Psychology

Why Bats?: How Nighttime Pollinators Became Spooky

Why Bats?: How Nighttime Pollinators Became Spooky

If you are at all like me, you’ve wondered a time or two why bats, pumpkins, and the like have become associated with Halloween, Samhain, All Hallows Eve, or otherwise associated with the season. This is not going to be an exhaustive description, so feel free to share further lore in the comments, but it will cover a wide range, but today we will be discussing our beflighted mammal friends.

Lessons from the barrel cactus

Lessons from the barrel cactus

While the long, beautiful spines of a mature barrel cactus are truly a sight to behold, they are woven so tightly together, across the cactus' ribs that any environmental detritus that falls on or around the cactus, becomes entangled.

Seeds of Potential: Part 2 of Ancestors for All Seasons

Seeds of Potential: Part 2 of Ancestors for All Seasons

Be as the dormant seed, beginning to germinate in the desiccated trunk of its predecessor, full of potential and vibrant life.

Ethnobotany and the Epitaph

Ethnobotany and the Epitaph

The epitaph is a highly personal thing, especially in the modern period.  For centuries, plants have made an appearance on burial markers and urns. 

Humanity's Beautiful Diversity

Humanity's Beautiful Diversity

Human rights and diversity are important regardless of your background, dear reader, but are perhaps most spotlighted when concerning those members of society whose voices tend to be suppressed in some way.  Minority voices are important, brightening and enlivening the global human narrative, whether that be religion, ethnic background, sexual orientation, gender expression, relative ablebodiedness, or other aspects. 

Things I learned from plants (A Series): #3. You can heal from injury.

Things I learned from plants (A Series):  #3. You can heal from injury.

Whether it be physical, mental, emotional, or otherwise, dear reader, you can heal from injury.

Have you ever seen an old, decomposing tree stump in the depths of the forest, with a seedling sprouting from its ruin?  The decomposition and complete breakdown of the old makes way for an emergent new life form, providing the impetus for its growth and development.

Things I Learned from Plants (A Series): #2. Water is Life and Should Be Respected.

Things I Learned from Plants (A Series): #2. Water is Life and Should Be Respected.

Water is party to all things, dear reader.  While all Earth-dwelling embodied lifeforms have their own characteristics, goals, needs, and expectations of their environments, water is a common necessity they all share.  Without proper hydration, the brain's receptors stop interpreting and correlating information and general organ failure occurs, plants are unable to photosynthesize, and moisture continues to evaporate from the body at a rather high rate. 

Breathe

Breathe

Sometimes, we all need to remember that.  Sometimes, whatever we're going through can seem so exciting, so daunting, so terrifying (not mutually exclusive, I've checked), that we have to take a moment and just breathe.

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)

Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria)

There are several species of mushrooms that alter a person's consciousness when ingested.  While botanically mushrooms are not classed as plants, they have played a significant role in human development, whether as a food source, a method of communing with the gods, or as an artistic muse.

Remembering Fern Gully

Remembering Fern Gully

In honor of today being Earth Day, I thought I would share some of my earliest memories of ecology and the need for ecoactivism.  Some of you might remember the 1992 film, Fern Gully; some of you likely weren't yet born.  I didn't know there was a sub-header for it until I was looking up information again, but it's "The Last Rainforest."  

Decomposition and the Spring of Youth

Decomposition and the Spring of Youth

Death is a part of life, even in the Spring. There is new, budding growth on trees awakening from Winter's grasp. There are young lambs born and frolicking in the meadows. There is visible potential at nearly every turn. This is the same for death and decay.