Future Sacred: The Connected Creativity of Nature

Description

Reveals how our survival depends on embracing complexity consciousness and relating to nature and all life as sacred * Rejects the "survival of the fittest" narrative in favor of sacred symbiosis, creative cooperation, interdependence and complex thinking * Provides examples from complexity studies, cultural history, philosophy, indigenous spirituality, biomimicry, and ecology to show how nature's intelligence and creativity abound everywhere * Documents how indigenous cultures lived in relative harmony with nature because they perceived themselves as part of the "ordered whole" of all life In Future Sacred, Julie J. Morley offers a new perspective on the human connection to the cosmos by unveiling the connected creativity and sacred intelligence of nature. She rejects the "survival of the fittest" narrative--the idea that survival requires strife--and offers symbiosis and cooperation as nature's path forward. She shows how an increasingly complex world demands increasingly complex consciousness. Our survival depends upon embracing "complexity consciousness," understanding ourselves as part of nature, as well as relating to nature as sacred. Morley begins by documenting how indigenous cultures lived in relative harmony with nature because they perceived themselves as part of the "ordered whole" of all life--until modernity introduced dualistic thinking, thus separating mind from matter, and humans from nature. The author deconstructs the fallacy behind social and neo-Darwinism and the materialist theories of "dead matter" versus those that offer a connection with the sentient mind of nature. She presents evidence from complexity studies, cultural history, philosophy, indigenous spirituality, biomimicry, and ecology, highlighting the idea that nature's intelligence and creativity abound everywhere--from cells to cetaceans, from hydrogen to humans, from sunflowers to solar panels--and that all sentient beings contribute to the evolution of life as a whole, working together in sacred symbiosis. Morley concludes that our sacred future depends on compassionately understanding and integrating multiple intelligences, seeing relationships and interdependence as fundamental and sacred, as well as honoring the experiences of all sentient beings. Instead of "mastery over nature," we must shift toward synergy with nature--and with each other as diverse expressions of nature's creativity.

Julie J. Morley is a writer, environmental educator, and futurist, who writes and lectures on topics such as complexity, consciousness, and ecology. She earned her B.A. in Classics at the University of Southern California and her M.A. in Transformative Leadership at the California Institute of Integral Studies, where she is completing her doctorate on interspecies intersubjectivity. She lives in Sebastopol, California.

"In her deeply thoughtful and wonderful book, Morley presents an engaging argument for bringing the sacred into all our world-making endeavors. She invites us to re-awaken to our cosmic connectedness, re-enchant our present and future, and create possibility in the face of crisis. Timely and essential reading." * Dr. Judith Orloff, New York Times best-selling author of Emotional Freedom * ". . . a glimpse into 'nature's enigmatic creativity'--the sacred dance of complexity that unfolds in the space between chaos and order--the mysterious home of the Trickster. Simultaneously erudite and enchanting--and fully consistent with both science and spirituality--Future Sacred welcomes us to break bread with Mother Earth and discover the sacred, joyful, indefinable magic at play just below the hard surface of everyday reality. A beautiful work that lifts the spirit and the mind into a place of wonder and possibility." * Tamsin Woolley-Barker, PhD, author of Teeming: How Superorganisms Work to Build Infinite Wealth in a * "At this teetering moment in the story of our species, when the fate of not just our kind but of so many other species hangs in the balance, we are massively in need of fresh ways of thinking attuned to the more-than-human matrix that holds, enables, and secretly nourishes all of our human cogitations. Future Sacred could not be timelier--its themes are crucial to the very prospect of a livable future." * David Abram, PhD, author of The Spell of the Sensuous and Becoming Animal and founder of Alliance fo * "In her deeply thoughtful and wonderful book, Morley presents an engaging argument for bringing the sacred into all our world-making endeavors. She invites us to reawaken to our cosmic connectedness, reenchant our present and future, and create possibility in the face of crisis. Timely and essential reading." * Dr. Judith Orloff, New York Times bestselling author of Emotional Freedom * "A richly textured cornucopia of wisdom and facts for the 21st century. Such a vibrant mixture of poetic expression and objects of fascination is rare indeed. Read and enjoy this wonderful book!" * Allan Combs, PhD, director of the Center for Consciousness Studies at the California Institute of In * ". . . a richly textured investigation into where we have been, where we are going, and how and why we need to transform our society right now. Morley dives deeply into examining how unity, compassion, and collaborative creativity can reinvent our vision of the future. Exploring diverse methods grounded in complexity theory and systems thinking, Morley makes the case for a necessary healing of our planetary relationships. A wonderful contribution filled with deep theoretical reflection and challenging inquiry, Future Sacred presents an engaging look at the original ideas shaping the new paradigm." * Ronald Alexander, PhD, leadership consultant, psychotherapist, and author of Wise Mind, Open Mind * "Future Sacred elegantly weaves many different threads of indigenous wisdom, philosophy, and science into a new and ancient fabric of meaning that reenchants the Earth and our co-creative role within her. This book reconnects us with the 'radical enchantment of now,' reminding us of our innate kinship with life as a planetary process and of our co-creative agency and hence responsibility for the future of life. At this time of planetary peril, Morley issues a call for embodying our sacred interbeing in all we do, so that we may heal ourselves in intimate relationship with a living planet, individually and collectively living into the future sacred now--today--through our thoughts, words, and actions." * Daniel Christian Wahl, author of Designing Regenerative Cultures * "Future Sacred urges us into a new story--a story of synergy and partnership with the cosmos. Morley's wisdom compels us to respect the intrinsic sacred sentience that underlies the interrelatedness in the web of life. This work of integrity recognizes that no true separation exists between human and planetary problems. Thanks to Julie J. Morley we are compelled to embrace sacred communion. This work requires our deepest attention." * Kingsley Dennis, PhD, coauthor of Dawn of the Akashic Age: New Consciousness, Quantum Resonance, and * "Julie Morley draws on an impressive array of sources--ancient and modern, indigenous and Western--to support a proposal that is as simple as it is profound: if we are to move toward a sacred future we must learn to live on nature's terms, with partnership rather than domination, synergy instead of mastery. She is so right to tell us that in the present planetary catastrophe we cannot afford not to act, but we can less afford to act without these deeper insights." * Peter Reason, professor emeritus, University of Bath, and author of Spindrift and In Search of Grace * "Anyone concerned about the current environmental crisis needs to read Future Sacred. Inspired by indigenous wisdom and modern science, Morley combines her deep love and respect for nature with wide-ranging insights from biology, ecology, and complexity science. The result: an inspired and informed account of the intimate relationship between humanity and the rest of the natural world. The survival of our species may well depend on implementing the wisdom contained in these pages." * Christian de Quincey, PhD, author of Radical Nature and BlindSpots * "One thing is certain: our future is uncertain. Looking at the state of the planet today, it is hard to imagine how humanity can avoid the looming ecological catastrophe. But with enough wisdom and inspired action, we can pull through. Julie Morley's message is clear: 'We need to think differently about how we think and act.' Her book Future Sacred, a manifesto for the future, shows us all the way forward." * Brian Thomas Swimme, PhD, professor of evolutionary cosmology at the California Institute of Integra * "... Morely's work is important because of its unique spiritual approach to addressing political and ecological problems. Morely argues correctly that our ecological crisis emerges from a global crisis of spirituality." * San Francisco Book Review *