Zachary Larson

I became an ordained minister in order to provide relatively untraditional alternative options in Southwestern rural Wisconsin, where Christian weddings are the norm, often leaving many without satisfactory or fulfilling options. In addition, people facing the end of life and related grief do not always require Christian counseling, but still require some sort of spiritual support. Naming, baptism and coming of age ceremonies are also traditional to certain cultures, and are not completey within the Christian purview. These ceremonies originate with the animistic traditions of our oldest ancestors, and this animism is a lifeway that is in dire need of revival.

Richland Center, WI, in the heart of the Driftless Region

I hope to be of use and service to those who would find my services useful. In that way, I hope to successfully be a bridge between the human and non-human worlds in a way that benefits both simultaneously. Sacred services and ceremonies allow us to connect these worlds directly, in an atheistic or theistic way. Whether in a religious or irreligious sense, I hope to pursue to ministry of dark green religion; that is, religion that holds nature in reverence and worth of stewardship and protection.

My core belief is Animism - the belief that all things are endowed with spirit, consciousness, or intelligence. This gives way to the idea of spiritual ecology, both in a chaotic and cosmic sense, incorporating all entities in the universe into various levels of microcosms and macrocosms, treating each thing as parts of a whole, from cells, to people, to ecosystems and cities, to biomes and counties. Ecological consciousnesses have a struggling relationship with individual and collective human consciousnesses.

I adhere to Bron Tyler's idea of Dark Green Religion. In this way, nature and non-human communities are central to ceremonies. Natural elements (plants, trees, stone, water, sunlight, fire, air) are all incorporated and given their honor.

I am particularly bound to the Driftless Area, but would be willing to travel with accommodation.

My practice is informed by not only Bron Tyler's idea of Dark Green Religion, but Arne Naess' principles of Deep Ecology, Theodore Roszak's ideas around Ecopsychology, and concepts of eco-spirituality, informed by natural religion, animism, and pantheism, all in an ecological lens that synthesizes spirituality and naturalism. I do not limit myself to one single practice but through perennialism and omnism can find some semblance of truth in them all. However, I have a Christian background but draw upon a variety of ancestral traditional European knowledge. In this regard, decolonization and bioregionalism are paramount.