,

Adrian, Dave, Debbie,

and similar practices Gordon, Jocelyn, Mark, Jan, Jo, John, Millie,

Mary, Michael, Sekhara, Oak, Ray

Sally, Zoe

Deep trance

Barry, Gordon, Mark,

Sekhara. (Adrian)

Meditation or

Adrian, Barry, Emily,

Adam, Dave, Debbie,

contemplation including Gordon, Jocelyn, Mark, Ian, Jan, Jo, Rob

'sitting out'

Mary, Michael, Sekhara,

Sally, Zoe

Entheogens

Adrian, Barry, Mark

Ian, Jake, Lauren,

Rob

Table #1: Processes of Connection

When I first became involved with Paganism, formal ritual was very

significant as it was my main practice. Over time such ritual became less

important, and in this my experience parallels that of most participants. I

practiced ritual on site and in my urban life, and like other Eco-Pagans

found simple, personal rituals much more significant than formal ones.

Trance has had a significant influence on my spiritual path, although I do

not practice as regularly or - I estimate - as deeply, as Barry, Gordon,

Mark and Sekhara, and not at all while on site. I can only guess why deep

trance practice is entirely absent from my site fieldwork, but practical

difficulties seem to be the most likely factor. Meditation has become more

important for me over the last few years, but I meditated much less on site

for purely practical reasons, and this may help explain why fewer site Eco-

Pagans do so. Although we might expect meditation to be more common

amongst Traditionalized Eco-Pagans, reference to my 'Typology of Eco-

Paganism' diagram (fig. 7) shows that the opposite is the case, which

further suggests that circumstances rather than temperament limits

56 I worked as a part-time gardener for a few month several years ago and found it significant.

174

meditation on site.57 Entheogens have had an occasional and often

profound influence on my spiritual path. Because I have only used

entheogens in an urban context, I make that practice almost as common

in both groups.

Processes of Connection and Thinking with Place

The processes of connection are intimately braided with thinking with

place, and in teasing out this complex relationship I need to clarify the

different ways in which each can operate. There is far less distinction

between processes of connection and thinking with place that this analysis

might imply, but it remains a useful exercise. Processes of connection can

function in two modes: Some - notably the wilderness effect and some

similar experiences - work mainly in the background to enable an

embodied awareness of connection. Others, like the felt sense and trance,

enable us to be aware of specific instances of connection, while the

threshold brook, ritual, meditation and entheogens can function in both

ways. Thinking with place has two similar modes: It operates in the

background all the time for everyone but can become more palpable. We

think with place much the time although we are rarely aware of it (inter

alia, Clark: 1997; Preston: 2003), and how Eco-Pagans are influenced by

the places they occupy is apparent in both the power of the wilderness

effect and in the discomfort some report when in an urban environment

(inter alia, Barry, Emily, Ian and Rob). But all Eco-Pagans sometimes use

processes of connection like ritual, trance, meditation, entheogens and the

felt sense to think with a place more explicitly.

These facets describe similar phenomena from different perspectives, as

they all depend on the relationship between the tip of the cognitive iceberg

and the rest of that triangle: The wilderness effect and related experiences

are background thinking with place that can disrupt "culturally reinforced,

dualism-producing reality processing” (Greenway, 1995: 131), while the

felt sense, trance, meditation, entheogens and aspects of ritual, operate by

shifting awareness down the cognitive iceberg. As Greenway notes, the

"nondualistic" mode of consciousness produced in extreme instances of

the wilderness effect is similar to some states produced by meditation or

psychedelics (Greenway, 1995: 131-132). In each case an awareness can

emerge that organism and environment are enfolded (Varela et al., 1991:

217) and our "cognitive identity" is created by a "communion with ...

landscape" (Preston, 2003: 100).

Intent plays an important role throughout. Although background thinking

with place proceeds below conscious awareness, we can resist the

wilderness effect (Greenway, 2006; Taylor, 2006), and listening to the

threshold brook requires attention. Trance and the felt sense are usually

57 This remains a moot point. It may be that site Eco-Pagans have less of a need to use

meditation as a process of connection because of the impact of the wilderness effect, but

other factors like the availability of entheogens ('magic mushrooms') and cultural influences

complicate any such conclusion.

175

deliberately used to increase our awareness of connection, while the

influence of ritual, meditation and entheogens depends on the

practitioner’s intent, and can be used to enhance a specific relationship or

encourage a more general sense of connection. In practice all these

processes are fluid, simply because the intentional 'self' that is thinking is

always woven into place, but in each case:

The environmental experiences that structure cognition will be

different depending upon where the agent of knowledge is located,

what practices the agent engages in, and what cultural values the

agent possesses (Preston, 2003: 72).

For site Eco-Pagans the steady tone of the wilderness effect is the primary

source of an embodied sense of connection, while for urban Eco-Pagans it

is the more subtle voice of the threshold brook, but in each case it inspires

and empowers activism.

Motivation

In his study of environmental philosophy, Hay emphatically states that

"the wellsprings of a green commitment ... are not, in the first instance,

theoretical: nor even intellectual. They are, rather, pre-rational" (Hay,

2002: 2; author's emphasis). This is an important insight, with which I

concur. However, he then claims that this pre-rational impulse springs

from an "instinctual and deep felt horror" at "the scale of the destruction

wrought" on our environment, and lists diverse thinkers whose

"observations rub shoulders" with his own (Hay, 2002: 3). In fact there is

little common ground between the thinkers Hay lists, beyond an

agreement that the impulse is pre-rational in some way: Shepard

diagnosed a dislocation from nature (Shepard, 1982) and Wilson

hypothesized an innate "biophilia" (Wilson, E.O., 1993: 350), while the

poet Snyder wrote that the inspirational power of the organic

environment is "rooted in the belly" (Snyder, 1980: 3). Although each

diagnosis is helpful, none have the explanatory power of the insight

common to ecopsychology, the cognitive science of enactivism, Bateson's

anthropology and the philosophy of Clark and Preston, that "[t]he

physical environment is not just a site in which mind operates; it is a

characterful place that influences the products of the mind" (Preston,

2003: 88).

By integrating these insights into the enactive process model and applying

it to my fieldwork material, I have revealed how place provides activists

with a powerful inspiration that they interpret as spiritual. The processes

of connection I have mapped offer a solution to the dislocation Shepard

saw, clarifies Wilson's notion of biophilia and fleshes out Snyder's

metaphor.

Both thinking with place and the processes of connection are "pre-

rational" in the sense that they do not involve consciously thinking

176

through propositions. They are grounded in a more fundamental

embodied cognition that operates largely outside conscious awareness.

However, we must be cautious, as 'pre-rational' hints at dualistic notions

of 'reason' as opposed to emotion. In fact Damasio's explanation that

emotion is integral to cognition (inter alia, Damasio, 1994; 2003) is borne

out in Plows' discussion on emotional knowing amongst activists:

It is not that there are rational responses (sound) and emotional

responses (faintly spurious) ... rational appreciation is symbiotically

connected to the emotional experience (Plows, 2002: 173).

With this caveat, Hay's claim that the source of environmental

commitment is pre-rational is confirmed by my research, but the

consensus I identify is more useful than his vague invocation of

"instinctual ... horror" (Hay, 2002: 3).

Sex, Gender and the Erotic

The Erotic

Although my Eco-Paganism literature review highlighted the influence of

ecofeminism, there was little explicit evidence of it in my interviews.

However as noted in that review, the influence of both feminism and

ecofeminism pervades the movement, and it's apparent in Eco-Paganism's

appreciation of embodied knowing. Several ecofeminists discuss erotic

embodied knowing (inter alia, LaChapelle, 1992; Starhawk 1982), and the

sensual body is important for many Pagans, while five participants - two

men and three women - spoke in terms of the erotic. The erotic is a

complex concept involving far more than genital sexuality, and ties in with

the main themes of this thesis. The "sensual connection" of the erotic

engenders "mutuality and empowerment" and draws on passionate,

embodied ways of knowing (Isherwood, 1996: 53). These themes are

apparent in the interviews: the erotic body as a source of knowing and

connection (Gordon, Jocelyn and Zoe), ecstatic ritual (Mary) and erotic

power as a source of "energy [...] for empowerment" (Rob). In fact, as I

suggested in 'Sacred Ecology', the erotic is process of connection (Harris,

1996: 152). Given that sexual ecstasy is a dramatic example of a shift in

awareness down the cognitive iceberg, and is our most familiar experience

of deep connection, we might be surprised that the erotic wasn't more

significant. However, "ours is not an erotic culture" (Harris, 1996: 152), so

perhaps this is to be expected.

Gendered Ways of Knowing

There were no obvious gender difference in preferred ways of knowing

amongst Eco-Pagans, with women and men showing equal sensitivity to

their embodied knowing. The influence of ecofeminism may be a factor,

but recent research emphasizing the role of social context in determining

preferred modes of cognition offers a more grounded possibility. Ryan

and David question the idea that there are "stable, gender-related

177

differences" in how "people acquire and process information", and

conclude that "individuals can utilize varying degrees of connected or

separate approaches to knowledge ... depending on the demands of the

social context" (Ryan and David, 2004: 699). Their research suggests that

men and women tend to use "connected knowing" within a group they

identified with (Ryan and David, 2004: 693), and given the close bond

amongst Eco-Pagans - especially on a protest site - we would expect a

predominance of approaches which emphasize embodied cognition. It

also seems likely that processes of connection can overcome some of the

more obvious aspects of socialization, but without comparative research

this remains no more than a plausible hypothesis.

Conclusion: A Model of Spiritual Understanding

This chapter used the enactive process model to explicate the overall

patterns of my fieldwork material. I analyzed the dynamics of the

processes of connection and their intimate relationship with thinking with

place, clarifying the different ways in which each can operate. I explained

how the power of place can inspire activists, unpacked the significance of

the erotic in Eco-Paganism and clarified the lack of gender difference in

preferred ways of knowing amongst participants.

My fieldwork touched the individual threads of many lives, and my

writing has woven them into a tapestry with a distinct pattern: By various

means we slip down the cognitive iceberg to become aware of "a larger

Mind of which the individual mind is only a subsystem" (Bateson, 2000

[1972]: 467). This plunge into the deep body awakens us from the dualistic

dream that we are separate from the "wisdom of the body" (Harris, 1996:

152). We experience this psychological shift phenomenologically as a

sense of spiritual connection that allows us to "attune ... to the natural

world", and can feel

[l]ike being in a great big dream, relevant messages are being

spoken everywhere, telling me things I need to hear, and to which I

need respond (Fisher, 2006: 103).

Such messages were spoken by Lauren's waterfall and the threshold

brook, and we heard of their power to change lives. In as much as the

immanent sacred is that which enables communion with the world and

offers spiritual knowing, its source is the deep body which blurs into our

organic environment. However deeply we drink from this source - a

threshold brook perhaps - the depth of potential implicit knowing will

never be drained and the experience of connection remains ineffable.

Chapter 11: Conclusion

178

" 'What has changed, now that this book has been written?' "

(Milton, 2002: 147).

I began this thesis with a reference to how my 1995 paper made an initial

foray into the territory of embodied knowing. That excursion opened new

vistas, and further exploration has revealed rich potential. My initial aims

and objectives, (see Appendix 1), have now been met: I have determined

the primary roles of embodied knowing in Eco-Paganism, though further

complexity remains; I identified appropriate theories of embodied

knowledge and developed a hermeneutics of embodiment that enabled my

fieldwork. To a great extent, then, I have answered the questions I

implicitly asked in my 1995 paper, and have clarified the process of

embodied knowing and its role in Eco-Paganism.

To conclude, I present and then discuss the argument that has emerged

from my research. My argument notes several original contributions to

research, which I discuss in detail. Before closing, I consider the relevance

of my work to related debates and make suggestions for further research.

THE ARGUMENT

In summary, I make the following claims:

1) Existing research shows that key aspects of cognition are situated and

embodied (inter alia, Varela et al., 1991), such that we often think with

cultural artifacts (Burkitt, 1999: 26) and place (inter alia, Preston, 2003).

2) This process involves such an intimate relationship between the skin

enclosed body and the local environment that conventional notions of

'self' and 'other' are revealed as, at best, partial.

3) Because our cognitive processes are intimately bound up with our

surroundings, place has a profound influence on our being-in-the-world.

Place operates in the background all the time but we sometimes think with

place more explicitly.

4) My fieldwork showed that many Eco-Pagans use an enhanced

sensitivity to embodied knowing in their spiritual practice. This has been

identified in other contexts as using somatic modes of attention to attend

"to and with one's body" (Csordas 1993: 138) or as a sensitivity to a felt

sense (inter alia, Gendlin, 1981).

5) I identified six processes which create a sense of connection to the

organic environment. Some of these processes are used intentionally,

while others operate in the background. Although these processes of

connection had been discussed before, their significance to Eco-Paganism

had not been fully recognized.

179

6) Eco-Pagans sometimes use these processes of connection to think with

a place.

7) Living on a protest site can catalyse the emergence of a complex 'nature

based' spirituality that many come to identify as Paganism. This results

from a type of wilderness effect (Greenway, 1995:128) and can be

explained by reference to points (1), (2) and (3).

8) Urban Eco-Pagans experience the same process less intensely through

their intentional connection to a specific place - a "threshold brook" - that

provides a "deepening sense of place" (Patterson, n.d.).

9) Training in spiritual practices enables urban Eco-Pagans to use the felt

sense - a process of connection - to commune with flora, specific places

and (less often) fauna. Similar experiences amongst untrained site Eco-

Pagans are facilitated by the wilderness effect. These experiences were

profound and spirituality significant.

I conclude that:

10) The processes of connection and thinking with place are fundamental

to embodied knowing in Eco-Paganism, and help explain many of its

distinctive aspects.

Discussion

Claims 1, 2 and 3 are based on existing research discussed in my

embodied cognition literature review (Chapter 3). In Chapter 4, I integrate

this research into a model of embodied knowing I call the enactive process

model, which I graphically illustrate with the cognitive iceberg diagram.

Because our cognitive processes are intimately bound up with our

surroundings, place has a profound influence on our being-in-the-world.

This influence is apparent in research correlating childhood play in the

organic environment with heightened adult environmental awareness

(inter alia, Cobb, 1977) and extensive evidence of the wilderness effect

(inter alia, Greenway, 1995).

Claim 4 is original and significant. Bado-Fralick opined that Wiccan

training can be understood in terms of Csordas's somatic modes of

attention (Bado-Fralick, 2005), but I develop her discussion by showing

that Gendlin's theory is more useful (inter alia, Gendlin, 1981), and then

illustrate how the felt sense is used in Eco-Paganism.

Claim 5 is original and significant. My fieldwork identified six processes

which enhance a sense of connection to the organic environment: These

are the wilderness effect and similar intimate experiences of the organic

environment, the felt sense, ritual, trance, meditation and entheogens. All

these processes have been widely discussed, but in most cases their

180

significance in Eco-Paganism has not been recognized. Several

researchers have noted the role of ritual in Eco-Paganism (inter alia,

Letcher, 2002; Plows, 1998a; Taylor, 2001), while Plows and Shaw noted

the significance of childhood play in the organic environment for

environmental activists (Plows 1998b: 136; Shaw, 2004: 132). However,

no previous study has noted all six processes of connection or analyzed

how they function in Eco-Paganism. My application of the enactive

process model to theorize these processes is also original and significant.

While some of the processes of connection operate in the background,

some can be applied intentionally, and my fieldwork showed that Eco-

Pagan practice enhances the power of the wilderness effect and thinking

with place (claims 8 and 9). As the wilderness effect and thinking with

place contribute to Eco-Pagan motivation, this finding has significance for

motivation research.

My fieldwork identified participants who developed a complex 'nature

based' spirituality while living on protest sites, which some came to

identify as Paganism. The evidence supports my claim (7), that such

spiritual emergence is at least partly catalyzed by the wilderness effect

(Greenway, 1995), and is best explained by reference to claims (1), (2) and

(3). Although researchers agree that the wilderness effect can catalyze

spiritual experiences, this had never been observed on a protest site or

been explicitly associated with a specific spiritual identity.

Given the considerable power of the processes of connection and thinking

with place within Eco-Paganism, I expect their influence to be apparent

elsewhere. In as much as this is the case, my research findings will have

widespread relevance for several disciplines, including religious studies,

anthropology, sociology and ecopsychology.

ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION

I have highlighted several original and significant contributions made by

my research. My enactive process model, set out in chapter 4, is an

original synthesis that develops existing research. The model has been a

valuable tool for interpreting Eco-Paganism and it is capable of

explicating all the processes of connection. Given that the enactive process

model has explanatory power in both religious studies and ecopsychology,

it is likely to prove valuable in other contexts.

Although all the processes of connection have been subjected to

considerable research, discussion of their role in Eco-Paganism was

minimal prior to this thesis, and my identification of the significance of

place and the wilderness effect is original. My application of the enactive

process model to provide a detailed analysis of how these processes

interact is entirely original and has considerable significance beyond this

thesis. The main concern of ecopsychology has been to find means to

181

overcome what is perceived as a widespread alienation of western people

from the organic environment (Roszak, Gomes, and Kanner: 1995). Thus,

my identification of fundamental processes of connection, which can be

further theorized using the enactive process model, makes a significant

contribution to ecopsychology.

One of the most personally significant experiences of my fieldwork was

observing the gradual emergence of a deep spiritual awareness in several

participants (Chapter 9; Spiritual Emergence). This was the first

fieldwork discussion of the emergence of a complex 'nature based'

spirituality in participants in any location. My observation demonstrates

that Eco-Paganism is a spirituality of place, which in turns means that

place is more important to religious studies than usually presented.

My research explains many of the distinctive aspects of Eco-Paganism

(claim 10) and moves beyond published work on the subject. Letcher

claimed that "the language spoken and by the myths and narratives shared

around the campfires, the hearths of the protest camps” (Letcher, 2001b)

was the driving force behind Eco-paganism. Although my research

illustrates that this kind of social bonding is significant, it functions in

tight co-operation with the processes of connection, notably the

wilderness effect (Chapter 9). Taylor emphasizes the role of formal ritual

(Taylor, B., 2005b) in US Earth First! Eco-Paganism, and although my

research is exclusively based in the UK, it seems unlikely that the US

movement would be unaffected by the processes of connection I identify.

My research shows how profound spiritual experiences can be catalyzed

by processes of connection and that those processes have helped create

the entire spiritual sub-culture I call site Eco-Paganism.

While Campbell and McMahon discussed the role of Focusing in spiritual

practice (Campbell and McMahon, 1985), they don't explore spiritual

training or Paganism. My research is the first to identify the use of the felt

sense by Pagans, and uniquely explores its role as a process of connection

to commune with place, flora and fauna (claim 9). By identifying that

many Eco-Pagans use the felt sense, I have provided a new and powerful

approach to understanding similar practices. Given that at least some

Eco-Pagan healers use the felt sense, it seems likely that healers in other

religious movements will do, too. At the very least this insight will provide

Eco-Pagans and the wider Pagan community a better understanding of

their own practice. By explicitly integrating Focusing into Pagan training

we can learn to use the felt sense even better.

In addition to the original contribution of these descriptive and theoretical

conclusions, my methodology develops existing work in original ways. My

embodied hermeneutics builds on existing research to provided a

powerful and flexible means of researching embodied knowing. Although

Todres (2007) has developed a similar approach, my methodology has

several original features, notably the Focusing Interview. My chosen

182

methodology was very effective in accessing the embodied knowing of my

participants, a tacit knowledge which Nonaka and Takeuchi note is "hard

to formalize and communicate" (Nonaka & Takeuchi, 1995: 56). My

methodology is effective and can be applied with minimal training, so it

can be usefully applied elsewhere.

WIDER RELEVANCE

My research is significant for research into Paganism, New religious

movements, embodiment, cognitive neuroscience and religion, religion

and nature, spirituality and social change, and ecopsychology. I am

engaged in all of these areas, in some cases proactively. It is impractical to

discuss the relevance of my research to all these areas, so I shall focus on

several key topics.

Relational Epistemologies

Many of participants explain their intimate relationships with aspects of

the organic environment in terms of spirits of place, and I use a situated

embodied epistemology to understand this process. Both take my work

close to the discussion of relational epistemologies and ontologies (Bird-

David, 1999). Harvey explains that contemporary animists are concerned

with "particular ways of being related to the world" that challenge

"discourses that divide spirit and flesh, soul and body, subject and

object ... people and environment, and so on" (Harvey, 2005: 83). Ingold's

work on the “poetics of dwelling” is grounded in a relational notion of

personhood where the self inheres “in the unfolding of the relations set

up by virtue of its positioning in an environment” (Ingold, 2000: 11).

Exploring how my work engages with this "new animism" (Harvey, 2005:

83) lies beyond the scope of this thesis, but fruitful discussions remain to

be had.

Re-enchantment Theory

Several theorists of Eco-Paganism - including myself - use the language of

enchantment (Letcher 2001a; Chaper 7). Although such use is not

intended to engage with Weber's re-enchantment hypothesis, it does raise

the question of whether Eco-Pagans are 're-enchanted'. Ruckbie defined

Weberian re-enchantment as using "non-rational modes of knowing, a

reevaluation of mystery, mythologization, magical practice and the

seeking of magical salvation, the belief in personal gods and in a living,

spiritual world in which everything is interconnected, an individual

perception of empowerment, a high level of the extent of re-enchantment

in everyday life and attitudes (saturation of the life-world), the

objectivisation of culture, of 're-' enchantment (a perceived change in

beliefs and attitudes) and a resistance to disenchantment" (Ruckbie,

2005). Ruckbie's research into mainstream Pagans concluded that they

were re-enchanted, because the majority of his sample showed all these

traits. A few of these traits are apparent amongst Eco-Pagans, who

typically believe in an interconnected world and emphasize personal

183

empowerment. There is some mythologization amongst Eco-Pagans, but I

found less than Letcher (inter alia, 2001b, 2004) or Butler (2003), which

suggests that the movement has changed over time. While one could argue

that "non-rational modes of knowing", are apparent amongst Eco-Pagans,

this dualistic characterization implies that mind is to rational as body is to

non-rational, which this thesis disputes. (See, inter alia, Chapter 4 and

Chapter 5).

I conclude that most of the 're-enchantment' traits are not found amongst

Eco-Pagans, and those that are - a sense of connection and personal

empowerment - are adequately explained by the processes of connection

and the enactive process model. In contrast to my approach, Weber's

theory is quite disembodied and ignores the power of place, but without

engaging in a extended critique of the re-enchantment hypothesis, it

simply doesn't explain Eco-Paganism as well as my alternative.

Further Research

Embodied Situated Cognition and Religious Practice

My research shows the importance of embodied situated cognition in Eco-

Paganism, yet this remains almost uncharted territory for religious

studies, so the potential for further research is considerable. To my

knowledge, no research has been done into the impact of different

physical spaces, understood as a whole sensorium, on religious practice.

This approach could be applied to practice in the organic environment, in

homes, and in religious buildings, either those built for the purpose or

adapted by worshippers. This is such a huge field that further suggestions

remain beyond the scope of this thesis, but I have identified Cross Bones

graveyard, discussed in Chapter 8, as my next research project.

Motivation

Research, notably my own, shows that the processes of connection have a

positive effect on activist motivation (inter alia, Cobb, 1997; Plows, 2002;

Wells and Lekies, 2006). This in itself deserves further research, but my

fieldwork also strongly suggested that Eco-Pagan practice can enhance the

wilderness effect, and thus increase motivation (Chapter 9). Anderson

found it difficult to sustain his activism when he no longer lived on a

protest site, finding that "in normal/civil society other aspects of the self

re-emerge, themselves encouraged and strengthened by the norms,

prohibitions and customs of these spaces" (Anderson, J., 2004: 53). My

research suggests that Eco-Pagan practice could have ameliorated that

situation, but this remains no more than an enticing possibility. Given the

importance of the topic, the question of the role of embodied situated

cognition in human motivation is a key area for future research.

The Felt Sense in Religious Practice

I noted in chapter 4 that although my research is historically and

184

culturally situated, there is clear potential in exploring to what extent my

theory works in other contexts. Most of the participants in my research

used the felt sense in their practice, and previous research suggests that

the same is true of other contemporary Pagans. (See Chapter 8: The Felt

Sense and Somatic Modes of Attention). It seems at least likely that the

felt sense plays a key - and unrecognised - role in contemporary Pagan

practice, and this would benefit from further research.

Cross Cultural Eco-Paganism

My research focused on UK Eco-Paganism, and although my findings are

consistent with work done in the USA (inter alia, Salomonsen, 2002;

Taylor, B., 2001), there is evidence of significant differences. Taylor

reports the kind of ecstatic ritual practice at US protest sites once found in

the UK (Taylor, B., 2001: 228), and discovering whether such practice still

occurs would help explain its current absence here. It is less clear how the

US equivalent of urban Eco-Paganism would compare with the UK form.

The differences between US and UK Paganism are under-researched, and

a comparative study of Eco-Paganism would prove valuable. Very little

research has been undertaken into Australian Eco-Paganism, but urban

and site based forms exist, notably the 'feral' eco-activists who St John

compares with the Twyford Donga Tribe (St John, 2000: 208). One key

question would be to what extent Eco-Paganism in other countries

emerged from a relationship to place, and how influential cultural factors,

like Starhawk's books, are: In essence, are the findings of this thesis cross-

cultural?

Conclusion

My argument set out the main findings of my research, and concluded

that the processes of connection and thinking with place are the keys to

understanding embodied knowing in Eco-Paganism. I presented my

contributions to research, which I outline in my closing paragraph. The

interdisciplinary nature of my work makes it relevant to a number of

fields, so I only consider its relationship to key debates before making

suggestions for further research.

So, to answer the question posed at the start of this chapter, what has

changed, now that this thesis has been written? This thesis presents the

first detailed ethnography of Eco-Paganism and highlights its importance.

In doing so, I show how place, often neglected in religious studies, is

fundamental to spiritual experience, thus encouraging new approaches to

research. I offer a new model of embodied situated cognition and

demonstrate its practical application to religious studies: given the

relevance of the enactive process model to ecopsychology, I suggest it has

wider explanatory potential. Furthermore, I show how the felt sense,

previously absent from Pagan studies, can provide a new approach to the

field. My methodology has contributed to the development of Focusing as

a tool of phenomenological research. Finally, my theorization of the

185

processes of connection has considerable potential, notably for religious

studies and ecopsychology, and I, for one, will continue to explore their

powerful influence.

Appendix 1: Original Aims and objectives of the project as

registered with the University of Southampton, February 2004

186

Primary aim:

To determine how notions of 'embodied knowledge' can be used to

interpret the practice of Eco-Paganism.

Major sub-aims:

1. To survey notions of embodied knowledge in religious studies,

cognitive science, bodywork, psychology, psychoanalytic theory and

philosophy.

1. To establish which theories of embodied knowledge can be applied to

researching the practice of Eco-Paganism.

1. To apply these theories to a relevant case study group, using ethnology,

participant observation and interviews, to evaluate methodologies and

orientate further research.

1. To develop a 'hermeneutics of embodiment' methodology based on the

work of Strobel and Halprin

5. To research a range of Eco-Pagan practice utilising this methodology.

Appendix 1: Focusing - Short Form

187

1. Clear a space

How are you? What’s between you and feeling fine?

Don’t answer; let what comes in your body do the answering.

Don’t go into anything.

Greet each concern that comes. Put each aside for a while, next to you.

Except for that, are you fine?

2. Felt Sense

Pick one problem to focus on.

Don’t go into the problem.

What do you sense in your body when you sense the whole of that problem?

Sense all of that, the sense of the whole thing, the murky discomfort or the

unclear body-sense of it.

3. Get a handle

What is the quality of the felt sense?

What one word, phrase, or image comes out of this felt sense?

What quality-word would fit it best?

4. Resonate

Go back and forth between word (or image) and the felt sense.

Is that right?

If they match, have the sensation of matching several times.

If the felt sense changes, follow it with your attention.

When you get a perfect match, the words (images) being just right for this

feeling, let yourself feel that for a minute.

5. Ask

"What is it, about the whole problem, that makes me so _________?

When stuck, ask questions:

What is the worst of this feeling?

What’s really so bad about this?

What does it need?

What should happen?

Don’t answer; wait for the feeling to stir and give you an answer.

What would it feel like if it was all OK?

Let the body answer

What is in the way of that?

6. Receive

Welcome what came. Be glad it spoke.

It is only one step on this problem, not the last.

Now that you know where it is, you can leave it and come back to it later.

Protect it from critical voices that interrupt.

Does your body want another round of focusing, or is this a good stopping

place?

Gendlin, 2003

188

References:

Abram, D., 1996. The Spell of the Sensuous, Pantheon Books, New

York.

- 2004. 'Earth Stories'. Resurgence, 222, January / February 2004.

Bideford, Devon. Accessed on-line , June 2006:

http://www.resurgence.org/resurgence/issues/abram222.htm

Adler, M., 1986. Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids,

Goddess Worshippers and Other Pagans in America Today.

Revised and expanded edition. Penguin Books, New York.

Adler, P. A., & Adler, P., 1998. 'Observational Techniques'. In Denzin

and Lincoln, (eds.): 377-392

Ahmed, J., 2004. ‘Reaching the Body: Future Directions’, in Thomas

and Ahmed (eds.): 283—300.

Aitken, 1990. 'Twenty Years of Festivals', in Festival Eye, Summer

1990: 15-16.

Alcoff, L. and Potter, E., (eds), 1993. Feminist Epistemologies.

Routledge. New York and London.

Almeida e Costa, F. and Rocha, L.M., 2005. 'Embodied and Situated

Cognition', in Artificial Life. Vol. 11, Issues 1-2, Winter-Spring 2005:

5 – 11.

Allen, D, 2005. 'Phenomenology of Religion', in Hinnells (ed.): 182–

208

Anderson, E., 2007. 'Feminist Epistemology and Philosophy of

Science', in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Zalt . E., (ed.).

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-epistemology/

Accessed: September 2007.

Anderson, J., 2004. 'The Ties that Bind? Self- and Place-identity in

Environmental Direct Action'. Ethics, Place and Environment, Vol.

7, No. 1–2, March/June 2004: 45–57

Anderson, M. L., 2003. “Embodied cognition: A field guide”.

Artificial Intelligence 149: 91-130.

Anderson, P., and Clack, B., (eds). 2004. Feminist Philosophy of

Religion: Critical Readings. Routledge, London and New York.

189

Andresen, J., (ed.) 2001. Religion in Mind. Cambridge University

Press, Cambridge., UK.

Ardener, S., (ed.), Persons and Powers of Women in Diverse

Cultures. Berg, Providence, RI and Oxford.

Arthur, S. and Nazroo, S., 2003. ‘Designing Fieldwork Strategies

and Materials’, in Richie, J. and Lewis, J. (eds.): 109-137.

Ashley, P., 2007. 'Towards an Understanding and Definition of

Wilderness Spirituality.' Australian Geographer, vol. 38, no. 1,

March 2007: 53-69.

Asad, T., 1993. Genealogies of Religion: Discipline and Reasons of

Power in Christianity and Islam. The Johns Hopkins University

Press, Baltimore.

Audi, R., (ed.), 1999. The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy,

(Second Edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. On-

line: http://www.xreferplus.com/entry/827398

Accessed October 2006.

Aydede, M., and Robbins, P., (eds.), (forthcoming, 2008). The

Cambridge Handbook of Situated Cognition. Cambridge University

Press, Cambridge, UK.

Bacon, J., pers. comm., 2006. December, 2006, University of

Northampton.

Bado-Fralick, J., 2005. Coming to the Edge of the Circle: a Wiccan

Initiation Ritual. Oxford University Press, New York.

Baillie, R., Applied Ecopsychology in Australia. On-line:

http://www.ecopsychology.org/journal/gatherings8/html/spirit/ap

plied_baillie.html

Accessed October 2006.

Bakhtin, M., 1981. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays. Holquist

(ed). Trans. Emerson and Holquist. University of Texas Press,

Austin and London.

- 1984. Rabelais and his World. Trans. Iswolsky, H., Indiana

University Press, Bloomington.

Barker, C., and Tyldesley, M., (eds.) 1995. Alternative Futures and

190

Popular Protest, Manchester Metropolitan University Press,

Manchester.

Barsalou, L.W., 2008. 'Grounded Cognition'. Annual Review of

Psychology, volume, 59, 2008: 617-645

Barsalou, L.W., Barbey, A.K., Simmons, W.K., & Santos, A., 2005.

'Embodiment in religious knowledge'. Journal of Cognition and

Culture, 5: 14-57.

Basso, K., 1996. Wisdom Sits in Places: Landscape and Language

among the Western Apache. University of New Mexico Press,

Albuquerque.

Bateson, G., 1987. 'Men are grass: Metaphor and the world of mental

process' in Thompson, W., (ed.): 37-47.

- 2000 [1974]. Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essays in

Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution and Epistemology. University

of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Beck, L. A., 1987. The Phenomenology of Optimal Experiences

Attained by Whitewater River Recreationists in Canyonlands

National Park. PhD thesis, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis,

MN.

Becker, H., 1996. ‘The Epistemology of Qualitative Research’, in

Jessor, Colby and Shweder (eds.): 53-71.

Belenky, M.F., Clinchy, B.M., Goldberger, N.R. andTarule, J.M.,

1986. Women's Ways Of Knowing: The Development of Self, Voice,

and Mind. Basic Books, New York.

Bell, C. 1992. Ritual Theory, Ritual Practice. Oxford University

Press, New York

- 1997. Ritual: perspectives and dimensions. Oxford University

Press, New York.

Bender, B. (ed.), 1993. Landscape: Politics and Perspectives. RI,

Providence and Berg, Oxford.

Benton, T., 1991. ‘Biology and social science: why the return of the

repressed should be given a (cautious) welcome’. Sociology, 25 (1):

1-29.

191

Berens, C., 1993 (AKA Miss Pod). ‘When Two Tribes Go To War’.

Pod magazine, issue 4, London: 14-15.

- 1994. ‘The Year of the Dragon’, Pod magazine, Now or Never

issue, London: 9-10.

Berger, R., & McLeod, J., 2006. 'Incorporating Nature into Therapy:

a Framework for Practice'. Journal of Systemic Therapies, vol:25,

no: 2: 80-94.

Bernstein, E., 2005. The Splendor of Creation: A Biblical Ecology,

Pilgrim Press, Cleveland.

Berman, M.,1990. Coming to Our Senses, Unwin, London.

Beyer, P., 1998. ‘Globalisation and the Religion of Nature’, in

Pearson, Roberts and Samuel, (eds.): 11-21.

Bird-David, N., 1999. ' "Animism" Revisited: Personhood,

Environment, and Relational Epistemology'. Current Anthropology,

40, Supplement (1999): 67–92.

Blain, J., 2001. Nine Worlds of Seid-Magic: Ecstasy and Neo-

shamanism in Northern European. Routledge, London.

Blain, J., Ezzy, D., and Harvey, G. (eds), 2004. Researching

Paganisms. AltaMira Press, Walnut Creek, CA.

Bleicher, J., 1980. Contemporary Hermeneutics: Hermeneutics as

Method, Philosophy and Critique. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London

and Boston

Blumenfeld-Jones, D., 1977. 'Aesthetic Experience, Hermeneutics,

and Curriculum.' Philosophy of Education 1977.

http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/EPS/PES-Yearbook/97_docs/blumenfeld-

jones.html

Accessed: May 2007.

Bookchin, M., 1993. 'What Is Social Ecology?' In Environmental

Philosophy: From Animal Rights to Radical Ecology, Zimmerman,

M.E. (ed.) Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

Available online at:

http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/bookchin/socecol.

html

192

'What Is Social Ecology'. Accessed June 2006.

Bordo, S., 1993. Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture,

and the Body. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.

Bourdieu, P., 1977. Outline of a Theory of Practice. Translated by

Richard Nice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

- 1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste,

Routledge and Kegan Paul, London

- 1990. The Logic of Practice, Polity Press, Cambridge, UK.

Bowman, M., 1992. Phenomenology, Fieldwork and Folk Religion.

The British Association for the Study of Religions.

- 2000. 'More of the Same? Christianity, Vernacular Religion and

Alternative Spirituality in Glastonbury', in Sutcliffe and Bowman,

(eds.): 83-104.

- 2002. 'Contemporary Celtic Spirituality' in Pearson, J, (ed.): 55-

102.

Boyce-Tillman, J., 2000. Constructing Musical Healing. Jessica

Kingsley Publishers Ltd., London.

Boyer, P., 2001. Religion Explained. The Evolutionary Origins of

Religious Thought, London: Random House, Basic Books, New

York.

- 2003. ‘Religious Thought and Behaviour As By-products of Brain

Function’. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 7(3): 119-124.

Bragg, E.A., 1995. Towards Ecological Self. Unpublished doctoral

dissertation, James Cook University, Queensland.

- 1996. 'Towards ecological self: deep ecology meets constructionist

self-theory'. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 16: 93-108.

Braidotti, T., 1991. Patterns of Dissonance, Polity Press, Cambridge,

UK.

Braud, W., 1998. 'Integral Inquiry: Complementary Ways of

Knowing, Being, and Expression', in Braud, W., and Anderson, R.,

(eds.): 35-68.

- 1992, 'Human Interconnectedness: Research Indications'.

193

ReVision: A Journal of Consciousness and Transformations,

Volume 14, Number 3, Winter, 1992: 140-148.

Braud, W., and Anderson, R., (eds.) 1998. Transpersonal Research

Methods for the Social Sciences: Honoring Human Experience.

Sage, Thousand Oaks, California.

Braun, W. and McCutcheon, R.T., (eds), 2000. Guide to the Study of

Religion. Cassell, New York.

Bredo, E., 1994. 'Cognitivism, Situated Cognition and Deweyian

Pragmatism'. Philosophy of Education Yearbook.

http://www.ed.uiuc.edu/eps/PES-

Yearbook/94_docs/BREDO.HTM

Accessed: 12 August 2006.

Brooks, R.A., 1999. Cambrian Intelligence. MIT Press, Cambridge,

Mass.

Brothers, L., 2005, 'brain and mind sciences' in Science,

Technology, and Society, Restivo, S. (ed.), Oxford University Press.

(Oxford Reference Online).

http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?

subview=Main&entry=t210.e15 Accessed: September 2006.

Bruner, E., 1986. 'Experience and its Expressions', in Turner, V., and

Bruner, E., (eds.): 3-30.

Brunet, A., Holowka, D.W., & Laurence, J.R., 2001. 'Dissociation', in

Encyclopedia of the Neurological Sciences, Aminoff, M.J., & Daroff,

R. B., (eds). Academic Press, San Diego. Pagination taken from pdf

version:

http://www-

psychology.concordia.ca/fac/Laurence/hypnosis/Dissociation.pdf

Accessed August 2007.

Burkitt, I., 1999. Bodies of Thought, Sage Publications, London.

Butler, B., 2003. 'The Tree, the Tower and the Shaman: the Material

Culture of Resistance of the No M11 Link Roads Protest of Wanstead

and Leytonstone, London', in Harvey, G. (ed.): 375-401.

Campbell P., and McMahon, E., 1985. Bio-Spirituality: Focusing as

a Way to Grow. Loyola Press, Chicago, Ill.

Capra, F., 1975. The Tao of Physics. Wildwood House, London.

Caplan, P., 1992. 'Engendering knowledge: the politics of

194

ethnography', in Ardener, S., (ed.): 65-88.

Caputo, J.D., 1987. Radical Hermeneutics: Repetition,

Deconstruction, and the Hermeneutic project. Indiana University

Press, Bloomington.

Carpenter, D., 1994. Spiritual Experiences. Life Changes, and

Ecological Viewpoints of Contemporary Pagans. Submitted to the

Graduate Faculty of Saybrook Institute in partial fulfilment of PhD.

Published by Circle Sanctuary, Mt. Horeb, USA.

Cavallaro, D., 1998. The Body for Beginners. Readers and Writers

Publishing Inc. New York.

Chalmers, D.J., 1995. 'Facing Up to the Problem of Consciousness'.

Journal of Consciousness Studies, vol. 2 (3), 1995. Imprint

Academic, Exeter: 200-219.

Christ, C., 1987. 'Toward a Paradigm Shift in the Academy and in

Religious Studies', in Olson. 2003: 497-505.

Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M., 1998. 'Personal experience

methods' in Denzin, N.K., and Lincoln, Y.S., (eds.): 413-427.

Clark, A., 1997. Being There Putting Brain, Body, and World

Together Again. MIT Press. Cambridge, Mass.

Clifton, C., 1998. 'Nature Religion for Real'. Gnosis, 48, Summer

1998. On-line:

http://www.chasclifton.com/papers/forreal.html

Accessed September 2006.

Clysdale, I., 2002. ‘Ecopagan’ in Rabinovitch and Lewis: 86-87.

Cobb, E., 1977.The Ecology of Imagination in Childhood, Columbia

University Press, New York.

- 1986, The Ecology of Imagination in Childhood , Shishaku-sha

Publications, Tokyo.

Cohen, M., (1997) Reconnecting with Nature: Finding Wellness

Through Restoring Your Bond with the Earth. Ecopress, Corvallis,

Oregon.

Connolly, P., (ed.), 1999. Approaches to the Study of Religion,

195

Continuum, London.

Cornell, A.W., 1996. The Power of Focusing. New Harbinger,

Oakland, CA.

Cornell, A.W., and McGavin, B., 2002. The Focusing Student's and

Companion's Manual. Focusing Resources, Berekeley, CA.

Corr, P.J., 2006. Understanding Biological Psychology. Blackwell,

Oxford.

Corsini,. R. (ed.), 1973. Current Psychotherapies. Peacock. Itasca,

Illinois.

Cosgrove, D., (1993) 'Landscapes and Myths, Gods and Humans', in

Bender, B., (ed.): 281 - 306.

Cowan, D., 2006. 'Wicca, Witchcraft and Modern Paganism' in

volume 3 of Gallagher, E.V. and Ashcraft, W. M., (eds): 176-199.

Crapanzano, V., 1980. Tuhami: Portrait of a Moroccan. University

of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Croll, E., and Parkin, D., (eds.), 1992. Bush Base: Forest Farm.

Culture, environment and development. Routledge, London.

Crossley, N., 2004. ‘Ritual, body technique, and (inter) subjectivity’,

in Schilbrack (ed. 2004): 31 – 51.

Crowley, V., 1996. 'Paganism', in Isherwood and McEwan, (eds.):

169-171.

- 1995. 'Wicca as a Modern-day Mystery Religion', in Harvey and

Hardman (ed.): 81-93.

- 1998. 'Wicca as Nature Religion', in Pearson, J., Roberts, R., and

Samuel, G., (eds.): 170-179.

Csordas, T., 1993. 'Somatic Modes of Attention' in Cultural

Anthropology 8: 135-56.

- 1994a. 'The body as representation and being-in-the-world', in

Csordas (ed.): 1-24.

- 1994b (ed.). Embodiment and Experience: the existential ground

196

of culture and self. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

- 1997. Sacred Self: A Cultural Phenomenology Of Charismatic

Healing, University Presses of California, Columbia and Princeton.

- 1999. 'Embodiment and Cultural Phenomenology' in Weiss, G., and

Haber, H. F., (eds): 143-162.

- 2002. Body/Meaning/Healing. Palgrave Macmillan, New York.

Damasio, A., 1994. Descartes' Error: Emotion, reason, and the

Human Brain. Grosset/Putnam, New York.

- 2003. Looking for Spinoza. Joy, Sorrow and the Feeing Brain.

Harcourt, Orlando.

Davidman, L. 2002. 'Truth, Subjectivity, and Ethnographic

Research', in Spickard, Landres and McGuire, (eds.): 17-26.

Davis, P., and Gribbin, J., 1991. The Matter Myth. Penguin, London.

Davy, B., 2002. ‘Environmental Activism’ in Rabinovitch and Lewis:

90-92.

- 2007, Introduction to Pagan Studies. Altamira, Lanham, MD.

Day, M., 2004. ‘Religion, off-line Cognition and the Extended Mind’.

Journal of Cognition and Culture 4,1 (2004): 101-121

de Angeles, L., Restall Orr, E., van Dooren, T., (eds.,) Pagan Visions

for a Sustainable Future. Llewellyn, Woodbury, MN.

de Blécourt, W,, Hutton, R., la Fontaine, J., (eds.) 1999. Witchcraft

and Magic In Europe. The 20c. Athlone Press, London.

Deck, A., 1990, 'Autoethnography: Zora Neale Hurston, Noni

Jabavu, and Cross-disciplinary Discourse', in Black American

Literature Forum, vol. 24, no. 2: 237-256.

Deloria, V., 1994. God Is Red. Fulcrum, Golden, Colorado.

Dennett, D., 1987. 'Consciousness', in Gregory: 160-164.

Denzin, N., 1989. Interpretive Biography. Sage, Newbury Park,

California.

197

Denzin, N., and Lincoln, Y.S., (eds) 1998. Collecting and

Interpreting Qualitative Materials. Sage, Thousand Oaks, London

and New Delhi.

- (eds.) 2000. Handbook of Qualitative Research, (2nd Edition).

Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Depraz, N., and Gallagher, S., (eds.) 2003. Theoria Et Historia

Scientiarum VII/1. Nicolas Copernicus University Press, Toruń,

Poland.

Depraz, N., and Gallagher, S., (eds.) 2003. 'Introduction', in

Depraz , and Gallagher, (eds.): 5-21.

Descartes, [1640] 1968. Discourse on Method and the Meditations,

trans. F.E. Sutcliffe, Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, Middlesex.

Dick, 2007. 'AREOL - Action Research and Evaluation On-line'.

Southern Cross Institute of Action Research.

http://www.scu.edu.au/schools/gcm/ar/areol/areolhome.html

Accessed. March 2007.

Doherty, B., 1997. 'Tactical Innovation and the Protest Repertoire in

the Radical Ecology Movement in Britain', paper presented to the

European Sociological Association Conference, Essex University, 27-

30 August.

- 2000. ‘Manufactured Vulnerability: Protest Camp Tactics’, in Seel

et al 2000: 62-78.

Dougherty, Beth, 2004. When Rituals Go Wrong: Angry Goddess,

Recalcitrant Reclaimers. Paper presented to the American Academy

of Religion Annual Meeting, San Antonio, November 2004.

Douglas, J., (ed.), 1970. Understanding Everyday Life. Aldine

Publishing Company, Chicago.

Douglas, J., 1970. ’Understanding everyday life’, in Douglas (ed.): 3-

43.

- 1985. Creative interviewing. Sage, Beverly Hills, CA.

Dragon Environmental Network website, 2004.

http://www.dragonnetwork.org/

198

Accessed September 2004

Dragon-network Listserve, 2007. [dragon-network] Day of

Appreciation for Honey Bees. 30/04/2007

Dreyfus, H. L. and Dreyfus, S. E.,1999. ‘The Challenge of Merleau-

Ponty's Phenomenology of Embodiment for Cognitive Science’ in

Weiss and Haber, (eds.): 103-120.

Dreyfus, H. L. (n.d). 'A Phenomenology of Skill Acquisition as the

basis for a Merleau-Pontian Nonrepresentationalist Cognitive

Science'.

http://istsocrates.berkeley.edu/

%7Ehdreyfus/pdf/MerleauPontySkillCogSci.pdf

Accessed: September 2006.

Driver, B.L., Brown, P.J. & Peterson, G.L. (eds.), Benefits of Leisure.

Venture Publishing, State College, PA.

Earth First! Worldwide, 2007. http://www.earthfirst.org/about.htm

Accessed August 2007.

Edgar, I., 2004. Guide to Imagework. Routledge, London.

Ellis. C., and Bochner, A., 2000. 'Autoethnography, Personal

Narrative, Reflexivity. Researcher as Subject', in Denzin and

Lincoln: 733-768.

Embree, L., Behnke, E., Carr, D., Evans, J., Huertas-Jourda, J.,

Kockelmans, J., McKenna, W., Mickunas, A., Mohanty, J., Seebohm,

T., and Zaner, R., (eds), 1997. Encyclopedia of Phenomenology,

Kluwer Academic Publications, Netherlands.

Epstein, 1998. 'Therapy and meditation', Psychology Today Vol. 31

No. 3 May/Jun.1998: 46-53.

Erricker, C., 1999. 'Phenomenological Approaches' in Connolly, P.,

(ed.): 73-104

Evans, K., 1998. Copse. The Cartoon Book of Tree Protesting.

Orange Dog Productions, Chippenham, UK.

Evernden, N., (1992). The Social Creation of Nature. Johns Hopkins

University Press, Baltimore.

199

Ezzy, D., 2006. 'White Witches and Black Magic: Ethics and

Consumerism in Contemporary Witchcraft'. Journal of

Contemporary Religion, 21:1: 15 - 31.

- 'White witches and black magic. Ethics and consumerism in

contemporary witchcraft'. Journal of Contemporary Religion. vol.

21: no. 1, 2006: 15 - 31.

- 2006. E-mail to 'Pagan Studies' Listserve. Re: [Pagan Studies]

Re: Pagans/Conversion/. 14/09/2006 7:23 AM.

Farrar, J., and Farrar, S., 1981. Eight Sabbats for Witches, Hale,

London.

- 1984. The Witches' Way, Hale, London.

Faucounier, T. M., 1995.　‘Conceptual Integration and Formal

Expression’.　Metaphor and Symbolic Activity 10/3 : 183-204

- 2002. The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending and the Mind's

Hidden Complexities. Basic Books, New York.

- in press, 2008. 'Rethinking Metaphor', in Gibbs, R., (ed).

Ferguson, M., 1980. The Aquarian Conspiracy: Personal and Social

Transformation in the 1980's. Tarcher, Los Angeles.

Finch, 2004. ‘Seeing the Light’ in Gottlieb, R., (ed.) : 43-45.

Fisher, A., 2002. Radical Ecopsychology: Psychology in the Service

of Life. State University of New York Press, Albany.

- 2005. 'Ecopsychology' in Taylor, B., (editor-in-chief): 557-560.

Flax, J., 1990. 'Postmodernism and gender relations in feminist

theory' in Nicholson (ed.): 39-62.

Flick, U., 2006. Qualitative Research. Sage, Thousand Oaks,

London and New Delhi.

Flick, U., von Kardorff, E. and Steinke, I., (eds.), 2004. A

Companion to Qualitative Research. Sage, London.

Fontana, A., & Frey, J., 1998. ‘Interviewing: the art of science’ in

Denzin, N. and Lincoln, Y. (eds.): 47-78.

200

Foucault, M., 1977. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison.

Trans. Sheridan.、A. Vintage, New York.

- 1986 [1984]. The Care of the Self: The History of Sexuality, Vol.

III.　Trans. by Hurley,　R. Pantheon, New York.

- 1977b. 'Nietzsche, Genealogy, History', in Rabinow: 76-100.

- 1980. Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings

1972-1977, Gordon,　C.(ed.), Pantheon Books, New York.

Fox, M., 1996. 'Creation Spirituality', in Isherwood and McEwan,

(eds.): 34-37.

Frankenberry, N., 2004. 'Feminist Approaches' in Anderson and

Clack, (eds.): 3-27.

Fredrickson, L.M. and Anderson, D.H., 1999. 'A Qualitative

Exploration of the Wilderness Experience as a Source of Spiritual

Inspiration. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 19, Academic

Press: 21 -39.

Gadamer, G., 1989. Truth and Method. 2nd rev. edition. Trans.

Weinsheimer, J. and Marshall, D.G. Crossroad, New York.

Gallagher, E.V. and Ashcraft, W.M., (eds.), 2006. Introduction to

New and Alternative Religions in America, Greenwood Press,

Westport, CT.

Gallagher, S., 1992. Hermeneutics and Education. SUNY, New York.

- 2005. How the Body Shapes the Mind. Oxford University Press,

Oxford.

Gallagher. S., and Cole, J., 1995. 'Body Schema and Body Image in a

Deafferented Subject.' Journal of Mind and Behavior, 16: 369-390.

Gendlin, E., 1961. 'Experiencing: A variable in the process of

therapeutic change'. American Journal of Psychotherapy, 15(2):

233-245.

- 1962. Experiencing and the creation of meaning. A philosophical

and psychological approach to the subjective. The Free Press of

Glencoe, New York

201

- 1964. 'A Theory of Personality Change'. In Personality Change,

Worchel & Byrne (eds.), John Wiley & Sons, New York. Online at:

http://www.focusing.org/personality_change.html

Accessed: June 8, 2007

- 1973. 'Experiential psychotherapy' in Corsini,. R. (ed.): 317-352

- 1981. Focusing. Bantam (revised edition), New York.

- 1984. 'The Client's Client: The Edge of Awareness' in Levant &

Shlien (eds.): 76-107.

- 1986. Let your body interpret your dreams. Chiron, Wilmette, IL.

- 1992. 'The primacy of the body, not the primacy of perception:

How the body knows the situation and philosophy'. Man and

World, 25 (3-4). Springer, Netherlands: 341-353.

- 1995. 'Crossing and dipping: some terms for approaching the

interface between natural understanding and logical formulation'.

Minds and Machines 5 (4): 547-560.

- 1996. Focusing-Oriented Psychotherapy: A Manual of the

Experiential Method. Guilford Press, New York.

- 1997a. A Process Model. Focusing Institute, New York.

On-line: 'A Process Model.' http://www.focusing.org/process.html

Accessed: October 2006

- 1997b. ‘How Philosophy Cannot Appeal to Experience, and How It

Can’ in Levin, D., (ed.): 3-41.

- 1997c. 'Reply to Johnson' in Levin, D., (ed.): 168-175.

- 2001. On the new epistemology (excerpts from Gene Gendlin's

awards talk at the American Psychological Association, August 6,

2000). Staying in Focus. The Focusing Institute Newsletter, 1 (2):

5-6.

- 2000. 'When you feel the body from inside, there is a door', in Zeig

(ed.): 255-267.

Gergen, K., 1985. 'The Social constructionist movement in modern

psychology'. American Psychologist, 40: 266-275.

202

Gibbons, M., Limoges, C., Nowotny, H., Schwartzman, S., Scott, P.,

and Trow, M., 1994. The New Production of Knowledge, Sage,

London.

Gibbs, R., 2006. Embodiment and Cognitive Science. Cambridge

University Press, New York.

- (ed)., The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought.

Cambridge University Press, New York.

Gibson, J., 1979.The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception.

Houghton Mifflin, Boston.

Glaser, B., & Strauss, A., 1967. The discovery of grounded theory:

Strategies for qualitative research. Aldine, Chicago.

Gorden, R., 1980. Interviewing: strategy, techniques and tactics.

Dorsey, London.

Gordon Melton, 2002, Encyclopedia of American Religions. Gale,

MI.

Gottlieb, R., (ed.), 2004. This Sacred Earth. (Second Edition).

Routledge, New York.

Greco, J., and Sosa, E., (eds.), 1999. The Blackwell Guide to

Epistemology. Blackwell, Malden, MA.

Green, G., 2005. 'Hermeneutics' in Hinnels. J., (ed.): 292-406.

Greenway, R., 1995. ’The Wilderness Effect and Ecopsychology’, in

Roszak, Gomes, and Kanner: 122 – 135.

- pers. comm., 2006. E-mail: Re: The "Wilderness Effect". Ecology-

Psychology@jiscmail.ac.uk. 09/10/2006.

Greenwood, S., 1998. ‘The Nature of the Goddess: Sexual Identities

and Power in Contemporary Witchcraft’, in Pearson, Roberts and

Samuel: 101-110.

- 2000. Magic, Witchcraft and the Otherworld. Berg, Oxford.

- 2005. The Nature of Magic. An Anthropology of Consciousness.

Berg, Oxford and New York.

203

Gregory, R., (ed.) 1987. The Oxford Companion to the Mind. Oxford

University Press, Oxford and New York.

Grosz, E., 1994. Volatile Bodies, Indiana University Press,

Bloomington.

Grimes, R., 1995 [1982], (rev. ed.). Beginnings in Ritual Studies,

University of South Carolina Press, South Carolina.

- 2000. 'Ritual', in Braun, Willi and McCutcheon, (eds.): 259-70.

Griffin, W., 2002. ‘Feminist Spirituality and Neo-Paganism’ in

Rabinovitch and Lewis: 97-101.

Halprin, D., 2002. The Expressive Body in Life, Art, and Therapy

Working with Movement, Metaphor and Meaning, Jessica Kingsley

Publishers, London.

Haraway, D., 1990 [1985]. 'A Cyborg Manifesto: Science,

Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century'

in Nicholson, 1990 (ed.): 190-233.

- 1991. Simians, Cyborgs, and Women. Routledge, New York.

- 2000. How like a leaf: an interview with Thyrza Nichols Goodeve.

Routledge, New York.

Harding, S., (ed.) 1987. Feminism and Methodology. Indiana

University Press Bloomington, Indiana and Open University Press,

Milton Keynes.

- 1987a. 'Introduction: Is There a Feminist Method?' In Harding, S.,

(ed.): 1-14

- 1987b. 'Conclusion: Epistemological Questions', in Harding, S.

(ed.): 181-190

- 1991. Whose Science? Whose Knowledge? Cornell University Press,

Ithaca, New York.

- 1993. 'What is Strong Objectivity?' In Alcoff and Potter (eds.): 49-

Harding S., and Hintikka, M., 1983 (eds.). Discovering Reality:

204

Feminist Perspectives on Epistemology, Metaphysics,

Methodology, and Philosophy of Science. D. Reidel, Dordrecht.

Harper, S., 1995. ‘The Way of Wilderness’ in Roszak, Gomes, and

Kanner: 183-200.

Harris, A., 1996. 'Sacred Ecology', in Harvey and Hardman: 149-56.

- 2000 (ed.). 'How Green is our Magic?' Papers presented at the

Dragon Eco-Magic conference 2000. Dragon Environmental

Publications, Issue 01, London.

- 2000. 'Dragon Decade – A personal Perspective on Eco-Magic', in

Harris, (ed.): 16-19.

- 2002. 'Dragon Environmental Network', in Rabinovitch and Lewis:

80.

- 2005a. “Eco-Magic” in Taylor, B., (ed.): 554-555.

- 2007. The Green Fuse for environmental philosophy, deep

ecology, social ecology, ecofeminism, earth-centered spirituality.

http://www.thegreenfuse.org/

Last accessed September 2007.

Harris, A. and Nightmare, M., 2006. ‘New and Alternative Religions

in the United States: Ritual and Neopaganism’, in Gallagher and

Ashcraft (eds.): 217-243.

Harris, A. & Scullion, S., 2004. Introduction to Pagan Activism.

Booklet prepared for the Alternate European Social Forum, London,

October 2004.

Harris, A. and Welsh, C., 2006. 'Currents of Paganism'. Paper

presented at the November 2006 American Academy of Religion

Annual Meeting, Washington.

Harrow, J., 2002. Spiritual Mentoring: A Pagan Guide. ECW Press,

Toronto.

– 2006. If You Love Her, Why Not Serve Her? Nature Spirituality,

Environmental Service, and Pagan Religion. Unpublished paper.

Hart, T., Nelson, P.L., Puhakka, K. (eds.), 1997. Spiritual Knowing:

Alternative Epistemic Perspectives. State University of West

205

Georgia, Carrollton, GA.

Hartsock, N., 1983. 'The Feminist Standpoint: Developing a Ground

for a Specifically Feminist Historical Materialism', in Harding and

Hintikka: 283-310

Harvey, G., 1996. 'Heathenism: A North European Pagan Tradition',

in Paganism Today, Harvey and Hardman (eds.): 49-64.

- 1997. Listening People, Speaking Earth. Contemporary

Paganism. Hurst and Co., London.

- 1997b. Religious Experience in Contemporary Society, Religious

Experience Research Centre, Oxford.

- 2000. 'Boggarts and Books: Towards an Appreciation of Pagan

Spirituality', in Sutcliffe and Bowman: 155-168.

- (ed.), 2000. Indigenous Religions. A Companion. Cassell, London

and New York.

- (ed.), 2003. Shamanism: a Reader, Routledge, London.

- 2005, 'Animism – A Contemporary Perspective', in Taylor, B. (ed.):

81-83.

Harvey, G., and Hardman, C., (eds), 1996. Paganism Today ,

Harper Collins, London.

Hay, P., 2002. Main Currents in Western Environmental Thought.

Indiana University Press. Bloomington, IN.

Hayano, D., 1979. 'Auto-ethnography: Paradigms, Problems and

Prospects', in Human Organization vol; 38, no. 1: 99-104.

Hayles, K., 1999. How We Became Posthuman. University of

Chicago Press. Chicago.

Headon, J., 1996. ‘If you go down to the woods today…’ in ID

Magazine, no.150. March. London: 30-33.

Heckman, S., 1990. Gender and Knowledge. Elements of a

Postmodern Feminisms. Polity, Cambridge.

Heidegger, M., 1962 [1927]. Being and Time. Trans. by Macquarrie,

206

J.M. and Robinson,E., Blackwell, Oxford.

- 1977. 'The age of the world picture', in The Question Concerning

Technology and Other Essays, trans. Lovitt, W. Harper Colophon

Books, New York.

Hepburn, R., 2001. ‘Knowing (Aesthetically) Where I Am’. The

Thingmount Working Paper Series on the Philosophy of

Conservation. British Association of Nature Conservationists.

Heron, J., 1996. Co-operative Inquiry: Research into the Human

Condition. Sage, London.

Heron, J. and Reason, P., 1997. 'A Participative Inquiry Paradigm',

Qualitative Inquiry, vol. 3; 3: 274-294

Hindle, J., 2006. Nine Miles. Two winters of anti-road protest.

Phoenix Tree Books.

Hine, P, 2000. 'Perspectives on Mass Ritual' in Harris. A. (ed.): 11-

15.

Hinnells, J., (ed.), 2005. The Routledge Companion to the Study of

Religion. Routledge, Oxon.

Hirschhorn, L., 1984. Beyond Mechanization: Work and

Technology in a Post-Industrial Age, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.

Holstein, J., & Gubrium, J., 1995. The Active Interview, Sage,

Thousand Oaks. CA.

Hopman, E., and Bond, L., 1995. People of the Earth: The New

Pagans Speak Out. Destiny Books, Rochester, Vermont.

Howes, D., (ed.), 2005. Empires of the Senses: the Sensual Culture

Reader. Berg, Oxford and New York.

Hume, L., 2007. Portals. Opening Doorways to Other Realities

Through the Senses. Berg, Oxford and New York.

Hunt, S., 2003. Alternative religions. A Sociological Introduction.

Ashgate, Hants., UK and Vt., USA

Hutton, R., 1999. The Triumph of the Moon. A History of Modern

Pagan Witchcraft.: Oxford University Press, Oxford.

207

Iacoboni, 2000. 'Attention and Sensorimotor Integration: Mapping

the Embodied Mind', in Toga and Mazziotta: 463–490.

Ingold, T., 1992. 'Culture and the perception of the environment', in

Croll and Parkin (eds): 39-56.

- 1990. 'An anthropologist looks at biology'. Man, 25:208-29.

- 1994, (ed.) Companion Encyclopedia of Anthropology, Routledge,

London.

- 2000. The Perception of the Environment. Routledge, Oxon., USA

and Canada.

- 2006. 'Becoming Persons: Consciousness and Sociality in Human

Evolution', in Moore and Sanders, (eds.): 180-192.

International Society for Neuroethology.

http://www.neuroethology.org/

Accessed: June 2007.

Isherwood, L., 1996. 'Erotic Power', in Isherwood and McEwan,

(eds.): 53.

Isherwood, L., and McEwan, D., (eds.), 1996. An A to Z of Feminist

Theology, Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield.

Isherwood, L., and Stuart, E., 1998. Introducing Body Theology.

Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield.

Jackson, A., 1987, (ed.). Anthropology at Home. Tavistock

Publications, London.

Jackson, M, 1982. Allegories of the Wilderness: Ethics and

Ambiguity in Kuranko Narratives. Indiana University Press,

Bloomington.

- 1989. Paths toward a Clearing. Indiana University Press,

Bloomington.

- 2006. 'Knowledge of the Body' in Moore and Sanders: 322-335.

Jenkins, R., 1992. Pierre Bourdieu. Routledge, London and New

York.

208

Jessor, R., A. Colby, A., and Shweder, R.A. (eds.), 1996.

Ethnography and Human Development. University of Chicago

Press, Chicago.

Jick, T., 1983. ‘Mixing Qualitative and Quantitative Methods:

Triangulation in Action’ in J.V. Maanen (ed.): 135-148.

Johnson, G.A. and Michael B. Smith, M. B., (eds.), 1990. Ontology

and Alterity in Merleau-Ponty. Northwestern University Press,

Evanston.

Johnson, M., 1987. The Body in the Mind. The Bodily Basis of

Meaning, Imagination, and Reason. University of Chicago.

- 1997. ‘Embodied Meaning and Cognitive Science’, in Levin, (ed.):

148-176.

- 1999 ‘Embodied Reason’, in Weiss and Haber (eds.): 143-162.

Jones, P., 1995. 'Pagan Theologies', in Harvey and Hardman, (eds.):

32-46.

Jordan, J., 1998. ‘The art of necessity: the subversive imagination of

anti-road protest and Reclaim the Streets’ in McKay, (ed.): 129-51

Jordan, S. 2005. 'Introduction to Focusing'. Self & Society. On-line:

http://www.focusing.org.uk/intro_to_focusing.html

Accessed May, 2007.

Kasulis, T., 2002. Intimacy or Integrity: philosophy and cultural

difference. University of Hawai'i Press.

Keats, J., [1819] 'The Human Seasons' in Palgrave, F. T., 1861. The

Golden Treasury, Plain Label Books, London and Glasgow.

Kelle, U., and Erzberger, C., 2004. ‘Quantitative and Qualitative

Methods: No Confrontation’, in Flick, Kardorff, and Steinke (eds):

172- 177.

Kelly, A., 1991. Crafting the Art of Magic, Book 1 . A History of

Modern Witchcraft, 1939- 1964. Llewellyn Publications, St Paul.

Key, D., 2003. The Ecology Of Adventure. MSc. Human Ecology

dissertation, Centre for Human Ecology, Edinburgh.

209

Kirsh, D., 1991. ‘Today the Earwig, tomorrow man’. Artificial

Intelligence 47 (3) (1991): 161-184

Kleinman, A., and Kleinman, J., 1991, ‘Suffering and Its Potential

Transformation: Towards an Ethnography of Interpersonal

Experience’. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry 15(3): 275-301.

Kohák, E., 1984. The Embers and the Stars: A Philosophical

Inquiry Into the Moral Sense of Nature. University of Chicago

Press, Chicago.

Kornblith, H., (ed.), 1994. Naturalizing Epistemology. The MIT

Press, Cambridge, MA.

Koshy, V., 2005. Action Research for Improving Practice. A

Practical Guide. Sage, London.

Kotarba, J.A., & Fontana, A., (eds.), 1984. The Existential Self in

Society. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

LaChapelle, D., 1992. Sacred Land, Sacred Sex: Rapture of the

Deep: Concerning Deep Ecology and Celebrating Life, Kivakí Press,

Durango, CO.

LaFleur, W.R., 1998. 'Body', in Taylor, M. (ed.): 36-54.

Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M., 1999. Philosophy in the Flesh: The

Embodied Mind and Its Challenge to Western Thought, Basic

Books, New York.

Langer, 1990, 'Merleau-Ponty and Deep Ecology', in Johnson and

Smith: 115-129, 192-197.

Lave, J., 1988. Cognition in Practice. Cambridge University Press.

Cambridge, UK.

Leder, D., 1990. The Absent Body. University of Chicago Press,

Chicago, IL.

Leff, H.L., 1978. Experience, Environment, and Human Potentials.

Oxford University Press, New York.

Leijssen, M., 2006. 'Validation of the Body in Psychotherapy'.

Journal of Humanistic Psychology. 46, 2: 126-146.

210

Letcher, A., 2000. ‘ 'Virtual Paganism’ or Direct Action? The

Implications of Road Protesting for Modern Paganism’ in Diskus

Vol. 6. http://web.uni-

marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/diskus/letcher.html

Accessed, May, 2004.

- 2001a. The Role of the Bard in Contemporary Pagan Movements.

Unpublished PhD. Thesis, King Alfred’s College, Winchester.

- 2001b. 'The Scouring of the Shire: Fairies, Trolls and Pixies in Eco-

Protest Culture.' Folklore 112: 147-161.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2386/is_2_112/ai_795484

Accessed August 2007.

- 2001c. 'Go fly a kite: A New Approach to Eco-Magick'.

http://www.dragonnetwork.org /journal/journal3/andy.htm

Accessed January 2005

- 2002. ' ‘If you go down to the woods today…’: Spirituality and the

Eco-Protest Lifestyle.' Ecotheology 7: 81-87

- 2003. ' ‘Gaia told me to do it’: Resistance and the idea of Nature

within Contemporary British Eco-Paganism.' Ecotheology 8: 63-86

- 2004. 'Raising the Dragon: Folklore and the Development of

Contemporary British Eco-Paganism'. The Pomegranate , volume 6,

issue: 2: 175-198

- 2005. 'Eco-Paganism', in Taylor, B., (ed): 556-557.

Levant, R.L. & Shlien, J.M., (eds.), 1984. Client-centered Therapy

and the Person-centered Approach. New directions in Theory,

Research and Practice. Praeger, New York.

Levin, D.M., (ed.), 1997. Language beyond Postmodernism. Saying

and Thinking in Gendlin’s Philosophy. Northwestern University

Press Illinois.

Lewis, J., (ed.) 2002. Encyclopedia of Cults, Sects, and New

Religions. Second edition. Prometheus Books, New York.

Lizardo, O., 2004. ‘The Cognitive Origins of Bourdieu’s Habitus’.

Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour. Volume 34, Issue 4,

Dec. 2004: 375-401.

Longino, H., 1999. 'Feminist epistemology', in Grecco & Sosa (eds.):

327-353.

211

MacCannell, J. F. and Zakarin, L., (eds.) 1994. Thinking Bodies.

Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.

Machado, 2004. Border of a Dream: Selected Poems. Trans. by

Barnstone, W.. Copper Canyon Press, Port Townsend, Washington.

MacIver, M. A., (forthcoming, 2008). 'Neuroethology: From

Morphological Computation to Planning'. In Aydede and Robbins

(eds.).

MacLellan, G., 1996. ‘Dancing on the Edge: Shamanism in Modern

Britain’ in Harman and Harvey (eds): 138-148.

Macnaghten, P., and Urry, J., 2000. ‘Bodies in the Woods’. Body &

Society Vol. 6(3–4), Sage, London: 166–182.

McCraken, G., 1988. The Long Interview. Sage, Newbury Park,

California.

McGuire, M.B., 2002, ‘Beyond Personal Knowledge. New-Old

Directions in the Social Scientific Study of Religion: Ethnography,

Phenomenology, and the Human Body’, in Spickard, Landres and

McGuire (eds.): 195-211.

- 2003. 'Why Bodies Matter: A Sociological Reflection on Spirituality

and Materiality'. Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality, 3.1

(2003). Johns Hopkins University Press: 1-18

McCutcheon, R.T. (ed.), 1999. The Insider/Outsider Problem in the

Study of Religion: A Reader. Continuum, London.

McKay, G., (ed.), 1998. DiY Culture. Party & Protest in Nineties

Britain. Verso, London and New York.

Madison, G., 2001. 'Focusing, Intersubjectivity, and Therapeutic

Intersubjectivity'. Review of Existential Psychology and Psychiatry,

vol. XXVI, No1: 3-16.

Maffesoli, M. 1996. The Time of the Tribes: The Decline of

Individualisation in Mass Society. Sage, London.

Manen, J.V. (ed.), 1983. Qualitative Methodology. Sage, London.

Manjudeva, 2007. Wisdom of the body: Focusing and Meditation

212

Retreat. (Training workshop). January 26 - February 2, 2007.

Dhanakosa Retreat Centre, Scotland.

Markus, H., and Kitayama, S., 1991. ‘Culture and the self:

implications for cognition, emotion and behaviour’. Psychological

Review, 98: 224-253.

Massey, A., 1999. ‘Methodological Triangulation, Or How To Get

Lost Without Being Found Out’ in Massey and Walford, (eds.): 183-

197

Massey, A. and Walford, G., (eds.), 1999. Explorations in

methodology. Studies in Educational Ethnography, Vol.2. JAI

Press, Stamford.

Matthews, E., 2002. The Philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, Acumen

Publishing Limited, Bucks.

Matthews, F., 1991. The Ecological Self. Routledge, London.

Maturana, H., 1987. 'Everything said is said by an observer', in

Thompson, W., (ed.):65-82

Mauss, M., 1973. ‘Techniques of the Body’, Economy and Society

2(1), February 1973: 70-88

- 1979 [1935]. Sociology and Psychology: Essays by Marcel Mauss ,

Routledge and Kegan Paul, London.

McDonald, B. and Schreyer, R., 1991. 'Spiritual benefits of leisure:

participation and leisure settings', in Driver, Brown & Peterson

(eds.): 179-194.

McKay, G., 1996. Senseless Acts of Beauty. Cultures of Resistance

Since the Sixties. Verso, London.

- (ed.), 1998. DIY Protest in Nineties Britain. Verso, London.

Mehan, H., & Wood, H., 1975. The reality of ethnomethodology.

John Wiley, New York.

Merchant, C., 1980. The Death of Nature: Women, Ecology, and the

Scientific Revolution. Harper & Row, New York.

Merrick, 1996. Battle for the trees, Godhaven Ink, Leeds.

213

Merleau-Ponty, M., 1962. Phenomenology of Perception, Routledge

& Kegan Paul, London and New York.

- 1963. The Structure of Behavior. Trans. Fisher, A.. Beacon Press,

Boston.

- The Visible and the Invisible. Trans. Lingis, A. Northwestern

University Press, Evanston, Ill.

Rice, G. E., & Meyer, B. J. F., 1992. 'Prose reading in adulthood: The

test the reader and the task', in Poon, L., Rubin, D., Wilson, B.

(eds.): 157-194.

Milton, K., 2002. Loving Nature: Towards an Ecology of Emotion,

Routledge, London.

Moore, H. and Sanders, T., 2006. Anthropology In Theory.

Blackwell, Malden, MA.

Moran, D., 2002. 'Editors Introduction', in Moran and Mooney,

(eds.), 2002: 1-26.

Moran, D. and Mooney, T., (eds.), 2002. The Phenomenology

Reader, Routledge, London and New York.

Moustakas, C., 1990. Heuristic Research: Design, methodology,

and applications. Sage, Newbury Park, California.

Nagel, T., 1986. The View From Nowhere. Oxford University Press,

New York.

Nakane, C., 1970. Japanese Society, University of California Press,

Berkeley, California.

Narayanan, V., 2003. ‘Embodied Cosmologies: Sights of Piety, Sites

of Power’, Journal of the American Academy of Religions,

September 2003, Volume 71, Number 3: 495-520

Nettleton, S. and Watson, J., (eds), 1998. The Body in Everyday

Life. Routledge, London and New York.

Nicholson, L., 1990 (ed). Feminism/Postmodernism. Routledge,

New York.

214

Nonaka, I., 1994. 'A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge

creation', Organization Science, Vol. 5, Hanover, MD: 14-37

Nonaka, I. and Takeuchi, H., 1995. The Knowledge-Creating

Company: How Japanese Companies Create the Dynamics of

Innovation, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Norman, D. A., 1999. 'Affordances, Conventions and Design'.

Interactions 6 (3), ACM Press: 38-43

Niedenthal, P.M., Barsalou, L.W., Winkielman, P., Krauth-Gruber,

S., & Ric, F., 2005. 'Embodiment in attitudes, social perception, and

emotion'. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 9: 184-211.

Oakley, A., 1981. ‘Interviewing Women – A Contradiction in Terms’,

in Roberts, H., (ed.): 30-61.

Obler, R. S., 2004. ‘Nature Religion as a Cultural System? Sources of

Environmentalist Action and Rhetoric in a Contemporary Pagan

Community’ in The Pomegranate, Vol.6.1: 86-106.

O’Conner, J., 2001. The NLP Workbook, HarperCollins, London.

Olson, C., (ed.), 2003. Theory and Method in the Study of Religion.

Wadsworth, CA.

Ortner, S.B., 1974. 'Is female to male as nature is to culture?' In

Rosaldo and Lamphere (eds): 68-87.

- 1996. Making Gender: The Politics and Erotics of Culture. Beacon

Press, Boston Mass.

Palgrave, F.T., 1861. The Golden Treasury, Plain Label Books,

London and Glasgow.

Palmer, R.E., 1969. Hermeneutics. Northwestern University Press,

Evanston, Ill.

Patterson, B., 1991. Finding Your Way in the Woods: The Art of

Conversation with the Genius Loci. Privately published booklet.

- 2005. The Art of Conversation with the Genius Loci. Capell Bann,

Somerset.

- n.d. The Greening of the City: beyond clichéd ideas of nature.

215

On-line: http://www.redsandstonehill.net/greencity.htm.

Accessed October 2007.

- 2005. The Art of Conversation with the Genius Loci. Capell Ban,

Somerset.

Pearson, J., (ed.), 2002. Belief beyond Boundaries: Wicca, Celtic

Spirituality and the New Age. Ashgate and The Open University,

Hants., Burlington, and Milton Keynes.

- 2007. Wicca and the Christian Heritage: Ritual, sex and magic.

Routledge, Oxon.

Pearson, J., Roberts, R.H., and Samuel, G., (eds.), 1998. Nature

Religion Today. Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh.

Pendragon, A. and Stone, C.J., 2003. The Trials of Arthur. The Life

and Times of a Modern-Day King, Thorsons, London.

Penner, 2000. 'Interpretation' in Braun and McCutcheon: 57-71.

Pert, C., 1997. Molecules of Emotion. The Science Behind Mind–

Body Medicine. Simon and Schuster, New York.

Peterson, G., 2003. Minding God: Theology and the Cognitive

Sciences. Augsburg Fortress. Minneapolis.

Pike, S., 2001. Earthly Bodies, Magical Selves. Contemporary

Pagans and the Search for Community. University of California

Press, California and London.

Pile, S. and Keith, M., 1997. (eds.). Geographies of Resistance,

Routledge, London, USA and Canada.

Plant, J., (ed.), 1989. Healing The Wounds:The Promise of

Ecofeminism, Green Print, London.

Platvoet, J. 2000. 'Rattray's request: Spirit possession among the

Bono of west Africa', in Harvey: 80-96.

Plows, A., 1998a. ‘Earth First! Defending Mother Earth, direct-

style’, in McKay (ed.): 152-173.

– 2001. 'Earth Magics', in Harris, A. (ed.): 3-6.

216

– 2002. The what, how and why of the UK environmental direct

action movement in the 1990's. Unpublished PhD. Thesis.

University of Wales, Bangor.

- 2005. “Donga Tribe”, in Taylor, B., (ed.): 504-506.

Plumwood, V., 1993. Feminism and the Mastery of Nature.

Routledge, London.

Polanyi, M., 1958. Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical

Philosophy, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

– 1966. The Tacit Dimension, Doubleday, Garden City, New York.

Poon, L., Rubin, D., Wilson, B. (eds.), 1992. Everyday Cognition in

Adulthood and Late Life. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge,

UK.

Preston, C., 2003. Grounding Knowledge. Environmental

philosophy epistemology and place. University of Georgia press,

London.

Primavesi, A., 1996. 'Ecofeminism', in Isherwood and McEwan: 45-

48.

Purton, C., 2007. The Ladybird Guide to 'A Process Model'.

http://www.focusing.org.uk/ladybird_guide_APM.html

Accessed May 2007.

- 2007b. The Ladybird Guide to 'Experiencing and the Creation of

Meaning '. http://www.focusing.org.uk/ladybird_guide_ECM.html

Accessed May 2007.

Quine, O.V., 1994, 'Epistemology Naturalized', in Kornblith (ed.):

15-29.

Quintas, P. and Jones, G. 2002. Introduction to Managing

Knowledge.. Open University, fourth edition. (Part of the Open

University course B823 ‘Managing Knowledge’ in the OU Business

School).

Quintas, P. and Ray, T., with contributions from Carlisle, Y., Lefrere,

P., Schumacher, T., Thomson, A., and Fowle, W. 2001 (second

edition). Managing Knowledge In An Organizational Context.

Open University. (Part of the Open University course B823

217

‘Managing Knowledge’ in the OU Business School).

Raphael, M., 1996. Thealogy and Embodiment: The Post-

Patriarchal Reconstruction of Female Sacrality. Sheffield Academic

Press, Sheffield.

Rabinovitch, S. and Lewis, R., 2002. The Encyclopaedia of Modern

Witchcraft and Neo-Paganism, Citadel Press, New York.

Rabinow, P. (ed.). 1984. The Foucault Reader. Penguin, London.

Rambo, L. R 1993. Understanding Religious Conversion. Yale

University Press, New Haven, CT.

Rapoport, A., 1994. ‘Spatial organization and the built environment’,

in Ingold, (ed.): 460–502.

Reason, P., and Rowan, J., (eds.), 1981. Human inquiry. A

Sourcebook of New Paradigm Research John Wiley, New York.

Reed-Danahay, D., 1997, (ed.). Auto/Ethnography: Rewriting the

Self and the Social. 1997, Berg, Oxford, UK.

Reid, D., 2007. Enactivism. On-line:

http://ace.acadiau.ca/~dreid/enactivism/EnactivismDef.html

Accessed May 2007.

Reinharz, S., 1992. Feminist Methods in Social Research. Oxford

University Press. New York and Oxford.

Rennie, D., and Fergus, K., 2006. 'Embodied Categorizing in the

Grounded Theory Method'. In Theory & Psychology, Vol. 16, No. 4,

Sage: 483-503.

Restall Orr, E., 2005. 'The Ethics of Paganism: The Value and Power

of Sacred Relationship', in de Angeles, Restall Orr & van Dooren

(eds.): 1-38.

Rice. P.L., and Ezzy, D., 1999. Qualitative research methods: a

health focus. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Rich, A., 1995. Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience and

Institution. Norton, New York.

Richardson, E., 2007. 'Sitting Out'. Pagan Dawn. Lammas, no. 164.

218

London: 22-23.

Richie, J., and Lewis, J., (eds.) 2003. Qualitative Research Practice.

A Guide for Social Science Students and Researchers. Sage,

Thousand Oaks, London and New Delhi.

Ricoeur, P., 1974. The Conflict of Interpretation, Northwestern

University Press, Evanston, Ill.

Roberts, H. (ed), 1981. Doing Feminist Research, Routledge &

Kegan Paul, London.

Roberts, J., and Motherwort, 1997. ‘Lyminge and the Pagan Heart’,

Pagan Dawn, Vol. 125, London: 24-27.

- 2006. Lyminge and the human heart.

http://inquirer.gn.apc.org/lyminge-heart.html

Accessed 22/06/06.

Rodaway, P., 1995. Sensuous Geographies: Body, sense, and place.

Routledge, London, USA and Canada.

Rohrer, T, 2006. 'The Body in Space: Embodiment, Experientialism

and Linguistic Conceptualization', in Zlatev, Ziemke, Frank and

Dirven, (eds.): 339-378.

Rorty, R., 1979. Philosophy and the Mirror of Nature, Princeton

University Press, Princeton.

Rosaldo, M. Z. and Lamphere, L. (eds.), Woman, culture, and

society. Stanford University Press, Stanford, CA.

Roszak, T., 1992. The Voice of the Earth. Simon and Schuster, New

York

Roszak,T., Gomes M.E., & Kanner, A.D., (eds). 1995.

Ecopsychology: Restoring the earth, healing the mind. Sierra Club

Books. San Francisco, CA.

Rountree, K., 2006. 'Sacred Sites Performing the Divine: Neo-Pagan

Pilgrimages and Embodiment at Sacred Sites'. Body & Society , vol.

12(4): 95–115.

Rowan, J., 1988. Ordinary Ecstasy. Routledge, London.

219

Rubin, H. and Rubin, I., 1995. Qualitative Interviewing: The Art of

Hearing Data. Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Ruckbie, L., 2005. 'The Re-Enchanters: Theorising Re-Enchantment

and Testing for its Presence in Modern Witchcraft'. Journal of

Alternative Spiritualities and New Age Studies. On-line:

http://www.asanas.org.uk/files/002ruickbie.pdf.

Accessed September 2007.

Ruether, R.R., 1983, Sexism and God-Talk: Toward A Feminist

Theology. Beacon Press, Boston.

Ryan, M., and David, B. 2003. 'Gender differences in ways of

knowing: the context dependence of the attitudes toward thinking

and learning survey'. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, Dec. 2003,

Volume 49, Numbers 11-12, Springer, Netherlands: 693-699.

Ryle, G., 1949. The Concept of Mind, Hutchinson, London.

Sachs Norris, R., 2003. “A Silk Purse out of a Sow’s Ear:

Contributions of Psychological Anthropology and Neurobiology to

the Study of Transcendence and the Body”. Presented at the AAR

Annual Meeting, Nov. 22, 2003 Atlanta, GA.

Sack, D., 1997. Homo Geographicus. John Hopkins University

Press, Baltimore.

Salomonsen, J., 1998. ‘Feminist Witchcraft and Holy Hermeneutics’,

in Pearson, Roberts and Samuel (eds): 143-156.

- 2002. Enchanted Feminism. Ritual, Gender and Divinity among

the Witches of San Francisco. Routledge, London and New York.

Schechner, R. 1993. The Future of Ritual. Writings on Culture and

Performance. Routledge, London.

Schilbrack, K., (ed.). 2004. Thinking Through Rituals -

Philosophical Perspectives . Routledge, New York and London.

Scott, S. & Morgan, D., 1993. Body Matters: Essays on the

Sociology of the Body, Falmer Press. London.

Scull, J., 2002. The Separation from more-than-human nature.

http//www.island.net/jscull/separate.htm

Accessed September 2006.

220

Schwandt, T., 1997. Qualitative Inquiry. A Dictionary of Terms.

Sage, Thousand Oaks, London and New Delhi.

Seel, B., Paterson, M., and Doherty, B., (eds.), 2000. Direct Action

in British Environmentalism. Routledge, London

Sewall, L., 1995. 'The skill of ecological perception', in Roszak,

Gomes & Kanner (eds.): 201-215.

Shallcrass, P., 1996. 'Druidry Today', in Harvey and Hardman,

(eds.): 65-80.

- 1998. 'A Priest of the Goddess', in Pearson, Roberts and Samuel

(eds.): 157-169.

Shaw, S., 2002. Wild at Heart: Recreating Relationship to Nature.

Unpublished PhD, Monash University, Australia.

- 2004. 'At the Waters Edge', in Blain, Ezzy, and Harvey (eds.): 131-

146.

- 2006. Experiential Wildness.

http://www.ecopsychology.org/journal/ezine/experiential.html

Accessed 10/06/6.

Shepard, P., 1977. 'Place in American Culture'. North American

Review, 262 (Fall 1977): 22-32

- 1986. Introduction to Cobb, E. The Ecology of Imagination in

Childhood. Shishaku-sha Publications, Tokyo.

- 1992. Nature and Madness. Sierra Club Books. San Francisco, CA.

Shilling, C., 1995. Masculinities, Polity Press, Cambridge, UK.

Shotter, J., 1993 Cultural Politics of Everyday Life: Social

Constructionism, Rhetoric and Knowing of the Third Kind. Open

University Press, Buckingham.

Sklar, D., 1994. 'Can Bodylore Be Brought to Its Senses?' Journal of

American Folklore 107, no. 423 (Winter 1994): 9-22.

Smith, D. W., 2003. 'Phenomenology', The Stanford Encyclopedia

221

of Philosophy (Winter 2003 Edition), Zalta, E.N., (ed.). On-line:

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/phenomenology/.

Accessed, February 2007.

Snyder, G., 1980. The Real Work: Interviews & Talks 1964-1979.

New Directions, New York.

Solomon, R., 2006. A phenomenological study of the experience of

psychotherapists who meditate. Thesis submitted as part of degree

of Master of Health Science at the Auckland University of

Technology.

Sotir, G., 2003, EcoPaganism: An introduction and a few

signposts...

http://home.earthlink.net/~cusp1/ecopagan.html

Accessed December 2003

Spender, J.-C., 1998. 'Pluralist epistemology and the knowledge-

based theory of the firm', Organization, Vol. 5, No. 2: 233-56.

Spickard, J. V. Landres, J. S., and McGuire, M. B., (eds.), 2002.

Personal Knowledge and Beyond. Reshaping the Ethnography of

Religion. New York University Press. New York and London.

Spradley, 1979. The Ethnographic Interview. Holt, Rinehart and

Winston, New York.

Spretnak, C., 1989. 'Towards an Ecofeminist Spirituality', in Plant,

(ed.): 127-132

St John, G., 2000. 'Ferals: Terra-ism and Radical Ecologism in

Australia'. Journal of Australian Studies 64: 208-16.

Stanley, L., 1990. 'Feminist praxis and the academic mode of

production: an editorial introduction', in Stanley, L, (ed.): 3–19

- 1990a (ed). Feminist Praxis: Research, Theory and Epistemology

in Feminist Sociology. Routledge. London and New York.

Stanley, L., and Wise, S., 1979. 'Feminist Research, Feminist

Consciousness and Experiences of Sexism'. Women's Studies

International Quarterly 2: 359-374.

- 'Method, Methodology, and Epistemology in Feminist Research

Process', in Stanley, L, (ed.): 20-60.

222

- 1983. Breaking Out: Feminist Consciousness and Feminist

Research. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London.

Starhawk, 1999 [1979], The Spiral Dance. 20th Anniversary Edition.

HarperSanFrancisco, San Francisco.

- 1982. Dreaming the Dark. Magic, Sex and Politics. Beacon press,

Boston.

- 1988. Truth Or Dare: Encounters with Power, Authority and

Mystery. Harper San Francisco, San Francisco.

- 2002. Webs of Power: Notes from the Global Uprising. New

Society Publishers, Canada.

Stepp, J.R., Jones, E.C., Pavao-Zuckerman, M., Casagrande, D., and

Zarger, R.K., 2003. ‘Remarkable properties of human ecosystems’.

Conservation Ecology 7, no.3; art. 11.

On-line: http://www.consecol.org/vol7/iss3/art11/

Accessed June 2007.

Strathern, M., 1987. 'The Limits of Auto-Anthropology', in Jackson,

A., (ed.): 59-67.

Stringer, L.A. and McAvoy, L. 1992. 'The need for something

different: Spirituality and wilderness adventure', in Warren Sakofs &

Hunt (eds.): 13-20.

Strmiska, M., 2004.'Putting the Blood Back into Blót: The Revival of

Animal Sacrifice in Modern Nordic Paganism', presented at Annual

Conference of American Academy of Religion, Nov. 2004, San

Antonio, Texas.

Strobel, C., 2000. Performance, Religious Imagination and the

Play of the Land in the Study of Deep Ecology and Its Practices.

PhD. dissertation, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, CA., USA.

Stuckey, J., 2002. 'The Goddess', in Rabinovitch and Lewis: 115-117.

Sutcliffe, A., and Bowman, M., (eds). 2000. Beyond New Age:

exploring alternative spirituality. Edinburgh University Press,

Edinburgh.

Sutton, P.W., 2007. The Environment: A Sociological Introduction.

223

Polity, Cambridge.

Syme, A., 1997. 'I Know the Heather Song: Exploring a Gaelic

Epistemic', in Hart, T., Nelson, P.L., Puhakka, K. (eds.): 204-220.

Szerszynski, B., 1998. Action's Glassy Essence: The Dramatics of

Environmental Protest. Paper presented at the Annual Conference

of the Royal Geographic Society with the Institute of British

Geographers, Kingston University, 5th-8th January 1998.

- 2002. ‘Ecological Rites: Ritual Action in Environmental Protest

Events’. Theory, Culture & Society. Vol. 19(3) Sage, London,

Thousand Oaks and New Delhi: 51–69.

Taylor, B., 2001. ‘Earth and Nature-Based Spirituality (Part 1): From

Deep Ecology to Radical Environmentalism’. Religion 31: 175 – 193.

- 2005, (editor-in-chief), The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature.

Thoemmes Continuum, London.

- 2005b, 'Resacralizing Mother Earth in the History of Earth First!'

Earth First! The Radical Environmental Journal, November -

December 2005, Samhain/Yule. Volume 6, #1: 46-48.

Taylor, M., (ed.), 1998. Critical Terms for Religious Studies.

University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.

- 2006. 'Compression and representation', in Language and

Literature, vol. 15 (1). Sage, London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New

Delhi: 17–27.

Taylor, S. 2006. An Exploration of Wilderness Effects: A

Phenomenological Inquiry.

http://www.c-zone.net/taylors/

Accessed July 2006.

Thomas, H., and Ahmed, J., 2004. Cultural Bodies. Ethnography

and Theory. Blackwell. Oxford, MA., USA and Victoria Australia.

Thompson, W., (ed). 1987. Gaia: A Way of Knowing. Political

Implications of the New Biology. Lindisfarne Press, Hudson, New

York.

Thoreau, H.D., 1908. Walden or Life in the Woods. J.M Dent,

London.

224

Thrift, N., 1996 Spatial Formations, Sage, London, Thousand Oaks

and New Delhi.

– 1997. ‘The Still Point. Resistance, expressive embodiment and

dance’, in Geographies of Resistance, ed. Pile, S. and Keith, M.

Routledge, London, USA and Canada: 124–152.

- 2000, ‘Still Life in Nearly Present Time: The Object of Nature’. In

Body & Society, vol. 6, No. 3-4. Sage, London: 34-57.

Tierny, W. G., 1998. ‘Life history’s history: Subjects foretold’.

Qualitative Inquiry, 4: 49-70.

Tilley, 1994. The Phenomenology of Landscape: Places, Paths and

Monuments. Berg, Oxford

Todres, L., 1999. 'The bodily complexity of truth-telling in

qualitative research: some implications of Gendlin's philosophy'.

Humanistic Psychologist, 23(3): 283-300. (Reprinted in Todres

2007).

- 2004. ‘The meaning of understanding and the open body: some

implications for qualitative research’. Existential Analysis, 2004, 15

(1): 38-54.

- 2007. Embodied Enquiry: Phenomenological Touchstones for

Research, Psychotherapy and Spirituality. Palgrave Macmillan,

Basingstoke, Hants. and New York.

Todres, L., and Galvin, K., in press, Qualitative Research, Sage.

Toga, A. and Mazziotta, J. (eds.), 1996. Brain Mapping: The

Systems, Academic Press, San Diego.

Trocco, F., 1997. ‘Mind in the Waters’. The Trumpeter, 14.3.

http://trumpeter.athabascau.ca/content/v14.3/14.3-complete.pdf

Accessed September, 2006.

Tuan, Yi-fu, 1974. Topophilia: A Study of Environmental

Perception, Attitudes, and Values. Prentice Hall, Englewood, N.J.

Turner, B., 1992. Regulating Bodies: Essays in Medical Sociology.

Routledge, London.

Turner, V. 1967. The Forest of Symbols. Cornell University Press,

225

Ithaca, New York.

- 1969. The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-Structure. Cornell

University Press, Ithaca, New York.

- 1982. Ritual to Theatre The Human Seriousness of Play.

Performing Arts Journal Publications, New York.

Turner, V., and Bruner, E., (eds.) 1986. The Anthropology of

Experience. University of Illinois Press. Urbana and Chicago.

Underwood, G., (ed.) 1996. Implicit Cognition. Oxford University

Press, Oxford, New York, Tokyo.

- 1990. Researching Lived Experience, Human Science for an

Action Sensitive Pedagogy. State University of New York Press,

Canada.

Varela, F.J., 1987. 'Laying Down a Path', in Thompson, (ed):48-63.

- 1999. 'Steps to a Science of Inter-being: Unfolding the Dharma

Implicit in Modern Cognitive Science', in Watson, Batchelor and

Claxton, (eds.): 71-89.

- 2001. ‘Why a proper science of mind implies the transcendence of

nature’, in Andresen, J., (ed.): 207-236.

Varela, F.J., Thompson, E., and Rosch, E., 1991. The Embodied

Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience. MIT Press,

Cambridge, MA.

Vitebsky, P., 2000. 'Shamanism', in Harvey (ed.): 55-67.

Wallis, 2004. ‘Between the Worlds: Autoarchaeology and Neo-

Shamans’, in Blain, Ezzy, and Harvey (eds.): 195-215.

Watson, G, Batchelor, S. and Claxton, G, (eds.) 1999. The

Psychology of Awakening. Buddhism, Science, and Our Day-to-

Day Lives. Rider, London.

Warren, K., Sakofs, M, & Hunt, J. S. (eds.). The Theory of

Experiential Education. Kendall Hunt, Dubuque, IA.

Webster 2006. Chthonic Fire. A Witches Eco-Erotica. Self published

booklet, Victoria, BC, Canada.

226

Weiss, G. and Haber, H., (eds.) 1999. Perspectives on Embodiment:

The Intersections of Nature and Culture. Routledge, New York.

Wells, N.M. and Lekies, K.S., 2006. 'Nature and the Life Course:

Pathways from childhood nature experiences to adult

environmentalism'. Children, Youth, and Environment, 16 (1): 1-24.

Westwood, R., (ed.), 1988. Earthwise #1. November 1988.

Moonshine Publications, Birmingham, UK.

- 1989. Earthwise # 2. February 1989. Moonshine Publications,

Birmingham, UK.

- Moonshine #15, n.d. Published by Prince Elric’s Bookshop,

Birmingham, UK.

- Moonshine #19, n.d. Published by Prince Elric’s Bookshop,

Birmingham, UK

Westwood, R., and Walbridge, J., no date. Awakening the Dragon.

Practical Paganism, Political Ritual and Active Ecology.

Moonshine Publications, Birmingham, UK.

- (eds.) 1987a. Moonshine magazine, no. 6, Samhain 1987. Published

by Prince Elric’s Bookshop, Birmingham, UK.

- (eds) 1987b. Moonshine magazine, # 7, Winter Equinox 1987.

Published by Prince Elric’s Bookshop, Birmingham, UK.

Wilber, K., 1990. Eye to eye: the quest for the new paradigm.

Shambala, Boston.

Williams, R., 1983. Keywords. A Vocabulary of Culture and Society.

Flamingo, London.

Wilson E.O., 1975. Sociobiology. Harvard University Press,

Cambridge, MA

- 1993. The Diversity of Life. Penguin, London.

Wilson, M., 2002. ‘Six Views of Embodied Cognition’. Psychonomic

Bulletin & Review, Volume 9,Number 4, 1 December 2002: 625-

636.

227

Winter, D.D.N., 1996. Ecological Psychology: Healing the split

between planet and self. Harper Collins, New York.

Wise, J.A. and Bishop, S.L., 2000. Life Support & Biosphere

Science, Vol. 7:1. Cognizant Comm. Corp., USA.

Wittgenstein, L., 1968. Philosophical Investigations, Trans.

Anscombe, G. Blackwell, Oxford.

- 1981. Zettel. Anscombe, G. and Wright, G. V., (eds.), trans.

Anscombe, G. Blackwell, Oxford.

Wolff, C., 1972, [1948]. A Psychology of Gesture, Methuen & Co.,

reprint, Arno Press, New York.

Wolterstorff, N., 1999. 'Epistemology of Religion', in Greco and

Sosa, (eds.):303-324.

Woodman, J., 2000. 'Lovecrafting the Art of Magick: secularism,

modernity, and emergent Stellar Spiritualities with contemporary

occult discourses'. Paper presented at British Sociological

Association Sociology of Religion Study Group Conference, Prophets

and Predictions Religion in the 21st Century. University of Exeter,

April 2000.

Worthington, A., (ed.), 2005. The Battle of the Beanfield. Enabler

Publications, Devon

Wuthnow, R. (ed.) 1998. Encyclopaedia of Politics and Religion.

Routledge, London

Yeh, W., & Barsalou, L.W., 2006. 'The situated nature of concepts'.

American Journal of Psychology, 119: 349-384.

York, M., 1995. The Emerging Network: Sociology of the New Age

and Neo-Pagan Movement. Rowman and Littlefield, Lanham, Md.

Yuasa, Yasuo, 1997. The Body: Toward an Eastern Mind-Body

Theory. Edited by Kasulis, T., and translated by Nagatomo

Shigenori. SUNY, Albany.

Zeig, J. (ed.), The evolution of psychotherapy: A meeting of the

minds. The Milton H. Erickson Foundation Press, Phoenix, AZ.

Zlatev, J.; Ziemke, T.; Frank, R.; Dirven, R. (eds.), 2007. Body,

228

Language and Mind, vol. 2. Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin.

Zuboff, S., 1988. In the Age of the Smart Machine: The Future of

Work and Power, Basic Books, New York.

Zwissler, L., 2004. Right Action: Uses of Ritual in Anti-

Globalization Protests by Neo-Pagan, United Church, and Catholic

Activists. Paper presented to the American Academy of Religion

Annual Meeting, November 2004, San Antonio.

Related Websites:

The Druid Network:

http://www.druidnetwork.org/index.html

Last accessed November 2006.

Pagan Federation:

http://www.paganfed.org/

Last accessed November 2006.

E-mail discussion lists:

Dragon Network Dragon e-list: dragon-network@yahoogroups.com

British Reclaiming Discussion List: BRDL@yahoogroups.co.uk

Pagan Warriors: paganwarriorsuk@yahoogroups.com

Television series:

Bellamy, David (host), 1987. Turning the Tide . Produced by George

Courtice for Tyne Tees Television.

Interview details:

Urban Eco-Pagans;

Barry interviewed in Coventry, 19/04/2007

Emily interviewed in Coventry, 20/04/2007

Gordon interviewed in Buxton, 29/05/07

Jocelyn interviewed in London, 08/08/07

Mark interviewed in Southend, 21/05/07

Mary interviewed in 26/05/07, Devon

Michael interviewed in London, 14/05/07

Sally interviewed in London, 23/05/07

Sekhara interviewed in London, 18/05/07

Zoe interviewed nr. Glastonbury, 24/05/07

Protest Site Eco-Pagans;

Adam interviewed at Climate Change Camp, August 2006

229

Dave interviewed at site B, June 2007

Debbie interviewed at site B October, 2005

Ian interviewed at site E, June 2006

Jake interviewed at site B, September 2007

Jan interviewed at site B, on October, 2005

Jo interviewed at site B, June 2007

John interviewed at site B, May 2006

Lauren interviewed in London, August 2007

Millie interviewed at site B, October, 2005

Oak interviewed at site B, on October, 2005

Ray interviewed at site B, September 2007

Rob interviewed at Climate Change Camp, August 2006

230