Honouring Mother Earth

Why does it surprise us to hear of people living completely without money, off-grid or fully self-sufficient? Did people not live without money, without supermarkets and computers for thousands of years? Yet imagine banning cars now or closing all the supermarkets. People would likely not know what to do. Yet there are some who are still engaged in this way of living. A way I see with the potential to be more in-tune, harmonious and connected to the earth; not through the actions necessarily but through their inspiration, motivation and in attuning to the arising. We don't all have to go live in the trees.… I see ways of honouring Mother Earth.

Seeing

To me I see honouring of Mother Earth as a part of what’s being invited of us at this time. And it feels like perhaps we have to ‘see’ her first.

Just look around us. How many things in our immediate environment are made from, are products of, or somehow involve petroleum and the petroleum industry? Probably most of it I would imagine. The computer, the varnish on the table, the carpets, the electricity etc. Even the organic vegetables in your fridge or cupboard would likely have been delivered from the farm to the shop where you bought them, unless you grow your own.

So what can we do with this knowledge? To know that we as a society seem to have become dependent on oil and its derivatives for survival; And that this is contributing to things like climate change, earth changes, environmental damage, disrespect and disregard for Nature? Where is the sense of honouring, of giving and receiving? Where can we go with those feelings? Do you feel despair? Guilt? Does that serve? Those are some of the things I’ve experienced. Is it okay to buy that bottle of water, or to get on a bus? How do we feel about cooking food or turning on a light?

Honouring Our Selves

Yet what I’m beginning to understand is that its not so much about what we’re doing as about how we’re doing it. It feels like the invitation is unique for each one. This to me seems to be a way through the ‘minefield’. In attuning to the pull of the soul, and attuning to Mother Earth we can see that yes perhaps it is appropriate to have food and clothing and houses to do our job in this world at this time. Are our bodies not a part of Mother Earth? Its seems to me that a part of caring for and honouring Mother Earth is about nourishing and honouring ourselves. We can look at the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe. How do we nourish and care for ourselves? We can work to improve the environments we live in, the relationships we’re engaged in, the work we do. And we can be realistic with the choices we’re presented with. For some we’re given to live in cities, for others it might be more appropriate to live in an earthship or in a self-sustainable community. Yet we still have choices of how we live within those environments and what it means to us.

I feel amazed and in awe and gratitude of all the gifts that Gaia gives unconditionally, many probably without us being fully aware of them. I feel huge gratitude at times, and other times I may not even think about it at all. I feel like we’re being both invited to honour those things and to live within it in a practical way.

Honouring through Being

For me a part of honouring Gaia and the gifts she gives so unconditionally AND being in the world is to do with Beingness and motivations, how authentic we’re being. Whether for an office worker or people living without electricity or money it’s still a question of how they’re being. It seems there’s not a set list of rules. Perhaps we feel to walk or take the bus to work some days, perhaps we feel to have the heating on less, or perhaps some days we feel to nurture ourselves and loved ones, and this might involve using more fuel, spending money etc. Yet if we look at our motivations and intentions behind these things there are no set constraints for what makes them ‘right’ or authentic, other than maybe the question are we coming from the heart? Are we attuning to the pull of the Soul? It is not an excuse to be careless with our actions, or necessarily to be carless(!) either. Its about finding a balance that flows from an authentic place. And it feels to me like a process that continues to flow and unfold. Yet these may be authentic for some as well. It seems to me that we can honour Mother Earth by both attuning more to her and the messages she brings, and by attuning to ourselves more and more fully.

Attuning to Mother Earth

How might we attune to Mother Earth more fully? Spending time in the town and landscape of Glastonbury I’ve experienced a powerful yet gentle energy underlying it. It feels very loving. Yet on the surface there can be some chaotic and quite materialistic energies at play. Deeper than this I’ve felt that strong loving presence. I feel like if we feel deeper beyond the ‘noise’ on the surface we can hear her more clearly. Glastonbury is reportedly one of the earth’s chakra points and I can resonate with that. There are others in Australia (Uluru), South America, and around the globe. There are also plenty of sacred sites. Places of high energy that may be smaller chakra or energy points. It can be interesting to visit and attune to these and to feel the energy of Gaia through them. I find walking in the woods or in nature can be a powerful way to connect. What resonates with you? It seems to do this may help us find clarity and perspective outside of the matrix and help us align to what’s really ‘real’ for us. This seems to me extremely valuable in our unfolding at this time. And we can contemplate global events as well. So by attuning to Mother Earth we can attune more to ourselves as well.

And it feels like we might find more presence with the things we use and buy. We may find more awareness and thanks for the food we eat. It feels like a good way of putting what we purchase and consume in perspective. Can you contemplate the fuel used to run a computer? How much oil went into making those clothes? that DVD or CD? How do they make cornflakes?(!) Perhaps we feel to rent, exchange or borrow instead of buy sometimes? It doesn’t mean we don’t do those things, yet its likely we can be more present in those engagements. We don’t have to have an elaborate ceremony each time to turn on a light! Again it feels to me its about being realistic, and maybe more responsible for our choices.

Caretakers

Many indigenous peoples saw us as caretakers of the land. For example, they would cut down certain trees in a wood, in part to make things or to use as fuel but also to create more space for other things to grow. Its this intention or awareness that I feel may be a powerful way of approaching working more consciously with Mother Earth. Perhaps its not realistic to expect us to be contemplating every choice and action in this way, and perhaps it is. It might be that we can find more awareness to do it more often, and gradually unfold it. It feels like its about the underlying motivation, even in everyday events, in the moment. Does it feel authentic within?

Where is the motivation arising from for my actions? Do I feel it truthfully? Perhaps it will inspire something in me I can share with others. In doing so it may have a wider effect than I could have imagined. I don’t feel we need to know the outcomes or potential outcomes, we don’t have to intellectualise or understand the reasons or motivations. I feel we’re being invited to attune to the motivation (energy) underlying the decisions; not to think what’s being invited but to FEEL it! To feel in truth what’s being invited; to be open to the moment and what’s being invited and give ourselves fully to the expression of that.

It seems to me the greatest way of honouring.

with thanks