Imaginal Ecotherapy: How Nature Speaks through Imagery
“Just as previous therapies aimed to uncover the repressed contents of the unconscious, ecopsychology seeks to awaken the inherent sense of environmental reciprocity that resides within our ecological unconscious.”
Alongside dreams, imaginal practices like Tarotpy help us connect with the ecological unconscious and our intrinsic relationship with the natural world. Nature communicates with us through imagery.
These approaches integrate ecotherapy into clinical settings, providing eco-centric healing practices for both therapists and clients to explore outside of sessions. By fostering imaginal practices, we deepen our connection and enhance our understanding of our place within the web of life.
Seeking Home: Sylvia's Story
In a world fraught with ecological crises and an increasing allure of the digital realm, many individuals feel adrift and disconnected from a sense of belonging. Imaginal ecotherapy can serve as a sanctuary for those seeking to find their way home in this fractured landscape.
During a workshop, participants were invited to draw two cards in response to a personal question. Sylvia asked, "Where is home for me?" Living in a temporary dwelling, she had not felt settled for years. When Sylvia turned over her cards, she gasped and tearfully, shared the images with the group.
The first card, aptly titled "Home," illustrated a welcoming abode nestled within a majestic tree in a lush forest. Sylvia recognized her true home as her profound connection with nature.
The second card, “Listening,” depicted an elephant leaning toward musical notes. This image moved Sylvia to tears once more.
Sylvia expressed her love for all animals, particularly elephants, envisioning herself gently touching her forehead to the elephant’s bowed head, seeking its wisdom. These images affirmed her belief that she is always at home in nature, both physically and within herself.
Discovering Roots in the Imaginal Earth: Catherine’s Journey
When intergenerational trauma and ancestors who are not at peace are draining our life force, we may find it necessary to move beyond our familial lineage and seek the very source of creation itself. We can discover a kinship with imaginal and ecological ancestors that better supports our authenticity and vitality.
Catherine frequently visited a special place in the woods where she found solace by leaning on Grandfather Tree, especially during the two years of her soulmate’s illness. However, when she injured her leg and could not venture into the forest, Grandfather Tree appeared to her in the cards like a visitation. Catherine received important counsel and support from this imaginal encounter as if Grandfather Tree were physically present.
Initially, Catherine struggled to grasp the significance of the images during our sessions. By slowing her focus on specific details, the images gradually revealed their meanings. She associated the Hanged Man card with her friend: “He’s stuck in a rut, tied to his illness and family drama. If I take that on, then I am stuck too.” Reflecting on the Two of Swords, she noted, “The woman sits confidently, receiving guidance from Grandfather Tree while her soulmate's world is upside down. I need to draw strength from Grandfather Tree, knowing I have a choice between two paths.” The guidance from Grandfather Tree helped her maintain her strength while caring for her friend without becoming entangled in his struggles.
This next layout occurred shortly after the passing of her beloved friend:
Catherine reflected on the upper left of her layout where ghost-like figures appeared distant from earthly existence. She felt a resonance with her own disconnection from daily life and her pull toward the spiritual realm where she felt connected to her soulmate. She noticed an egg, symbolizing the inception of new life, cradled by a spectral presence. In the center, the mandala, reminiscent of a medicine wheel, infused her with healing energy. Above, to her astonishment, a community of Tree People welcomed and enveloped her. She felt a profound connection with these beings, whom she perceived as her earthly ancestors. They grounded her with their life force, pulling her back from a state of emotional numbness.
The images aided Catherine in embracing a newfound sense of self, deeply rooted in her being, connecting her to her ancestral trees and the natural world.
Climate trauma and regeneration: Rosalie’s story
This last case is related to the environmental disaster in Maui in 2023. Rosalie is a young woman raising her family on the Haiku side of Maui. The devastating fires in Lahaina not only brought immense shock and pain to her island community but also triggered severe PTSD in Rosalie. She had spent her childhood in Napa, California which suffered a huge wildfire; Rosalie barely escaped a burning house with her life.
I reached out to offer Rosalie a Tarotpy session. Rosalie selected four cards from the Mushroom Hunter Tarot deck, which felt appropriate given the theme of earth medicine.
As I reflect on a layout, I often find myself drawn to the symmetry and patterns that emerge. Much like the natural world, even a seemingly random collection of images reveals an inherent order and intelligence.
When working with trauma, establishing a sense of safety is paramount. In this instance, I guided Rosalie to focus on two outer cards, each adorned with sunny, cheerful imagery. This helped create a supportive foundation for our exploration.
Typically, I don't rely on the small guidebooks that accompany tarot decks which are limited in scope and not specific in addressing the client’s situation or personal associations. But this time I was curious about the healing properties of the mushrooms depicted in the cards. Rosalie shared insights from the book, highlighting the Lion's Mane mushroom on the left. This mushroom is known to stimulate new cell growth and boost the immune system. The Two of Cups on the right featured Shiitake mushrooms, celebrated for their ancient medicinal properties that promote longevity and also support immune health.
The regenerative mushroom on the left card appeared to flourish in a landscape reminiscent of Maui. In nature, the emergence of mushrooms in a fire-ravaged area symbolizes regeneration—a powerful image that evoked hope in Rosalie for the healing of both the land and her community. This image evoked a sense of hope for Rosalie that the land and her community could regenerate. Upon closer inspection of the card on the right, Rosalie recognized that the image depicted Napa, California, complete with the iconic wine bottle and glasses in the foreground. I pointed out the caduceus on the bottle, a symbol of healing. After years of feeling unsafe when revisiting her childhood home, Rosalie was finally healing her relationship with Napa. The outer cards acted like bookends, providing both containment and optimism.
Next, Rosalie examined the two inner cards that mirrored her distress. The Eight of Cups, featuring the endangered Violet Chanterelle mushroom, echoed her desire to leave the island, which felt equally endangered. The Judgment card, representing rebirth after death, depicted mushrooms blackened like ash. The Black Trumpet mushroom served as a reminder to awaken and rise anew.
Rosalie grappled with these conflicting impulses: the urge to escape and the resolve to stand strong for her community as it regenerated. The outer cards reassured her of her resilience and the earth’s capacity for healing.
Conclusion
The deterioration of our environment and the upheaval of socio-political norms highlight the unsustainability of our materialistic worldview. This bias toward a purely material reality is a fading paradigm, resulting in power struggles over resources and land. Many crises we face today stem from a “failure of imagination.” What if we viewed upheaval and crisis as inevitable phases, signaling that old ways can no longer sustain us and making way for something new to emerge?
Engaging in trauma work through Imaginal Ecotherapy and the Tarotpy method is akin to transforming decayed material into mulch, nourishing new growth.
We stand at the precipice of a new consciousness that transcends dualistic paradigms. The renowned psychiatrist and visionary Carl Jung described a psychoid level of the unconscious where psyche (consciousness) and nature are two sides of the same coin. Imaginal Ecotherapy embodies this fusion, bridging the gap between psyche and nature, dreaming and waking, ourselves and the world. It nudges us from fragmentation toward wholeness.
Consider the time when the majority believed the world was flat, only to experience a collective shift toward understanding it as round. Similarly, the idea that everything orbited the Earth took time to gain acceptance; Galileo Galilei even faced house arrest for his beliefs. Yet, consciousness evolved, leading to the widespread acknowledgment that the Earth orbits the Sun.
Recognizing the interconnectedness of psyche and nature compels us to consider that shifts in the imaginal realm can have reciprocal and beneficial impacts on the physical world.
To illustrate this, let’s look at an example from evolutionary biology: when a caterpillar undergoes transformation within its cocoon, its old cells disintegrate, creating a nutritive soup for the emerging butterfly's cells. These remarkable cells are aptly named "imaginal cells."
