Read the “Rituals for Earthly Survival” manifesto, an audiovisual and performing arts project emphasising ecological consciousness, community, and transformation through inclusive and transformative rituals. Inspired by the writings of Donna Haraway, Bruno Latour, and Ursala K Le Guin, this initiative fosters interconnectedness and sustainable practices. Join us in reimagining our place within the delicate web of life.
We Are Earthbound: Embracing Our Terrestrial Identity
In the words of Bruno Latour, “We are earthbound, we are terrestrials amid terrestrials.” This recognition of our deep interconnectedness with the Earth calls us to rethink our relationship with the planet and all its inhabitants. Our survival depends on the thin, fragile skin of the Earth known as the ‘critical zone,’ and it is imperative that we end destructive practices and cultivate a renewed connection with the living world.
Staying with the Trouble: Engaging with Complexity
Inspired by Donna Haraway’s concept of “staying with the trouble,” our project embraces the complexities and challenges of the present world. We reject simplistic solutions and instead commit to engaging deeply and collaboratively with the crises we face—environmental degradation, social injustices, and technological disruptions. Haraway’s call to “make trouble” encourages us to stir up potent responses to devastating events, while also settling troubled waters and rebuilding quiet places.
Making Kin: Building Inclusive and Resilient Communities
Central to our mission is the idea of “making kin,” as advocated by Haraway. This involves forming meaningful and respectful relationships across species, communities, and disciplines. By fostering these kinship bonds, we aim to create inclusive spaces that reflect the interconnectedness and interdependence of all participants. Through rituals, we can recognize and honor our relationships with the broader ecological and social world, promoting an ethic of care and responsibility.
Carrier Bag Theory of Ritual: Embracing Inclusivity and Everyday Significance
Ursula K. Le Guin’s “Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction” provides a powerful metaphor for our approach to ritual. Just as the carrier bag gathers and holds diverse items, our rituals gather and hold diverse people, traditions, and practices. They emphasize the importance of everyday actions and relationships, highlighting the small, meaningful practices that sustain communities and ecosystems. By focusing on the mundane and the ordinary, our rituals transform our understanding of what is valuable, encouraging cooperation over conquest and inclusivity over individualism.
Sympoiesis: Co-Creating Together
Donna Haraway’s concept of sympoiesis, or making and becoming together, guides our practice. Sympoiesis emphasizes collective creation and interconnectedness, recognizing that life and survival depend on collaborative processes. Our rituals are dynamic practices that weave together the threads of making kin, fostering a sense of shared responsibility and interconnectedness. By engaging in sympoietic rituals, we honour the mundane and the everyday, fostering a holistic and sustainable relationship with the Earth and all its inhabitants.
Transformative Rituals: From Liminality to Reincorporation
To create radically disruptive rituals, we must understand the structure of ritual enactment, which involves three key phases: separation, liminality, and reincorporation. Participants experience a clear separation from their ordinary world, entering a liminal space where conventional structures and norms are suspended. In this in-between state, they engage in deep reflection and exploration, encountering a reflexive self and embracing new ideas. Finally, they return to the ordinary world, transformed by their experiences, leading to the restructuring of the social order. By designing rituals with effective separation, deep liminality, and thoughtful reincorporation, we can create experiences that are profoundly transformative.
A Call to Action: Making Magic to Save the World
Our project is a call to make magic to save the world. Ritual, like reason, is a way of knowing the world. It offers possibilities for playful experimentation, for experiencing different ways of being-in-the-world, and for making kin. By crafting rituals that embrace the interconnectedness of life and the transformative potential of collective action, we aim to foster an ecological consciousness that aligns with Latour’s vision of a sustainable and just future. Through our rituals, we can transform our collective stories and actions to better honour and sustain the delicate web of life that we are part of.
Join Us
Join us in this journey of creating rituals for earthly survival. Let us make trouble, build kinship, and engage in the collective creation of a more inclusive, sustainable, and just world. Together, we can harness the transformative power of ritual to reimagine our place in the world and cultivate a deep sense of interconnectedness with all forms of life. Let us make magic to save the world.
Mini-Glossary for the Manifesto
This mini-glossary provides concise definitions and relevance for the key technical terms used in the manifesto, enhancing understanding and accessibility.
1. Critical Zone:
Definition: The thin, fragile skin of the Earth where all terrestrial life resides and interacts, extending from the tops of the trees to the bottom of the groundwater.
Relevance: Understanding our dependency on this zone emphasizes the need for its protection and sustainable management.
2. Sympoiesis:
Definition: A concept introduced by Donna Haraway, meaning “making and becoming together.” It describes complex, interdependent systems and processes where entities co-create and co-evolve collaboratively.
Relevance: Highlights the importance of cooperation and interconnectedness in sustaining life and fostering ecological responsibility.
3. Liminality:
Definition: Derived from the Latin word “limen,” meaning “threshold.” It refers to the in-between state during a ritual where participants are no longer in their previous role but have not yet transitioned to the new one.
Relevance: This phase is crucial for transformation, allowing deep reflection and exploration of new ideas and identities.
4. Reincorporation:
Definition: The final phase of a ritual where participants return to their ordinary world, transformed by their experiences in the liminal space.
Relevance: Ensures that the insights and changes gained during the ritual are integrated into everyday life, leading to social and ecological restructuring.
5. Making Kin:
Definition: A concept from Donna Haraway that involves forming meaningful and respectful relationships across species and boundaries.
Relevance: Encourages building inclusive, resilient communities that recognize and value the interconnectedness of all forms of life.
6. Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction:
Definition: Ursula K. Le Guin’s idea that the earliest human tool was a carrier bag (a container for gathering and holding), rather than a weapon. It symbolizes nurturing and inclusivity rather than conquest and dominance.
Relevance: Suggests that narratives and rituals should focus on collective and interconnected aspects of human experience.
7. Chthulucene:
Definition: A term coined by Donna Haraway to describe a new epoch that emphasizes ongoing multispecies collaborations and the entangled futures of humans and non-humans.
Relevance: Contrasts with the Anthropocene, focusing on co-existence and co-creation rather than human dominance.
8. Situated Knowledge:
Definition: The idea that all knowledge is specific to a particular context and perspective, recognizing that understanding is always partial and localized.
Relevance: Challenges dominant narratives and promotes a pluralistic approach to knowledge production.
9. Earthbound:
Definition: A term used by Bruno Latour to emphasize humans’ intrinsic connection to the Earth and all its terrestrial beings.
Relevance: Encourages a politics and way of life that prioritize ecological sustainability and respect for the planet’s ecological systems.
10. Ecological Consciousness:
Definition: An awareness of the interconnectedness of all life forms and the environment, fostering a sense of responsibility and care for the Earth.
Relevance: Essential for addressing the global ecological crisis and building a sustainable future.
11. Response-ability:
Definition: Haraway’s concept describes the ethical and relational obligations that come with being interconnected. It implies being responsible for and responsive to the needs and well-being of other beings, human and non-human.
Relevance: Promotes sustainable practices and an ethic of care for the environment.
References
Haraway, D.J., 2016. Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene. Durham: Duke University Press.
Latour, B., 2018. Down to Earth: Politics in the New Climatic Regime. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Le Guin, U.K., 2019. The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction. Terra Incognita.
Le Guin, U.K., 2017. Deep in Admiration. In: Words Are My Matter: Writings About Life and Books, 2000-2016, with a Journal of a Writer’s Week. Easthampton: Small Beer Press, pp. 213-217.
Smith, Z.J., 1980. The Bare Facts of Ritual. History of Religions, 20(1-2), pp.125-152.
Stephenson, B., 2015. Ritual: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Turner, V., 1991. Are there universals of performance in myth, ritual and drama. In: R. Schechner and W. Appel, eds. By Means of Performance: Intercultural Studies of Theatre and Ritual. New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 8.
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