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An
"Earth" Religion?
A Circle of people stand in the midst of a beautiful
green field, tightly and joyously hand-in-hand.
A small bonfire burns gently in the center of their Circle, sending its
warmth and light all about. The Circle
of people dance round the flame, singing and chanting their special songs, and
paying honor to the Earth in this religious rite. Their Earth-based religion has taught them
over the ages to respect and worship their world, and to love Her as something
sacred.
Who are these
Earth-worshipers? An ancient Druid
grove, or a Native American tribe? A
band of Aborigines in the South Pacific, or perhaps a Coven of modern-day urban
Pagans? Over time many have practiced
Earth-based religions, where our planet is revered as a Deity. The followers of today's Earth religions
still hold a special reverence for Mother Earth, but often do not have that
same personal contact with Her that their ancestors felt. We no longer listen to the wind to find our
food; we don't speak to the clouds to ask for rain. While we still may love and worship the
Earth, we've outgrown many of our dependencies, at least the everyday
dependencies that have been replaced with modern-day conveniences. Where the Earth was once our Mother, a member
of our immediate family, perhaps to some She is now more like a distant cousin.
This distance
sometimes causes us to speak of the Earth in vague, macro terms. We worship what we call the Earth, but what
exactly does "Earth" mean? Is
your kitchen table part of the Earth?
Does it have an Earth Spirit? And
what about the food you eat at that table?
Is your dinner part of the Earth too?
Your favorite jewelry? Your
copper plumbing? Your telephone
wires? The answer here is obviously yes,
but it's not always easy to bridge the gap between broad spiritual concepts and
tangible everyday things. Ordinary things
are sacred too and being ordinary makes them no less special. That same Earth essence living in the lush
green forest also lives in all the simple objects we see and touch every day. So, perhaps you can find an aspect of the
Earth on the streets you travel each day, even if those streets are filled with
busy traffic. Perhaps you can find an
aspect of the Earth within your home-town, your neighborhood, your home, your
own bed. If you see a bit of the Earth's
Spirit in all things around you, then you can revere and worship the Earth in a
much more personal way, more face-to-face, more one-on-one.
Earth
worshipers often hold special reverence for natural settings, the woods, the
beach, the mountains. But are things
made by humans any less Earthly? We too
are part of the Earth, not something separate.
We are linked to it, part of the same whole, and therefore so are the
things we build. We make things because
it is our nature to do so, like a forest makes trees and like trees make
leaves. So, while you may discover the
mysteries of nature by watching a river flow, you can also find a few lessons
by watching a railroad. Can the hot and
cold knobs of your faucet help you understand balance between opposites? Can pondering your electrical outlets give
you new sources of energy? Can the
telephone help you feel how all things link together? Can washing and waxing your floor teach you
anything about cleansing and protecting yourself from negativity?
Perhaps
"worship" is not always the right word for every situation. But you can certainly relate to and talk with
every person, place and thing you encounter in a very special way! Have an old comfortable chair? When was the last time you told it just how
much you appreciate it? Perhaps an
"offering" of polish or oil for its wood would be greatly
appreciated, like a back-rub for any hard-working friend! Do you have a special place where children
love to play, like a park, a field, a sandbox, a porch? Try thanking this special piece of the Earth
for the happiness it brings; ask it to continue providing its safe guardianship
over our little loved ones. Even
thanking your parking space counts. This
does not include asking for a parking space when you need one, but saying thank
you before you leave one. (There's a big
difference between saying please -- and saying thank you!)
Not only can
Earth worshipers narrow their focus to recognize ordinary things, but we can
also widen it too. Earth is but one of
several planets orbiting a single star.
Do all the planets have Spirit the way the Earth does? Are they part of nature too? Some say that stones and boulders and rocks
are alive. What greater boulder could
you find than one of our planets? Does
our Solar System, this Coven of planets orbiting the Sun, have some type of
collective Spirit? (Can this help
explain astrology?) Our star, like the
small bonfire burning gently in the center of our Circle, sends its warmth and
light all about. A Circle of planets
dance round its flame, singing and chanting their special songs. But it is only an average star, one of many
stars in an average galaxy, one of many galaxies within a very, very big
universe.
So, if we are
part of a vast universe, is my Earth religion somewhat self-centered? Maybe, maybe not. It depends on whether you recognize just how
vast nature really is. It is only
natural that we hold most dear our "immediate family" of the Earth. Hopefully, we still recognize that we are
part of a much larger family, a community of all things, reaching out from
across our kitchen table or across the galaxy, tightly and joyously
hand-in-hand. In this way, worshipping
the Earth becomes a key that unlocks our relationship to all things, whether
vast or very small and simple.
Link
6538 Collins Avenue # 255
Miami Beach, FL 33141
AnthLink@aol.com
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