Mother Earth Pages

Spirituality and Activism: 

Last month I discussed the problem of the newcomer to the activist path.  I mentioned the difficulty of how paralyzing that path can be, when faced with the overwhelming problems that we need to overcome to maintain happiness, health, and integrity.  I also discussed the dangers of that path as well. 

This month I am going to try and give some practical suggestions for simplification, which is aimed primarily at the spiritual and metaphysical community.  This does not mean that any non-spiritual individual cannot make use of these suggestions but you will have to modify them to suit your needs.  I think any individual at the end of this article will have the idea enough that with some creativity you can certainly come up with some of your own solutions to this framework of recommendations even if you don't fit the metaphysical paradigm.  . 

I'm going to start with an example of a basic spiritual relationship that most people in metaphysics can relate to.  I'll use a pagan example because it is the easiest to illustrate. 

Wildlife: 

I don't know about anyone else but this is my experience.   When I first started considering activist efforts, I sat down to my computer all gung ho in the beginning and signed up for this and that newsletter, and looked up this and that wildlife organization.  I was going to save the planet by the gods I was!  Then about a week later, I had a pile of ten million papers on my desk, umpteen emails that screamed at me, do this, save that, write this senator, rainforests need your help, the snowy owl is becoming extinct, we need democratic action over here, you presence is requested at this peace march, the miniature Swahili caterpillar from the third asteroid from Mars is in danger and therefore the space birds can't eat, cause the galactic ecosystem is threatened. and we need your donation……… (Hell I can't even pay my phone bill)….and by the way… has anyone seen the last unicorn?  I'm not sure but I thought I saw it walking on my pile of defenders of wildlife printouts on the right hand corner of my desk, but then when I turned to look it had vanished just like half of the rainforest.  How depressing.

Well, I looked at the heap on that desk, and realized this is WAY too big.   I can't do it all, and an overwhelming sense of sadness came down on me.   To address all of these issues would require a full time effort, for 8 hours a day with a paycheck to cover all that territory.  You have to remember you are only one person.   But even so, you can make a difference so start small.  Stick with what you know. Don't panic and don't get depressed. This is where the majority of people quit before they even begin and fall back into the comfort zone of slow suicidal self-destruction for the next several decades and indulge in apathy.  There is a way around this. 

Most pagans have an affinity for either a totem animal or a deity as a general rule.   If you have a totem animal then all the better, as that makes things very simple provided it is not a mythological totem.  If your totem is mythological, you'll have to choose a secondary real animal or modify the choice somehow using one of the following examples after I finish with this one.

Identify you spirit totem and start with that.   Lets take the most obvious.  Many people in the new age have a thing about their Wolf totem.  Probably a good 70% of pagans have a wolf thing going on with their altars at home.  If this spiritual being has given you so much over the years of your involvement with it, now is the time to give back.   Focus on Wolf conservation programs.   There are many organizations out there that do nothing but save Wolves, educate people about Wolves, and study them.  There are organizations that spend their entire time preparing wolves for reintroduction to eco-systems such as Yellowstone National Park and the like.  There are people out there who do nothing but become involved in organizations that are designed to educate and work with cattle ranchers to come up with cooperative solutions for the problems wolves cause to their livestock, which justify the trapping and shooting of them in many areas around the nation.  If the wolf is your totem, get involved.  

If every person on the planet did the ONE thing they do best, can you imagine how much more enlightened this planet would be?   Not only are you helping to save the environment, your practicing magical skill because you're learning focus and follow through which is essential to all magical success in any tradition.  To spread yourself so thin that your treading water is getting nowhere fast and doing no good to yourself or anyone.  Your cannot try to force yourself into something you can't relate to.   That’s very important.   If your affinity is with a certain animal or species, plant or otherwise, then you will not have the emotional inspiration to follow through with trying to work on a rescue project for a species you cannot relate to as easily.   When you try to do it all, you get burned out.   You have no satisfaction or victories for your efforts when you bombard yourself with overwhelming dire needs from all directions. 

This is another EXCELLENT way to develop a much deeper relationship to your own spiritual totem.  You learn about it mythically, shamanistically but now you also learn about it biologically and see it for what it really is in the real live world.  The Wolf romantic as it is, is not always the gentle beautiful creature we see in a calendar.  It is a predator.  It does things very naturally in its life that humans have a difficult time understanding or relating to.  This is an area of reality in my personal opinion that much of paganism is seriously lacking in proper understanding of.  If you're going to work with an animal totem, you're going to have to learn one way or the other about its dark and oftentimes predatorial side.  The more consciously you can do this, the better off you'll be and the less likely you'll end up short circuiting through a lack of understanding of the totem you claim as part of your magic bag of tricks.  You'll begin to understand more of what your dealing with when it comes time to invoke or appease such a spiritual guide if you take the time to look in the face in Malkuth, (the physical plane of existence) instead of always seeing it as part of the astral.   I've come to discover that sometimes paganism and Wicca in particular has a desperate need to run away from reality at all the wrong times, just when science and common sense is needed the most.

Deities: 

For those of you who do not have an animal totem, you may discover that in fact you might, but don't know it.  If you worship or set up shrine to a particular deity, there is a very excellent chance that the deity of your choice has its own totem.  Many mythological deities and god forms have their own unique totems.  These totems are either plant, mineral, animal, or magical.  Its also possible you have a male and a female deity that you have magical relationship to, which means your totems are very likely two-fold as they will each have their own different totems.   You may have a little more work to do. 

There are a few very good books out on the shelves these days that can assist you in researching you deity's totems if you do not know what they are.  I will give a list of recommended books at the end of this article for your continuing research in this area.

 This is another excellent way to pick and choose where to begin in your ecological contribution to saving Mother Earth.  In much the very same way you can simply proceed as explained above.  In this case however you may discover that the totems are not always animal.  Don't worry, there are plenty of botanical plants and trees that need saving and there just as many political issues over mineral rites if you're into stone magic.  I guarantee you that whatever your natural affinity is, there is something out there that matches it very closely that needs your help.  If there isn't, then educate yourself on that subject and start it yourself and get the word out.  Maybe that spirit totem is waiting desperately for YOU to help it out because no one has yet. 

Elementals: 

Perhaps you are not far enough along in your relationship to these traditions yet to have a totem or an archetypal deity standing on your altar.  Most people however do have an affinity for one of the four elements.  This is another easy place to start. 

Now in magical tradition it is usually wise to focus on the element that your personality is WEAKEST in, so that you can become more psychologically balanced.  That’s ok for MAGICAL work, and if you're up for a challenge you can try that ecologically in your activist pursuits.  I think however that in the beginning for efficiency sake, you may take the path of least resistance here and focus (in the activist arena) on the element you feel the strongest association with as a favorite.  This is because this is your comfort zone.  It's where you usually WANT to be, and in activism, it helps to have an emotional attachment to your rescue project in order to be loyal to it.  If you try and work in the element you are weakest in for this particular case, you may be hindered in your progress and discover your having resentments, and its more of a chore, then something you are willing to do.  So unless your UP TO THAT, and there most certainly is value in facing that challenge, save the balancing chores for the inner magical work and utilize your favorite element for the outer environmental work.   Later on you can integrate the opposites when you start to develop a better relationship to the polarity of your preferred element.

If you're not sure what element you are weak or strong in, the easiest thing to do is consult an astrologer of your choice to get a basic reading of your horoscope.  The birth chart will tell you at a quick glance what your elemental make up is.  The four basic elements and their brief psychological attributes are as follows:

Fire: Will and Strength

Water:  Emotions and Dreams (the subconscious mind)

Air:  Mind and intellect

Earth :  physical manifestation and stability.

If you know yourself fairly well you can get an idea of what you probably are stronger or weaker in just by referring to that list.   Take the element of your choosing and go with it. 

A Fire person might be interested in learning more about the ecology of fire science in forestry and assisting to educate people in these areas, and focus activist's interest here in conjunction with the many issues that come up in the logging and forestry industries.   Control burning, fertilization, and all of these processes that go into fire science are incredibly important and fascinating things to know when saving eco-systems.  There is also the industrial pollution side of things that always needs attention.  You might consider studying reptiles as well since they are very intimately connected to the fire element magically speaking

A water person will find no lack of things to save in the ocean among plant and marine life.  Water pollution involving both city and oceans.  Drinking water, dams and rivers that are endangered.  You name it; with a little creativity you can find an avenue in your element that you can work with in activism.

An air person can focus on air quality and again industrial pollution.  Also bird and insect life.  There are monstrous issues out there such as HAARP which is a huge electromagnetic disaster waiting to happen in Alaska that messes up air waves and scrambles the aura of the earth, interfering with migration patterns of birds and the like.  That is plenty of things that fall under the category of air related political issues that need dire attention.  Communications, networking for organizations and brainstorming are all needed to keep things moving.  Navy testing of sonar sound waves, which kills whales and marine life, is another example of a critical issue that needs to be addressed.  Pesticides and air born dangers.  The list goes on. 

An earth person can focus on anything on the planet, but to narrow it down, plant life and mineral life.  Forestry.  Mining.  There are a lot of political issues as already mentioned involving mineral rights battles especially around Native American sacred land and shrines.  Contamination with Uranium, Plutonium and the like. Nuclear power plants.   Fund raising also falls under this category.  All of these people need money to win their battles in court.  If you have strong earthly qualities and resources and skills for manifesting what is needed you could be an invaluable asset in fund raising efforts for any and all kinds of eco minded groups or organizations.   Genetic alteration of natural plants is another issue.  You could spend a whole lifetime chasing the tail of

Monsanto, which is one of the largest most corrupt corporations on the face of the planet who has a monopoly on agriculture in this country. 

The non-, metaphysical path:   

If you belong to this category and you do not have deities or totems that you relate to, then some modification of these suggestions is in order.  You can start with a real simple rule of thumb.  What's your favorite animal?  And go from there.   Figure out the ways in which what you love most fits in with what you are able to contribute to. 

 As already mentioned earlier, if every person did what they do best without having to force themselves into something they really are not pleased with doing, what an incredible world this might be.  Maybe your connection to the earth has more to do with freeing yourself from self- imposed or socially imposed restrictions that go against who you really are.   Maybe it's your time to find who YOU really are and investigate the things in the natural world that have meaning to you.    Perhaps you will discover (if this is a relevant statement to you) that the world of appearances is no longer for you.  Keeping up with the Jones's maybe is not so important after all.  Perhaps the ways in which you contribute to the earth will lead you to your own personal liberation.  A walk on the beach, a stroll in the park, a day of bird watching, or any other activity you find peace in, may be all it takes to spark your motivation to assist in maintaining the integrity of the earth.