Introduction to Earthdreaming
Literature Review of Ecopsychological Perspectives on Earthdreaming for Planetary Awakening
This piece of writing is an academic literature review that creates context for—and builds on the foundation of—my previous essay, Dreaming the Earth Awake.
If you knew that the power to shift our planetary future towards one of ecological balance and renewal lived inside your dreams—would you awaken to it? In a time of uncertainty and imminent global catastrophe, our capacity to explore the imaginal may be humanity’s greatest superpower. The emergent theories of ecopsychologists, earthdreamers and indigenous peoples propose that planetary renewal must be dreamed into existence before we can experience it (Jaenke, 2020). The academics reviewed in this essay propose that the regeneration of Earth; the restoration of biodiverse ecosystems; and the creation of a harmonic balance between humans and their environment will begin not with external action, but with the radical act of imagination. If policy, protest, and reform were capable of averting ecological collapse—wouldn’t we already feel the turning of the tide? Our failure to alter the course of climate change is necessitating a collective pause—a bated breath to redirect our attention within and ask questions rather than propose quick-fix schemes and potentially consequential solutions. Perhaps now is the time to turn inward together, to dive into the deep waters of the soul where the wounds of the Earth and self intertwine, and dream the human-earth balance back into being.
Transpersonal psychology has long traversed the connection between the human psyche and the natural world—but it is yet to offer effective solutions that heal the human-earth split (Jaenke, 2020) and restore a reciprocal relationship. Ecopsychology, an emergent field of transpersonal study and inquiry, has begun to explore dreams and polyphasic states as channels for planetary communication, guidance, and healing. Within the framework of transpersonal psychology and ecopsychology, earthdreaming refers to an experiential, animistic state of consciousness that is not solely personal but relational, ecological, and cosmically oriented. This literature review explores ecopsychological perspectives on earthdreaming through the work of key scholars including Meredith Sabini, Karen Jaenke, Lee Irwin, Marna Hauk, and Tara Lumpkin. Together, their work offers a paradigm-shifting vision of dreams as carriers of evolutionary intelligence and adaptive vehicles for planetary transformation.
In a world that urgently needs new visions, new myths, new prophecies, and awakened, imaginative solutions to the pressing ecological issues of our time– these scholars present the idea that earthdreaming awakens an embodied expression of the anima mundi (Hillman, 1975). It inspires a multidimensional way of being that activates animistic consciousness and offers soul-led solutions for ecological renewal. While grounded in anthropological understandings of ancient and Indigenous dreaming traditions, the concept of earthdreaming remains largely in its formative stage, with limited empirical research to substantiate its claims. However, this paper explores the key definitions, emergent concepts and philosophical themes that position earthdreaming as a viable and adaptive tool for the transformation of consciousness—worthy of deeper academic inquiry. In fact, it is a theory that has the imagined potential to guide the western world away from its collision course with ecological disaster.
This paper explores the idea that the restoration of ecological harmony is not possible without a parallel restoration of the human imagination. Earthdreaming is an embodied awakening of animistic, polyphasic consciousness that expands our capacity to dream a new vision into existence. Through this lens, the imaginal realm of dreams is not a private psychological experience, but an intelligent dialogue with Gaia, offering guidance and direction for planetary transformation. Weaving the psychic and ecological, this review aims to illuminate how the ancient-future practice of earthdreaming can catalyze the emergence of a more reciprocal, conscious, and regenerative relationship with Gaia.
Key Emergent Concepts and Definitions
Ecopsychology
In the field of transpersonal psychology, the inextricable link between human beings and their environment has been acknowledged and expounded on for over a century. However, the term “ecopsychology” didn’t enter the field until the early 1990s with Roszak’s The Voice of the Earth (1992). Ecopsychology as a field deepened the conversation by explicitly linking the modern ailments of the human mind to the ecological crisis gaining attention in mainstream discourse. It emerged alongside a growing awareness of the real impact of industrialization on the environment, as education, activism, and policy began to respond to climate change and ecosystem degradation. Ecopsychology quickly became a balm for the aching souls who were searching to put words to the sense of loss and grief that accompanies awareness of the disharmonic relationship between humans and the Earth. It has become a voice for truth, hope and transformation on a dying planet.
Ecopsychology theorists began to recognize the intrinsic relationship between our inner landscapes and the outer world—particularly how the traumatized psyche creates a destabilized biosphere. An emergent theory is that the split in the human–earth relationship has resulted in fragmentation of the anima mundi (Hillman, 1975), or world soul. This insight catalyzed a profound shift in consciousness—one that positioned ecopsychology to address the ecological crises of our time through a holistic, biocentric, eco-spiritual lens. Ecopsychology challenges the anthropocentric assumptions of mainstream psychology by proposing that mental health cannot be fully understood—or healed—outside of our relationship with the Earth. It poses that a resolved, healed, and integrated “sacred human” (Irwin, 2019-2020) is deeply in touch with their ecological self and therefore a co-creator of a balanced, sustainable ecosystem.
Earthdreaming
Earthdreaming is an emergent concept developed by a small group of ecopsychologists including Craig Chalquist, Stanley Krippner, Thomas Berry, Meredith Sabini, Karen Jaenke, Marna Hauk, Lee Irwin, and other scholars. The peer reviewed, ecopsychology publication ReVision, published a full volume specifically on earthdreaming that gave a powerful and centralized voice to the movement. Inspired by decades of research on indigenous dreaming cultures, earthdreaming is a western adaptation of an ancient practice that is poised to help re-indigenize the colonized mind. Earthdreaming refers broadly to an animistic state of consciousness and an embodied practice of engaging with dreams, visions, trance states, and other mystical experiences as an imaginal dialogue with the Earth. These communications are understood to be an intelligent conversation with Gaia offering guidance, insight, and healing for both individual and planetary renewal. Rather than a private psychological process, earthdreams are viewed as participatory transmissions from Gaia or the anima mundi, providing collective evolutionary intelligence (Hauk, 2015; Irwin, 2019–2020; Jaenke, 2020; Sabini, 2014). Earthdreaming reconnects the dreamer to the living web of life, offers a sense of belonging to the interconnected cosmos, and activates soul-led responses to planetary crisis.
Perceptual Diversity
Perceptual diversity is an anthropological concept proposed by Tara Lumpkin in her 2001 article that is akin to earthdreaming. Perceptual diversity is the ability to engage multiple modes of knowing—such as dreaming, trance, and intuition—alongside rational thought. It steps outside western scientific rationalism and engages indigenous ways of knowing that draw from a spectrum of states of consciousness. In western culture, we rely on the scientific method to guide our philosophies and actions, however, most indigenous cultures have relied on many different ways of knowing for thousands of years. Lumpkin (2001) argues that cultures that value and engage perceptual diversity are more adaptable and better stewards of their environments.
Polyphasic
Polyphasic is also an anthropological term that describes cultures or individuals that operate through and validate multiple states of consciousness, including dreams, visions, meditation, and trance. Polyphasic consciousness fosters adaptive, holistic awareness (Lumpkin, 2001). Earthdreaming functions as a distinctly polyphasic mode of perception, reawakening communication with the more-than-human world.
Monophasic
Monophasic refers to cultures that prioritize waking, rational consciousness while marginalizing altered states of awareness. Lumpkin (2001) identifies Western society as predominantly monophasic, which contributes to ecological dissociation and a mechanistic worldview that inhibits meaningful environmental repair. Monophasic consciousness is the basis of a materialist culture.
Animistic Consciousness
Animistic consciousness is an ancient, biocentric mode of perception that recognizes the aliveness and sentience of all of Gaia. This ideology gives lifeforce to all objects and beings on earth—both “animate” and “inanimate” forms are personified within this perspective. Before the dawn of colonization and the great turning to pastoral ways of life, many cultural lifeways on Earth would have been described as animistic—or attuned to the lifeforce within all things. Arguably, the biggest shift in consciousness that has occurred on Earth is the turning from an animistic to a materialist or mechanistic mode of perception. Rooted in indigenous and ancestral worldviews, animism invites relationship with the Earth as a communicative, intelligent presence (Jaenke, 2008; Sabini, 2014). Earthdreaming revives animistic awareness through symbolic and direct experiences of connection with landscapes, animals, and elemental forces.
Anima Mundi
The anima mundi, or “world soul,” is a concept from Platonic and Jungian philosophy that sees soul as an intrinsic quality of the world itself. Hillman (1975) revitalized this term in psychological discourse, emphasizing that the fragmentation of the world soul reflects the fragmentation of the human psyche. Earthdreaming offers a pathway to reweave the anima mundi through symbolic and soul-based engagement with nature.
Gaia
The concept of Gaia encompasses the entirety of the Earth biosphere as a self-regulating, living system with intelligence and agency, as introduced by Lovelock and Margulis and later expanded by ecopsychological theorists such as Hauk (2015). Within the context of earthdreaming, Gaia is not only an ecological system but also a dreaming, responsive being participating in our collective, co-creative evolution.
Planetary Renewal
Planetary renewal refers to the transformation of both ecological systems and human consciousness in response to climate collapse and environmental degradation. A planetary renewal suggests a process of rebirth, a collective ego-death as a substitute for a physical death of the planet. It suggests both spiritual and ecological restoration on Earth and understands that one cannot resolve itself without the other. The concept implies a rebalancing of the human-earth relationship through soul work, imagination, and dream-guided action (Hauk, 2015; Irwin, 2019–2020; Sabini, 2014).
Synthesis of Emergent Themes
The Anthropological Lens: Earthdreaming as Indigenous Perceptual Diversity
Earthdreaming is not an entirely new concept—but a reawakening of an ancient way of being. It is a western adaptation of an indigenous perspective. As put forth by Sabini, Iriwn, Jaenke, and Hauk, earthdreaming is echoed in the cosmology of indigenous peoples such as the Australian Aboriginals and ancient Asklepion dream temples. When we lived within our ancestral, indigenous Tribes in communion with the Earth and natural world—there was a deep sense of sacred relationship with all beings. Our world was alive, animated, and constantly speaking to us through our dreams. There was a sense of belonging and knowing of our place and role within the animated cosmos and existence within a natural order. The Earth itself was understood as an intelligent force of nature that we could communicate with both directly and symbolically. Our sense of “knowing” was earned through an attunement to subtle communication with the world around us–we could listen and receive information from Gaia through polyphasic states of consciousness. Through earthdreaming, we have always learned how to heal (Hauk, 2015), how to survive (Jaenke, 2020), and how to maintain a state of balanced equilibrium with the Earth (Jaenke, 2008). This sense of earthdreaming permeated all of the literature I reviewed—as though all of the current theorists are reading from the same book.
Tara Lumpkin explains that, “polyphasic cultures value perceptual processes that use altered states of consciousness, such as dreaming, lucid dreaming, contemplation, ecstatic and trance states, as well as ordinary waking consciousness” (Lumpkin, 2001). Lumpkin (2001) argues that the lack of perceptual diversity in western culture is the root of our ecologically unsustainable lifestyle,
…When a culture restrains perceptual diversity, that same culture reduces human adaptability, which, in turn, leads to human beings living unsustainably. Unsustainable lifestyles result in ecological destruction, including destruction of biodiversity (or biocomplexity). In a feedback loop, degraded environments offer fewer choices to human beings for adaptability, and a downward spiral commences. If, indeed, perceptual diversity promotes human adaptability and indirectly promotes healthy environments, then perceptual diversity has a practical application in everyday life.
Earthdreaming gives language to an emergent, western variety of perceptual diversity, a technology of the ecologically aware sacred human (Irwin, 2019-2020) and a pathway towards reawakening communication and connection to Gaia. Earthdreaming expands our definition of the word dream to include a variety of ways of knowing and embraces perceptual diversity. The ecospsychologists and earthdreaming theorists surveyed within this review offer Western culture a conceptual framework to re-engage the Earth in an animistic process of communication. If we are able to restore the anima mundi through listening to the intelligent communication of Gaia, and then consciously act in ways that promote equilibrium we just may stand a chance of restoring balance on our beloved Earth.
Earth Body, Human Body
Another thru line of similarity in the literature was an understanding that the human body is not separate from the earth body—but in fact they are one. Jaenke, Sabini, and Hauk all emphasize the continuity between the human body and the Earth body. Sabini writes, “Everyone thinks nature is out there… Our bodies are our own small portion of Earth.” This idea is echoed in Jaenke’s exploration of trauma and healing through earth-communing dreams, which restore the felt sense of being held by a larger ecological matrix. Jaenke writes that intimacy with the Earth body can only be reached through the humble doorway of the human body. Similarly, Hauk notes that how we treat our bodies mirrors how we treat the Earth: communion with self leads to communion with Gaia. When we reject our physical, sensual, feeling selves, we sever connection with Earth; when we listen, the Earth speaks through us. It seems that in order to orient ourselves as earthdreamers, there is a necessity to understand ourselves as deeply woven into the web of Creation. Healing the human-earth split begins with each individual recognizing that they belong to the interconnected cosmos—and are at home on the Earth.
Drawing from an ecopsychological and participatory spiritual lens, I propose that humans are not separate from nature, but are its stewards by evolutionary design. As such, we are the arms and legs of the Earth—responsible for tending to the forests, oceans, and rivers of our living planet, and for allowing the intelligence of Gaia to guide our evolutionary unfolding. I propose that the anima mundi is not a separate “world soul” outside of ourselves, but that the human soul and Earth soul are inextricably linked–in fact, they are One. The same consciousness of Nature that moves through the birds and trees makes a home within our human bodies. Our soul is the soul of Gaia. It is a profound gift to live in this water-rich world that nourishes our breath, our spirits, and our very existence within the cosmos. If we truly make contact with the beautiful complexity of this truth—how could we do anything but protect it?
Ecological Crisis: Opportunity for Awakening or Imminent Cataclysm?
Echoed through the literature is the idea that the current ecological crisis represents both a dire threat and a threshold of potential transformation of consciousness. Authors like Jaenke and Irwin highlight this moment as a turning point—a pressure point in planetary consciousness. Jaenke refers to “the first bubbles of awakening in the planetary imagination,” suggesting that our collective dream life may already be responding to Earth’s distress signals. Irwin frames this as a critical juncture where the dreamer becomes a “sacred human,” capable of catalyzing a planetary shift through visionary embodiment. Rather than framing climate change as doom, these thinkers offer it as a portal: a call to activate dormant psychic and planetary potentials. As if we are embarking on a collective hero’s journey, ecopsychologists and earthdreamers beckon us to answer the initiatory call of our dreams—and respond to the Earth’s pleading for planetary transformation.
Actualizing Earthdreaming
Once we have identified ourselves as One with the Earth, and responded to the call to become a steward of Gaia—the last step is to take conscious action. Irwin asserts that dreaming must lead to “celebratory action,” not just reflection. He introduces the prophetic self as an emergent identity—someone who listens to dreams and embodies them in the waking world. Earthdreaming thus demands enactment. Whether through changing personal behaviors, building dream sanctuaries, or creating visionary communities, the dreamer becomes a participant in Gaia’s regeneration. Hauk’s participants enacted their dreams through ritual, mandala creation, and collective storytelling—proving that even in virtual space, earthdreaming can ripple into embodied, real-world healing. We are asked do more than imagine a new relationship with the earth—but to also embody and Create it.
Limitations in Current Research and Theory
How belief systems limit our capacity for mythopoetic earthdreaming
We can only see what we believe, and we can only believe what we can imagine to be true. Therefore, our capacity for perception is limited by our capacity for imagination. We can only dream a renewed Earth into being insofar as we have capacity to imagine it. Mythopoesis—literally, “myth-making” or “world-building”—refers not just to the creation of stories, but to the imaginative participation of employing fundamental human truths to shape cultural meaning. As Hillman (1975) emphasized, myths are not just old stories; they are the deep patterns that organize the psyche and the world. To engage in mythopoesis is to co-create new archetypal narratives that can reorient humanity toward sacred relationship with the Earth. To actualize new possibilities—we must first dream them up.
Abrahamic religion has dominated the collective consciousness with a narrative based in eschatology and apocalyptic prophecy for thousands of years (Comaroff, 2021). This belief is deeply ingrained in the collective psyche and expresses itself through our imaginal realm in many forms. We see the end-of-the-world story repeated in movies, books, news headlines and across all forms of contemporary media. We live in a frozen state of apocalyptic fear, unable to vision anything other than the mythology we have been programmed to believe. Trapped in the spell of apocalyptic inevitability, we have forgotten that we are not just characters in someone else’s script—we are the storytellers. To reclaim the capacity to dream mythically is to reclaim authorship of our collective future. In this way, mythopoetic earthdreaming becomes an act of resistance against apocalyptic determinism and extractive worldviews. The earthdreamer steps into a co-creative role with Gaia, offering visions not just of survival, but of a sacred evolutionary unfolding.
Necessity for Empirical Studies in Future Research
If the concept of earthdreaming is to find a foothold within transpersonal psychology and ecopsychology—and ideally on the world stage as a solution to climate change—there is a need for studies that demonstrate how this psychotechnology can effectively and practically support both the individual and collective. While thinkers like Sabini, Jaenke, Irwin, and Hauk provide rich, experiential, and philosophical accounts of dreams as ecological communication, Earthdreaming remains underdeveloped as an empirical field. Studies could be designed that merge ecopsychology with climate science to test how earthdreaming can solve real-world problems of sustainability and eco-resilience. While rich in philosophical, mythopoetic, and phenomenological insights, it calls for further interdisciplinary research that bridges ecopsychology with climate science, ritual studies, and participatory inquiry. To fully actualize its potential, earthdreaming must be studied not only as a theoretical framework, but as a psychospiritual technology capable of inspiring adaptive, imaginative responses to ecological collapse.
Conclusion
The literature presented here advocates for the idea that restoring the anima mundi and reawakening animistic consciousness begins within as we engage our imaginations in the process first. Drawing from the work of Sabini, Jaenke, Irwin, Hauk, and Lumpkin, it is clear that earthdreaming offers a conceptual and experiential bridge between ancient animistic lifeways and contemporary psychological inquiry. The scholars reviewed converge on the insight that the ecological crisis we face is not merely a material emergency, but a crisis of imagination, of disconnection from the anima mundi and our ecological self. As we reconnect to Gaia, learn to listen to her intelligence, and engage in a mythic conversation with Nature we welcome the soul of the Earth back into our hearts and bodies–and thus, piece by piece, we become the shift we wish to see in the world.
Earthdreaming challenges the monophasic worldview dominant in Western culture, advocating instead for a polyphasic, perceptually diverse mode of consciousness that honors dreams, visions, and symbolic knowing as vital pathways to ecological renewal. We can start small by weaving bits and pieces of our visionary dream realm into daily life; re-imagining the mythopoetic future we desire to live in; and spending time in nature listening to the sounds of the Earth. It can be simple, really. As we resolve our trauma and begin to embody our birthright as sacred humans (Irwin, 2019-2020), healing can become less about big cathartic processes and more about the enactment of sympathetic choices that create pathways towards a harmonic future. After all, the world soul, human soul, and earth soul are not separate entities, but expressions of the same living essence—driven to reconciliation by the eros of union. To dream, then, is not merely to imagine but to remember—to remember that we are Gaia dreaming herself awake through us.
References
Comaroff, J. & J. (2021). The Colonization of Consciousness. Critical Readings in the History of Christian Mission, 2. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004399594_005
Hauk, M. (2015). Dreams of Earth: Earth dreaming as eco-resilience practice for the long emergency. Ecopsychology, 7(4), 258–265. https://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2015.0039
Hillman, J. (1975). Re-visioning psychology. HarperPerennial.
Irwin, L. (2019–2020). Earth dreaming, world awakening. ReVision: A Journal of Consciousness and Transformation, 32(4)/ 33(1). Retrieved from
https://revisionpublishing.org
Jaenke, K. (2020). Dreaming with the Earth. ReVision: A Journal of Consciousness and Transformation, 32(4)/33(1), 14-24. doi:10.4298/REVN.32.4.14-24. Retrieved from
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Lumpkin, T.W. (2008), Perceptual Diversity: Is Polyphasic Consciousness Necessary for Global Survival?. Anthropology of Consciousness, 12, 37-70. https://doi.org/10.1525/ac.2001.12.1.37
Roszak, T. (1992). The voice of the Earth. Simon & Schuster.
Sabini, M. (2014). Dreams are pure nature. ReVision: A Journal of Consciousness and Transformation, 32(4)/ 33(1). 52-68. doi:10.4298/REVN.32.4.62-68. Retrieved from
https://revisionpublishing.org