Raising Paradise

[Nick Routledge]

Thomas Moore points to the late John Moriarty as a major influence. In digging through Moriarty’s oeuvre I’ve been surprised to note this remarkable Irish philosopher makes almost no mention of gardening – his livelihood since he parted ways with academia as a young man. I’m surprised because I am myself a gardener - indeed, I lurk around the fringes of the ‘paradise gardening’ community, the avant-garde(ners) exploring that vital threshold where, essentially, archetypal psych meets the dirt: “…In a very real sense, the paradise gardener does not simply remake Eden, here and now, in this very realm of existence, but is herself remade by the landscape, by the work itself. Ultimately then, psychological and ecological integration coincide: Paradise is an emergent, co-evolutionary phenomenon.”

Here’s a posting which, among other things, affirms Thomas Moore’s definitive contribution to the modest little demi-Eden that is my own garden-home, ‘a paradise of acceptance rather than perfection’ as a friend recently `described it. I would be curious to know if there are other integral gardeners lurking in the virtual hedgerows surrounding this blog.

Got Snot? Part II. Exiting the whole Shebang.

Regards,

n

[Thomas Moore]

Nick, I noticed in your second sentence you refer to "digging through Moriarty's oeuvre." Your choice of words might give a hint at how John Moriarty brought his experience of gardening into his work. His words came out of his earthy nature and were as thick as an untended garden. When he phoned me, I'd say hello and then listen to a half-hour spillage of thoughts, pansies D. H. Lawrence might call them. He had little control over the verbal vegetation that grew out of his imagination. Some criticized him for it. I loved it. I wish I could get more of that soil into my writing, though I never again expect to meet anyone nearly like John. He had a vegetative soul—green and overgrown and nutritious.

[Nick Routledge]

With regard to your question about the high prevalence of autism locally, I do not know what is responsible, indeed I am not sure what the catch-all term 'autism' currently includes. My heart always sinks to hear a youngster announce, "I am autistic." What do they understand by that? What have people told them? (O'Donohue's 'Eternal Echoes' is most perceptive around the 'word-cages' of 'negative baptisms.') There is so clearly an astounding beauty to the souls of the youngsters I work with, and so very close to the surface, too.

My guess is that there is an environmental component to autism hereabouts not unrelated to the dominant presence of the wood products industry. Springfield is a 'mill town' and many of the value-added industries associated with logging - such as particle-board manufacture or paper-making - typically involve the intensive use of highly toxic chemicals. Then, to compound things, we suffer from many of the problems commonly associated with industrial living - such as alcoholism, and its influence in vitro and onwards.

I am, however, extremely wary of finger-pointing, not least because any cause is wholly contextual - we all support clear-cutting and noxious pollution when we write poetry on a piece of paper, for example (Thich Nhat Hanh's 'interbeing'). And the 'causes' of autism or any other of a vast array of conditions which afflict us, as we generally identify or seek to address them are all, fundamentally, _symptoms_ of a dissonance which issues from depths far deeper than industrial process. As poet-ethnobotanist Dale Pendell describes the shaman's path: "We seek the primal poison, the root illness. The prima materia...The double-edge sword of intellect. Reason as our most spectacular poison, concepts as frozen mind, Huxley's ice-cubes." Our task, surely, is not to attach blame, but rather to address the foundational incoherence as best we are able. As deep gardeners, for example, we tend to the soil, not the ailing plant, seeking always to support health rather than repress disease. As the Book of Changes puts it in religio-magical vernacular, "the best way to fight evil is by doing good elsewhere." We turn away from protest, resistance. We are allies to all.

[Barque]

Thanks Nick for including the link to your three-parter. References to Moriarty, O'Donohue, and Moore may resonate with this group. Your bio suggests a very busy schedule. Is there an explanation for the high rate of autism in your area? I enjoyed the photos. It's possible Barque members are busy in their gardens rather than checking the forum. Thank you again for joining and contributing.