The Unlikely Correspondence Between Science and Spirituality

If you asked yourself the question “what impact do humans have on the environment?”, most of us would respond with negative examples such as pollution, climate change, global warming, etc. While all those are true, we often forget to acknowledge the positives that we bring to the planet we inhabit. The book “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer has become a surprise world-wide sensation that gets every reader to look at our relationship with the Earth in a new way.

Throughout the novel, Kimmerer constantly keeps readers hooked by not approaching the topic of botany in a scientific route that the average person without a pure love for science would find dreary to get through. Instead, she expertly weaves indigenous stories and teachings that reflect strong spirituality through science that appeals to the soul even if you don’t come from or have any experience with indigenous culture. Her rich writing masterfully guides readers through the idea of seeing the Earth as a gift. She also inspires to give thanks back to the Earth in many different forms in order to strengthen the deep bond that we have with the very soil beneath our feet. Having both perspectives of the natural world shows how the scientific path and the indigenous teachings don’t have to remain separate.

Kimmerer’s view of the natural world is captivating due to the fact that she is both indigenous and an academic scientist, a combination that we don’t see very often. Throughout the book she is constantly voicing her struggles in the beginning of her career when it came to her views on the world. Her internal struggle was deciding if she should conform to the set path or science or does she continue to embrace her indigenous practices in the scientific field? As you progress through the book filled with powerful anecdotes of her life and how indigonous wisdom affected her relationships with her family, friends, and job, as a reader, it is almost impossible to finish the book without a new outlook on the correspondence and separation of religion, spirituality, and science