Deep deep deep Time Walk

In Greek mythology, Gaia, daughter of Chaos, is the goddess of the Earth, the Mother Goddess. The whole Earth seen as a living planetary being, which has gone through so many ups and downs, which has a history. A history of which we are a part. And it has been going on for more than 4600 million years…

On the scale of a human life, on the scale of humanity itself, this duration is unimaginable, beyond our comprehension. So we have to resort to something else, bypass the brain, which is not very helpful in this case. Fortunately, there are other ways of becoming aware, of learning, of apprehending deep time... For example, through the body, the embodied experience.

This is what a Deep Time Walk is about, an alchemy that transforms time into space and embarks the walker on a time travel, one step of one million years at a time. Through the convulsions of our planet’s birth, the discrete and extraordinary appearance of life to its explosion. How this event changed Gaia’s face and till today, in the Anthropocene, when we, as a species, are faced with multiple challenges.

A Deep Time Walk is one of the experiences we love to offer our participants or visitors, as Schumacher Sprouts, as it is highly representative of our inspiration from Schumacher College (UK), where it was originally co-created in 2007 by ecologist Dr Stephan Harding, Head of Holistic Science at the College, and geologist Sergio Maraschin. This highly experiential walk is a central component of the holistic learning experience at Schumacher College (UK) as it is now in Belgium with the Schumacher Sprouts.

So, if you are interested, look out at our activities calendar. We are also pleased to organise on-demand Deep Time Walks.

blog post by Anne-Kirstine de Caritat, 24/03/21