What is Earthen Spirituality?

Chiricahua National Monument, Southern Arizona

My interest in Earthen Spirituality was  born out of a desire to answer a question at the end of a chain of thoughts.  In the beginning there is the question why.  Why do people participate in the rampant ecocide all around them?  Why don’t people love the Earth?  The answer I propose is:  Because they are not taught that the Earth is lovable.  Further, we are held in bondage by limiting and often debilitating, cultural derived basic beliefs.  Unfortunately, these beliefs were formulated thousands of years ago by people unassisted by the spiritual and scientific information available today.

But I suggest that our cultural worldview is deeply destructive, physically, culturally, and psychically.  Why?  Because of our basic beliefs.  I call for an examination and re-evaluation of some of these basic beliefs and suggest that they are based on questionable information and lead not only to alienation from our roots in Nature but ultimately to the destruction of our species and a great many other species around us.  I extend an invitation to everyone to look deeply within themselves for the foundation principles that underpin their opinions and preferences; to open up their book of basic beliefs and examine it the light of its relevance to life in the present century.

Can recent scientific research and advancements help with the formulation of an Earth-based spirituality?  Yes and in the forthcoming book: Planet as Self, I shall give some examples of why I think so. A partnership of effort in scientific research and the deepening of spirituality can play a huge role in our expanding consciousness of who we are in relationship to our living Earth.

The book explains how a mechanistic scientific worldview coupled with religious teachings that tell us that our life here is only something that we have to suffer on the way to heaven has alienated us from Nature and Earth energy that can give us strength, comfort and a total sense of belonging.

Planet as Self calls for an Earth-based spirituality.  A spirituality based on the belief that we are living in a loving, lovable highly intelligent planet. Earthen Spirituality teaches us that we have no need to “go” anywhere to be with the powerful and sustaining spirit of the Earth.

And finally, this book helps us to realize God in Nature by revealing our total immersion in the workings of our planet, a living planet that transforms the creator’s life force into that which we can learn to love and cherish because actually, we are the planet.   We have the science, we have the spirituality, we have the wisdom and we have the level of consciousness to not only survive, but share in the increasing health of Gaia.

Look and be amazed

Druidry

Perhaps I’ve been mistaken in believing that Druids were pagans.  Certainly the Druids that were gathered in the area of Anglesey in North Wales were established long, long before the Roman invasion and thus preceded Christianity.  Their place was among those who we understand held pagan beliefs.  Actually, I realise that I am not qualified to describe the difference between your typical Celtic [largely but not exclusively] pagan of the times and a fully- fledged Druid.  As John Michael Greer describes, there were only 10 pages of historical data extant in 1649 that was written about pagans and much of that written by Julius Caesar.

However, this is all beside the point, my point I’m trying to reach.

Since finishing Planet as Self over two years ago, I’ve been constantly searching for a better understanding of how I describe Earthen Spirituality.

Since then I’ve discovered Starhawk and chosen a manifesto that she wrote.  See:  http://www.earthenspirituality.com/earthen-spirituality-manifesto/

Recently I re-discovered John Michael Greer, the American Archdruid.  I suggest, from my limited understanding of how he describes Druidry, that Druids practiced the Earthen Spirituality that touches me and exemplifies the “it” that corresponds to where my consciousness has reached so far.

Whether Druids did then or do now believe that our higher self is actually Gaia and that Gaia is a living, loving and lovable being I do not know.  From what very little I do know so far, it seems to be that Druids do love the Earth.

Does it really matter why?  Do we all need a package of beliefs about who Gaia is to act out of this love?  Surely not. I have felt love for various beings for no special reason.  I’ve provided the quotes below to support my belief that John Michael Greer and the Druidry he describes are practicing the Earthen Spirituality of my vision to date.

What is the Druid Revival?

(from Chapter 1 of Druidry: A Green Way of Wisdom

©2003 by John Michael Greer. All rights reserved.

http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/42

“Yet Druidry made room for monotheists, polytheists, pantheists, and more. A tradition that directed its reverence toward Nature, its disciplines toward the inner dimensions of the self, and its ceremonies toward the turning seasons had no need to impose some fixed definition on the higher realities behind these. People of many different theological opinions could all agree that Nature deserved reverence, hidden potentials of the self were worth uncovering, and the year’s cycle offered good reasons to celebrate. More than that, Druidry did not demand.”

“A tradition can be gray with the dust of centuries and still be useless, or even actively harmful, while another tradition freshly devised by some modern visionary can be a wholly valid path. Many Druids came to see this in the late twentieth century. They saw that Druidry’s relevance and power are a function of what it is, not where it comes from. As a living and vibrant spiritual tradition with three centuries of achievements to its credit, it can stand on its own, without enlisting ancient Druids to prop it up.”

John Michael Greer, Druidry – A Green Way of Wisdom

What does it mean to be a Druid today?

Above all else, Druidry means following a spiritual path rooted in the green Earth. It means participating in a living Western spiritual tradition drawn from many sources, including surviving legacies from Celtic wisdom teachings, but embracing the contributions of many peoples and times. It means learning from archaic traditions, from three centuries of modern Druid scholarship, and from the always changing lessons of the living Earth itself. It means embracing an experiential approach to religious questions, one that abandons rigid belief systems in favour of inner development and individual contact with the realms of nature and spirit.

http://www.rickmancastle.com/druidfaq.html

The Druid Network of Emma Restall Orr

I’ve just finished reading a profound book written by a Druid.  Living with Honour by Emma Restall Orr.  It is the kind of book that you want to devour too quickly.  I compromised by skimming it once through and then went back for a slow, proper read.  Finally, I chose to write a sort of commentary where I write about ideas of mine coming up for me while reading the book yet again.  You can find  the commentary as a series of posts under the category *Paganism.  So far, this writing best fits the kind of ethics I would expect to reflect Earthen Spirituality.