A philosophy like many others through the centuries since technology became ever-present in our lives, Dendrosophy is a path of reconnection to the Earth and the supposed “circle of life” that we’re all believed to be a part of. A popular quote adhered to by dedicants is:
Many have debated this, though it does have a common theme when applied to their spiritual philosophy:Cicero – Circa 106-43 BC wrote:Everything is alive, everything is interconnected. Everything in its place; Nature before Nurture.
Everything is alive, everything is interconnected. – a quote from an <<Old Earth>> philosopher called Cicero who lived during the Roman Empire during the time when Gaius Julius Caesar was Emperor.
The basic idea behind this phrasing is exactly as it sounds – all things are alive, and everything is connected in that life.
All stones, trees, animals and people are equally alive and our lives are connected; every action has an equal and opposite reaction; everything we do effects everything in the world around us, etc.
Everything in its place; Nature before Nurture. – The research I did turned up an interesting fact, in that the first part of the quote, directly taken from Cicero, was originally Dendrosophy’s central doctrine. However, with the increasing emergence and infiltration of technology into people’s homes and lives, the second portion was added to remind Dendredicants that they are animals of the Earth; Humans first, technologically linked second.
Essentially, this phrasing is a direct challenge to the Technological Age that overtook humanity and resulted in the <<First Integration>> of people and the InterNet in the early days when it was habitable, and the Integrations that followed.
One philosopher penned his personal interpretation of this tenet in a “blog”.
This was of course before people realised that it wasn’t just a “Digital Self” like early virtual-reality systems made it out to look like. Of course we know now the intricasies of <<Equal Habitation>>.We are animals, made up of organic matter upon birth and death, and are naturally supposed to exist among Nature and our organic brethren. It is not a healthy way to live, whereby one’s physical needs are matched and supported by machines and one’s “Digital Self”.
The path of Dendrosophy as we know it today can be linked to Cirtur, Forest Lord of the Brachiatites – a mysterious figure from the earliest days of Integration. His name can be found in the historical records of various activist groups of the time, including one that is purported to have believed that humans and trees were destined to “join”, and that our ‘destinies were intertwined’***.
After the first few successful campaigns to Integrate people into the habitable InterNet regions, Integration became a legal requirement for all citizens of the developed world.
Despite the initial protests being quite mild and consisting of Dendredicants hiding out in abandoned factories and their mums’ basements, Cirtur was a key player in helping to solidify the Dendredicants in their belief by leading them in an anti-governmental assault against several Integration Facilities.
Reported to have taken out two facilities in separate states of what was the United States of America, which coincidently ended up being the first completely Integrated country in the world, it has been noted that Cirtur carried a flag into the ‘battle’ that contained a photo of a tree with hand-drawn notes saying “She … belongs to me”, alluding some truth to the rumour that Cirtur was a dendrophiliac****.
Below is an image-render, which is an artist’s impression of what was on the flag:
![Image](http://www.smbc-comics.com/smbcforum/download/file.php?avatar=28613_1231098839.jpg)
After his assassination, the Dendredicants continued his fight for a non-Integrated lifestyle, moving to remote regions and settling in tight knit communities.
Their presence in the Integrated world serves as an old-style “Door Knocking” religious technique, whereby purveyors of religious propaganda would attempt to convert people by literally knocking on their door. The Integrated Dendredicants are the spiritual warriors of the Dendrosophy belief system, and fight to liberate all peoples from the life are now born into.
Author’s Note:
* Buddhist – The name of someone following the Old Earth spiritual and philosophical path of Buddhism, whereby adherents sought to attain enlightenment by following the philosophies and teachings of the various Eastern Demigods known under the title of Buddha.
** Dendredicants – Combination of the words “Dendrosophy” and “Dedicant”; title adapted by early followers of Dendrosophy.
*** Cirtur, Forest Lord of the Brachiatites – This scholar did not uncover much about Cirtur’s title, “Forest Lord of the Brachiatites”, though one assumes that it might have been the name of one of the various activist groups he may have been involved in that might have sparked or solidified his belief that trees and humans were fated to merge our destinies.
**** Dendrophilia – a sexual perversion that sees the person (a “dendrophiliac”) attracted to plant matter, most commonly trees and shrubs.