This is an amazing article Veronika! Although I rarely take the time at the moment to read articles on here I couldn't help but to keep reading. There's so much inspiration in this! I will take the word earthling especially and refer to humans as earthlings from now on, it seems much kinder and more accurate. I also love that the word "earth" can be rearranged into "heart" if you just move the h to the front. I love how you dug deep to bring the poetry and mystery into the light. ❤️
What a great observation! Of course, earth = heart.
I was also blown away (again) rereading and rewriting the definition of human. How very flattering! Let's try to live up to that. Thank you so much, Nicole 💚🙏 🌱 🪶 🐌
Second time this morning that I write 'terrific', the first being a response to David Brazier's latest.. Thank you.
Yes, soil breathes, the same mix of air and water as us creatures.
Its also the 2nd time this morning I have lifted a book from the shelf. The final and Tenth Edition of Russell's 'Soil Conditions and Plant Growth. This came out nearly 10 years after I left University, but I found a copy a few years back released from a library.
Time moves on, and the Welsh Plant Breeding Station shifted it because it is outdated, but I am impressed how many times in its 849 pages the final edition explains how little was known!
What a monumental task to explain the World. By the sound of it, AI has not got there.
What are we made of? Why, earth, air and water as was long known, and fire for sure... the earthly fire we know in its uses and terror, and the origin source, the heat and light, intelligible, of the sky.
Between these matters we come and come and go, forming and decomposing as must the humus.
PS Russell did not know how much recognisable DNA is preserved in the diversity of soils.
Thank you so much Philip. I was not aware of Russell's 'Soil Conditions and Plant Growth', would have been a great source for my HUMUS book, no doubt.
I don't think AI will ever get there (it can't copy and paste soil...). Even soil scientists noticed that the microbial activity of the soil died (!) as soon as it was in the lab and before they got their samples under the microscope... which explains a few things.
Wow, what don’t you write on? Soil is wisdom. So many metaphors deep in layers of understanding and deeper knowledge, we may not even know. Soil reveals. I’ve always been fascinated by soil yeast. Fermentation. The role of disease prevention. The speech of the dirt. The language of the Earth. The secrets of decay. What’s dead comes alive again. Sounds like growth to me. Soil is the magic. The sensuous terrain that sustains. Thank you for being a white witch of revelation. Thank you for spreading love and light. Thank you for being a soil mother 🙏❤️
a writer is a writer is a writer. As Jonathan Foster mentioned in his interview with Kimberly Warner, and as famous writers (including Virginia Woolf and Stephen King) have said in the past, 'I write to find out what I'm thinking', or, I prefer to put it the other way round, I discover what is going on in my mind as I'm writing.
I mainly write about soil, the inner soil (aka Consciousness), so the exploration of the outer soil is of great interest too. The deeper I dig the more I find. That's the nature of soil.
The list of what I don't write on is a lot longer... 😉 💚🙏
Dear Veronika, this is extraordinary and beautiful, the brilliance of your mindful thinking. I truly don't know how you link so perfectly in metaphor and fact that which is surely so complicated a subject as humus and human, earth and earthling but once again I am spellbound by the importance of your essay.
"When we realise that humus is not only a vital part of our food cycle and a critical basis for our health, but also our close relative, inseparably tied up with our destiny, perhaps it helps us rebuild the relationship we once had with our mother substance."
Thank you, I am sending this straight away to a friend who is pondering the idea of writing here... I hope this will persuade her, I think it will. 🙏🏼🌿x
What happened in 'the year of the fire' (such things become historic events where we live ~ as you well know from life in le Paradis as well) was that 5 days after the firestorm in Central Portugal, which took part of our garden and the homes and farms and livelihoods of many people we knew, my mother died, and we had to rush off to her funeral in Germany.
My mother had been a horticulturist, and humus is called 'mothersoil' in German, so the connection was already implanted deeply in my mind. Writing that book on HUMUS was a 'no-brainer' for me, and it taught me so much more than I could have dreamed of.
I just love how you pick up on all these threads intuitively, in your own way xxx and thank you so much for sharing 💚 🍃🪱 🍂 🙏
You are very welcome, Veronika. My friend, named Gabrielle, who is also plagued with this horrible flu, has just messaged me with thanks also, she loved your essay, especially the references and backgrounds of 'black gold'. You and she have much in common, not only a great and empathetic understanding of 'mothersoil' but language also. I wish you could meet, I would happily sit on the sidelines and simply listen... 💚🌿
Bravo! Beautifully examined and expressed. The connection between human and humus has never been so thrilling. 🙏 “Figurative fermentation processes can turn ‘mental and emotional waste products’ into precious humified wisdom.”
Another beautiful word-treasure-trail detective story, on the case with humus and fermentation. And the implication of 'as in the inner so in the outer' goes a long way. Synchronosophy is well-rooted.
Hi Veronika, My grandfather’s hands … he was a gardener and my mother grew up vegetarian on her father’s market garden farm in the 1940-50s, and each year when l took my mother back to visit Pop in Tasmania, the first thing we did was go straight out into his garden. My challenge was to get the fork under the potatoes and unearth them without ever stabbing one. ☺️❤️. He always told me that farmers didn’t know about soil because they depleted it so with their methods. He would then show us how he fed the soil, ratios etc. Much of it was beyond Mum and myself, though we loved being with him in his garden. Pop’s brother who is still alive at 94 and on the original family farm (which was a dairy farm), now rents his paddocks to the big companies for growing vegetables. He would argue often with his brother, my grandfather, about soil and how Pop told him he was mistreating the land. Anyway, thank you, for sharing your knowledge. Of course, l will need to read it again. I know my grandfather’s hands would be putting your post in front of me to read. He often sent me articles and photos of clouds. 😊🙏💜
Thanks Veronika 💜. Pop and Uncle Neville shared that sibling affection we are familiar, and despite their differences there was a healthy respect 🤣. Yes, l have met with Pop’s soul energy, he is a gate keeper of the ancestors. He was such a good man, and very unconventional 💜
This is really lovely, Veronika. Not only in the reminders of the Earth+Human connection, but in the revelation and ubiquitous nature of humus and fermentation!
This is an amazing article Veronika! Although I rarely take the time at the moment to read articles on here I couldn't help but to keep reading. There's so much inspiration in this! I will take the word earthling especially and refer to humans as earthlings from now on, it seems much kinder and more accurate. I also love that the word "earth" can be rearranged into "heart" if you just move the h to the front. I love how you dug deep to bring the poetry and mystery into the light. ❤️
What a great observation! Of course, earth = heart.
I was also blown away (again) rereading and rewriting the definition of human. How very flattering! Let's try to live up to that. Thank you so much, Nicole 💚🙏 🌱 🪶 🐌
I love how our own words teach us over and over again. Happens to me too, quite often. 💕
Second time this morning that I write 'terrific', the first being a response to David Brazier's latest.. Thank you.
Yes, soil breathes, the same mix of air and water as us creatures.
Its also the 2nd time this morning I have lifted a book from the shelf. The final and Tenth Edition of Russell's 'Soil Conditions and Plant Growth. This came out nearly 10 years after I left University, but I found a copy a few years back released from a library.
Time moves on, and the Welsh Plant Breeding Station shifted it because it is outdated, but I am impressed how many times in its 849 pages the final edition explains how little was known!
What a monumental task to explain the World. By the sound of it, AI has not got there.
What are we made of? Why, earth, air and water as was long known, and fire for sure... the earthly fire we know in its uses and terror, and the origin source, the heat and light, intelligible, of the sky.
Between these matters we come and come and go, forming and decomposing as must the humus.
PS Russell did not know how much recognisable DNA is preserved in the diversity of soils.
Thank you so much Philip. I was not aware of Russell's 'Soil Conditions and Plant Growth', would have been a great source for my HUMUS book, no doubt.
I don't think AI will ever get there (it can't copy and paste soil...). Even soil scientists noticed that the microbial activity of the soil died (!) as soon as it was in the lab and before they got their samples under the microscope... which explains a few things.
Life is alive in its natural habitat.
Wow, what don’t you write on? Soil is wisdom. So many metaphors deep in layers of understanding and deeper knowledge, we may not even know. Soil reveals. I’ve always been fascinated by soil yeast. Fermentation. The role of disease prevention. The speech of the dirt. The language of the Earth. The secrets of decay. What’s dead comes alive again. Sounds like growth to me. Soil is the magic. The sensuous terrain that sustains. Thank you for being a white witch of revelation. Thank you for spreading love and light. Thank you for being a soil mother 🙏❤️
a writer is a writer is a writer. As Jonathan Foster mentioned in his interview with Kimberly Warner, and as famous writers (including Virginia Woolf and Stephen King) have said in the past, 'I write to find out what I'm thinking', or, I prefer to put it the other way round, I discover what is going on in my mind as I'm writing.
I mainly write about soil, the inner soil (aka Consciousness), so the exploration of the outer soil is of great interest too. The deeper I dig the more I find. That's the nature of soil.
The list of what I don't write on is a lot longer... 😉 💚🙏
Humus, human soil
arise and rise fermented.
Neither are inert.
...
In the fall garden,
the fallen become compost.
Fruits, and us as well.
...
In the hot compost
leftovers are cooked slowly.
Black gold the earth births.
Thank you very much, Marisol, for your poetic symbiogenic pondering 💚🙏 🌱 🪶 🐌
Dear Veronika, this is extraordinary and beautiful, the brilliance of your mindful thinking. I truly don't know how you link so perfectly in metaphor and fact that which is surely so complicated a subject as humus and human, earth and earthling but once again I am spellbound by the importance of your essay.
"When we realise that humus is not only a vital part of our food cycle and a critical basis for our health, but also our close relative, inseparably tied up with our destiny, perhaps it helps us rebuild the relationship we once had with our mother substance."
Thank you, I am sending this straight away to a friend who is pondering the idea of writing here... I hope this will persuade her, I think it will. 🙏🏼🌿x
Thank you Susie! That's so lovely to hear xxx 💗🙏
What happened in 'the year of the fire' (such things become historic events where we live ~ as you well know from life in le Paradis as well) was that 5 days after the firestorm in Central Portugal, which took part of our garden and the homes and farms and livelihoods of many people we knew, my mother died, and we had to rush off to her funeral in Germany.
My mother had been a horticulturist, and humus is called 'mothersoil' in German, so the connection was already implanted deeply in my mind. Writing that book on HUMUS was a 'no-brainer' for me, and it taught me so much more than I could have dreamed of.
I just love how you pick up on all these threads intuitively, in your own way xxx and thank you so much for sharing 💚 🍃🪱 🍂 🙏
You are very welcome, Veronika. My friend, named Gabrielle, who is also plagued with this horrible flu, has just messaged me with thanks also, she loved your essay, especially the references and backgrounds of 'black gold'. You and she have much in common, not only a great and empathetic understanding of 'mothersoil' but language also. I wish you could meet, I would happily sit on the sidelines and simply listen... 💚🌿
I LOVE your ways Veronika!
This made my day - truly, thank you!
Kia ora,
Sarah
Thank you Sarah! The love is reciprocal.
💚 🍃🪱 🍂 🙏
tn koe
Bravo! Beautifully examined and expressed. The connection between human and humus has never been so thrilling. 🙏 “Figurative fermentation processes can turn ‘mental and emotional waste products’ into precious humified wisdom.”
Thank you Kimberly! 🥀 🍃🪱 🍂 🙏 I know, as a guardian of a garden you are cultivating that friendship 🐜 🌿 🍁 💚
Veronika, so basic and is original. You probe the heart and the earth--another essay to love and a book to come? xx
Thank you so much Mary 💚🙏 The book has already been written, so this essay was easy, with all the writer's inner soil already well humified 😊 💕
Another beautiful word-treasure-trail detective story, on the case with humus and fermentation. And the implication of 'as in the inner so in the outer' goes a long way. Synchronosophy is well-rooted.
thank you 💚 🍃🪱 🐜 🙏 all humus for the inner soil 🍂 🌿 🥀 🍁 🤎
Hi Veronika, My grandfather’s hands … he was a gardener and my mother grew up vegetarian on her father’s market garden farm in the 1940-50s, and each year when l took my mother back to visit Pop in Tasmania, the first thing we did was go straight out into his garden. My challenge was to get the fork under the potatoes and unearth them without ever stabbing one. ☺️❤️. He always told me that farmers didn’t know about soil because they depleted it so with their methods. He would then show us how he fed the soil, ratios etc. Much of it was beyond Mum and myself, though we loved being with him in his garden. Pop’s brother who is still alive at 94 and on the original family farm (which was a dairy farm), now rents his paddocks to the big companies for growing vegetables. He would argue often with his brother, my grandfather, about soil and how Pop told him he was mistreating the land. Anyway, thank you, for sharing your knowledge. Of course, l will need to read it again. I know my grandfather’s hands would be putting your post in front of me to read. He often sent me articles and photos of clouds. 😊🙏💜
what a lovely grandfather memory, thank you so much for sharing! To have farmers from both camps in the family must be challenging.
In my family my mother was the gardener, so we grew up with organic veggies and home cooked food.
my best regards to your Pop when you meet him on your journeys to the ancestors 😊 💚 🪱 🐜 🍂 🙏
Thanks Veronika 💜. Pop and Uncle Neville shared that sibling affection we are familiar, and despite their differences there was a healthy respect 🤣. Yes, l have met with Pop’s soul energy, he is a gate keeper of the ancestors. He was such a good man, and very unconventional 💜
a gate keeper of the ancestors! How very appropriate 💜
Thank you so much for sharing, Geraldine 💚🙏 🌱 🪶 🐌
This is really lovely, Veronika. Not only in the reminders of the Earth+Human connection, but in the revelation and ubiquitous nature of humus and fermentation!