e142 consent - do keep listening

i asked a forest for permission to record it and got a response from a treeTRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE (bell and breath)  (Wind in forest soundscape) Today's episode is a fictional conversation between a tree and myself. It came to me while I was doing a consent and reciprocity exercise in a forest… like this one. (Recited slowly and thoughtfully)  Me (M): Forest, are you ok if I record  you today for my podcast? Female voice (F): It’s nice of you to ask.  (silence) F: What’s a podcast?  M: Ah, well, they're stories told through recorded sound that humans listen to.  F Hum. We communicate through our mycorrhizal networks and symbiotic relationships with other living beings. For example, we regularly exchange nutrients through fungal mycelium. What kind of story do you want to tell your community?  M: I’m preparing an episode about listening to life in a forest - in this forest - and I wanted to ask for your consent before recording these sounds and sharing them.  F: ok. Everyone is welcome to visit our home, as long as they are respectful and do no harm. M: Thank you. I would also like to make a gesture of reciprocity to the forest, like an offering of food or maybe a song. (Silence) F: or maybe leaving us alone? But good food and song are always welcome. f: Where did you learn about consent and reciprocity? M I learned it from a course I took at UBC called facing human wrongs. One of the exercises during this course was to make contact with the land before entering and asking for safe passage… F: What do you mean by safe passage? Safe passage for whom?  M: Right. Let me explain. We learned that there are some human communities who still understand that there is no dualistic distinction between objects and subjects, or humans and nature.  The rivers, the mountains, the trees, the other animals and, you know, the forests themselves are experienced as conscious entities who were much older relatives and who, like human beings, required engagements based on trust, respect, consent, reciprocity and accountability. F: I can relate to that: trust, respect, consent, reciprocity and accountability. These are part of some of our system of values of forests but there is so many humans don’t know about trees and forests, our culture and our relations. M: We also learned that asking permission and making an offering of reciprocity was a way of entering into a relational experience between living beings, as opposed to, say, consuming an object, owning a property or enjoying a benefit.  F: and… how can I say this… how do you think that you can enter into a relational experience with a forest simply by asking permission? (silence)  M: Well, to be honest, I don’t know. F I agree, human, that you don’t know, at least, you don’t know yet, but maybe you will one day? F: Do keep listening and thanks for the visit.  * CREDITS This is my second attempt at a two person play (the other is e111 traps). With thanks to Kelly Langgard for playing the role of tree and helping me give it shape. Thanks also for editing advice from Sabrina Mathews, Azul Carolina Duque and Flora Aldridge. This episode was created while I was in residence during the summer of 2023 at the Centre de production DAÏMÔN in Gatineau Québec as part of the fourth edition of Radio-Hull 28 days of programming from September 7 to October 4 2023 showcasing local artistic practices.  With thanks to the Centre de production DAÏMÔN production team: Manon, Coco, Philippe and Simon and DAÏMÔN’s funders and partners.  I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible). My gesture of reciprocity for this episode is to Toronto Arts Foundation.  *END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODESNote : I'm currently 'pressing pause' and am not producing new content until further notice. Hey conscient listeners, I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share togetherIn parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.  Your feedback is always welcome at claude [at] conscient [dot] ca and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.Share what you like, etcI am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. Thanks for listening. Claude SchryerLatest update on March 21, 2026