Tending the Soul of the Earth

A version of this article first appeared in the December 2012 newsletter, but it remains timely! Enjoy.

The idea of “tending the soul of the Earth” was first brought to my attention at the 2012 Science and Nonduality (SAND) conference in San Rafael, California. In several of his talks, Sufi teacher Llewellyn Vaughn-Lee stressed something I had never fully considered up to that point: that the challenge of climate change is something that must be tackled not only on a physical level, but on a spiritual level as well.

This concept also brings together several key points that I make in Active Consciousness :

In his lectures, Vaughn-Lee stresses that environmentalists have been missing the role of the Earth’s soul in their battle to stem the tide of climate change. While it is clear that the body of the Earth is suffering and changing around us, and that we humans are a part of and even probably the primary cause of this change on a physical level, the soul of the Earth has also been crying and suffering as well. Indeed, what is cause and what is effect?

There was a time when humanity was exquisitely tuned in to the magic and soul of the Earth. Every tree, every storm, every sowing and reaping of the harvest, was imbued with spiritual meaning. Native people understood their spiritual relationship with the animals and plants around them. We blessed, thanked, and asked forgiveness for our interactions with and intrusions upon our fellow Earthers, both animate and inanimate. We understood that a balance had to be kept.

With the coming of the enlightenment and the rise of science came materialism and the complete disenchantment of the Earth. Many of us may not have forgotten our own souls, but we have definitely forgotten about the souls of the Earth and our fellow creatures. We ‘thing’ed them. And as we know from the fields of war and humanity’s holocausts, when we ‘thing’ someone or something, we feel free to destroy it. It is soulless to us. It is no more than a machine. It is merely matter, not soul.

But just because we do this ‘thinging’ in our minds does not make it true. The Earth and everything in it does possess a soul. To help our Earth, we must not only heal its body, we must also heal it on an energetic or soul level. Just as energy medicines like homeopathy and acupuncture and Reiki tell us, it is actually on this energy level that true disease originates and where true healing must occur. In fact, after healing at the energy level, physical healing usually follows. While completely healing the Earth on a physical level now seems almost impossible, leaving us in a greater and greater state of despair and hopelessness, perhaps there is still hope for healing the soul of the Earth. And if we do so, who knows what healing effects on the physical level may ensue? Indeed, this might be the precise “magic ingredient” or approach that we need to pursue for success.

That’s where each of us comes in. Each of us is part of the Earth holon. By healing ourselves we may be able to heal the Earth. By re-enchanting the pieces, we can begin to re-enchant the whole. You can start today in your own home, in your own backyard, in your own neighborhood. Bless your food. Talk to your plants. Thank your trees and hug them. Feel the energy of your flower garden and commune with it. Sense the soul of your street and send healing energy throughout your neighborhood. Sense the stresses and joys within your dwelling. Create a ceremony for the healing of your home energy. Tune into any intuitions about changes that may help ease tensions or contractions.

If each of us heals the soul of the small space around us, the healing of the whole can begin. And who knows? If we tend to the healing of the soul of the Earth, the body of the Earth may begin to respond as well. As above, so below! As below, so above!