I had encountered this word previously in an eco-spiritual context. Now I read it again in Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer's melding of her Native American background's eco-spiritual understanding of the natural world and her scientific education as a botanist.

The best of both worlds, in my perception, involves indeed the broadening of our scientific worldview, which is naked and somewhat devoid on its own, and doesn't tell the whole story. We are slowly coming around to understanding that.

As an example, Kimmerer tells of a two-year scientific investigation into the link between depletion of sweetgrass in particular areas and the lack of harvesting it for the purpose of weaving baskets in that same area. Put differently, there is a link between ongoing tending to and harvesting of sweetgrass, and its increased vigor and growth. This is something science can't explain because, according to its paradigm, harvesting equals depletion, not the other way round. Yet Native Americans, and all who have a green thumb and speak to their flowers, or pets for that matter, or biodynamic farmers who farm "spiritually" and "homeopathically," know that we are connected to Nature, we are in ongoing communication with Nature, and that Nature is inspirited in some way, not dead. In order to live sustainably we must recognize the reciprocal relationship with Nature we exist in, and the inspiritedness of it. It's a win-win for both side.