i have been thinking a great deal about "fields" - how in coming together with a certain intention, we can access a collective intelligence otherwise unavailable to us on our own. these energetic and magnetic fields can significantly shift or deepen our awareness or actions which can result in more intelligent, just, compassionate and wise actions in service to people and planet.

it strikes me that knowing how to work with fields, and the multiple forms of intelligence available to us, is necessary if we are to truly do work that is systemic. there is a lot of talk about shifting our unsustainable systems, but if we do not know how to access deeper intelligences and integrate all aspects of life into our view, then we are only working with a small part of what is there. we need to learn to work with the whole system.  this is the new kind of "fieldwork".

working with a field cultivates a collective resonance which is described as "the "magic' that transforms individuals and whole groups through access to greater sources of wisdom." synchronicity is also an example of fieldwork, as it results "from becoming linked with the environment in a special way, anticipating events or sensing some underlying pattern to the world." there are many examples in different spiritual practices, in systemic or family constellation work, in being in "the flow" whereby the connection between people, place and "the invisible" create conditions for us to be more attuned, intelligent and wise.

i do believe mushrooms know something about this.

author Paul Stamets who wrote Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World believes mycelium, which bear mushrooms as their fruit, have not just the ability to protect the environment but the intelligence to do so on purpose. in an interview with Derrick Jensen in the Sun magazine called going underground, Stamets describes how the invisible and underground systems of fungi work to nourish the whole and how they transmit information across their huge networks.

it intrigues me to think that this network that is so alive and essential to life decided to do its work underground. it is this invisible work - at least it is invisible to us topsoil folks - that sustains life on the planet.

"Mycelia took an evolutionary path by going underground and forming a network of interwoven chains of cells, a vast food web upon which life flourished. These fungi paved the way for plants and animals. They munched rocks, producing enzymes and acids that could pull out calcium, magnesium, iron, and other minerals. In the process they converted rocks into usable foods for other species. And they still do this, of course.

Fungi are fundamental to life on earth. They are ancient, they are widespread, and they have formed partnerships with many other species."

what are the invisible and underground networks working on our behalf, both those that sustain us and those we humans create and sustain? Jungian psychology describes a collective unconscious that lives alongside and within us, it is available when we accept our whole selves through our shadows, our dreams, our inter-connectivity with our lineage, and the inter-generational transmission of consciousness. indigenous peoples and traditions work with the invisible in many ways, bringing in ancestors, plant-spirits, and the cycles of life and death such that all life and time is present at all times. this information - this community - is accessible to us if we invite it in and work with it, if we see it as real and tangible.

resonance and fieldwork are practices of cultivating consciousness as something real, tangible, accessible. working with such fields helps us host the evolution of our humanity.

access this, and more of life is available to us.

so what kind of partnerships can and must we form with the invisible networks of life? what are the practices that bring in the multiple levels of intelligence that are just waiting to be invited to the party? how would our organizations, communities, institutions be different if we saw the wholeness of integrating the visible and the invisible?

ask a mushroom! seriously.

*** if you are interested in deepening your capacity to work with these levels, do come to the Axalditsa Immersion, May 6-15, 2011 in South Pelion, Greece! (see attached doc)

we will be working with the Living Wholeness pattern which offers a framework for being systemic at every level: with ourselves, our work and our communities, and especially in relationship with all of life. with the Living Wholeness pattern, we navigate the visible, invisible, individual and collective pathways towards deeper alignment with all of Life.

*** read a beautiful conversation in ascent magazine called Fieldwork, on creating magnetic fields through our work as service - with Margaret Wheatley, Sera Thompson and Jane Rabinowicz.

photo: daniel seguin