“Oh, what a catastrophe, what a maiming of love when it was made a personal, merely personal feeling, taken away from the rising and setting of the sun, and cut off from the magic connection of the solstice and equinox. This is what is the matter with us. We are bleeding at the roots, because we are cut off from the earth and sun and stars, and love is a grinning mockery, because, poor blossom, we plucked it from its stem on the tree of Life, and expected it to keep on blooming in our civilised vase on the table.” D H Lawrence
Earlier this week I spent a few days on holiday in Arnside with my husband. Arnside is at the mouth of the Kent estuary, at the northern end of Morecambe Bay. After four days of running barefoot on the sand, strolling through ancient Yew and Oak woodland, and scrambling over rocks I felt refreshed and renewed in love – not just with my husband, no, I confess, but also with the earth – this 'green and pleasant' land we live on.
In the neo-pagan wheel of the year, Beltane, at the beginning of May, celebrates the sacred marriage – of the earth goddess and the sun god. May is the month when we witness the great greening as the sun warms the fertile land into lushness. In many ancient cultures, this sacred marriage was replicated by a sacred marriage between the King and the sovereignty Goddess. For example, in Sumer the King, representing the god Dumuzi, entered into a sacred union with the priestess of the goddess Inanna.
In ancient Ireland the King would be crowned at Beltane and the ceremonies would include a ritual marriage between the King and the goddess of the land, practices that continued until the 16th century in Ireland. Crops and livestock would be blessed at Beltane. Vestiges of these fertility rites remain with us today in the traditions of the Maypole dances and the May Queen.
Celtic writer Sharon Blackie says in her
article
“In this sacred marriage, the king swore to uphold and protect the land and his people, and to be true to both; in return Sovereignty, the source of life, granted him the gifts which would help him to keep his oath. But the source of life must be respected. While there is mutual respect between the two partners – between the goddess and the king, between the land and the people, between nature and culture, between feminine and masculine – then all is in harmony and life is filled with abundance. But when the contract is broken, the fertile land becomes the Wasteland. And so it is that today we find ourselves in an ailing world, cut off from our roots. So we find ourselves in a Wasteland of unbelonging; in the throes of a worldwide environmental crisis of our own making which threatens the existence of so many species on this planet.”
The wasteland is now not just an old story, it is becoming a reality in the present. As a result of human disrespect for the land, our soil is becoming infertile. Destructive agricultural practices, such as deforestation, excessive ploughing and pesticide use have degraded our soil to the extent that the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation estimates that we have just an average of 60 more years of growing crops left.
We cannot continue to ignore this, to continue with 'business as usual', with trying to squeeze infinite growth from a planet with finite resources. We have to act fast. I believe that all is not lost, that there are ways for us to live that respect the earth. Organic farming, permaculture, rewilding, can all help restore the fertility our soil and biodiversity. As individuals our sphere of influence is of course limited. We have the power to choose where we spend and invest our money, for example we can support local organic farming, green energy companies, environmental charities. However, change needs to happen on a worldwide scale. Action must be taken by governments, by our leaders. In this too, we do have some influence as individuals, for collectively we choose our leaders and each of us is part of that process.
Large scale, cultural change requires a change in consciousness. Our actions are underpinned by our beliefs. I believe a shift in consciousness in the way we understand our place in the world is starting to happen, that we are waking up to the realisation that we are not separate from the earth and we cannot therefore continue to treat her as an object to be dominated. I believe that the very substance of the earth, her soil, the land we stand on, is key to this transformation. As with any loving relationship, the key to maintaining a healthy connection is to listen to each other.
This year the Manchester Goddess Temple have been holding gatherings celebrating the festivals of the wheel of the year, with a view to connecting with the ancient goddess of this land, known as Mamucia or Mamacunia by the builders of the Roman fort here some two thousand years ago. In our listening to her, the importance of the soil, of the substance of the land itself, has been coming through very strongly.
I believe that recovery of the old stories of the marriage of the king to the goddess of the land can help us heal our relationship with the earth in the present. When we rewild ourselves, when we fall in love with the earth and enter into a sacred union with her, in which we respect her sovereignty and listen to what she is trying to tell us, then our relationship will be harmonious.
Sharon Blackie again, in her book,
If Women Rose Rooted, comments on the story of Gawain and Lady Ragnelle, "In our native myths and stories, Sovereignty represents the creative, regenerative, life-giving feminine principle; when it is balanced by the good masculine – when the goddess of the land enters into a sacred marriage with the true king of the people – then the land is fertile and people safe from harm. In the story, then, Gawain, representing the masculine principle doesn't need to resort to domination and control over the woman who represents the land. He has compassion, courtesy and honour enough to allow Lady Ragnelle to make her own choices and follow her own path; he feels no need to impose his choices upon her. The story shows the feminine principle of Sovereignty being honoured; it also shows the 'good masculine' in practice. The 'good masculine' is essential to the functioning of a healthy, balanced world."
In relation to the earth, humanity is in the position of the masculine – we have the power to abuse the earth, to treat her as an object, or to respect her as the Divine Feminine, who nurtures us. Which will we choose? When we crown our leaders, will they be those who promise to honour the sovereignty of the land?
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