Contemplate
Philosophy, Wisdom, & Spirituality || Nature Directory
This is a subdirectory of the HOME | Nature Directory on Substack. This sub-page lists publications that share nature-inspired philosophy, wisdom, and spirituality.
For more information about this project, click here.
To be listed, click here.
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Contact Rebecca at ourhome@substack.com
United States
I write about farming, food, creativity, and place, exploring how we can grow nourishment and connection in a fractured world.
Author’s note: I wrote this post about resilience when I wasn't feeling particularly resilient, but instead living in the questions, and the response was a collective "yes!" to needing to weave stronger communities.
Europe and UK
Bee-Witched is an eclectic mix of beekeeping tales, nature writing zines, art-making for mental health, and field notes from the meditative art of crafting with your hands.
From the writer: This is a post I feel perfectly demonstrates what my Substack at least tries to be like. Bringing different elements that I love together, and grounding them all in nature and mental health...all while sharing my art!
Australia
Music inspired by nature, as by nature I am inspired by nature.
From the artist: Expressing through music the lessons I have learnt from trees.
United States
Author’s note: Here is a good place to start.
United States
From the writer: Start here.
United States
Reflections on climate anxiety and spiritual resilience by a professor of religious studies and Indigenous studies.
From the author: This post introduces readers to why comparative religions and Indigenous studies need to be part of our conversations around climate anxiety and eco-grief.
Romania
The best prescription in the world is a daily dose of nature. If you aren't getting yours, you can borrow the best of ours.
Artists’ suggested post: Our two-room traditional wooden home was built in 1938, among the fields of haystacks in Breb, Romania. They have magical powers to get us outside every single day.
United States
Exploring how flowers, trees, meadows, rivers, and mountains transform and restore our lives.
Author’s note: I post weekly essays and photo stories about nature, combining naturalist and spiritual observations plus bi-weekly releases of chapters from my manuscript in progress, “Dreaming In the Real: How Love from the Earth Set Me Free.” “Marnie reads the earth and cultivates a sort of deliverance that is bred into the environment.” ~ H.Rile
United States
Reflections of an animist woman practicing relationship with her place on this wild-flowering earth.
From the writer: Here is a good place to start.
England
Heart and soul connection with Earth and the more-than-human.
Note from the writer: Start here
Europe and UK
Relating with the living world
United States
Stories about People, and Places with a focus on Nature's Wonders and Wisdom
From the author: Whether exploring the mystical depths of a hidden forest, witnessing the breathtaking spectacle of a starlit sky, or simply savoring the gentle rhythm of a babbling brook, "The Earthmonk Journal" inspires readers to slow down, reconnect with the natural world, and rediscover the beauty and wonder that surround us every day.
United States
I guide people overwhelmed by our always-on world on setting up a slower life they don’t need to escape by restoring Nature to the center of their lives.
From the author: Start here for a short manifesto on why this movement is so critical now.
United States
Reconnecting with nature and ourselves
From the author: This piece is where I cracked into the why of my journey and exploration.
United States
Field Notes by Erik Hogan is an exploration of nature, art, and life, as experienced by a landscape photographer and backpacker pushing himself to experience the raw beauty and power of the wild.
Artist’s note: In this brief post I give insight into what I am trying to do in Field Notes, the impact nature has on me, and how I try to relay that message to the readers and viewers.
Canada
Chickadees eating out of my hand, a newborn foal peeking around her mother's side - this is just a glimpse of the beautiful nature and animal connections that I'd love to share with you through photography, non-fiction, and poetry.
Author’s note: Birdwatching at Buttertubs Marsh is always a special experience. I wrote this piece a long time ago and it remains one of my and others' favourite articles. Paired here with recent photos, it explores the mystical and contradictory beauty of the marsh and life in general.
Europe & U.K.
Lessons in healing from the Irish landscape: A newsletter of seasons and cycles, nature and women.
Writer’s note: Here’s the piece of writing that made me see that in vulnerability there is connection
United States
The journals and adventures of a Christian botanical artist
The Netherlands
[About this publication, translated from Dutch]: Weekly newsletter about nature and nature experience. In my newsletter I answer the questions: “How can we return to our wild roots in nature? How do we get back in the primal forest? How do we get rid of our screens?”
From the writer: Start here.
United States
I write about the ways the natural world, always in movement, influences my paintings and artist's books, and leads me to philosophical musings.
From the author: This post catches it all - a walkabout at the Hidden Pond, the paintings that it's inspired, and links to some previous posts for new readers.
United States
Weaving nature writing, ecology, and philosophy to better understand hope: why we lose it, and how we might regain it.
Author’s note: This post is the best place to start; it explains what Hopecology is and is not, and what I'm aiming to address.
United States
Promoting our embrace of being not apart from but one piece of Nature
From the writer: Here’s a great place to start; it contains the roots of the argument against our hubris.
Australia
Flower teachings, plant spirit messages, herbal wisdom and connections with nature, land and our mythic place within it.
Writer’s note: I love this post as it’s simple and short but contains the essence of my experience with plants.
[Naturaleya]
Trinidad and Tobago
Ethnobotanical musings about plants and nature in the Caribbean diaspora.
Note from the author: Start here!
United States - traveling
60-second nature videos featuring Earth
From the artist: Visit the original "Listening Point" and discover the story behind the newsletter.
United States
An eclectic mix of outdoor topics, from environmental issues to deer hunting to Zen Buddhism and fur trapping in Quebec.
Author’s note: This post showed how excited people are to get outside and be prepared for these adventures.
United States
Off-grid desert living with a dash of animistic eco-spiritual philosophizing
Writer’s note: This post shows how animism is deeply interwoven in my life. Living off grid is about more than just being an environmentalist and living independently of centralized systems for me, it's also about connecting intimately with the natural world.
England
Sharing simple beautiful captures of nature and the outdoors through photography and writing.
Australia
Musings on cultivating awareness of our belonging in the living world, engaging with climate and eco crises from a place of psychological wellbeing and connection.
Author’s note: Here’s a story about how we can come to know the feeling of being held within a network of communities, alive with purpose, energised by love.
United States
I'm interested in re-claiming the Divine Feminine, which involves healing the connection between our sense of spirituality and Mother Earth, and how this affects our planet's climate change.
Note from the writer: I believe one of the keys to our climate crisis lies in healing our spiritual relationship with Mother Earth, which we may do by re-claiming the Divine Feminine, to bring back a harmonious balance on our planet.
Europe and UK
Suggested: Start here.
United States
Author’s note: My favorite post, "My Vineyard," really gets to the heart of how the beauty and physicality of life on Martha's Vineyard has healed me since I arrived here 17 years ago, 1 year sober - and how being outside in nature keeps me sane.
United States and Caribbean
Explore with a liveaboard Sailor the deep blue oceans and the challenges of a Classic Sailing Yacht.
Note from the writer: I live an unusual life with a unique language, unforgettable adventures and unforeseen challenges; best of all, every day is a new view!
England
Writing my way around the Wheel of the Year, exploring green spirituality, animism, myth and folklore from a neurodivergent Traveller perspective.
England
Rediscovering nature; learning to live again
Note from the writer: This post felt like a culmination of all the reasons why I was returning to nature having just quit my job and facing the possibility of losing my dad, it was laying down the gauntlet of a new life to come.
Australia
From the collective: We know that the world is not as they tell us. What if we took that seriously?
United States/Nomadic
Exploring the relationship between Consciousness and Nature
From the author: This is the inaugural piece, setting the tone for True Nature as a whole.
United States
I’ve learned from the best of the old ridge runners, to slip into the woods unseen. Though not a deer hunter or angler myself, my aims align with those who feel most truly alive in the great outdoors. For we all belong to this beautiful mystery & must learn to let it fill our hearts, as if our very lives depended on it.
From the artist: This post documents what I love most about going off the beaten track ... and how what we think we’re doing and what the universe has planned for us can be two very different things.
Spain
Shaking off the noise on countryside walks, Pipp began writing on photography shoots in nature. Her book, ‘Sanctuary’ came out in January 2024; a countryside saunter through the seasons, its nature photography inspired by the sparkle of dawn with little text on a gentle self-care theme.
From the artist: I liked the creative touch in this story. It finishes on a cliff hanger which is rare in my stories. Though I have many favourites, the response from other writers to write the next chapter was amazing and fun.
United States
The Weekly Anthropocene offers data-driven independent journalism sharing regular news roundups on climate and biodiversity progress from around the world, plus more in-depth interviews, deep dives, book reviews, travelogues, and more.
Writer’s note: Here’s a collection of all the articles from my 2024 sojourn to India, touching on subjects from Mumbai’s flamingoes to the record Delhi heatwave to human-elephant coexistence to a giant solar farm!
United States
For those who find spirituality in nature: Includes in depth spirit animal interpretations. My publication is interspiritual, non-denominational, and for people who are spiritual but not religious; my background is in ecology and conservation, so I’m always weaving science into my writing about our spiritual connection with nature.
From the writer: This post explores how turkey vulture’s keen sense of smell relates to discernment and the ability to find resources; it’s also connected to purification and the exorcist archetype that helps us clear out our own inner demons.
United States - nature nomad
Naturally increase your health and well-being with Wildlands and help create a world of well-being.
Writer’s note: Reducing harm is Wildlands’ mission and this essay provided necessary information and increased networks to help stop the corruption of animal organizations.
United States
From the artist: Start here!
Canada
I am devoted to Land, Stars & Mystery. I explore connections between human and other-than-human and weave nature, myth and magick into my offerings.
From the author: In this piece, I share how I am inspired and deeply moved by the salmon's perseverance, homecoming and sacrifice.
