ANOTHER MANIFESTATION of the change to the path of the Goddess is our growing desire to treat our environment more lovingly. It is no accident that we call our planet 'Mother Earth,' and refer to 'Mother Nature.' Since the beginning of the current patriarchal age, man has been as much at war with nature in his attempts to control and exploit it, as he has been with women, and anything else he sees as 'feminine.' They are representative of the Great Mother, the Creator, whom he both hates and fears. In his desire to become independent, and see himself as separate, man has unfortunately seen himself as so separated from all other forms of life that he cannot any longer feel his connection. This has enabled him to plunder the earth of its resources, without recognising his dependence on it. His god has given him permission to do this, by saying that he has dominion over every living thing. He could have seen this in a responsible way, and exercised his power for the good of all, but this has not happened. Instead, he has used it to ruthlessly exploit people, animals, plants and the earth itself for his own personal gain. As we have said many times, this can only occur because he has lost his feeling of connectedness with his source, the Great Mother, and therefore his links with everything else. In his desire to be individual, he has forgotten that he is also a part of everything else, and interdependent with it. Seeing himself as separate from Nature, separate from his god, and separate from the of women, has allowed him to be selfish, but it has also led to loss. He is alone, and limited to his own individual resources, instead of being able to tap into the inexhaustible collective energy of All That Is. Not only that, but the earth herself can be exhausted if she is abused too much. Just as he cannot torture a person beyond the point of death, so he cannot torture planet earth forever. At some stage, she will be unable to provide him with what he wants, because he is taking without replenishing, and with no thought for the harm he is causing. Though the Great Mother does not need gratitude for what she freely gives, and there are no limits to her giving, we do not know this. We appear to have a finite number of resources, and, like the Prodigal son, have almost spent them. Those people who are beginning to realign with the Great Mother necessarily begin to feel differently about all of the things which patriarchal society have associated with Her, and one of these is the planet and its various life-forms. They begin to care more for some or all aspects of planetary life, and seek to restore balance. Of course this can take as many forms as there are people. Some may join movements which aim to preserve species on the verge of extinction, or protest about acid rain and deforestation. Others may simply feel a diffuse emotional rapport with the earth, and begin to take long walks in the forest. And all points between. All are correct. There is no one right way to reconnect with the earth. We all have our own path and our own truth.
Many people are beginning to panic about the 'death' of the earth if we do not take radical and immediate steps to stop our mistreatment of her. They feel that even if we change our patterns of behaviour, future generations will still suffer the consequences of what we have done in the past. They point to continuing damage which shows no sign of being stopped, and despair of ever finding a solution, because the problem of environmental abuse is so complex, so harmful and so widespread. If we can stop the torture of people within dictatorships, or the abuse of women and children, they say, then there is no long- lasting damage, as there is when huge tracts of Amazonian rain forests are burned, wiping out an environment which may take centuries to restore. We can't bring back species of animals which have become extinct, or wipe out the effects of radioactivity, in the way that we can make rapid changes within human society. Because of this, they believe that we should concentrate on environmental issues alone now, and forget everything else until we are out of danger. What does it matter if women are disadvantaged, or black people disenfranchised, when we may not be able to sustain life at all quite soon. It has priority.
This is simply not true. The damage we have done in every direction is the same, because the consciousness which has created the conditions is the same, the movement away from the Great Mother into feeling totally separate beings from Her and each other. Anyone who in any way begins to reconnect to Her helps the environmental problem, because everything is related to everything else. We have a great deal of healing to do in so many areas, it may seem that we have to have some sort of hierarchy again. This problem is more important than that, so why are you worrying about the lack of facilities for disabled people when the planet is dying? Not only does this allow those who work for environmental protest groups to feel superior to others, and thus perpetuate their patriarchal consciousness in another form, it pushes guilt onto those who have different priorities. They may leave their path to follow another's because of this, yet have no real interest or commitment to it.
Trust is again the answer. If we allow ourselves to go with our feelings, we will be drawn to the very areas in which we can best help on the path of the Goddess. If we listen to the still small voice of the Great Mother inside us, and follow that, then healing will happen, of both ourselves and everything else. The planet can recover, but it will come through genuine love for her rather than because of fear of loss. If we go through the motions of attempting to prevent environmental damage because it is fashionable to do so, and confers status of some kind, because of guilt, or because we are afraid that we are going to die if we don't, then we are still on the path of the god. We have simply swapped what we do, and retained the same consciousness. No real healing will result from such actions. But if we join groups to help the earth through love of her, that love will heal her. There is nothing else that will succeed but love.
Again, Lao Tse realised what our relationship with Nature should be over two thousand years ago. To quote the Tao Te Ching once more,
Many people are beginning to panic about the 'death' of the earth if we do not take radical and immediate steps to stop our mistreatment of her. They feel that even if we change our patterns of behaviour, future generations will still suffer the consequences of what we have done in the past. They point to continuing damage which shows no sign of being stopped, and despair of ever finding a solution, because the problem of environmental abuse is so complex, so harmful and so widespread. If we can stop the torture of people within dictatorships, or the abuse of women and children, they say, then there is no long- lasting damage, as there is when huge tracts of Amazonian rain forests are burned, wiping out an environment which may take centuries to restore. We can't bring back species of animals which have become extinct, or wipe out the effects of radioactivity, in the way that we can make rapid changes within human society. Because of this, they believe that we should concentrate on environmental issues alone now, and forget everything else until we are out of danger. What does it matter if women are disadvantaged, or black people disenfranchised, when we may not be able to sustain life at all quite soon. It has priority.
This is simply not true. The damage we have done in every direction is the same, because the consciousness which has created the conditions is the same, the movement away from the Great Mother into feeling totally separate beings from Her and each other. Anyone who in any way begins to reconnect to Her helps the environmental problem, because everything is related to everything else. We have a great deal of healing to do in so many areas, it may seem that we have to have some sort of hierarchy again. This problem is more important than that, so why are you worrying about the lack of facilities for disabled people when the planet is dying? Not only does this allow those who work for environmental protest groups to feel superior to others, and thus perpetuate their patriarchal consciousness in another form, it pushes guilt onto those who have different priorities. They may leave their path to follow another's because of this, yet have no real interest or commitment to it.
Trust is again the answer. If we allow ourselves to go with our feelings, we will be drawn to the very areas in which we can best help on the path of the Goddess. If we listen to the still small voice of the Great Mother inside us, and follow that, then healing will happen, of both ourselves and everything else. The planet can recover, but it will come through genuine love for her rather than because of fear of loss. If we go through the motions of attempting to prevent environmental damage because it is fashionable to do so, and confers status of some kind, because of guilt, or because we are afraid that we are going to die if we don't, then we are still on the path of the god. We have simply swapped what we do, and retained the same consciousness. No real healing will result from such actions. But if we join groups to help the earth through love of her, that love will heal her. There is nothing else that will succeed but love.
Again, Lao Tse realised what our relationship with Nature should be over two thousand years ago. To quote the Tao Te Ching once more,
When men control the world to improve it
They cannot succeed.
For the world is a sacred vessel
Not to be interfered with.
He who improves it, spoils it.
He who tries to control it
Has failed to understand.
When we do not seek to better the world
We do no harm.
They cannot succeed.
For the world is a sacred vessel
Not to be interfered with.
He who improves it, spoils it.
He who tries to control it
Has failed to understand.
When we do not seek to better the world
We do no harm.
