"Mother Earth'? Not so long ago, the very mention of this name brought up visions of hippies dancing freely in fields of gold. Things are a bit different now, or maybe it's just me: having begun to see from a different perspective in the space of the past 15-20 years, maybe it's simply that my own eyes are opening to the sentient beauty around me! "SENTIENT?!" "Did he just say "SENTIENT"?!" Yes, yes I did! Nature, including everything from the barest mineral to the most human-like animal, has a sentience all it's own. Just because they may not speak a language that we can readily decipher; just because they do not have the same avaricious nature that we humans do & just because they do not ambulate like we do, does not mean they are insensate. It has been proven, for instance, that plants, from the lowliest fern to the mightiest redwood ( sequoia ) communicate with each other. They feel & react to pain, not unlike human beings. It has become popular of late to listen to concerts put on by, of all things, mushrooms! "Yes, apparently, they REALLY are fungis!" (That was a bit of a joke; ya know; "fun guys?!" )
It has long been an established 'fact' that human beings are at the top of the food chain, although aboriginals might beg to differ! Probably the only reason, though, that this is a 'fact' at all is that we have learned how to use technology to give us the upper hand; the firearm, for instance, or even the bow & arrow, has made us one of the premier predators. The fact though, that our bodies, once we have spent, or discarded them, become food for many other creatures, most notably worms, as well as providing nutrients to the plants, should give us pause when we are tempted to boast in our superiority.
The rise in popularity of the infamous 'Global Warming' has, thanks to much media attention in the past several decades, instilled an unnecessary fear in the overwhelming majority of people around the world! I have said many times before that "I am no scientist", though I often say as well that, "I know enough to be dangerous!" While I will admit, particularly in this case; that's a bit of a joke, because I 'know' pretty much only what I've heard or read, primarily on the Web. What I have found though, that resonates with me, is that what the majority of people have been calling 'Global Warming' is simply the age-old cycle of Life on Earth! For instance, one thing that I remember hearing/reading is that, because of a slight 'warble/wobble' in the Earth's axis, the Sahara Desert greens over every twenty thousand years or so. Some scientists have been predicting a coming New Ice Age - not anytime soon, mind you, but in comparison with the proposed age of the Earth, relatively soon. With this in mind, of course; I'm not trying to say that humanity has done nothing to pollute the atmosphere & in reality, Mother Earth Herself, for we have - in SPADES - but for all that humanity has done to shit in their own backyard, the primary cause of the natural disasters we have witnessed around the world is due to Her own natural, cyclical processes. I might mention in passing, the effects of the evils that humanity has let loose upon our planet, like the Atomic Bomb & HAARP (High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program ), to name but two. There is also a Project HARP ( High Altitude Research Project ), which seems to reach for similar ends.
My readers may be more or less familiar with the idea/notion that "When a butterfly flaps its wings in North Africa, there is a hurricane on the Gulf ( of Mexico ( America? )" Okay, so this is MY version of the Catherine McKenzie quote! The point of this saying is that everything is connected. Another saying that applies here is, "Nothing happens in a vacuum". In other words, no event can occur without somehow influencing another event. This point may well be argued, but though the effect may be minimal, or even minuscule, barely even registering as such, the fact remains that there can be no Effect without a Cause, just as there cannot be a Cause with an Effect!
The link between Life & Land cannot be denied! Just as the Earth supplies all that is necessary for Life to exist, so in turn those who reap that Life from the Earth must reciprocate in order that the Earth may continue the Cycle, else Life, to whatever extent, may cease to exist! Human beings cannot continue to treat our Mother Earth as if She is nothing more than simply a commodity. Speaking of our Mother Earth, something I've been saying for decades now is that, "Mother Earth is fighting back!" Take all the recent earthquakes, particularly in the American West; think then, of all the 'fracking' that has been going on, most notably in the eastern part of Montana & in the Dakotas. Some scientists have been predicting that the Yellowstone Caldera, arguably the world's largest supervolcano, is about to blow, according to what they perceive as a 600,000+ year old cycle. Of course, this has been occurring for years now & though seismologists have noticed heightened activity in the area for the past decade or so, nothing of great import has happened yet......................we're still waiting!
Saying "Mother Earth is fighting back!" may sound like a joke, but trust, me "IT'S NO JOKE!" I've told this story before, but back when 'fracking' first became infamous, I was discussing the negative implications with a friend. He recounted a bit of history from HIS home state of Colorado, wherein, back in 2019, in the midst of all the hub-bub over the Y2K scare, apparently the Powers That Be decided, in all their finite wisdom, to utilize some of the many caverns, caves & tunnels under the Rocky Mountains. The predictable outcome, of course, was that, as the caverns, etc., filled with water, etc., the air which had previously been trapped in these spaces was rudely displaced, causing, "you guessed it", TREMORS ( another word for 'earthquakes' ). To be clear, I could find no indication of the truth of his story online & to be honest, the AI engine's first response to my query was that it was very unlikely. However, his story, true or not, made sense to me. In recent memory, the 19 Mile fire here in Southwest Montana was simply one instance of a wildfire ( whether human-caused or not ) that got out of hand, as far as human beings are concerned anyway. Believe what you will, but, concerning wildfires, I like to say, "They're Mother Nature's way of cleansing Her landscape!" I haven't always felt this way, because I was raised, as doubtless many of my readers were, to believe that the Earth was simply a Resource, here only for our use; definitely NOT a sentient Being!
A good friend of mine runs a very large garden & greenhouse here in South-West Montana, some 15-20 miles South of where I live. Not to go to far down the rabbit hole, but his garden is probably about as close to true organic as one could hope to get get without totally isolating from the world. He has found, among other things, that the soil, in particular the bacterium IN the soil, plays a very important role in well-grown fruits & vegetables; subsequently, it has a more positive effect on human health & longevity! Unfortunately, he is surrounded by other farms that probably aren't quite so conscientiously run & uses the water from a ditch/canal that is doubtless tainted in some way! Of course, one must consider the air itself as well, so, "as above, so below"; unless one wants to become a total isolationist, it is almost impossible to get away from the taint of industrialism & capitalism.
Considering all of the above, one might wonder if we should begin to worry: "Is our beloved Mother in trouble?!" There IS cause for concern, yes, but more for us & generations to come than for Mother Earth!" Are we harming the Earth with all our unsustainable agricultural practices, our relentless abuse of Her natural beauty, including trees, land, water, and of course, raping her for 'all the oil under the sand'? Not really; like our own bodies, She, being as sentient as we, has the ability to heal Herself: She will be just fine! We, however, if we're not careful, may find ourselves 'up shit creek without a paddle'! "As above, so below", "Mother Earth is fighting back" ( by the way, you might consider Mother Earth & Mother Nature interchangeable, for indeed, She is One, as are We ): consider, for instance, these so-called 'natural disasters', which seem to be occurring more frequently in the past number of decades. Many scientists ( 'some' at least ) are quick to blame this 'Climate Change' on the evils of humankind & indeed, while the evils that humanity has perpetrated on our Beloved Mother have marred her visage to some extent, to say that we are the cause of Her 'travails' is more than a bit presumptuous! What we see as 'Global Warming', or 'Climate Change' is really nothing more than Her natural Cycles; that & Her body's natural reaction to infection. Do the poisons ( including HARP & HAARP ) that we have, knowingly or unknowingly, broadcast into the atmosphere & into the crust of the Earth have anything to do with these 'changes'? Possibly, although one might note they have much farther-reaching implications & worse consequences for US!
Now, the question IS, "what can/should we do about it?' The answer is simple & obvious; STOP! "Easier said than done", I know, because, like it or not, the world's economies run on what are usually called 'natural resources'. The rise in popularity of the EV, or Electric Vehicle, whether pure Electric or Hybrid, is sadly not enough! Sure, the vehicles themselves may have much less of a 'carbon footprint', but what about the plants that produce them? What about the electricity that powers them? Okay, so say 75% of the electricity is produced by wind power, "surely the wind is a good source of clean, renewable energy!" Well, yes, BUT how much of a 'carbon footprint' is produced in the engineering of these 'Modern Marvels'? How about the petroleum products utilized in both their construction & operation? "Solar?" Surely THAT'S a clean, renewable resource! Well.................again, we have the same production ( not so much 'operational' ) issues. Also, with both of these options, so much depends on the weather. If the wind isn't blowing ( a rarity here in SW Montana ) or the Sun isn't shining, what then? "Batteries"? Same production issues. What is a storage battery constructed of? "Plastic"! Yes, the innards are usually lead plate or lithium, but then we're back to the rape of Mother Earth. It seems we just can't get away from it, or can we?!
It begins with US! All we have to do is make better choices & while many in this country, even the world, are making that change, as many or more seem to be stuck in the rut of normalcy, what is often referred to as 'The American Dream'. Instead of looking at the Earth as simply a Resource, or something to make use of, we ought instead to see Her as our Mother, as the Source of Life, at least physically speaking. Of course, with a Mother, it's only natural that there is a Father as well & though this might be a different Subject for a different day, one only needs to look up to see our Father in the Heavens. Just don't look directly at Him, or He might burn your eyes out of their sockets!
Since "Everything is connected!"; it only makes sense that people would treat the Earth ( not to mention, EACH OTHER ) with Respect, unless, of course, they don't respect themselves! But therein lies the problem! The overwhelming majority of people do not perceive our Mother as being sensitive. They have been taught from day one that She is simply a big, spinning ball of dirt & the best we can do is make good use of Her as long as we're alive. All we know is what we've been taught; we don't know our own Mother ( or Father, for that matter ) & for the most part, that is because we do not know ourselves. I realize that I'm in danger of sounding like a broken record, but that's because WE are what it all comes down to!
"As above, so below", because we do not respect ourselves ( or each other ), we do not respect the Earth. The closest human beings have come, in recent memory anyway ( the past 50-60 years ) are the true hippies, the tree-huggers, even some modern-day environmentalists. However, if one REALLY wants to read about a People who truly respected the Earth & Her gifts, they need only investigate that noble savage, the American Indian of old. No, they were never perfect, but it's safe to say they are probably the best stewards, humanly speaking, that our Mother Earth has ever had!
The American Indian, though many may have forgotten, communicated with the Earth, as with ALL living beings! Like the Pagans of other countries, they knew our Mother, living according to Her natural cycles, respecting, not abusing Her abundance. They consumed only what She provided naturally, respectfully thanking even those animals that gave up their lives so that we might live. Speaking of wildfires, from what I've heard ( you may have heard the same), the American Indians were known to give the Great Mother a helping hand by starting fires, burning up old growth so that the new might more easily come.
'Global Warming', as we've seen, though the evils of humanity have no doubt exacerbated it, or maybe rather "blown it out of proportion", is more a part of the Earth's natural cycle than we would like to admit! For instance, with all the carbon we produce, just by breathing, or whether it's all the smog from the major cities ( maybe there's something to the bovine flatulence theory, as well ), maybe the energy that the sun produces HAS been magnified by all the particulates in the air, so maybe that IS causing, or at least helping the ice caps melt. Humanity has always given themselves more credit than they deserve! For instance, the so-called 'Flood' of Noah's day: whether it was global or local doesn't really amount to a hill of beans. A loving 'God' caused it to rain for 40 days & nights so that a Great Flood came and destroyed everybody except Noah, his wife & his sons, plus a fucking boatload of animals. Seriously?! Sounds pretty petty to me! That kind of thinking led to the notion that 'God' sent the hurricane to ravage New Orleans! Maybe we should wonder then, why Las Vegas ( 'Sin City' ) hasn't been decimated by tornadoes!
But I digress; this wasn't meant to be a post about the ridiculousness of humanity's religion. Rather, the point of this post is that the Earth we co-habit, not only with each other, but with plants & animals, even minerals, is not just a big, dumb Rock floating around in an infinite universe! She is a living, breathing Being, who cares deeply for each one of Her inhabitants. She cares for them, providing for their every need. "So WHY", you may ask, "are people starving all over the world, while others seem to be blessed beyond measure?!" THAT, my friends, might be another Story for another day...................
Namaste' & Blessed Be!
Sage Charles
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