ARE YOU A BIOPHILIE, Do human beings have within them an innate sense of connection to other forms of life?
A hypothetical human tendency to interact or be closely associated with other forms of life in nature : a desire or tendency to commune with nature.
I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately, especially with all this hullabaloo coming up about the Great X, or eclipse. YOU might ask how would the eclipse have anything to do with communing with Nature. But doesn’t the Sun have everything to do with Plants, and in turn Nature?
So it really isn’t a stretch of my imagination to head out to my garden to interview the plants about this phenomena. I wanted to know if they were preparing for the great eclipse. Were they synthesizing chlorophyll, Charging up their solar panels, filling their stems with fibers for support and connection to the rest of the plant, and entrenching their roots, securing water and nutrients. I mean, if you listen to the news we are being told to prepare and take all these precautions ourselves.
WHAT DID I FIND
What I found on the lovely stroll through my yard, is that plants our in tune with their environment, living in awareness and response to environmental cues, in particular day light, temperatures, water, sound and even danger. They seem to be displaying and utilizing consciousness.
Recently I reviewed the work of Edmund Sinnott in his book Cell and Psyche
He postulates that “the rise in higher types of psychological behavior culminating in mind” is a result of plants initiating self- awareness 1.8 billion years ago. Because these ancient plant ancestors were able to communicate with each other and organize themselves to grow, reproduce, inherit and adapt, they developed self-awareness which, by many in the biological world, is seen as the origins of consciousness. During this birthing of consciousness, plants developed very sophisticated and complex communication abilities amongst themselves and eventually with other species including animals and finally humans. Plants are able to compute and make decisions about: complex aspects of their environment, intricate signaling systems to alert neighbors, and foraging and competing for resources. They have large protein molecules that have the ability to store large amounts of information, thus creating an enormous capacity for complex communication and retention of data. Amazingly, they can remember all of this to set future intentions of intelligent choice, and as Jeremy Narby says in his book The Intelligence of Nature, “Plants learn, remember, and decide without brains.” All of this was occurring millions of years prior to human emergence.
https://centerpost.rowecenter.org/our-symbiotic-relationship-with-plants-and-trees/
Young leaves may start out red to protect the machinery of photosynthesis as it gets up and running in the spring. Spring growth on maple trees is protected by anthocyanin reds as photosynthesis gets underway, preventing chemical imbalances and fending off harmful insects.
Enjoying the brilliant and vibrant red of the Japanese maples and learning why the leaves are bright red reminds me of a big mistake I made with a Crossandra plant this spring. It was in beautiful shape bright and vibrant green, full and plush when I brought it out to the patio. I left it out in the bright sun, and the next day I noticed that it’s leaves had started to brown. By the next day many had shriveled and fallen to the ground. I had rushed the process of the plant’s adjustment to the bright sunshine. It had been in my sun room all winter protected from the harsh rays while receiving ambient light. It was not prepared for the sudden exposure I had forced on it. The plant’s own wisdom without my interference would have prepared it for the changes in the spring and the increasing sun exposure, like the Japanese maple prepares it’s new growth in providing anthocyanin.
All plants have their Niche. They find their perfect place depending on the lighting and the atmosphere, dry, moist, hot or cool.
My azaleas prefer to be in partial shade, under the canopy of the large oaks and other hardwood trees, down here in the humid and hot days of southern US summers. Dogwoods are similar, They grow best under the canopy of an old growth forest.
Without plants would we even exist?
Through the photosynthesis plants capture sunlight and use this energy to extract carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, then combine it with water to form sugars that make up their roots, stalks, leaves, flowers and seeds, which contain starch, fat and protein. The by-product of this process is oxygen. Plants, trees and even vegetation that lives in the sea supply all of the oxygen on the planet, Plants are the ONLY Source of our Oxygen. All of our food comes from plants either directly or from an animal that ate a plant. We are completely dependent upon plants for our daily existence. So whether we want to admit it or not, whether we are tree huggers or tree cutters, we have a symbiotic relationship with plants.
“Biophilia is a term coined by etymologist Edmund Wilson to describe our love for nature, plants and trees.
Because of our long-time association with plants and our symbiotic relationship we have an inherent (and possibly inherited) need to be in close proximity to nature, plants and trees. Because of this need to be near what gives us life a type of bond occurs that is necessary for healthy relationship with a living Earth. Being in close relationship with the source of our sustenance can initiate the release of oxytocin, a hormone produced by our heart and hypothalamus which is called the bonding hormone that initiates the restorative response. Through this bonding, emotional ties result which open our hearts to the reality of the love nature and plants have for us and that we have for them. This is similar to the deep bond between a mother and child. Once the heart is in coherence, oxytocin is released and restoration begins, our inner environment comes into balance and then effects our outer environment. Not only are we restored to a loving balance, but so is all that we come in contact with. In this deep place of nurturing, our emotional connection is undeniable as we become aware that we are loved and cared for by another being – a green being.”
https://centerpost.rowecenter.org/our-symbiotic-relationship-with-plants-and-trees/
When I read the above quote, it confirmed for me why so many people including myself feel so much better after we spend time in Nature. It also made me think about how our lives are structured to keep us away from Nature, and how so much of what we do is actually detrimental to Nature.
We have discovered that plants detect and respond to the daily cycle of light and darkness. For example, some plants open their leaves during the day to collect sunlight and then close their leaves at night to prevent water loss. Environmental stimuli that indicate changing seasons trigger other responses. Many plants respond to the days growing shorter in the fall by going dormant. They suspend growth and development in order to survive the extreme cold and dryness of winter. Dormancy ensures that seeds will germinate and plants will grow only when conditions are favorable.
Plants work together networking and engaging with other organisms in their environment. For example a dandelions root system works to loosen soil and bring nutrients to the top of the soil, making the nutrients available to other plants.
When conditions are good, most plants are in communication with each other. Plants have fungi that live on or within their roots. Together, the fungi and roots form structures known as mycorrhizae which resemble a net like web. This system works like our internet or what has been described as the WOOD WIDE WEB. Like people, plants form communities helping each other out and sending signals to each other with information concerning the environment. This reminds me of how I started this post, Communities of people are sharing information of events in our environment, and most recently about the Sun and the moon, The luminaries in our sky that our lives depend on. I can’t determine whether or not the plants in my yard are aware of the coming eclipse, but Science tells us that plants have been around for billions of years.
The New field of science known as Plant Neurobiology (the study of plant intelligence) suggests this was a conscious decision on their part so that several million years later plants moved to land and became dominant, making up 99% of all living organisms on the planet. This success has continued over the millennia as plants adapt to their changing environment, always moving toward homeostasis. When humans emerged some 500,000 years ago, plants already had the “long view” and were well established as the stabilizing, life-giving beings on this lovely planet we call Gaia.
https://centerpost.rowecenter.org/our-symbiotic-relationship-with-plants-and-trees/
Here’s wishing you joy, peace, and the sense of wonder!
"Traumatin is a plant hormone produced in response to wound. Traumatin is a precursor to the related hormone traumatic acid. "
Plants respond to injury.
Acacia being grazed on by antelope will release a pheromone that can signal other acacia a half a mile away to increase their tannins to make the leaves unpalatable for grazers.
Some flowers are adapted to birds of only one species that have a long enough beak to pollinate them. Other flowers trick things like bees to try to mate with them via mimicry.
There's a lot of interdependency.
I have always viewed plants, particularly plants and fungi of the forrest a co-beings of light. And their intelligence exists as a sort of mesh network. The leaves are an antenna collecting energy from cosmic sources, and the earth’s biome and atmospheric resonances. The roots bring nutrients for local processing and also radiate those above energies into the earth. I think animals can tap into that network. I know I can hear and feel it speaking. And I try to understand and reciprocate but feel I’m inadequate to the task. Such as it is when seeking wisdom from an ancient being I suppose. Most humans have lost the keys and protocols to access.
I also think that the forrest and its canopy can protect us from emf. But it does not do so without damage. My hope is it repairs itself faster than the assault can play out. Ultimately our fate may be in its hands.