Modern science has observed and acknowledged that our planet, earth, has developed
life in which the constituent life forms work together harmoniously with the planet
to ensure a balanced state suitable for continence of life. The Earth therefore acts
like a single living being. This is a surprising affirmation of the wisdom passed
down through the pagan traditions. We call Gaia by many names, but the ancients always
knew her as ‘Mother Earth’, a goddess that nurtures us and makes life possible, and
with whom we must live in harmony and balance.
The wise teachings of our ancestors were spot on. They are not ‘out of date’, but
in fact have never been more relevant than today.
Some people will not accept the retelling of the Earth Mother in spiritual terms,
we acknowledge this and understand why. This page is for those new to the Mother
Goddess, who need to see and hear the scientists speaking about her in the language
Quoting from www.gaiatheory.org
"Indigenous peoples around the world have, for ages, recognized and celebrated a
living planet in their mythology. And even we in the modern Western culture have
not lost it altogether. It is preserved in the feelings that arise within us when
we eat good food or view a beautiful landscape, and in our language with phrases
such as 'Mother Earth.' Scientists are calling this ancient concept the Gaia theory,
and there is strong and mounting scientific evidence that our Earth as a whole behaves
as if it were one giant organism. A living, breathing being from which we take our
life and breath."
"This new, yet ancient story gives us eyes to see that we are parts of a greater
whole. Our destiny is not dependent merely on what we do for ourselves but also on
what we do for the Earth. If we endanger her, she will dispense with us in the interests
of a higher value - Life itself. What makes this story so inspiring? One simple thing:
it reminds us of what we have long suspected, of what we have long projected into
our forgotten myths and what perhaps has always lain dormant within us. That is,
the awareness of our being anchored in the Earth and the universe, the awareness
that we are not alone nor here for ourselves alone, but that we are an integral part
of something greater than ourselves."*
Sunopsis of the theory:
“The Gaia Theory posits that the organic and inorganic components of Planet Earth
have evolved together as a single living, self-regulating system. It suggests that
this living system has automatically controlled global temperature, atmospheric content,
ocean salinity, and other factors, that maintains its own habitability. In a phrase,
“life maintains conditions suitable for its own survival.” In this respect, the living
system of Earth can be thought of analogous to the workings of any individual organism
that regulates body temperature, blood salinity, etc. So, for instance, even though
the luminosity of the sun – the Earth’s heat source – has increased by about 30 percent
since life began almost four billion years ago, the living system has reacted as
a whole to maintain temperatures at levels suitable for life.
The Gaia theory was developed in the late 1960’s by Dr. James Lovelock, a British
Scientist and inventor, shortly after his work with NASA in determining that there
was probably no life on Mars. His research led to profound new insights about life
on Earth. The theory gained an early supporter in Lynn Margulis, a microbiologist
at the University of Massachusetts. In the past 15-20 years, many of the mechanisms
by which Earth self-regulates have been identified. As one example, it has been shown
that cloud formation over the open ocean is almost entirely a function of the metabolism
of oceanic algae that emit a large sulfur molecule (as a waste gas) that becomes
the condensation nuclei for raindrops. Previously, it was thought that cloud formation
over the ocean was a purely chemical/physical phenomenon. The cloud formation not
only helps regulate Earth’s temperature, it is an important mechanism by which sulfur
is returned to terrestrial ecosystems.”
The following videos will help explain further:
The video on the left although unconventionally presented, by an animated speaker,
none the less illustrates perfectly what the Gaia theory is all about.
Today it is no secret that our self regulating planetary conditions for maintaining
life are in jeopardy. We have gathered together some short video’s by top scientists
to explain in their own words why. We did not produce any of these video’s ourselves,
they are freely available and you may find these and others like them on-line. What
is utterly shocking given the seriousness of their message is how few people have
Dr Steven Harding
At the heart of the Druid tradition is Animism, that is to say that all things are
beings who are interconnected.
Everything has value and has purpose, every being belongs. The spirit of Mother Earth
includes our human spirit, and our human spirit is part of Mother Earth. We must
respect and live in harmony with our fellow beings.
Summing up, here is one man who through a deep understanding and scientific exploration
of Gaia, is now awakened also to the value of the ancient wisdom and of bringing
these two wisdoms back together.
OK so we’ve heard from a highly respected ecologist.
What does the world of Mathematics have to say about the way we are currently living,
given that a ‘healthy’ mature capitalist economy looks towards achieving around 3.5
% annual growth. Currently China and India as fast emerging super economies are realising
7 % growth even during global recession.
The next speaker is
What can we do to save the future?
We must take action now and in very large numbers to insist upon change
We must be peaceful in order to be united in the action that we take
We must accept responsibility :
This includes embracing a new way of being
Controlling and reducing the human population
Harmonising with Mother Earth
Being at peace with one another
Some scientists already believe that it is too late for us to stop climate change
leading to catastrophic failure of our ability to feed 5/6ths of the earths population
by the end of this century. James Lovelock, the man who originally presented the
Gaia Hypothesis is among those who foresee’s a very bleak outlook.
We do not agree that it is hopeless. We do believe that the time to change is NOW.
The spiritual accord is one way that we as spiritual people can help bring about
change. If the spiritual communities of the world each acknowledge the problem and
the sacred duty to protect Mother Earth then potentially billions of people will
come to demand and accept the necessary changes at the same time.