Cached US #KindleBookGiveaway on bsky: 6 copies of #OctaviaEButler's Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, over at https://bsky.app/profile/kithrup.bsky.social/post/3m5tvsyrqsk23
#parableofthesower
#beatthebacklist Day 9: Celebrity Book Pick (Between Two Books with Florence Welch) #betweentwobooks #florencewelch #fantasy #dystopian #sciencefiction #postapocalyptic #OctaviaButler #parableofthesower #ttrpgpodcast #gamemastersbookclub #booksky #bookstagram #booktok #booksbooksbooks https://www.k-squareproductions.com/gmbc
@Octavia Butler had an incredible degree of prescience! #ParableofTheSower
Careful where you end up
I’ve had a situation recently where I thought I was entering a sanctuary — a place of peace, healing, and connection — in reality, it turned out to be a glorified work camp. The experience was enlightening, in a dark kind of way.
I really love the idea of a sanctuary, a refuge from the insanity of our modern capitalist world. There are all kinds of sanctuaries. Some are totally natural, an others maybe following a specific spiritual path. Either way, it’s nice to have a place that’s far removed from employment, technology, and the rat race. There is something about just being with natural rhythms that is better
Sanctuary is a place set apart as a refuge of safety, peace, and renewal. At its root, the word means “sacred space”– originally the innermost part of a temple where one could encounter the divine, and later a place where people could seek shelter and protection..
One of my favorites is Garths Boulder Gardens, near Joshua Tree in Landers, California. It’s 640 acres — an entire square mile — of desert boulders, caves, and gardens. People have lived there in a relatively free and creative way for decades. I spent a year there myself, so I know it well.
Garth would occasionally say that if people could put in a couple of hours of work a day, that would be enough to take care of the place, but he would never really ask people directly to work. He would always leave it as a possibility or suggestion. Many visitors didn’t contribute much at all, but others worked out of self-motivation, planting gardens, building new spaces, cooking meals, or caring for others. My own contribution was to build one new cob structure every month. Over twelve months I finished twelve projects — my favorites being the Frog Oven and the Boulder Cave, both of which were used often for years afterward. Other residents had their own projects too — gardens, caregiving, cooking, smoothie-making, whatever!
Boulder Gardens is pretty remote, but people worldwide came to visit, sometimes a day, sometimes a week, and sometimes a year (as in my case). The fridges were usually full and “free game” because short-term visitors would leave behind so much food, so there was always something to eat for the seven to ten of us long term residents. Days were magical. I remember early-morning coffee and movie nights with Garth, who gave the place its soul. Garth has since passed on, but my understanding is that the mission has been to keep things as close as possible to the way he intended.
Frog OvenSo Boulder Gardens is a true sanctuary. because of the voluntary contributions and minimal obligations, it truly a unique kind of place. It honors creative energy, not forced labor. A place where people can rest, heal, and also express themselves.
But there’s a darker side. There are other places that call themselves sanctuaries but operate more like work camps. In those places you’re not really invited to rest or heal — you’re expected to put in hours of unpaid labor. The work is often presented as necessary and critical, but in reality it’s a shift away from the true spirit of sanctuary and into productivity.
I was at one of these “sanctuaries” recently, traveling there about five times in total over a couple of months. It was an absolutely beautiful location, and one of the most remote places I’ve ever been. While there, I helped out a lot. My partner and I completely cleaned out one house, then a second as well. We scrubbed and sterilized kitchens and bathrooms full of rat droppings. We moved mulch and put protective cages around trees. A front door was repaired here, a wall repaired there. Chickens were fed, goats were milked, gardens were watered — plus hours of travel time, the cost of gasoline, and even spare tires. We jumped to every request made of us.
But it wasn’t for me. The vibe of the place was made crystal clear when I got an email today saying (and these are the property owner’s actual words):
“I am a laborer on this land and anyone else that comes out here also has to wear that hat as well. This is get-your-hands-dirty hard work…. This is not going to be a good fit for you.”
So basically, if you go there you are not a guest — you’re expected to take on the same physical burdens as the landholder. Infrastructure projects are the focus. There is no invitation into silence, spirit, or rest, only into labor. Interestingly, this landlord has a PhD in Theology.
Finally, in the process of helping, I injured myself badly enough to need six stitches in my knee. And then that email came today, which quite literally added insult to injury.
A while back I read Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. Written in the 1990s, it imagined what California might be like in 2025, (now!) I actually wish I had never read the book because it is such a depressing novel. People were just evil. Work camps were the norm, resembling the Russian gulags. People were dying left and right, and others were enslaved with electronic collars they couldn’t remove, collars that would shock them into submission. A Trump-like figure was fanning the flames of Christian extremism.
In the midst of it all, the protagonist, Lauren Olamina, is trying to create a spiritual philosophy called Earthseed. Its central belief is “God is Change.” Out of this vision, she and her followers eventually establish a community on farmland in Northern California — a sanctuary among the collapse of a moral society, one that she hopes will carry humanity to the stars, and beyond.
I identify with her because I, along with quite a few others I know, am also trying to create sanctuary in the midst of all this chaos. I think this is what people mean when they say “this is a spiritual war against good and evil”. Though we are not in complete social collapse yet, I do see the declining trend here. I think it take maybe another generation. But Butler has positive words also, which echo across time:
“Kindness eases Change. Love quiets fear.” — Parable of the Talents
The heart of sanctuary isn’t labor camps or forced productivity, but kindness, love, and the space to rest and grow. I think it’s a vision worth holding onto, even in a world that often pushes the opposite.
https://bookwyrm.social/book/175137/s/octavia-e-butlers-parable-of-the-sower
#OctaviaButler #ParableOfTheSower #Earthseed #SpiritualGrowth #Sanctuary #WorkCamp #EcoSpirituality #SpiritualRefuge #IntentionalCommunity #AlternativeLiving #BoulderGardens
https://redecker.vivaldi.net/2025/09/25/spiritual-sanctuary-or-spiritual-work-camp/
#Sanctuary #AlternativeLiving #bouldergardens #Earthseed #EcoSpirituality #garthsbouldergardens #IntentionalCommunity #JoshuaTree #OctaviaButler #ParableOfTheSower #SpiritualGrowth #spirituality #SpiritualRefuge #spiritualretreat #WorkCamp
Looking forward to catch up with these classics.
#OctaviaButler #ParableOfTheSower #ParableOfTheTalents #SystemsThatMatter
Having previously read Kindred, Fledgling and some other minor short stories, I wasn’t sure I was going to return to Butler’s work. But this was recommended by a friend who mentioned that a portion of it takes place in 2025. I’m glad I did.
To start, the prescience of Butler to conceive of a future time when society is degrading under weakened and corrupt government authority, when even police protection is privatized is as poignant at Orwell’s 1984. This is how the world will end, not with a bang but a whimper. And so begins our tale of a unique young woman, Lauren Olamina, with the ability to feel others pain, who is bright and confident enough to construct her own cosmology and reach for a better future with the inevitable collapse of her community in southern California.
The book is a combination of narrative and meditation. The narrative outlines a conception of society as an alternative to the existing brutality — an appeal of sorts to being a more evolved being, in tune with others as equals, including other species. The book is fairly human-centric, but as the technocratic world crumbles, Lauren’s preparation for hunting and growing one’s own food infers a greater value upon holistic world views. At the core of Lauren’s cosmology is that she believes the world is dying and humankind’s future is off-world among the stars. Did Butler really believe the world was unsustainable? It’s a profound position to take, to essentially say that there is no redemption possible here on Earth.
Butler has a relatively direct, unflowery writing style. One does not get a sense of the sculpting of language — I maintain my belief that her craft is entirely lodged in the story’s structure and the words are simply a delivery system. Seeds of grander ideas, rather than a preoccupation with the formal aspects of literature. Highly recommend!
.
.
.
.
#parableofthesower #octaviabutler #sciencefiction #california #society #collapse #empath #earthseed #offworld #ex_libris_jz
To start, the prescience of Butler to conceive of a future time when society is degrading under weakened and corrupt government authority, when even police protection is privatized is as poignant at Orwell’s 1984. This is how the world will end, not with a bang but a whimper. And so begins our tale of a unique young woman, Lauren Olamina, with the ability to feel others pain, who is bright and confident enough to construct her own cosmology and reach for a better future with the inevitable collapse of her community in southern California.
The book is a combination of narrative and meditation. The narrative outlines a conception of society as an alternative to the existing brutality — an appeal of sorts to being a more evolved being, in tune with others as equals, including other species. The book is fairly human-centric, but as the technocratic world crumbles, Lauren’s preparation for hunting and growing one’s own food infers a greater value upon holistic world views. At the core of Lauren’s cosmology is that she believes the world is dying and humankind’s future is off-world among the stars. Did Butler really believe the world was unsustainable? It’s a profound position to take, to essentially say that there is no redemption possible here on Earth.
Butler has a relatively direct, unflowery writing style. One does not get a sense of the sculpting of language — I maintain my belief that her craft is entirely lodged in the story’s structure and the words are simply a delivery system. Seeds of grander ideas, rather than a preoccupation with the formal aspects of literature. Highly recommend!
.
.
.
.
#parableofthesower #octaviabutler #sciencefiction #california #society #collapse #empath #earthseed #offworld #ex_libris_jz
I'm wondering if Parable of the Sower will eventually develop a plot or continue to be a succession of horrible things happening.
I've reached 2025 in Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower and I'm already starting to suspect that this book will be no fun.
Well. Now I've read it. Not sure how to feel.
I just found out about Highly Sensitive People and I totally relate. My skin is sensitive- I’m allergic to fragrances and acne-prone. My eyes are sensitive- almost always wearing sunglasses. My hearing is sensitive- live music and other loud sounds are not pleasurable.
This also led me to self identifying as an ‘empath’, which sounds cooler than it is. It should really be called hyper-empathy syndrome, as described in the book, The Parable of the Sower.
Anyone else relate?
#hsp #highlysensitiveperson #psychology #empath #parableofthesower #bookstodon #book
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/highly-sensitive-person
@hannu_ikonen How did you miss Octavia Butler's book Parable of the Sower in this list?
"All that you touch, You Change. All that you Change, Changes you. The only lasting truth Is Change".
-Octavia E. Butler
#parableofthesower #change #octaviabutler #read
I'm reading "A Conversation with Octavia E. Butler", included at the end of of "Parable of the Sower", Grand Central pubs, 2023 paperback edition.
It is an excellent read. She muses about where our current trends might take us. I wanted to share this one sentence - and bear in mind, Butler died in 2006.
"I imagined the United States becoming, slowly, through the combined effects of lack of foresight and short-term unenlightened self-interest, a third world country."
My gods, this book!
"Embrace diversity.
Unite--
Or be divided,
robbed,
ruled,
killed
By those who see you as prey.
Embrace diversity
Or be destroyed."
Chapter preface, Chapter 17
Parable of the Sower
by Octavia E. Butler
#ParableOfTheSower
#OctaviaEButler
#OctaviaButler
#IAmReading
#Booksadon
"I've noticed that people who have a little bit of power tend to use it."
The Parable of the Sower, pg 122.
Octavia Butler
#BlackHistoryMonth
#IAmLearning
#OctaviaEButler
#OctaviaButler
#ParableOfTheSower
#IAmReading
So. Yesterday was the day legendary Auntie #OctaviaButler wrote in #ParableOfTheSower that her characters home caught on fire: The first of many due to climate change as a direct result of a leader who used the slogan “Make America Great Again” to gain power. February 1st, 2025.
Her grave, inside the fire line of the #EatonFire, was lightly singed in the fire she predicted down to a 3 week accuracy. Ahead of her time.
I feel compelled to take a short drive.
HT @susurros
What #OctaviaButler saw on Feb. 1, 2025, three decades ago
by Russell Contreras
Science fiction writer Octavia Butler wrote in her 1993 novel "#ParableOfTheSower" that Feb. 1, 2025, would be a time of #fires, #violence, #racism, #addiction, #ClimateChange, social #inequality and an authoritarian "#PresidentDonner."
That day is today.
The big picture: This Black History Month, which begins this year on a day of Butler's dystopian vision, Axios will examine what the next 25 years may hold for Black Americans based on the progress in the first quarter of this century.
Through her fiction, Butler foresaw U.S. society's direction and the potential for civil societies to collapse thanks to the weight of economic disparities and climate change — with blueprints for hope.
#Afrofuturist writers today interpret Butler's work as metaphorical warnings that appear to be coming true and a call to action.
State of play: This year, the month-long celebration of Black American accomplishments and perseverance will be commemorated amid uncertainty after the Trump administration ordered government agencies to end DEI policies.
The move is confusing some agencies on whether Black history can even be acknowledged this year while the nation deals with rising hate crimes, the aftermath of California wildfires, a fentanyl epidemic and a new president who blames the country's ills on workforce diversity.
Meanwhile, states like Alabama have passed bills limiting the discussion of race and Black history in public schools.
Zoom in: In "Parable of the Sower," the novel's 15-year-old protagonist, Lauren Olamina, writes a simple journal entry: Saturday, February 1, 2025: "We had a fire today. People worry so much about fire."
What unfolds in the pages that follow is a dystopian world surrounding the gated, racially mixed, fictional community of Robledo, California.
A new drug forces addicts to set fires to communities, who then rob and rape victims. Unhoused people roam the streets and are forced to steal to survive. Hurricanes, fires and violence push Americans to flee north to Canada.
President Donner, like President Trump, promises to restore the country to its former glory.
Racially mixed couples, like Olamina's Black/Chicano family, are vulnerable to attacks, and her parents, both PhD holders, have limited job opportunities.
Yes, but: Black, white, Latino and Asian Americans fall in love despite the racism outside the walls.
They arm themselves and protect each other.
They share history and books in defiance of attempted erasure.
What they're saying: "She was trying to warn us of a possible future that she saw coming if we did not change," Jesse Holland, editor of the anthology, "Captain America: The Shield of Sam Wilson," tells Axios.
https://www.axios.com/2025/02/01/octavia-butler-feb-1-2025-black-history-month
#BlackHistoryMonth
Axios: What Octavia Butler saw on Feb. 1, 2025, three decades ago https://www.axios.com/2025/02/01/octavia-butler-feb-1-2025-black-history-month #BlackHistoryMonth #SciFi #OctaviaButler #ParableOfTheSower
I am on page 21 of Parable of the Sower (Octavia Butler), and I am stunned.
It's like she's right here talking about today's political personalities mismanaging todays problems.
Client Info
Server: https://mastodon.social
Version: 2025.07
Repository: https://github.com/cyevgeniy/lmst