issue 21: The Sowers, Decolonizing the Landscape

“A seed neither fears light nor darkness, but uses both to grow.”
― Matshona Dhliwayo

In the spirit of our recent Independence Day celebration, I wanted to draw forth ideas from the previous Sovereign Heart, Wild & Free issue to further explore what it means to also be of sovereign mind, soul, body and land. In the previous post I introduced the idea of a subtle though pervasive and dynamic field that connects us to one another, the earth and all living beings. Here we explore what it is that we’re actively sowing in that field and also question what we’ve been allowing to grow within it. It is the seeds we sow today that will bear the fruits that is our world to come.

As we find ourselves at the brink of global social, political, economic and environment collapse we also find ourselves among many green opportunities emerging all around us. Seeds planted by those who came before, even long before us, have weathered the storms and droughts of social upheaval and cultural suppression that have ripped apart the fabric of their former communities and replaced them with many noxious narratives and highly competitive ways of being that have resulted in much discord within the web of life. Those ‘colonizer’ seeds can be likened to a GMO monoculture choking out all that was formerly adapted to ways of existing in natural balance and harmony. Despite many assaults over generations, the seeds that have survived are seeds of resilience and resistance. They hold within them the DNA of ideas and ways of being that sustained our ancestors for many thousands of years prior and can sustain us for many more years to come. These “old” though foundational ideas have managed to root themselves in the minds of generations that have followed leading to a now burgeoning era of re-generation or a revitalization of old ways and cultural values through each emerging new generation. The newer generations are actively questioning and challenging the status quo they’ve inherited while seeking out and reviving old ways. They are resurrecting tradition while utilizing modern resources—resources like digital technologies, social media platforms and more facile mediums of artistic expression—to connect with many others within whom those seeds are also beginning to stir and awaken. In that field of connectivity, more and more seeds have the opportunity to not only take root but thrive.

What had once supplanted the more sustainable ways of being—cultural and ecological biodiversity, sense of family and community, the collaborative spirit of mutual dependency—has a new force to contend with. It is a force of mass movement refusing the colonial mindset that has kept us inhibited and suppressed if not also sick and depressed for too long. It is a mass movement composed of micro movements—like so many sprouting seeds—quietly emerging not in retaliation, but in simple assertion of their own autonomy and right to be, wild and free.

In this issue we explore a subject I refer to as ‘decolonization of the landscape’. It is a decolonizing of not just the terrestrial landscape but the mental, biological, social and even culinary landscapes that shape us and that we may actively shape with our own individual and collective intentions. It’s not only what we sow, it’s also what we harvest and how. Accepting, respecting, protecting and making good use what is generously offered by nature and by deeply rooted cultures without exploiting that generosity is also key to our shared survival and mutual ability to thrive.

Some questions and reflections I hope to elicit with this assortment of offerings: What seeds are we individually and collectively sowing, what fruits do we expect or hope they’ll bring forth, and how can we amend the soil/soul of our small communities for much greater, better quality and more sustainable future yields?

In Truth, Beauty and Goodness,

B. Monique

Find the full issue 21: The Sowers, Decolonizing the Landscape here.