As a community, we have officially declared April 22 to be Earth Day. On this day, many of us will participate in an activity designed to connect us with taking care of our planet. Earth Day was established in 1970 and achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, business and labor, city dwellers and farmers. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts. Earth Day is the largest civic event in the world, celebrated simultaneously around the globe by people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities. If we don’t take care of the planet, she cannot take care of us. And we are all in this together!
A childhood immersed in the world of Mother Nature, I grew up in Connecticut on four acres of woods. Tall and mighty oaks, graceful maples, stunning white birches formed a canopy where I played with the fairies amidst the lady slippers and moss of the forest floor. Our property overlooked a salt-water river where I swam off the dock and dangled bait to catch the crabs and fish. Seasons in New England offered a taste of the grand buffet of abundance offered by our Earth. The colors alone are beyond magnificent – from the green showcase of spring awakening; the brilliant blue of summer’s glorious skies; the outrageous red landscape of fall; to the quiet surrender of winter’s blanket of white. I watched the birds fly south in the grey skies and then listened to their joyful song when they returned to their ancestral home. The serpents displayed an array of patterns which taught me to distinguish those who could cause me harm. Squirrels, raccoons, deer, rabbits, chipmunks, skunks shared my world along with cats, dogs and horses. The animals taught me about life and death; instinct and survival. I learned about collective consciousness when I watched the ants build and defend their homes. The North Star was a guiding light in the heavens. I chewed on sweet grasses, drank nectar from the honeysuckle vines and feasted on the wild raspberries. I spit watermelon seeds into the fertile earth of the garden and watched the vines appear. I wandered in solitude in the woods and along the shore and I knew that I was a part of it all. One.
It’s not surprising that my spiritual path is the way of the Shaman. A Shaman acts on behalf of humanity to foster harmony and balance with Nature. We dream the world into being for the good of all concerned. There is a reverence for Earth and an attunement with the cycles of the seasons, the sun, the moon and the cosmic energies. Initiated as a Pampa Mesayoq, I practice being in alignment with caring for the environment. Honoring Pachamama, our mother and all her creatures – the two-legged, the four-legged, the creepy crawlers, the plant people, the stone people, the furred, the finned, the winged ones, all of our relations – matters because it is a reverence for life.
My message for Earth Day is this: We are one. We are connected. Do something nice for your Mother! She gives you everything you need, including life itself! When you honor her, you honor your life. And most importantly, you honor your children and your children’s children. You make a statement that your action is a belief in the future. Come into right relationship with your true mother, Mother Earth, Mother Nature, Gaia, Pachamama, Parvati, Terra, the Cosmic Mother. Earth Day is something to celebrate Every Day.