Schumacher College came into my life a few years ago recommended by my dearest friend João, who wisely said “it was custom made to fit you”. At the time, as I scrolled their webpage, tears of joy and astonishment were coming out of my eyes, and I was completely at awe that a school like this, so spiritual, so connected to earth, actually existed.

Fast forward a couple of years, I finally managed to align resources with aspirations and decided to enroll in a short course called Mind in Nature: An exploration of Holism. It looked very promising: three weeks with inspiring thinkers like Rupert and Merlin Sheldrake, Colin Campbell, Stephan Harding and Andy Letcher, covering mind blowing themes like synchronistic patterns, the deep psyche of the world, panpsychism, morphic resonance, druidry, southern African shamanic traditions and the organizing properties of sound.

The course

“What is mind?” The course started with this question. It’s a hard if not impossible question to answer but it is a great starting point to explore new perspectives of the world and make sense of our reality. Be aware that this is a highly philosophical exploration but one that may shift the way we tackle everyday problems.

There’s a general understanding that science can eventually solve all our problems, answer all our questions and ultimately supplant any kind of religious mystery. Still, if there’s one thing that really stood up during this course was how science is more dogmatic than it should and that its materialistic view is impeding new experiments that could explain new phenomena. Mind and consciousness are real occurrences that science hasn’t been able to clarify because it has materialism as a premise. Science cannot justify the subjective experience that accompanies the physical processes in the brain.

Enter panpsychism and the idea that all objective bodies in the universe may possess an interior, subjective reality, meaning that every spec of matter has experience, matter and psyche always go together. Could it be then that mind is not something that’s trapped inside the brain but it exists beyond it? C. G. Jung called this the collective unconscious and Rupert Sheldrake developed his hypothesis of morphic resonance and morphic fields based on the idea that there’s a collective memory in nature, one that shapes form, matter and habits by similarity. He calls it the presence of the past, the soul that shapes the body and suggests that the brain is more like a tuning system instead of a memory store. By borrowing the term “field” from physics (a concept that his fellow biologists don’t like) he proposes that self-organizing systems evolve and develop in shape and behaviors through a region of influence defined by probability.

We went on discussing animism, which is a belief that objects, places and creatures possess a distinct spiritual essence. We talked about indigenous people beliefs and druidry. We studied fungal minds and sound with the biologist Merlin Sheldrake. Why fungi and sound? Well, fungi live very differently. Fungi cells don’t divide: they grow, branch and fuse, although fusing is very rare. They don’t have a center nor a precise sense of self and expand with no specific direction. As for sound, fascinating experiments have been made on vibration based organization, where sand or a combination of fluids submitted to different frequencies reorganizes itself in different patterns. The application of sound and vibration helps us to focus on the processes rather than on things. This is particular important when dealing with self-organizing systems which are fundamentally dynamic and where stability is attained through constant change.

The last and most mind blowing part of the course was exclusively dedicated to African shamanism. Colin Campbell, a Scottish, born, raised and trained as a shaman with the traditional San people in Botswana, led us deep into the Bushmen traditions, stories and rituals. We were told the story of creation, a little bit every day, just like he was told, a story that it is not written anywhere, it is only passed orally. We were taught about spirts, how to call them and ask for their guidance. Spirits love excitement and potency, repetition and consistency, that’s why when we observe tribal or even religious rituals there’s always a practice component that is sustained over and over again, pushing beyond the boundaries, especially our own personal boundaries. Bushmen practice fasts and vigils to better resonate with what’s in front of them; they dance and sing and play instruments in a repetitive way, to the point of discomfort, in an attempt to generate the level of excitement and energy that the spirits love.

One day we went to the redwood forest and did just that, we light a fire, dance and sang around it for as long as we could, to the point that our arms were so tired that we couldn’t go any longer, and when the energy reached its peak we screamed from the bottom of our lungs, as loud as we could, reenacting our first scream and breath. This is a very important ritual, signaling our entry into life and even more important is receiving an ululation right afterwards, assuring us that we are being seen. Being seen is not an ego exercise but a fundamental need of the human being.

Another time Colin read the bones for us. Bone divination is very entertaining to say the least. The amount of trials and tribulations he had to go through just to collect his set of bones, stones, shells and dice was surreal: a stone from a crocodile stomach, a cow’s bone, but not just any cow, a cow that had to appear in his dreams and that his family had to look for in real life, and all sorts of crazy, weird challenges, which took him around 17 years to collect everything that he needed to properly do the divinations. No fast track here.

Daily life at Schumacher College

At Schumacher College the service to the community is as important as studying and learning. There’s plenty to do everyday, from helping in cooking, to cleaning, tending the garden and the common areas. The days started with a breakfast meeting in the refectory. Someone would always bring a poem or a story to read, we would go over the events for the day, discuss any urgent matter, and finish with an activity, which could be singing a song or playing a quick game: It reminded me of my childhood days and showed me that becoming an adult doesn’t mean that we have to stop being playful.

After the morning tasks we would go to classes which invariably started with some guitar playing in the classroom, where everyone chose if they preferred to sit on a chair or just lay on the floor, in large, comfy pillows. Tea breaks were in the library, always with plenty of cookies. Which brings me to the food - all vegetarian, all delicious. Julia is the chef responsible for planning and guiding the execution of all the meals for the students and college staff. Everyday there’s oat porridge for breakfast, cereals, a variety of milks and fruits. Freshly baked loafs of bread are served throughout the day, lunches consisted of soup, salads and some cheese or butter with bread. Dinners were more substantial bean stews, quiches, pasta and rice dishes, lentil loafs, sometimes there would be a dessert. What impressed me the most was the care and attention put to any kind of food allergy and sensitivity that one might have. At every meal there was always a vegan, a no garlic & onion, a no gluten, or any other specific food requirement option. Everyone is deeply respected and cherished and no one holds back affection or kind words.

Practical knowledge I took from this course

I’ve always felt close and appreciative of nature, more so after having lived in Scotland, where the grandiosity of the mountains had a deep healing effect on me, and after having returned to surfing regularly. This course was a way to deepen my connection with nature, mostly by understanding her a bit more. Knowing about the ways of nature implicitly meant knowing more about life too.

I realized life is a paradox, and that wisdom lives in paradoxes. To live a life well lived you have to embrace this. This is why I think science and its methods will probably never answer all our questions and even wanting this is pointless.

I also realized that it’s so easy for me to overlook rituals and the importance of repetition in detriment of the excitement of newness, diversity and spontaneity. It’s true that I meditate and journal regularly, almost daily, but there’s so much more that I could incorporate on a personal and social level: more breath work, going back to ashtanga yoga, embracing kundalini yoga, everything very repetitive border-lining tedious even, but also having regular dates with people that bring me peace and are in tune with my ideals and way of living.

But the best thing of all was to be reminded of the infinetly magical world we live in.