Imaginary wanderings through the ancient landscapes of South-Aveyron (France) Introduction In 2016 I moved from the Campine in Belgium to a rural, mountainous region in the South of France. This blog tells the story of […]
A Linden Tree in Tongerlo (and educational philosophy for the future)
One of my new short stories got published as part of a book of speculative social fiction that present different possible futures of education. About the book: Educational Fabulations *Teaching and Learning for a World […]
Feeding my imagination with nature
“Knowledge feeds fictions, and fictions set the powers free”The life of Elves, Muriel Barbery I arrived in Brussels in 2019. I was surrounded by high buildings, busy streets and a roundabout full of cars. But […]
That special tree/plant in our lives is often rooted in a landscape of the past
One of the invitations that I give to my participants at the beginning of my nature based practices is to share a memory about a special tree in their life. I pair them up and […]
Transforming from the “white crow”
I am from Central Asia, where when I was growing up, I often felt like a “white crow” – I felt I didn’t belong there. In most of the photos, I often noticed that my […]
Rewilding Cinderella
One of the outcomes of the global pandemic is that people discover that digital technologies can create a new space of gathering and storytelling. Today I attended an event organised by the George Ewart Evans Storytelling […]
Ecofeminism anno 2022: writing wild
This winter, one of the mentors of the writers academy in Antwerp, recommended me this book. I bought it. I do not get only inspiration for my current fiction book, but I also start dreaming […]
Sacred garden trees, pt. 3: an ash tree in Gjøvik
Two weeks ago, I took the bus for 15 minutes, just out of Gjøvik, and walked another 15 minutes to reach @indalforestretreat .Plan: receiving, being in the presence. No wifi. And getting out of my winter cocoon. […]
Sacred forests and the role of Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity in the protection of nature
Jep Stockmans, a Belgian researcher, did research in Ethiopia and was fascinated by the “sacred forests”. He wonders why nature is protected in these sacred places, but not elsewhere in the city of Addis Abeba. He further argues that there is a distinction between good and evil trees in Orthodox Chritianity.
a musing: evergreens in Christmas songs, midwinter poems and cultural heritage
Traditionally, the spruce is the Christmas tree in the North-West of Europe, but this is not always the evergreen with is the subject of christmas carols. In Flanders, we have a famous christmas song about […]