Ancestral Voices

“Schumacher is an extension of the energy of all who have been drawn to Dartington by its constellation of activities and reputation as a place of learning”

- first Schumacher College prospectus

One of Schumacher’s special qualities as a learning environment, is that it instills in us an appreciation of our ancestral roots in such a way that includes with equal respect, both the more recent connections that we can place historically, and those of the ancient and non-human kinds. These make up what we could call our own personal, ancestral lineage. 

Modern culture often places a high premium on the value of history, especially with regards to proving so-called hard facts and empirical information, the details and veracity of which are handled with great care almost as a moral virtue. This has its own place and integrity and, at its best, can function as an important tool, a lens through which we can better understand ourselves and re-evaluate actions and ideas.

However, what we are doing here with Ancestral Voices is inviting the reader to go one step further from the standard chronological accounting of events, to help rebuild a relationship with our lost Kairos time connections. In this way we can honour the living and sacred quality of events on a cosmic level, and the continuity of that that's carried from our elders to us like a flame from person to person. This is a practice of orienting ourselves in an attitude of reverence and appreciation, both toward the astonishing synchronicity and structure in which events occur, as well as to the inspirational figures we so admire who make those events meaningful by their presence and activity. Lineage, then, becomes a constant source of wisdom and life instruction for us, rather than a means of boasting credentials.