Keeping the Cadence
Cathy Sipes Rich

 l profess my faith to be the celebration of that which is in between birth and death. Life and its journey.

    While on this earth I strive to participate and be a part of that from which I came and to which I will return Through my own evolution I have come to the realization that it is the tangible sensory forms of nature as what sustains me and it is the intangible intellectual connection to the divine as what fulfills me.

    I hold these things precious: My family, my mind and the small portion of the earth under my own two feet. The rhythm of the earth moves me forward and I dance, sometimes with grace, keeping time with the cadence. ❧

My name is Aase Wiborg,
and the Mackerel on my Hat is Immortal.
Aase Wiborg

    My particular kind of Earth-based religion is something like this:

    The place that is most sacred, closest to spirit, is HERE. This earth is not just dirt, or a place to be endured while we strive to be taken to some other, purer, better, more transcendent place after we die or become enlightened or whatever. It is the only home we know for absolutely certain that we have. If we long for our souls to feel happy, then let us make our joy HERE. If we long for our souls to feel free, then let us find freedom HERE. If we ache to feel balance, then let us make little adjustments and celebrate each success HERE. Starting NOW.
     We live in changing times. Some of us have gifts that help to plan for the future; others analyze the past to identify and learn from past mistakes. Neither of those is my particular path on this earth. If i spent my love for this earth on the past or the future, i could so easily lose myself in worry, indignation, fear, and guilt, turning the sharp edges of my mind against myself and my fellow human beings.

All Related

Kurt Talking Stone

l came to Earth Religion through a rather circuitous route, via Zen, Shinto and martial arts, and an extended foray into eclectic Paganism, eventually settling in the Native American practices of the Lakota people.

 . On that path, lies the phrase mitaquye oyasin – “we are all related.” Not just our families and clans, but all the people, the beasts, the land, the stones, the water, every bit of creation is all connected. at extends right down to the sub-atomic level, we, and everything around us, are all made of the same stuff . If you accept that, you come to the understanding that everything we do matters, no one and nothing is unimportant. Every action, every intention, however small, effects the whole.

Connection
Brendan

    For many the term spirituality conjures up thoughts of a connection that can be drawn, however tenuously, with an afterlife that promises a better more perfect place, where only the best aspects of life may be experienced. It may call to mind images of shrines and candle lit altars, of chalices and celebrants in ritual; all serving a higher purpose that we might somehow aspire to reach, separate from the here and now which some consider an unpleasantness to be endured.

With Reverence
Virginia McGrath

    l understand that the Earth, like human kind, embodies electromagnetic pathways that contain life force energy animating and sustaining life. That there is a web of connection between us and our “Mother” who nourishes, supports and encourages all growing things. Is adaptable, changeable, powerful, fertile, solid, energizing, potent, beautiful, kind. She is, like we, an evolving consciousness that responds to human intention. She will listen if you speak to her and speak if you will listen. She has off ered to serve humanity as we should respond in kind to her. She is a living entity deep within the Earth and resurfaces her energy as a massively explosive volcano or as tiny ripples on a lakeside shore.

lt’s the Differences
Dougie Fort

    My view of Earth Spirituality has changed over the years I’ve spent among the Stones. As I’ve healed from the traumas of my past, I’ve come to look at spirituality in a new light. For me, Earth Spirituality represents the vast tapestry of myths, stories, rhythms, and songs that we, who live on this Earth, have developed to define our place in the dance of space and time that is our universe.
    The wisdom that comes from this to guide our future is very simple. We are more alike than different and rather than warring and fighting we should be celebrating both the things we have in common and those that differ. Truly it is the differences between us gives spice to life and makes the journey of discovery interesting. ❧

What’s all this, Zen?
Shulameet (Miriam Benson)

Recently, Orren asked me; if you follow a religion that reveres the Earth, how does your spiritual path aid the planet in this time of ecological crisis? I have been a practicing Wiccan for 30 years and have studied much and achieved several diff erent initiations. However, when I’m asked for my “credentials,” I always reply, “I’m a Discordian adept!” Now, how can that possibly help anyone, let alone the entire planet, one might ask. What good could that do? It’s even a flat out contradiction in terms! Yes, it is and that’s the source from which I draw wisdom.

The Goddess is Coming and is She Pissed!
Juliet Waldron

    Earth Spirituality is a daily practice, a spirit of attention toward all creation. It means embracing silence, giving thanks for all not man-made. It means pausing to worship Mother Earth in all her manifestations many times a day. SEE the tiny yellow flowers of the Witch Hazel in autumn, the spore bloom of orange upon spring’s green moss, the weathered apple tree beneath which I stand and listen to a divine host singing among the blooms, busy performing the miracle they’ve performed since the Cretaceous. Watch clouds and bow humbly before sun rise and set. See how the geese fly, salute their wild songs, kiss a hand to Mother Moon and receive in return Her shivery kiss, curl up to travel the night road with a warm cat close, while a great horned owl chants her ancient ritual in the old maple outside. Hug a tree, hear spring’s sap gurgle and rise, feel the life glowing within rough bark. Let your feet sink roots into Our Mother, and stand until your head fills with light and shakes astral leaves into the sky.