Myco, Eco, Mytho: An Ecology of Stories

From where does a story sprout? What specific land and soil did it grow from? What ecology is it seeking to tend to, respond to, root into? How do my stories “tell” me into greater intimacy with the kin outside my door? We can reclaim the ecological nature of myths coopted by patriarchal domination by replanting them in their original biological and social ecosystems. Examining the root systems of popular myths, we see that, below the focus on human exceptionalism, myth is the land talking to itself. The triple lens of MYCO ECO MYTHO guides us into an investigation of how extractive capitalism paired with colonialism has created a “narrative dysbiosis” in the cultural gut, suppressing a biodiversity of more environmentally aware perspectives. We explore what it might mean to compost old stories with contemporary science, philosophy, poetry, and ecology in order to create the new soil that will sprout myths freshly adapted to our current crises.

Contributors

Sophie Strand

Sophie is a writer based in the Hudson Valley who focuses on the intersection of spirituality, storytelling, & ecology.

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Alnoor Ladha

Alnoor is a co-founder and executive director of The Rules (www.therules.org), founding partner of Purpose (www.purpose.com) and board member of Greenpeace USA (www.greenpeace.org). Alnoor’s work focuses on the intersection of political organizing, storytelling, and technology. As a founding member and the executive director of The Rules, he is part of a global network of activists, organizers, designers, coders, researchers, writers, and others dedicated to changing the rules that create inequality and poverty around the world.

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David Abram

David is the author of Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology, and The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-than-Human World. Described as “revolutionary” by the Los Angeles Times, as “daring” and “truly original” by the journal Science, David’s work has helped catalyze the emergence of several new disciplines, including the burgeoning field of ecopsychology.

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