Participants of the Deep Ecology workshop in Berkeley.

What happens when we remember that we are not separate from the Earth, but an expression of life’s evolution?

On October 10–11 in Berkeley, Pachamama Alliance joined the School for the Great Turning, the Institute for Deep Ecology, the Rainforest Information Centre, and the Work That Reconnects Network to explore this question through an immersive Deep Ecology workshop. This collaboration reflects Pachamama Alliance’s growing commitment to building partnerships and alliances that connect, strengthen, and amplify our movements and collective impact.

We were honored to be joined virtually by John Seed, one of the grandfathers of the Deep Ecology movement, a longtime rainforest activist, and close colleague of Joanna Macy. Together, they developed the Council of All Beings and co-authored Thinking Like a Mountain. Now 81 years old and no longer traveling by plane, John joined us by Zoom from Australia to guide portions of the workshop.

Deep Ecology emerged in the 1970s through the work of Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss, challenging the dominant Western worldview that places humans above and apart from the rest of nature. While this philosophy offered a radical departure from Western industrial society’s human-centered and mechanized understanding of the world, its core insights have long been held and practiced by Indigenous peoples across the globe, whose worldviews recognize the sacred interdependence and kinship of all life.

Deep Ecology invites us to remember that we are not at the top of a pyramid, but one strand in a vast, interconnected web. Næss understood that ecological ideas alone are not enough to transform our relationship with the Earth. What is needed is an ecological identity, a felt sense of belonging to the living world that can help heal the illusion of separation and awaken our responsibility to care for the whole.

"It is not enough to have ecological ideas, we have to have an ecological identity, an ecological self." — Arne Næss, Emeritus Philosophy Professor

Guided by the spiral of the Work That Reconnects, we began by grounding in gratitude and the sheer awe of being alive on this miraculous planet. From there, we turned toward honoring our pain for the world. In these times of ecological and societal unraveling, the scale of collective grief, fear, outrage, and loss is far too big for any one person to carry alone. Through the Truth Mandala, we created a space to feel, witness, and metabolize this pain together, discovering how shared grief can help us tap into our compassion and great love. Expressing emotions that have been suppressed also unleashes energy and strengthens our sense of collective power and agency when we are unafraid to turn toward suffering.

We also traveled into Deep Time, expanding our perspective beyond the human story to the extraordinary evolutionary journey of Earth and the universe. John guided us through a ceremonial Cosmic Walk, starting with the Big Bang and then tracing the unfolding of evolution across billions of years. Experiencing ourselves as part of this creation story invited a deeper trust in the intelligence of life itself and the evolutionary forces moving through us at this critical threshold and initiation for humanity.

As we entered the Going Forth phase of the spiral, participants named intentions, projects, and next steps they wanted to nurture in their lives. In small groups, each person received reflections from others speaking as the voice of Doubt, an Ancestor, and a Future Being. This powerful Deep Time practice helped us confront the critical inner voices that can undermine our intentions, receive wisdom from those who came before us, and feel the ripple effects of our choices on generations to come. The future ones reminded us that we are their ancestors, and that the quality of life they inherit depends, in part, on the courageous actions we take today.

Strengthening our intentions in relationship with the perspectives and voices of Doubt, Ancestors and Future Ones.

Throughout the weekend, the lead facilitators, Lydia Violet and Erika Aligno, wove in song, movement, and games, reminding us that joy and celebration are also essential in our work for the Great Turning. We left with a renewed sense that the Great Turning is something that is forged through our relationships with one another, with the living Earth, with our ancestors and future generations, and with the evolutionary cosmos unfolding through us.

This spirit of reconnection and collective action is also at the heart of Pachamama Alliance’s emerging Kinship Circles initiative—an invitation to grow a global movement of place-based communities that embody a kinship worldview in everyday life. Through shared practices, mutual care, and collective action, these circles will offer spaces to deepen our ecological identities, strengthen community resilience, and cultivate the life-affirming ways of being and relating that the future ones are calling for.

Awareness of our place in the web of life is essential but not sufficient. The deeper invitation is to live it, practice it, and build a world together that is rooted in care and belonging.

Interested in learning more or forming a Kinship Circle? Share your interest here and join us in bringing this movement to life.

Workshop facilitators: Aryeh Shell, Lydia Violet Harutoonian, Constance Washburn, and Erika Aligno.