A Mother Tree fell on 19 July 2025, at the age of 96. Joanna Macy was a scholar of deep ecology, systems thinking and Buddhist wisdom and was inspired by Indigenous ways. She was an environmental activist, mother of three children, and author of seventeen books. She was a teacher who guided many of us to breathe through our grief for this world so that we may feel the strength of the sorrow as the strength of our love: strength enough to heal it. She was also a dear mentor for the Collective. To the countless tributes that have poured out from people’s heart-minds (as Joanna would say) over the past few months, we add another; testament to the deep-rooted and multi-branching legacy of our wonderful elder.
The path that Joanna invited so many to join her on wove together threads from many cultures, through her own deep engagement with life. The potency of her offering is reflected in her global following, which emerged organically including here in Africa, because people were moved deeply enough to begin this work in their own circles. Her art lay in leading us to the core of our common human experience, as participants in an awe-inspiring planet. We are intimate relatives of a shared story of origin and as such, we feel the pain of each other, of our wild kin, and of our Mothering Earth when violated. This is an intelligence to be recognised, cultivated, and worked with, she said, as it enables us to be a fully functioning cell in our living world. We feel grief because we feel love, and allowing ourselves to breathe through the pain draws us into presence, from where we can bring our fragmented selves back into wholeness and take meaningful action.
“You are not a separate being. You belong to the living body of Earth. You are the Earth, looking up at the stars.” Joanna Macy
Over many years of a life fully lived, Joanna gathered a range of potent processes to reawaken our capacity to feel part of our planet; to honour our pain, feel grateful for life, and embrace our ability to heal the human-Earth relationship, no matter how dire things get. She generously shared her thinking and, in essence, her gift to the world is what she called The Work That Reconnects. This global network, in Joanna’s words, “helps people discover and experience their innate connections with each other and the self-healing powers of the web of life, transforming despair and overwhelm into inspired, collaborative action”.
The Gaia Foundation – a founding member of the African Earth Jurisprudence Collective – first met Joanna in the 1980s, after which The Work That Reconnects became a central thread of their Earth Jurisprudence Trainings. The Collective is formed from graduates and facilitators of these trainings: each a living embodiment of the wisdom Joanna taught us. Her approach is vital medicine with which we can overcome the separations created through colonialism, capitalism and anthropocentrism in their many forms. Patterns of domination are deeply familiar and justified through superiority complexes of ideology, race, sexuality, gender, and religion. Yet, as we face death and violation everywhere – of cultures, species, entire ecosystems — we have the opportunity to heal these wounds by coming back to ourselves as Earthlings, first and foremost.
Joanna’s book ‘Coming Back to Life’ is a core text during our training, and accompanies each graduate thereafter. ‘The Spiral of the Work’ is a core practice, which invites us to begin with gratitude and remember how our African traditions nurture reciprocity as a principle in life. We see this in the way Indigenous cultures honour our ancestors and wild kin alongside human communities. ‘The Spiral of the Work’ also encourages us to face the sorrow of the Great Unravelling that we are living through. Witnessing is essential, and Joanna taught us how to do so without unravelling ourselves.
“Joanna’s guidance highlights what our African philosophy of uBuntu teaches us, that we can connect with the pain of others. We can feel deeply with reverence and love. ‘Coming Back to Life’ provides the tools and affirmation that it is ok to experience being shaken up but also to know when to move through.” Shaun Dunn, Earth Jurisprudence Practitioner from South Africa
“I found Joanna’s work deeply authentic, spiritual and therapeutic. It has given me the strength, the tools, to deal with the dysfunctional system that is destroying all forms of life. The image of ‘The Spiral of the Work’ remains deeply engrained in my mind. It is so potent because it is packed with layers of truth that speak to the very core that makes us human. It goes beyond race, culture, religion, gender, class and ethnicity, allowing us to freely surrender to the process of coming back to life. As we are reborn, we make greater and more meaningful connections that restore and sustain life. This is the gift Joanna brings us”. Gertrude Pswarayi-Jabson, Earth Jurisprudence Practitioner from Zimbabwe
During our three years of training we gather for retreats, where we draw on exercises from Joanna’s book and practise ‘mysticas’ to start the day: a quiet time of solo communion with nature. Beginning our waking hours by simply being, and bringing focus to our surroundings, we rediscover an intimacy with our home. In turn, we learn more about our sibling species and cultivate a greater sense of belonging. This is a practice that Practitioners continue back home in their local lands.
“During my training in Earth Jurisprudence, I had the extraordinary opportunity to explore and practice the teachings in this book. Since then, it has become my faithful companion. ‘Coming Back to Life’ connects me to myself and to Nature and helps me to facilitate others to do the same. Thank you for your great contribution to the elevation of the human species to reconnect with our great ancestor, Mother Nature.” Chief Atawé Akôyi, Earth Jurisprudence Practitioner from Benin
“Joanna’s books are full of practical exercises that now form part of my daily routine. I constantly refer to her books when invited to gatherings or in my work with communities. I take the opportunity to share an exercise with the groups whenever possible because they really speak to people’s heart- mind.” Method Gundidza, Earth Jurisprudence Practitioner from Zimbabwe
“Each month we gather for a community dialogue with elders and we begin with a ‘Mystica’ drawn from Joanna’s exercises. The communities love the way this stimulates their thoughts and affirms indigenous perspectives.” Simon Mitambo, Earth Jurisprudence Practitioner from Kenya
It is a revelation for many of us in Africa to learn that people in western and eastern traditions have a similar understanding of the colonial process and are aligned with indigenous Earth-centred spirituality. Joanna affirms that seeing through an Earth-centred lens allows us to understand the root cause of what we are living through, and her offerings help us navigate towards a better future.
“This work is so precious, because it reveals how and why we are disconnected. And it fills us with energy to rediscover the joy of being part of our living Mother Earth. Joanna’s work provides a series of exercises of liberation.” Edonandji Gbegniho, Earth Jurisprudence Practitioner from Benin
One of the exercises which is particularly meaningful for Indigenous Peoples is ‘Invoking the Beings of the Three Times”. This practice asks us to recognise that ancestors of all species are present and participate with us in life, establishing a deep sense of gratitude for those who walked the path before us, as well as a sense of responsibility for those who are to come. This holds us to account and lies at the core of traditional African thinking.
“This book brought healing to me. I grew up having to hide my family practices of invoking the ancestors, because people around us said it was demonic. Reading ‘Coming Back to Life’ has given me courage, it has given me a deeper perspective on the voice of the ancestors, affirming this understanding is also held by other cultures.” Mashudu Takalani, Earth Jurisprudence Practitioner from South Africa
From Joanna, we see that African wisdom resonates with other indigenous, spiritual and mystical traditions. This perspective is profoundly affirming as we continue to free ourselves from the internalised prejudices of colonialism and anthropocentrism. As Rebecca Solnit put in her moving tribute, “it’s almost strange to think about [Joanna’s] integrity, her compassion, her generosity at a time when the news is full of stories about cruel and corrupt men and the wreckage they’ve strewn all around them, but she’s a reminder that their opposite is also present in the world”. And as Joanna herself would remind us, “the darker the circumstance, the more brilliant the invitation”.
Joanna has given us compelling ways in which we can feel part of a cross-cultural, cross-species consciousness. In this resonance lies solidarity. A companion to ever-widening circles of people across the planet, Joanna, through her teachings, will continue to kindle our commitment to our Earth community. Her departure from this dimension reminds us of the responsibility we all hold to sustain the remarkable gift she gave to so many. As she said, “If the world is to be healed through human efforts, I am convinced it will be by ordinary people, people whose love for this life is even greater than their fear”.
