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Restoring the Great Conversation

Drawing on the work of Carl Jung and James Hillman, the author probes the possibilities of cross-species communication by describing his relationship with an eastern cottonwood tree. He explains that his “conversation” with the tree is largely non-verbal. It’s more a matter of listening to each other in silence, attending to what may come up from the unconscious. Their communication has become a way of falling in love with each other. The author goes on to ask how folklore, indigenous wisdom, and the history of spirituality can help us recover a “forgotten language,” a way of intimately connecting with the natural world. We still do this in our stories and dreams. Renewing the Great Conversation isn’t only what we do for ourselves. It assures the future of an earth where life in all its diversity continues.