VII: The Circle of Life: Understanding the Relationship Between Soil Building, Fermentation, and Bacteria
Exploring the connections between death, bacteria, and fungi—death and rebirth.
Welcome to Module 7 on Death, Bacteria and Fungi. In this class we will learn about death and rebirth, bacteria, fungi, and importance of soil. As well as our favorite exercises to inspire growth and change. You will finish this class with acceptance of death, and rebirth, on transformation and cycles of life.. Ready? Let’s take the leap!
Affirmation: I embrace death, rebirth, and the cycles of life. I know I am made of many bacteria and fungi. I am a living, live organism. I am vibrantly alive.
“I am of the earth
And to the earth I shall return once more
Life and death are old friends
And I am the conversation between them.”
—Rupi Kaur
The fear of death in Western culture is paralyzing. Most people fear death so much they can’t live fully. Our approach to dealing with death has been essentialized down to a sad song, wearing black for mourning, and rejecting this part of life.
“I was very afraid of it. The death of a relationship. The death of a past self. The death of loved ones. I couldn’t imagine living without my mother, who was my best friend. After working with this fear by practicing Vipassana meditation, studying yogic philosophy, and exploring the Mexican tradition of Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), I realized something important. The way death had been portrayed to me when I was growing up was not the only reality.
Death is a beautiful transformation of energy. our mom’s memorial was a celebration of love, life, colors, and art. our mom had already told the pastor the theme: Grace and Love. Now that she has transformed, I remember her and speak with her in different mediums.
“Sometimes I journal a message for my mom or my grandfather. I pray and talk with passed ones by speaking to them in nature. I have found that the best way to reach this connection is to go to a special spot in nature and tune into all the beauty surrounding me. I come into my breath and the present.” Jean Regenerate Your Reality Book
If you would like to explore this kind of connection with those who have transformed, some possibilities include praying, journaling, singing, or silently connecting with their spirits through nature. Another path is to start breathing deeply, listening to the sounds and songs of nature, and allowing yourself to cry and release. It feels great to remember loved ones and feel them through different tools and mediums.
My family spread our mother’s ashes in many different gardens, mountains, and bodies of water. The image of ashes floating out into the universal waters reminds me that floating in water is always a happy place of connecting to her and to myself. Water cleanses me of sadness and brings me into a feeling of being held in the womb of creation. By connecting with nature, we connect with her—and all.
It was a full cycle of life, rebirth, and celebration in a day, spreading our mother’s ashes in the garden and celebrating with ceremony at night. When we faced death and accepted it, the fear melted away. Death is a key part of the cycle of life; we should honor and embrace it just as much as birth.
In fact, death becomes rebirth through the soils of our gardens, bringing nutrients to the earth, and nourishing new life.
“What a caterpillar calls the end of the world we call a butterfly.”
―Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment
Cycles of Life & Rebirth
My mother’s death helped me see how precious this life is. It showed me that death can happen at any time in our lives and that it will eventually come for all. Death is the ultimate teacher, and if we’re listening, it calls us to wake up. Coming to an acceptance of death helped me dismantle our life—letting one way of life die and supporting our transformation to the next.
We can live many lifetimes within the same life, and experience many little ego deaths along the way. Even with the cycles of the seasons or our menstrual cycles, we go through life and rebirth. Each time we rise out of the depths of darkness, we gain more strength. Thanks to the darkness, we are able to appreciate moments of illumination even more.
We can decompose and bloom again. Sometimes we even transform in a day.
Although we have come to accept death, that doesn’t mean we don’t have moments of sadness, joy, and tears remembering the woman who birthed me. However, in our experience, once we are able to accept that we will all die, and that it could be at any time, then we can truly live. We can release the crippling fear of death. We can live our lives to the fullest, knowing that each moment is precious.
All organisms die and transform, rebirthing into new forms. When a tree falls from the winds and storms, it decomposes, becoming part of the mycelium network of fungi, creating new soil, and causing seeds to bloom into new life. We are currently witnessing a time of transition in the world. With overpopulation, deforestation, extractive industries, species collapse, factory fishing and farming, viruses, and global warming will come a collective rebirth into a new way of being.
“The rule of nature is that when a species exceeds the carrying capacity of its host environment, its food chains collapse and diseases emerge to devastate the population of the threatening organism. we believe we can come to balance with nature using mycelium to regulate the flow of nutrients. The age of mycological medicine is upon us. Now is the time to ensure the future of our planet and our species by partnering, or running, with mycelium.”
—Paul Stamets, Mycelium Running