Gazing in the Mirror

April 1 - A Mythology for our Times

Every religion is true one way
or another. It is true when
understood metaphorically. But
when it gets stuck in its own
metaphors, interpreting them
as facts, then you are in trouble.
~ Joseph Campbell

The universe is run by intelligence,
and the trouble is we have separated
ourselves from that intelligence upon
which the universe is run, and that
is all the trouble.
~ Ernest Holmes

I believe the Earth has a consciousness and that It is waking up. I do not know if this was always so but as thinking, conscious beings that have been created of the Earth, we are somehow some part of the intelligence that envelopes the planet. I believe that when humanity began to celebrate Earth Day in 1970, we began to think of the Earth as an entity known as Gaia and realize a macro scale when compared to our individual scale. We became aware of a kind of intelligence present within the planet itself and I believe that as we began to sense that so too did the Earth become more consciously aware of itself. This is all only a belief on my part – I admit to no certain knowledge regarding it.

One day my husband came upon an old VCR tape of a PBS broadcast at his deceased parent's cabin. It was the 1985-86 interview of Joseph Campbell by Bill Moyers and you can locate the whole 6 hours on YouTube in 1 hour parts. Our VCR copy was grainy because the image came from 80 miles north of us and the signal would drop some of the words out. It was mostly black & white but sometimes flipped to color. I do not know if my in-laws recorded the whole interview but it occurred during one of those PBS fund drives that inserts a lot of pleading for money into the content. The YouTubes are a better option. So I started to listen to an hour or so each day.  I had only reached the end of Part 2 when I first wrote this essay.

Moyers asks – "Don't you think modern Americans have rejected the ancient idea of nature as a divinity because it would have kept us from achieving dominance over nature ? How can you cut down trees and uproot the land and turn the rivers into real estate without killing God ? ... Scientists are beginning to talk quite openly about the Gaia principle." And as I was discussing some of the concepts that I received from watching this video with my husband, he echoed such thoughts about humans being focused on resources and that is the root of much that concerns us personally in his own mind. Campbell answers – "There you are, the whole planet as an organism." He continues – "And the only myth that is going to be worth thinking about in the immediate future is one that is talking about the planet, not the city, not these people, but the planet, and everybody on it. That's my main thought for what the future myth is going to be".

Campbell describes how he sees this myth evolving – "And this would be the philosophy for the planet, not for this group, that group, or the other group. When you see the earth from the moon, you don't see any divisions there of nations or states. This might be the symbol, really, for the new mythology to come. That is the country that we are going to be celebrating. And those are the people that we are one with". Because of my involvement with a virtual tribe whose connection to one another is via the Internet this kind of thinking is already a reality for me and I believe for many who I love and care about as well but have never even met in person.

Some years ago I became thus acquainted with a spiritual man from India who encouraged a group of us to do a daily practice that we began to call The Gaia Minute. I actually did my meditations twice a day for months and it did have the effect of connecting me more intimately with the Earth so strongly that I now think of Gaia as my "true" mother. I wrote meditations for the weekly teleconference practice and I participated live in those group meditations consistently once a week for quite a long time. I walked out the door of my home at night and stood in the midst of wild nature and a multitude of stars and was inspired by the beauty of this world that I am blessed to be alive within.

If you were to ask me, I would say that these things represent the shift that humanity has started to undergo and will continue to undergo for some time. I realize that those who currently "think like I do" about this are still a small percentage of humanity. Many of our world's major religions do not live for Life but in the hope of something better than this life after death. Chief Seattle who is well known for his clarity regarding man and his place on the planet said – "Every part of this earth is sacred ... We are part of the earth and it is part of us ... We know that the white man does not understand our ways. ...The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on." Yet my own hope and optimism is based on how I see this myself – that since Chief Seattle's time this perspective has actually been changing. Maybe not for all of us yet but certainly the perspective has already changed for many of us to what I consider a better one for going forward.

~ perspective

I feel a kinship with all
that is of the Earth and
see no difference in "our
right" to share in the
Earth's resources.
I try to walk in balance with
the natural world and
understand my individual place
within it.
I do not consider myself as
owning property at this time
but feel blessed to inhabit
the place where I live.
I know the Earth as my true
mother and feel my connection
to her intimately.
I am but a thread in the web
of Life but I am also important
because of being a thread.

#beliefs #blessings #consciousness #Earth #Gaia #intelligence #internet #meditation #religion #unity