Midweek Faith Lift
Earth Based Spirituality
Clark Ford, Guest Speaker
January 3, 2024
Earth Based Spirituality is all about connecting with the divine through nature. Not only does the divine manifest itself through nature, the divine IS nature itself: It is the universe in all of its wonderful diversity including humans who are very much a part of nature. So earth-based spirituality isn’t getting back to nature, it is acknowledging who we are: both spiritual and natural. Well, if growing up Christian taught me anything, it’s that you don’t want to be NATURAL – that’s scary. We’re above that, right? We want to suppress that, right? Well no, not in earth-based spirituality, where we celebrate being natural, and being connected to the rest of nature.
Happy New Year’s Eve Day! We are at the end of one cycle, 2023, and on the cusp of another, 2024. If we think about it, cycles are everywhere in our life: Each day, each month, and each year represent a different cycle that impacts our life.
Everything in nature works in cycles. Even our spiral galaxy spins in a cycle.
Stars, planets, mountains, ecosystems, plants, animals, humans – all of nature undergoes constant cycles of birth, growth, death, decay, and renewal.
Even the fertility of women is cyclical. The ancients, observing that all of life springs from the earth, thought of the earth itself as a great goddess figure, giving birth to and sustaining all life. Celebrating mother earth, and all the cycles of nature are central to earth-based Spirituality.
As the song says, “We are one with the earth, we are one with the mother. We are all a part of her, we are sisters and brothers…we are all a part of Her family.” So naturally we would honor the earth and protect it, as we would any family member. Earth-based spirituality is all about environmentalism!
Earth-based spirituality is ancient, and is found in different forms all over the world. Many of us are familiar with Native American Spirituality, which is a form of earth-based spirituality. But today I’d like to talk more about Neo Paganism, or what I call Native European Spirituality. This is earth-based spirituality inspired by the Celts and Druids.
At core is the belief that we are part of nature. Nature itself is personified as the great mother, who has three aspects as she goes through her life cycle: maiden, mother, and crone (symbolized by the waxing moon, the full moon, and the waning moon, respectively).
The goddess has many roles, drawn from mythology in many cultures, and known by many names: Gaia, Isis, Astarte Diana, Hecate Demeter, Kali, Inana, among others.
Starhawk, the celebrated Neopagan author of the Spiral Dance said: “…we do not believe in the Goddess - we connect with her; through the moon, the stars, the ocean, the earth, through trees, animals, through other human beings, through ourselves. She is here. She is within us all.”
She went on to say “The Goddess does not rule the world; She is the world.” Feminism is a strong part of Neo-Paganism! Of course, to give birth, the Goddess needed a divine Male consort, or mate, who we will talk about in just a bit. In Paganism, women are not dominant over or subservient to males in the family.
Goddess worship was part of almost all ancient and native religions – and served to inspire and protect women in society. Of note, there was no Goddess worship in ancient Judaism, whose society was extremely patriarchal, based on a male god figure who created woman from man, and blamed woman for man’s downfall.
Neopagan male deities are drawn from myth of many cultures as well, but tend to be hunters, herders, figures of the forests, the land, or the sky. Cernunnos, Greenman, and Pan are a few of the many male deities.
In Neopagan ritual, an altar would be present containing various earthy items: candles representing the four directions, statuettes or candles representing the God and Goddess, an athame knife for casting a circle, flowers, stones, incense, and a dish of saltwater to represent the four elements, and a chalice of wine and a plate of small cakes to share, plus perhaps many other seasonal items.
In addition there would be a pentacle, an ancient symbol of power with the 5 points representing Earth, Air, Water, Fire and Spirit.
A circle between the worlds is cast, encompassing all who attend, bounded by the four directions, each representing an energy. East represents air, ideas, music; South represents fire, energy, light; West represents water, feelings, healing; and North represents earth, grounding, and nurturing.
The Goddess and God would be invited to join the circle, and welcomed.
And ritual might involve stories, poems, drumming, chanting, dancing, crafts, spell-work, scrying, meditation, or any combination of the above. Bonfires are often danced around to wild drumming. There is a focus on spirit – the spirit of life, the spirit of the earth, of other creatures and of the whole universe. Humans, of course, also are creatures of spirit, created of the world, not above it or outside of nature.
Rituals are held for full moons once a month, and sometimes for new moons. The moon and its cycles are often connected with the energy of women. Full moons are for celebration and exultation, new moons are for manifesting new ideas into reality. Either way, Neopaganism is about the metaphysical working of energy for positive outcomes. In that way it is much like Unity.
The sun and it’s cycle in the year is associated the energy of men. There are 8 Sabbats throughout the year: on the solstices, equinoxes, and midpoints between each, to celebrate the seasons, fertility, crops, harvest, and renewal.
Yule is the winter solstice, now on December 21, but in calendars in prior centuries, on December 25. In lore, the God is born of the Goddess, representing the birth of the sun. It is a celebration of light and hope for the days to grow longer each day as the sun returns. Evergreens, Yule logs, and candles are common symbols.
Imbolc, on February 1, is a quiet celebration of healing and learning, of mothers nursing, and sheep producing milk for their lambs. Although still winter, there are the very first signs of spring to come. The Irish Goddess Brigid is celebrated with woven crosses made of reeds for good luck.
Ostara, at the spring equinox, is the celebration of Spring and new life, symbolized by rabbits and eggs. Easter which takes many of its symbols from Ostara, is held on the first Sunday after the first full moon that follows the Spring Equinox, or Ostara.
Beltane on May 1 is the celebration of fertility of the earth and the crops. The fertile union of the Goddess and God (who are now of age) is symbolized by dancing around the Maypole.
Litha is at Midsummer, the Summer Solstice, and represents the forests in full leaf, the Goddess and the crops in full fruit, and the sun god in full power. But beware, there may be fairy mischief at Midsummer!
Lammas, on August 1 is the first harvest ritual, for harvesting of wheat. Bread is often featured in ritual. The God, who has poured himself into the production of crops, now sacrifices himself in the harvest for the creatures of the earth to live. This mythology of sacrifice predates the idea of the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, and the Eucharistic meal, also, although the end result is the same, the salvation of humanity.
Mabon, at the fall equinox is another harvest festival – for grapes, apples, squashes and many other agricultural products. It is a time of balance. Feasts of thanksgiving are held at Mabon
Samhain is at Halloween, and is the final ritual of harvest, to give thanks and pay homage to those animals that will not overwinter, and must be slaughtered. It is a time of honoring death and the spirits of those who have passed. In Earth Based Spirituality, death is not the end, for like everything else in the Universe, it is just part of the cycle of change and renewal, a necessary step in the spiral dance of life.
Following Samhain is Yule, the rebirth of the sun. Following the waning moon is the new moon, and following each night is sunrise. All of these passages are to be celebrated as essential parts of life, everchanging and ongoing. Likewise, all of us celebrate New Year’s Eve because the old year is over, and the next year is full of promise. Promise for the continuity of life, of love, for connection with each other, the Universe, and the divine.
In Neopagan beliefs, the central ethical principle is: If it harms none, do as you will. There is no Bible, no monotheism, no dualism, no Satan, no heaven or hell, no dogma. There are manifold traditions in many cultures, but these are based on the human spirit connecting through love to each other and to the rest of nature.
Blessed Be, and Happy New Year!
Clark