A photo of a young child on the beach in a pink and black halter dress blows bubbles at sunset while holding a basket for wedding flower petals. White text reads, “33. Pray working Respect God: Pray working. Pray learning, planning, doing. Pray creating, teaching, reaching. Pray working. Pray to focus your thoughts, still your fears, strengthen your purpose. Respect God. Shape God. Pray working. ∞ = Δ”
A photograph of a pond in summer is scattered with lilly pads and pink water lilies in bloom. Reeds border the pond and a colorful art display hands suspended above the pond, reflecting slightly off of the pond’s surface. White text over the picture reads, “32. Your teachers Your teachers Are all around you. All that you perceive, All that you experience, All that is given to you or taken from you, All that you love or hate, need or fear Will teach you— If you will learn. God is your first and your last teacher. God is your harshest teacher: subtle, demanding. Learn or die. ∞ = Δ”
A photograph of a toddler with one long braid, crouching to see a penguin through observation glass at an aviary has white text that reads, “31. Sculptor and Clay As wind, As water, As fire, As life, God Is both creative and destructive, Demanding and yielding, Sculptor and clay. God is Infinite Potential: God is Change. ∞ = Δ”
A dirt path in a green forest with tall deciduous trees leads back to a bend. White text is overlaid stating, “30. Shape Self The Self must create Its own reasons for being. To shape God, Shape Self. ∞ = Δ”
An adult person and a child look over the city of Pittsburgh from Mt. Washington. Cerulean clouds are mixed with clouds that have light pouring through them. Text from Octavia Butler’s ‘Parable of the Sower’ reads: 29. The rest of what we need God is neither good nor evil, neither loving nor hating. God is Power. God is Change. We must find the rest of what we need within ourselves, in one another, in our Destiny. ∞ = Δ
The end of an orange sunset can just barely be seen on the horizon of a twilight sky. In the foreground, a stream wends between trees shaded to near darkness. On the right side text reads, “28. The Galaxies Changes. The galaxies move through space. The stars ignite, burn, age, cool, Evolving. God is Change. God prevails. ∞ = Δ”
Yellow flowers bloom around dark green leaves. White text on the right side says, “27. A Gathering of Earthseed Once or twice each week A Gathering of Earthseed is a good and necessary thing. It vents emotion, then quiets the mind. It focuses attention, strengthens purpose, and unifies people. ∞ = Δ”
A photo of an orange and yellow sunset through slate gray clouds above the bay on Long Beach Island New Jersey. A portion of a dock is on the left, a pair of ducks floats on the right. White text over the picture states: 26. Embrace diversity Embrace diversity. Unite— Or be divided, robbed, ruled, killed By those who see you as prey. Embrace diversity Or be destroyed. ∞ = Δ
A photograph shows the sun shining as it sets over the Beaver Valley in Western Pennsylvania. Over nearly leafless trees and a low rock fence, text reads, “25. Cast on new ground Earthseed Cast on new ground Must first perceive That it knows nothing. ∞ = Δ”
Three toddlers stand in a photograph at the edge of a pond, looking into it at sunset. Text reads, “24. Kindness Kindness eases Change. ∞ = Δ”
A black and white photograph of a smoky phoenix tattooed in between my shoulder blades has white text on the left that reads, “23. A Phoenix In order to rise From its own ashes A phoenix First Must Burn. ∞ = Δ”
A toddler’s hand can be seen gripping the chain of a swing on the left side of the photograph. In the background sunlight dapples the green leaves of deciduous trees. Text reads, “22. Earthlife We are Earthseed. We are flesh—self aware, questing, problem-solving flesh. We are that aspect of Earthlife best able to shape God knowingly. We are Earthlife maturing, Earthlife preparing to fall away from the parent world. We are Earthlife preparing to take root in new ground, Earthlife fulfilling its purpose, its promise, its Destiny. ∞ = Δ”
A photograph of the mist coming off of the fountain at Point State Park in Pittsburgh creates a rainbow. In the background, tall buildings reach into a clear sky. White text reads, “21. What a living world will demand There is no end To what a living world Will demand of you. ∞ = Δ”
White text in a black box over a massive covering of twinkling string lights reads, “16. Civilization is to intelligence Civilization is to groups what intelligence is to individuals. It is a means of combining the intelligence of many to achieve ongoing group adaptation. Civilization, like intelligence, may serve well, serve adequately, or fail to serve its adaptive function. When civilization fails to serve, it must disintegrate unless it is acted upon by unifying internal or external forces. ∞ = Δ”
Snow blows over a darkened sky in a photograph of hanging star-shaped lights at a display at the Pittsburgh Botanical Gardens. Text reads, “20. Life that perceives itself changing We are Earthseed The life that perceives itself Changing. ∞ = Δ”
Large green leaves are propagating ina glass vase on a window sill. Text over the photograph reads, “19. All successful life All successful life is Adaptable, Opportunistic, Tenacious, Interconnected, and Fecund. Understand this. Use it. Shape God. ∞ = Δ”
A photograph shows a coniferous tree trunk is in the foreground with a blurred sunset over a field and other green/golden leaves of trees on a fall day. Text reads, “18. Any change Any Change may bear seeds of benefit. Seek them out. Any Change may bear seeds of harm. Beware. God is infinitely malleable. God is Change. ∞ = Δ”
Small white text is printed over a blurred picture of a sun setting through green shrubs. It reads, “17. When stability disintegrates When apparent stability disintegrates, As it must— God is Change— People tend to give in To fear and depression, To need and greed. When no influence is strong enough To unify people They divide. They struggle, One against one, Group against group, For survival, position, power. They remember old hates and generate new ones, They create chaos and nurture it. They kill and kill and kill, Until they are exhausted and destroyed, Until they are conquered by outside forces, Or until one of them becomes A leader Most will follow, Or a tyrant Most fear. ∞ = Δ”
A photograph of a sunrise over the ocean on Long Beach Island in New Jersey has text over the sparking water and footsteps in the sand reading, “15. Power Struggles All struggles Are essentially power struggles. Who will rule, Who will lead, Who will define, refine, confine, design, Who will dominate. All struggles Are essentially power struggles, And most are no more intellectual than two rams knocking their heads together. ∞ = Δ”
Sunlight streams into a photograph of of a cairn placed at the base of a rock formation in the Adirondacks in New York. Text reads, “14. Consequences To get along with God, Consider the consequences of your behavior. ∞ = Δ”
Text over an orange and yellow sunset with ducks floating in the foreground near a dock reads, “13. The Destiny of Earthseed The Destiny of Earthseed Is to take root among the stars. ∞ = Δ”
Over a photograph of a summer sunset on Long Beach Island, New Jersey, text reads, “12. A Tree A tree Cannot grow In its parentsʼ shadows. ∞ = Δ”
#octaviabutler #earthseed #booksoftheliving #parableofthesower
A photograph of blue sky behind desert plants and large Colorado red rock formations. White text reads, “11. The Paradox Why is the universe? To shape God. Why is God? To shape the universe. ∞ = Δ”
#octaviabutler #earthseed #booksoftheliving #parableofthesower
White text on the left side of a photograph of black and white butterflies on moss reads, “10. We are Earthseed We are all Godseed, but no more or less so than any other aspect of the universe. Godseed is all there is—all that Changes. Earthseed is all that spreads Earthlife to new earths. The universe is Godseed. Only we are Earthseed. And the Destiny of Earthseed is to take root among the stars. ∞ = Δ”
#octaviabutler #earthseed #booksoftheliving #parableofthesower
Small orange, yellow, and magenta wildflowers are in focus in the foreground with yellow flowers, green leaves, and a large rock out of focus in the back ground. White text in the upper right quadrant reads, “9. Drowning People Drowning people Sometimes die Fighting their rescuers ∞ = Δ”
#octaviabutler #earthseed #booksoftheliving #parableofthesower
A person with a pony tail and a baseball cap stands in the foreground walking on a trail in early Fall in Western Pennsylvania in the afternoon sunshine. White text reads, “8. Belief Belief Initiates and guides action— Or it does nothing. ∞ = Δ”
#octaviabutler #earthseed #booksoftheliving #parableofthesower
Text on the left side of a picture of low, yellow-orange mushrooms growing in short grass on a summer day reads, “6. Intelligence is adaptability Intelligence is ongoing, individual adaptability. Adaptations that an intelligent species may make in a single generation, other species make over many generations of selective breeding and selective dying. Yet intelligence is demanding. If it is misdirected by accident or by intent, it can foster its own orgies of breeding and dying. ∞ = Δ”
Text overlaid onto a photograph of various potted plants in the afternoon sunshine reads “5. God exists to be shaped God is Power— Infinite, Irresistible, Inexorable, Indifferent. And yet, God is Pliable— Trickster, Teacher, Chaos, Clay. God exists to be shaped. God is Change. ∞ = Δ”
Text overlaid on a picture of pink flowers on a sunny day in the shade of Pittsburgh streets reads, “4. We shape God We do not worship God. We perceive and attend God. We learn from God. With forethought and work, We shape God. In the end, we yield to God. We adapt and endure, For we are Earthseed And God is Change. ∞ = Δ”
