We Need The Supernatural
This is a seriously sad story, so please only read this when you have the emotional space.
In late June of this past summer, Dan and I frequented the local branch of our river. We walked beside it, carefully observing the thriving plants and wildlife. One sunny afternoon, I read and sang nonsense, babbling with the water while sitting at its bank. We waded in together on a hot day and laughed as schools of tiny fish nibbled gently on our arms and legs. It felt magickal, and we made promises to be back.
A week later the fish were all dead.
Although I can’t say much, as no real official information has been made publicly available, I do know that the cause of death for over 40,000 fish was human action. Right now, my sources tell me that it’s unknown if there’s robust enough evidence in order to prosecute the entity responsible. But regardless, the damage is done.
No action will bring those fish and wildlife back, the ones I watched struggle and die in front of my eyes while being able to do nothing. Calling the emergency response team and documenting the “incident” (i.e. tragedy) was the only thing Dan and I could do for the river at the time.
After months of literal, felt heartache and searching for answers from investigation teams that might lead to some kind of accountability, I still can’t forget. Even though it still hurts, I don’t want to forget.
The river didn’t forget. And I hope whoever is responsible doesn’t forget either.
By now, I’ve learned that I’m not the only one seeking information and interested in protecting the river from further harm. Finding this out was an unbelievable comfort that was sorely needed, and now Dan and I are working together with them — sharing information and talking about next steps. Incredibly and magically, Dan just recently ran into an actual druid doing ritual in those same woods by the river just last week. We learned that he was also aware of the fish kill and had done rituals (as had we) to ameliorate the damage to the area.
The river is loved. There are others who care — we need more people who care.
We, as a species, desperately need to gain back some sense of relationality to our natural world. This is why we need to question the division between “human” and “nature”, and condemn the philosophy of human dominion and “progress” over the flourishing of wildlife, the land, and the environment. This is why we need to really entertain the idea of landscapes filled with spirits, sentient and feeling animals, and intelligent plantlife who have their own sovereignty, rights, and desires to thrive.
This is why we all need to foster right relation with our world.
In Greening the Paranormal, Dr. Jack Hunter asserts that our philosophical orientation toward — or more simply our thoughts and values around — nature, the other-than-human world, and universe itself needs to change in order for us to have a hope of doing the things needed to address the eco-crisis. He goes on to write that “approaches emerging from the study of (and engagement with) the supernatural may ultimately help us to reconnect with the natural.”
When I read this, it felt like coming home to a familiar idea undergirding our work: one that hadn’t yet found such a powerful and courageous framing. Encounters with the Numinous help us to perceive a more living and relational world, and with this experiential knowledge, it becomes much more difficult to disregard and mistreat our companions.
This idea, though it may sound radical, has been echoed by a multitude of voices for decades as “culture” dedicates more and more to a materialist perspective of the world. Other philosophers, teachers, advocates, and writers from Donna Haraway and Robin Wall Kimmerer to honestly countless indigenous peoples across the world such as the Kogi Mámas in Colombia share versions of this message (also described in a Greening the Paranormal essay). We encourage you to research these people and find the voices that have been speaking this idea to you!
And so, in seeking further ways to encounter the more-than-human, intelligent world, to transcend the stifling anthropocentric isolation created in tandem with an industrial, materialistic view of the universe, Dan and I revisit the idea of Nwyfre. Of Kin. Of Chora. Of Ki.
Of sacred places and of eco-consciousness. Of engaging with “right” enchantment and Fortean phenomena.
The only way out is through. So let’s go.
More information to come in the wintering months. But don’t wait for us. Never wait for anyone to take inspired, positive action! Ask yourself, how can you engage with the other-than-human now? There are so many ways to move forward in right relation with the natural world from simple steps like taking daily walks, to researching the intelligence of plant and animal life, to creating a practice of engaging spirits magickally.
