Gaia Blog

Gaia’s Blog: Seeds for a Resilient, Earth-Centered Future

Earth-Centered Practices and Ceremonies

Humans are innately part of Gaia’s enduring, ever-changing life-web. When affirming and celebrating this truth becomes central to our spiritual path, we can participate in a living harmony with the Sacred Land and with one another. Our practices and prayers, ceremonies and songs, are co-created organically with and for the great being of Gaia. Instead of resonating with the depleting vibration of the human-created world, we regain our capacity to attune with the rhythms and patterns of Nature.

Creating Spiritual Hope Spots in Nature

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For some years now, renowned marine biologist and oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle has been promoting the idea of “hope spots” in the world’s oceans.

A hope spot is a relatively intact area in the ocean that has been scientifically identified as critical to overall ocean health. Once a hope spot is recognized, it is championed by local conservationists, with logistical and scientific assistance from Mission Blue, Sylvia’s organization. The overall idea is that if we can work to support the resilience and diversity of places in the ocean where things are still working well, this resilience can gradually expand into less healthy areas, promoting ever-widening ocean recovery and regeneration. [Read more…] about Creating Spiritual Hope Spots in Nature

Our Kids’ Green Hearts

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A few years ago, on a late summer’s day, I was hiking in the nearby mountains. The multitude of wildflowers that had been blooming all summer were now going to seed, and all the seed-eating birds were taking full advantage. At the edge of a meadow, I caught sight of some gawky young house finches. They were flying around, sampling seeds and displaying the general goofiness typical of recently-fledged birds. Suddenly one of them left its perch and flew briskly toward a tall, upright flower stalk crowned with a big puffy seed head. When it landed, the entire stalk bent over to the ground, and the surprised bird literally fell off, upside down onto the grass. Flailing its little wings, it righted itself and indignantly flew away. And I practically fell on the ground too, from laughing so hard. [Read more…] about Our Kids’ Green Hearts

Grounding Our Green Heart

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How can we humans live fully in our hearts? From a Gaia-centered perspective, what we need to relearn is this: Our heart is completely linked with the natural world. Thus it has a built-in propensity to connect and ally with all life, not just other humans.

The heart chakra isn’t green by accident. Our heart resonates not only with human beings, but also with the Earth’s forests, mountains, oceans and rivers, and the material and spiritual beings who live there. Our hearts are nourished by relationship, connection and generosity toward humans and equally toward the entire more-than-human world. This makes it very important to keep our hearts healthy, robust and grounded in Gaia’s totality. [Read more…] about Grounding Our Green Heart

Gaia-Centered Spiritual Practices–Part II–Smudging

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“Smudging” is using the smoke from burning herbs and resins to cleanse and purify oneself and one’s space, often as a prelude to spiritual practices or ceremonies. The burning of incense, flower petals, bark, resins and leaves for spiritual purposes is a universal ancestral practice, and indeed has an enduring tradition of being used even in mainstream religions around the world.

I recently read a disturbing article about people illegally harvesting white sage (Salvia apiana) to make smudge sticks. These are widely sold online and used all around the world, predominantly by people who have no idea where the plant comes from. As a result, wild white sage, which grows only in certain areas of California and Mexico, is dwindling, mainly due to depredation by poachers who then sell it to distributors. Local Native Americans quoted in the article say they themselves are the original users of white sage in smudging rituals. They bemoan the abuse and commodification of the plant; and also claim that the entire practice of smudging should only be done by Native people, and anyone else doing it is guilty of cultural appropriation. [Read more…] about Gaia-Centered Spiritual Practices–Part II–Smudging

Gaia-Centered Spiritual Practices—Part I

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What attitudes and practices can we cultivate in ourselves that will help us attune to our Gaia-nature? (Remembering that we already know deep within us that we belong to Gaia’s Green World.)

My sense is that the people reading this already lead a spiritual life of some kind. But let’s do a quick check to make sure our existing beliefs and practices are attuned with Gaia as well as they could be. (Read my previous posts to flesh out these ideas.)

Does your path/liturgy/doctrine focus solely on the direction Up, and disregard or even denigrate the direction Down? Hmmm…some adjustment may be called for here. [Read more…] about Gaia-Centered Spiritual Practices—Part I