by Armando Gariboldi

by kind permission of rivistanatura.com

There are more things in Heaven and on Earth, Horatio, than your philosophy dreams of.

Thus spoke Hamlet in the famous tragedy of William Shakespeare, underlining the existence and importance of that "Middle-earth" which cannot be explored with ordinary senses, but which characterizes, often in a very subtle way, but in any case clearly for those who know read and recognize, the reality of our world and from which the manifestations in the sensitive descend almost always.

All spiritual schools, religions and art have always recognized this dimension, which today even Science, especially through quantum physics and psychology, is increasingly exploring.

Even the Natural Sciences, above all through the disciplines that deal with the conservation of Nature, begin to wonder if a true Ecology is possible ignoring the metaphysical-spiritual dimension of the natural world (even if for some this does not exist).

That is, can we think of committing ourselves effectively to safeguard the natural environment, making it known and then appreciating and loving, without considering that inextricable myriad of energetic, soul and spirit aspects that characterize it, often in a delicate and often also mysterious way? The famous Genius loci of the ancients, the spirit of the places, but also that of trees and animals, in reality has always enveloped and conditioned the profound approach of the relationship with the natural world, feeding, among other things, symbols, stories and traditions .

Of course, this is an intangible dimension, not measurable with the ordinary tools of physical science and, for this reason, considered "fantasy". But in fact it is extremely concrete and real if perceived with the appropriate senses with which Man is endowed, or above all with those of the soul: imagination, intuition and inspiration.

Otherwise, even Ecology, as in part has been happening for some time, will be reduced to a purely or predominantly materialistic discipline, where not only the motivations for protecting Nature and biodiversity will be mostly functional ones (that is, they are preserved something because it serves: the tree because it produces oxygen or a national park because it attracts tourists and brings work / money), and therefore expendable when there will be new priorities (for example, trees are cut because they interfere with the new 5G antennas, considered more important), but we will end up losing the true knowledge of the natural world, which almost always passes first from the heart and only then from the mind.

That is also Nature, Anima Mundi and great therapist of many human pathologies (including loneliness and the disconnection syndrome with the rest of Creation), it will be impoverished and trivialized to a simple, more or less trendy scenario for the various “Jova beach parties ". That is not so!