I had some thoughts in the cave. Some things settled in me, others clarified themselves. It became clearer what path I was walking, and what it meant. It doesn’t take much time in the woods for clarity to emerge. I have always found this. The peace that passeth all understanding is always available there. The kingdom of God is within us, but the world - the human world - is designed to drown it out. The world and the Earth are not the same thing. God sings in every fibre of the Earth, but we build the world to face in the other direction. We have to die to the world to listen to the Earth. The peace is in the stream running, in the mist wreathing the crags, the growling of the rooks, the squirrel watching from the hazel bough. The voice is in the silence. The silence is easily washed away by what we think we want. - Paul Kingsnorth
Kingsnorth always seems to be able to sum up, so eloquently, my feelings (not my thoughts necessarily, because if I had these as actual, formed thoughts I would articulate them and, as I can’t, they are ‘feelings’). Kingsorth’s distinction here between the Earth and the human world is vital for us to understand - the world we generally see ‘out there’, the world we have made-up is not the real world; the Earth and all that comes from it, is real. All the things we distract ourselves with - malls, TV’s, movie theaters, etc. are just diversions from what is real, from the Earth.
Why do we humans do this? Why do we create these parallel realities? Why do we have such a preoccupation with avoiding reality? I would say we are in a War on Reality right now. Battles are being waged on all that is real, in favour of the alternate reality(ies) we have fabricated.
If you think about it though, we crave commune with the Earth; it is evident in the myriad advertisements for escaping into the country, into the wild, back to nature, re-wilding, forest-bathing……
At some primal level we know we have disconnected from the Source, we feel the pull toward Nature, our intrinsic need to be connected to the Earth. According to Rudolf Steiner, ‘the Earth is our Mother, the Sun our Father’.
So why do we deny our fundamental desire to connect with these Elements? Perhaps we have forgotten who and what we are. Perhaps we are scared of that relationship, if we choose to re-connect with the Earth we may have to give up the worldly pleasures we have become so indulgent in. Maybe, we are frightened of the power that exists in Nature; that we are inadequate next to Her.
“We have to die to the world to listen to the Earth”, Kingsnorth says. We must renounce the pleasures, comforts and diversions of the world, we must learn to govern ourselves and re-connect with the Earth.
We must also recognise the path which brought us here. The thought-patterns that have allowed us to separate ourselves from the Source. When we think of the Earth as ‘natural resources’, when we no longer see Water as sacred, when we strip the land of all nutrients, render it bare and poison it - this is when we no longer see the Earth as Mother; this is the point we have come to.
Charles Eisenstein said in an interview with Russel Brand, “that which we do to the Earth, we do to ourselves” (I’m paraphrasing). This is why we are so unwell - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. We have forsaken the Earth and in our hubris we have created an alternate reality, a poor substitute. Our seperation from the Earth and from Humanity (each other) is separation from the Sacred. The Sacred is what we are missing, what we are looking for, but also what we are afraid of.
Re-uniting with Humanity and the Earth must be more than a weekend get-away to the 'country’, more than a holiday at the ‘coast’. It must be a daily practice of Reverence for Life - for the life of the Earth and the life of other humans. It must include getting to know Nature again - connecting with the rhythms of the Seasons, swimming in the Waters, working with the Land. It must also include re-connecting with Humanity, seeing other people as Sacred, not as separate; as the fate of others is our fate.
Thich Naht Hanh told a story about a rapacious pirate in which a girl throws herself from the pirate ship into the ocean because she would prefer that fate to her fate on the ship. Now, we, of course, want to side with the girl, vilifying the pirate. But, according to Thich Naht Hanh, the actions of the pirate are just the consequences of the conditions in which he lived and because we have allowed those conditions, we are all at fault for the behaviour of the pirate.
When I first heard this story I was angry, how could it be that we were to sympathise not only with the girl, but also with the pirate - because the pirate was only acting in accordance with his upbringing. The more I thought about this story, the more I saw the truth in it. I saw that the World we have created contains terrible conditions. We live in a world full of hatred, competition, anger, betrayal, greed, envy, gluttony…..
This is the consequence of separation from the Source, separation from the Scared - the conditions encourage terrible consequences.
How are we to return to the Source, or even recognise it? How are we to re-connect with Humanity and with the Earth? How are we to see others with love, compassion and empathy - even when they have been ‘rapacious pirates’?
I don’t know how this looks for you in your life, but I know how I am trying to re-connect with the Scared - for me it is about Reverence. I am a steward of the Land I live on, therefore I treat it with Reverence, with care and attention. I don’t pour chemicals on it, remove Trees, poison the Water. I give thanks to the Earth for the beautiful food on my plate before I eat. I walk as lightly on the Earth as I can. I am in Community to give to others, to meet their needs, to be loving and kind.
As I look out the window now, the dawn light is purple and pink against the clouds, the wind is still, there is a cacophony of birds singing their praises to the coming Sun. I can hear my partner becoming retless as his body feels that morning is here. Dawn for me has always been the time when I connect with the Earth, when I can feel the Sacred all around me, a time of devotion to the Natural World, a time to set intentions for the day….a time to practice Revernce.