Eco-Spirituality in Mandar Traditional Ussul: Building Environmental Awareness Through Indigenous Cultural Practices

Abstract

This study examines the concept of eco-spirituality in the traditional ussul practices of the Mandar community in Indonesia. The ecological crisis occurring today is a result of the modern human paradigm shift that no longer views nature as having intrinsic and spiritual value. This research utilizes a qualitative approach with ethnographic and phenomenological methods to understand the ussul tradition in the context of eco-spirituality. The findings reveal that the understanding of ussul in Mandar religious traditions can be classified into several levels: literal, interpretative, critical, and creative understanding. The integration of ussul in Mandar local wisdom and ecospirituality concepts manifests in various forms: substitution, syncretism, addition, deculturation, and origination. Additionally, the role of eco-spirituality in traditional Mandar ussul contributes to building environmental awareness by providing spiritual foundations for environmental management, bridging the emergence of cosmic relationship awareness, and becoming a vessel for value transformation. This study concludes that the traditional ussul of the Mandar community serves as a form of symbiotic mutualism relationship between humans and nature, which reflects the implementation of eco-spirituality principles and has significant implications for sustainable environmental practices.