Deep connections

• Pages: 533-534
• Author: Ivo Aertsen

DEEP CONNECTIONS

Ivo Aertsen

Emeritus Professor of Criminology at the University of Leuven (Belgium)

La selva, el río, el viento, el fuego

Los árboles, la noche, el fuego, los insectos

¿Qué misterios nos esperan en el viaje?

Sufriremos de la muerte sus ultrajes

La lluvia, el aire, el sol, la luna

El rumbo del azar será nuestro destino

The words above form the prologue of Orfeo Chamán, an opera composed

by Christina Pluhar with her group L’Arpeggiata. The music – supported by just

a few words – wonderfully evokes the mythical world of nature (https://www.

youtube.com/watch?v=jUxP4v8vd0g) as this must have been experienced a few

thousand years ago by Orpheus, the poet and prophet who could make the trees

and animals dance with his music. The story tells the fate of men desperately

seeking love, entering a forest with its wonders, dangers and mysteries. Above

all, the myth shows how this longing for love and eternal struggle can only be

understood as part of a more encompassing and deeper belonging.

Restorative justice is not just about a mythical world, but we can learn from

myths. The authors in this book share a common endeavour: exploring whether

and how human caused harm to nature can be addressed in order ‘to do justice’

in an integral way. Can restorative justice contribute to this, and under which

conditions? How do we have to re-dene and to re-shape restorative justice in

practice to make this happen? How can we imagine nature as something to be

listened to, how to hear her voice and how to communicate with her? How can