Geoff’s talk is called “Ecomythic Light”
Our relationship with our more-than-human kin–the other animals, plants and elements we share this planet with–has been inscribed in countless animistic myths. Cosmologies of a living world can help us to practice deep listening to other forms of intelligence, creating breathing space for our embodied forms of consciousness as self-aware primates.
But we humans also dream up visions of a realm beyond the physical universe. In this endless imaginal dreaming of life beyond the limits of materiality, light holds a special place for the metaphorical potential it embodies. Light is both physical phenomena and a vehicle of meaning. This presentation offers an “ecomythic” way to balance and clarify our focus on these two streams of embodiment and gnosis at the same time. On the one hand, we consider the spiritually liberating nature of light, as it symbolises freedom and hope; and on the other, we breathe into the body of our physical paradigm, exploring how we might live in “right relation” with our kin on planet earth.
About Geoff
Dr. Geoff Berry’s PhD dissertation traced the way human relationships with nature could be interpreted through the way we inscribe meaning upon light (Monash University 2010). His previous MA explored the nexus between personal dreams and collective mythologies, again from an ecophilosophical perspective (Deakin University 2005). Geoff trains psychotherapists and ecotherapists with the Metavision Institute. He is the Australian Representative to the International Ecopsychology Society and has served as the Chairperson of the Melbourne Zen Group and CEO of the South Coast NSW Aboriginal Elders organization.
