Speaking Life + How We See the World 🌎

I’ve always been fascinated by language - how languages relate to one another, adaptations of language, how and why language travels, and the power of language itself.

It’s the power of the spoken word that has prompted this entry. Whether or not we are aware, we humans offer power by way of language. With colonialism, language changed all around the world. White capitalists forcibly removed culture and language from Indigenous bodies as these Indigenous bodies were also forcibly removed from their homelands. This forced removal changed language around the world (amongst many other things) and in doing so the way in which our language connected us to each other, our Motherland, our Plantcestors, and all living beings we live with/near/alongside/amongst.

An excerpt from, “Braiding With Sweetgrass,” by Robin Wall Kimmerer:

“Wait a second,…doesn’t this mean that speaking English, thinking in English, somehow gives us the permission to disrespect nature? By denying everyone else the right to be persons? Wouldn’t things be different if nothing was an it?”

“Our toddlers speak of plants and animals as if they were people, extending to them self and intention and compassion — until we teach them not to. We quickly refrain them and make them forget. When we tell them that the tree is not a who but an it, we make that maple an object; we put a barrier between us, absolving ourselves of moral responsibility and opening the door to exploitation. Saying it makes a living land into natural resources. If a maple is an it, we can take up the chain saw. If a maple is a her, we think twice.”

For me, this excerpt illustrates all too well the power of language and unfortunately the hold to which European languages have on our spirit and our intuitive connections. When Indigenous languages are translated, we lose so much of the spirit/soul connection from which was inherently spoken. As with spell work, our language casts a spell and our intention is the conduit of that work. As these European languages were forced upon Peoples with malicious intent, it is fair to say this spell work, for which is continually applied, was used and forced upon us all without our health, wellness, and prosperity in mind.

If and/or when we, the human collective, can reconnect to the life and spiritual essence once forcibly removed from our tongues by way of colonialism and colonization; then and only then can we again speak life with our Plantcestors and fellow living beings. By withholding the life force of all beings around us through language, our connections to them have been on hiatus and only by reawakening this bond, I believe we can create a healthier brighter future for intergenerational prosperity. In doing so the power once withheld will return, although the innate connection understood on planes prior to landing on this Earthen plane have remained within hearts and minds. So please, don’t be afraid to speak life 🌱