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Gaia’s Blog

Recovering Our Indigeneity

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What does it mean to be indigenous? Ecologist and author Eileen Crist, in a recent interview, usefully outlines 3 principles held by all indigenous cultures. Indigenous people live sustainably and bioregionally, that is, they live “within the contours of the land.” They regularly celebrate the natural world through an annual cycle of festivals and ceremonies. And they see “everything as alive, as wondrous in itself.” *

In other words, indigenous people don’t simply love “the land” in the abstract—they know themselves as part of the place on Earth where they live. They’re not just casually attentive to the more-than-human world of Nature around them—they experience themselves living within it, in a web of relationship that is continually studied, affirmed and celebrated. And they don’t pray to a remote, abstract God—they attune with the immanent spiritual energies, beings, and deities of the land around them. Indigenous people’s personal and community lives continually mirror and express these realities, from birth to death, from a long-ago past to a calmly beckoning future. [Read more…] about Recovering Our Indigeneity

Moving Toward Gaia Nation

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As I watched the inauguration of President Joe Biden, I was filled with relief and hope. Nevertheless, I was repeatedly struck by all the unapologetic human supremacy on display that day, expressed by politicians, entertainers and preachers alike. And really, what else could I expect?! Our entire modern world rests on this conviction.

This got me thinking about what kind of nation I really want to live in. What would a nation founded with and on behalf of Gaia look like? [Read more…] about Moving Toward Gaia Nation

Regeneration: Gaia’s Wild Card

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When I was 9 or 10, my dad and I often played spirited games of poker in the evening. We enlivened most games by letting the dealer declare certain cards to be “wild cards.” If you got a wild card, you could assign it to be any card that would improve your hand. My dad’s favorite wild cards were “deuces, one-eyed jacks and one-eyed kings.” I still remember the thrill of drawing one or more of those magically-endowed cards.

The term “wild card” typically implies something unanticipated and unpredictable, with the potential for surprising results, either positive or negative. Since the onset of agriculture 10,000 years ago, humanity has increasingly become the wild card of our planet’s living systems, in the most negative ways possible. [Read more…] about Regeneration: Gaia’s Wild Card

The Wheel and the Virus: Teachings from the Dark

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Here we are again, in the darkest time of the year. After our holiday celebrations (most of them based on the land-connected traditions of our ancestors), now we settle into the rhythm of short days, dark evenings, and cold weather, already dreaming of spring. And indeed, the dawning of spring is always a riotously happy time, on the land and within ourselves. But, in the meantime, every year most of us do our best to avoid the lessons of winter. [Read more…] about The Wheel and the Virus: Teachings from the Dark

Life in Gaia’s Calm Lane

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On a recent winter’s day, I watched a ruby-crowned kinglet take a bath in an icy stream.

The stream was almost totally frozen over, but beneath the overhanging branches of a spruce tree, the water formed a small, ice-fringed pool. I caught sight of the kinglet—a diminutive olive-green bird with barred black wings and a bold white eye-ring—flitting around in the tree. As I watched, it flew down and entered the water, bouncing and flicking its wings up and down, and shaking and splashing its petite feathered body until it was wet all over. [Read more…] about Life in Gaia’s Calm Lane