Living Myths in a Living World

This chapter considers fan studies in a mythological studies context and examines how green studies might use a similar approach to tap into the cultural and mythic power of modern fandoms. The first part defines the components of myth, considers existing fandom studies theories related to those components, and discusses on how fandom studies could impact the larger mythological studies debate. The second part describes the mythological roots of today's environmental crises and discusses the influence of specific fandoms on environmental activism. The chapter closes with some thoughts on how a mythological and green approach to fandom could provide further cultural impetus to positive environmental values much as feminist, ethnic, and queer perspectives on fandom have highlighted and supported a value shift in society as a whole.

When Learning Is Life Giving: Redesigning Schools With Indigenous Systems of Relationality

This article illustrates how designing schools with Indigenous systems of relationality can be life giving for a healthier post-COVID world. Indigenous systems of relationality—the worldviews, beliefs and practices, and moral precepts of being in relation with the rest of the living world—are the cornerstone of Indigenous knowledges, and the cornerstone of Indigenous families and communities. We consider the ways in which Indigenous systems of relationality can offer strategies for educators, families, and communities to redesign approaches to learning in schools in ways that sustain and promote life. Drawing on three case studies of schools in Thailand, México, and Colombia, we show how educators might respond to the specific needs within their communities, repair the fracturing of humans from nature, and orient us to life-giving forms of activity that are beneficial beyond our current crises and into the future.

Use of Nanoparticles for Environmental Remediation

Continuous release of contaminants into the environment and their toxic effects on the living world prompted public and scientific interests in the remediation of pollutants. The release of toxic pollutants not only hinders the soil environments but also disturbs the aquatic environments. The hindrance in soil and aquatic environments causes a serious warning to the productive environment and food security. Thus, excluding and counteracting the pollutants from the environment is necessary to develop a safe and productive environment. Currently, numerous techniques are used to remediate contaminants from the environment; moreover, nanoparticles are one of such most widely used techniques for environmental clean-up. This chapter briefly discusses the need for environmental remediation and nanoparticles for environmental clean-up, especially soil and water. Additionally, the complications and current research trends of using nanoparticles in environmental remediation are briefly discussed for determining future research prospects.

Ancient Beliefs and Traditional Singing of Ukrainians: Gender Differentiation

Gender differentiation in the Ukrainian song tradition is most consistently manifested in the ritual system, and partly – in the epic tradition and lyrical song tradition. The primary attention in the article is paid to the ritual sphere, first of all to the calendar cycle. The paper highlights in detail the traditional distribution of functions between men and women in pre-Christian rituals, during which, according to ancient ideas and beliefs, there was some contact between «that» (sacred) and «this» («profane») worlds. Males, or more precisely, boys who were members of the so-called «parubotchi gromady» (young men communities) took an active part in the rites only once a year – at the beginning of the calendar-time cycle that is, in winter (in ancient times this happened in the spring) during the rituals of the yards circumambulation. The main purpose of these actions was to wish good for each family from the dead ancestors for the coming year (verbal magic), and in return, the ancestors received gifts – sacrificial food from representatives of the living world to appease them for the next year. Women, as representatives of «this» world, maintained contact with otherworldly forces throughout the entire agrarian period from sowing to harvest, as well as in ceremonies associated with the birth of a child, a wedding, or escorting the deceased to the afterlife. In times of crisis in the development of nature and human life, they turned to their deceased ancestors for help. The magical instrument of this connection was the voice, which filled the ritual texts with specific ritual timbre-intonation. The gender distribution in other genres of Ukrainian traditional song is somewhat different. Thus, if in the epic songs the prerogative belongs to men, then the lyric song system is characterized by the joint and almost equal participation of men and women. However, it should be noted that the performers of social songs were predominantly men, and women sang family lyric songs. But the most common was a mixed lineup of singing groups. Even more this property is inherent in the late layer of lyrical song performance. The author also draws attention to the age aspect of the performance of ritual and non-ritual songs in the Ukrainian tradition

Language-ing the Earth: Experiential Renewal for a Relationally Sensitive Environmentalism

This paper investigates human relationship with the larger living landscape that is grounded in experiential renewal. Phenomenology is antithesis to the process of abstraction and objectification through which the world as we experience it is diminished by conceptualization and categorization. Recent studies to understand the natural world as a hermeneutic text offers important reflections on the human mediation of the meaning of the more-than-human-world and assists in understanding the implications of our encounters with the world. Phenomenology, however, is unique in its capacity to bring to expression, rather than silencing, our relationship with the natural world and our human inherency in it. This paper explores phenomenologically sensate reciprocity as it is encountered in lived experience. Through deepening our attunement for our embodied integration in a living world we may relearn and restore a capacity to dwell more thoughtfully with newfound sensitivity, respect, and restraint in the ecosystems on which we wholly depend.

Interactions in Active Colloids

The past two decades have seen a remarkable progress in the development of synthetic colloidal agents which are capable of creating directed motion in an unbiased environment at the microscale. These self-propelling particles are often praised for their enormous potential to self-organize into dynamic nonequilibrium structures such as living clusters, synchronized superrotor structures or self-propelling molecules featuring a complexity which is rarely found outside of the living world. However, the precise mechanisms underlying the formation and dynamics of many of these structures are still barely understood, which is likely to hinge on the gaps in our understanding of how active colloids interact. In particular, besides showing comparatively short-ranged interactions which are well known from passive colloids (Van der Waals, electrostatic etc.), active colloids show novel hydrodynamic interactions as well as phoretic and substrate-mediated “osmotic” cross-interactions which hinge on the action of the phoretic field gradients which are induced by the colloids on other colloids in the system. The present article discusses the complexity and the intriguing properties of these interactions which in general are long-ranged, non-instantaneous, nonpairwise and non-reciprocal and which may serve as key ingredients for the design of future nonequilibrium colloidal materials. Besides providing a brief overview on the state of the art of our understanding of these interactions a key aim of this review is to emphasize open key questions and corresponding open challenges.

STUDY OF PURUSH SIDDHANT WITH SCIENTIFIC APPROACH

The word “Purush" in its most social sense means man but in the aspect of Ayurveda, the term purush is repre- sented as atma or chetana dhatu (chetana-life and dhatu-element). The concept of the existence of atman (soul) is generally not accepted by modern science. According to Indian philosophy, the ultimate truth or absolute soul is one and he is Chetana (Sarvam Khalu Idam Brahm). Treatment of Panchmahabhut Sharir with presence of purush is known as Chikitsya Purush. Purush is supreme soul, pure conscious, unchanging, immortal neither birth nor death. It is essential for the creation of the universe and the living world. In the presence of purush gains knowledge through the mind. All the actions through karmendriyas, desire, pleasure, pain, life and death are per- formed. The purush (Kshetrajy) is lord of the house (Kshetra). The role of Purush in Srusti is laya & parlay which is the same as catalyst’s work in a reversible reaction. Keywords: Purush, Types, Karma Chikitsa, Chaturvinshatika, Rashi, Punarjanma

The philosophical model of the family in the context of anthropological and social challenges with a view to Kant, Husserl and Heidegger – a focal point sketch

When we talk about anthropological and social problems, we usually methodologically assume an epistemically stable structure of thought “human-family-society”. This creates a basis for the philosophical model of the family, which is characterized by causal hermeneutics. One cannot talk reliably about the family without referring to the individual and you cannot speak reliably about the society without referring to the family, which then enables the family to be “communion personarum”. This constellation takes on a transcendental configuration at Kant, phenomenological at Husserl and existential at Heidegger. The reference to mandatory ethics, living world and concern is taken. This establishes the methodological framework, where the ontological-epistemic and ethical structure of the family can be analyzed, looking back at the value of life.