Sacred Demise by Carolyn Baker – A Review
I’m staring at a bit of a dog-eared wreck, to be honest; but it’s the words that matter, providing I can still read them. The thing is, my copy of Carolyn Baker’s Sacred Demise has followed me around on walks, road journeys, train trips, in the rain, in the sun, under trees, over hills and in dirty streets littered with Coke cans and paper. I had to finish it, despite it not being an obvious thing of beauty; despite it being a book that I learnt to fear as much as embrace with love and empathy – some things are just necessary, like hugging your children and eating your greens.
Sacred Demise is not an easy book to read; for sure, Carolyn’s words trip across the page, often with a delightful spring in their step, but then without warning they cross your path and send you flying into the nearest ditch, leaving you wondering how you ended up there. The idea of accepting the end of civilization as inevitable can be approached pragmatically, in the style of Dmitry Orlov, which is ideal for those who are mentally prepared; but for the vast majority of us who still identify – deep down – with the culture we were born into, you don’t only need rope and handholds to descend the Dark Mountain: you need the will to get you through the journey.
This is not a book to read quickly. Do it right and for the most part you will be reflecting on and writing about what you have just read. Each chapter ends with a set of questions that take into account the previous text, and which ask you to consider your feelings and physical situation – in effect, how ready are you? From a technical point of view, Sacred Demise could have been laid out in a manner that emphasises the importance of this self-reflection process better: perhaps a separate workbook, larger pages for journaling – but to give Carolyn her due, she does provide note space, and the book is, to all intents and purposes, self published (yes, I was rather surprised too).
One thing that Carolyn Baker does do very well is express complex and emotive ideas in an easy to understand way, far better – if I may be so bold – than some of the writers that she quotes from. She does have an occasional tendency to present ideas of faith as fact, for instance in quoting Eckhart Tolle, she states: “While it is true that we are more than our bodies,” which is a fine topic for discussion, but not something that would be welcome on the table of many modern philosophers. There is also an element of parochialism in some of the text, as though the civilized world consists of America and nothing else – more of an irritant than a major flaw, being English myself, but nevertheless something that could alienate non-American readers.
But these are minor flaws in a superb book. Sacred Demise is little short of seminal; the start, perhaps, of a way of writing and speaking that is paramount at the end of the Age of Empire. There are far too many lucid and memorable moments to quote them all, but if I had to choose a passage that sums up what Sacred Demise means to me, it would be this, from the cathartic chapter, “Hospice as Holy Ground”:
Had civilization not spent the last five thousand years attempting to murder the indigenous self inherent in all humans, we would not have to be told, as native peoples and the more-than-human world do not, that most of the time, life on this planet is challenging, painful, scary, sad, and sometimes enraging. What our indigenous ancestors had and still have to sustain them through the dark times was ritual and community. Our work is to embrace and refine both instead of intractably clinging to a “positive attitude” in the face of out-of-control, incalculable abuse and devastation.
Had I read this at the beginning of the book, then I may have given up there and then, but the aim of Sacred Demise is not a quick grab-you-by-the-arms and haul you up into the safety of the tree canopy; instead, it is a journey, and a damn hard one at that if you are not prepared to open up and accept the fate of civilization. This means that this book is perhaps not the first thing you should read when approaching the subject of ecological collapse and your place in the future; on the other hand, if you don’t read Sacred Demise then you had better be ready for the shock of your life when the collapse comes.
Keith Farnish, author of “Time’s Up! An Incivilized Solution to a Global Crisis“
The Truth Behind The ACORN Scandal…
…It’s all about politics, not about upholding the law.
I am actually starting to love Rachel Maddow, she lays things out in nice logical language without resorting to hyperbole, or hysterics. Clearly after watching this you can’t help but think that our government is once again focusing on the wrong issue.
Carl Sagan AutoTuned
I love Carl Sagan, he is one of my personal heroes. I morn that he is no longer with us, to share his quiet wisdom. This is simply amazing!
A Surprisingly Rational Discussion Of Far Right Radicals In The Republican Party
Not bad really.
Review: Terra Composter
A couple weeks ago Garden Supermarket sent me a Algreen Products 45 Gallon Terra Composter to try out. The composter arrived in the mail and I was happy to see that it had the bare minimum packaging on it, I like it when companies do this. Why waste all that paper and plastic when it is just going to be thrown away?
Composting is a pretty simple operation, you throw organic stuff into a pile, introduce a bit of bacteria, some worms, maybe a couple bugs, a dash of water and Whala! compost. However in our urban society most people do not find it convenient or desirable to have a pile of rotting stuff in the yard (although when done correctly a compost pile will not smell, and basically looks like a pile of dirt). So the Terra Composter with it’s pleasing lines, and Terracotta-esq appearance (it is plastic), make it an attractive addition to the yard.
I have composted before, serious business composting with big piles of yard and food waste, the kind of composting where you need shovels, and wheel barrows, and pitch forks…the Terra Composter is not that kind of compost bin. The Terra is suited for a single family city home, it is simply not big enough to handle bags and bags of yard waste and the results of a restaurant kitchen, and that’s OK. I live in a tiny urban home, with a tiny urban home lawn, and have a roomate, this compost bin is perfect for us.
My roommate and I are both vegetarians, so we produce a fair amount of plant food waste. With the Terra, and our normal recycling we are now down to one garbage bag of actual “throw away” garbage every three weeks. It feels good to create such a small amount of waste, and it has been nice getting back into composting again. Overall I have been really happy with the look feel and ease of use of this product. I do have a couple of small things I don’t like about it (it’s hard to get the compost out when it is ‘done’, it can get a bit top heavy when you have it full) but for the most part I really like it and would recommend it to someone who has a smallish amount of yard and food waste to compost.
So if you are looking to get into composting here are a couple quick tips.
You don’t need to buy anything! You can make a compost bin out of anything, you can even just throw stuff in a pile in the back if you have the space and don’t mind the mess, old wood pallets work well for this.
You need to keep a healthy mix of “green” and “brown” in your compost pile. Green things are stuff like coffee grounds, egg shells, fruit and veggie peels, grass clippings, fresh leaves, fresh weeds, etc. Brown things are stuff like, corncob stalks, paper, pine needles, sawdust or wood shavings, straw, dry leaves, etc. You need to keep a good mix of both to keep your bacteria happy too much greens and it will get stinky, too much brown and it will compost very slowly.
You will need to water your compost once in a while, if the compost gets dry toss a little water in with it, if you have a lot of green stuff you wont need to do this as much.
Keep your compost warm, put it in the sun, it will help it break down faster.
Don’t be afraid of bugs and worms! They help break down stuff faster.
Your bacteria need oxygen, be sure to turn or rotate your compost once in a while, the Terra compost comes with little holes on the side that they encourage you to poke a stick into and wiggle, this will keep the bacteria happy.
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