Interconections in the Jarrah Forest

Interconnections in the Jarrah Forest:
When the big explosion that set the universe going occurred, the unity that had existed was blown into bits. Immediately the bits began the process of forming unity once again.

This pull towards unity is the basis of spirituality. It is as if the bits know their connections with each other. In fact the unity drive has recently been described as an actual field of invisible connections, called a 'morphic field'.

Each self -organising system - whether it is a plant or an animal, a cell or an ecosystem - has an invisible field around it. It is like a memory, built in by morphic resonance.

Humans exist within such a realm of psychic links which we share with nature. One such pull

that we are all aware of is the pull of gravity, holding us firmly to the earth.

Unfortunately we have lost the power to connect consciously with the natural world. We do nor remember what we have inherited as we evolved from star dust through simple plants to animals and eventually arrived as the animal species we call Homo sapiens, humankind.

We have lost our connectedness with the rest of creation, but occasionally catch glimpses of it seeing migratory birds or observing the sometimes uncanny awareness of dogs.

Forests:
One or the results of this loss manifests itself as fear. Greed springs from fear. Antagonism and anger spring from fear. All these fears people project outwards on to each other and on to the natural world.

Although it appears that original Australians neither lived nor hunted in the relatively difficult terrain of the forests, they intuitively felt their connection with forest communities. Their spirituality was linked to the pull towards unity.

Management:
The people who came from Europe were pulled by science. To them. Aboriginal ways of looking at the world were the result of ignorance and superstition.

They cleared two thirds of the forests for agriculture and cut trees from the remainder for timber. They had little idea of the connections between soil and water, plants and animals, bacteria and fungi, fire and drought, by which the forests had managed themselves for many thousands of years.

Jarrah trees in a self-organising system:
Each organism within the system operates as if it was aware of its dependence on the whole system.

A closed canopy of tall trees regulated the density of the understorey. Leaf litter built up to supply nutrients for new growth. Old trees formed holes to make nesting places for birds and arboreal animals. Logs made homes for reptiles and insects, worms and other invertebrates. Jarrah seeds that germinated remained as shrubs for up to 60 years waiting for old trees to fall and make space in the canopy for them to grow tall. The water table was controlled in this way, keeping water fresh and salt locked away at depth.

The jarrah forest community was an almost perfect example of a morphic field overlapping fields of invisible connections.

Perhaps, in the new millennium, more people will become aware of their unity with and dependence on the natural world. If enough people call for the protection and rehabilitation of the jarrah forest it may be restored to its former state of self management.

And, who knows? Human life and experience may be enhanced as we regain the realm of psychic links that we share with the natural world!

"A human being is part of the whole, called by us the universe. A part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us- our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures."

- Albert Einstein, quoted in David Suzuki and Amanda McConnell 'The Sacred Balance' -

"... there is a continuous communication not only between living things and their environment, hut among all things living in that environment. An intricate web of interaction connects all life into one vast, self-maintaining system. Each part is related to every other part and we are all part of the whole, part of Supenature."

Lyall Watson, 'Supernature' quoted in D Suzuki and A McConnelt 'The Sacred Balance'.

"Ah, not to be cut off,
not through the slightest partition
shut out from the law of the stars.
The inner - what is it?
if not intensified sky,
hurled through with birds and deep
with the winds of homecoming."

- Rainier Maria Rilke -

This we know.
All things are connected like the blood which unites one family.
Whatever befall the earth, befalls the sons and daughters of the earth.
Man did not weave the web of life;
he is merely a strand in it.
Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."

Ted Perry - inspired by Chief Seattle from 'The Web of Life' by fritjof Capra