We must forge new metaphors like Starhawk's spiral dance to generate visions of horizontal linkages and unpredictability. In dance, integral to the rituals of almost all indigenous cultures, the rhythmic changes and energies of our bodies are linked to the Earth's cycles of renewal. In expanding and enriching our sensory capacities, the politics of re-evolution may well strengthen our bonds to the Earth and each other, allowing us to experience in positive ways what the West names as the otherness of nature. Within this emergent politics, the traditional polarities of modern politics are reframed. I have suggested in this chapter, ecofeminists, Greens, and bioregionalists are often sympathetic to traditional practices and ways of living.
Vernacular knowledge is highly respected and valued.
Unlike Enlightenment modernizers who focus on the hope of the future by denigrating the past, the politics of renewal and re-evolution create new visions by drawing on the wisdom of tradition. Here again there is an important kinship with Gandhi. Within the politics of renewal, an awareness of the people and practices that preceded us is necessary to determine the repercussions of our present activities and technologies. By resisting our modern language of control, and by invoking respect for the fertility of the soil, our bodies, and the communities that nourish our hearts and minds, ecofeminists and Greens seek to sustain both the living Earth and all her unique creatures. Nor is this commitment to diversity an abstract ideal or some easy substitute for eternal truth.