Ritual – Gaia Speaking

We are living in challenging times. The systems and culture we have created in our world are showing themselves for the destructive force they are for our planet. Increasing consumption, coupled with population increases means that our human species’ use of resources exceeds the Earth’s capacity by an increasing margin year on year. Today we need around 1.75 planets to provide the resources to meet our demand for consumption and to absorb our waste. According to WWF, by 2050, or even sooner, this will have increased to the need for 2 planets, ‘borrowing nature’ from future generations.

Many of us feel the burden of the irreversible loss of eco-systems, degradation of soils, loss of wild places, pollution of fresh water, and other ecological losses, and experience feelings of deep grief, coupled often with regret for our own lifestyle practices that have contributed towards this.

For others there is continued and growing anxiety about the trajectory the human species is currently following, and further losses that are feeling inevitable- including runaway climate change and species extinctions, even the fear of our own extinction. For many there is a growing feeling of urgency, coupled with the pain of feeling somehow paralysed or powerless.

As we see war unfold again in the Middle East this week, and violence and suffering continuing in many countries across the world, including South Sudan and Ethiopia, the sense of despair and helplessness can feel extremely acute.

Here in South Africa, these feelings of grief and anxiety, present themselves on top of extreme societal ‘complex trauma’, a traumatic history that for many remains unprocessed and unresolved. The adverse living conditions of many South Africans, extreme poverty (currently 45% of South Africa’s population) and extreme inequality (the richest 10% hold 71% of the wealth), compounds this trauma.

All of this can feel extremely distressing and overwhelming.

It’s no surprise it feels this way. The planet Earth is our home, our place of shelter, our provider of all that we need. When we see her change and come under stress, it’s only natural to grieve and to feel concerned. Our fellow people are our brothers and sisters and we all have the capacity to show and receive compassion, deeply rooted in our mammalian instinct of caring.

“We are capable of suffering with our world, and that is the true meaning of compassion. It enables us to recognize our profound interconnectedness with all beings.” – Joanna Macy

And yet, there’s also something much deeper here. All of the losses, the trauma, the destruction, the pain we cause, results from a narrative that still governs our thinking and actions, in a deeply subconscious way – the story of separation. A deep-rooted separation, that stretches back over centuries, from our very selves and our true nature, from each other and from the Earth. This worldview that we exist as individuals, separate from all other individuals and from all other beings in nature, has ripped apart the fabric of what it means to be fully human, and to feel our full belonging first and foremost as members of the Earth community, and to live in the truest sense of ‘Ubuntu’. For many of us, this separation is where our deep grief originates, and it is through holding this grief in community that we will be able to find our way back home.

Grief is not typically invited in our society. The typical response is rather to numb our feelings, finding ways to distract ourselves so we don’t feel the pain. Yet deep grief is a way for us to be present for the world, and to come into our full authentic power to make and support change, with no pretense that we can carry on the way that we are.

“Don’t ever apologize for crying for the trees burning in the Amazon or over the waters polluted from mines in the Rockies. Don’t apologize for the sorrow, grief, and rage you feel. It is a measure of your humanity and your maturity. It is a measure of your open heart, and as your heart breaks open there will be room for the world to heal.” – Joanna Macy

We invite you to join us for a series of Truth Rituals, based on the Work That Reconnects by Buddhist Scholar and Earth Elder, Joanna Macy, and adapted to suit our South African context. These Truth Rituals will be held outdoors in sacred spaces and are open to all. Through coming together and expressing our rage, fear, despair and emptiness, we will find our way back to our hearts and to a way of living in right relation with ourselves, all other beings, and our home planet Earth.

Join us on Sunday 22nd October: 9am – 11.30am for our first ritual of this series, at a very special sacred site – All Seeing Pyramid Rock, Blackhill. Meeting point is at the car park near the top (Sunvalley side) of the Glencairn Expressway and we will all move towards the site together. For more information and bookings please contact us on 061 864 6799 or gaiaspeaking@gmail.com. Recommended donation: R200 – R300

On 20 March here in the Southern Hemisphere we celebrated Mabon, or the Autumn Equinox. Hosted by the Center, a beautiful venue in Noordhoek, we gathered to celebrate and offer our prayers.

Altar created by Luciana do Cabo, with gratitude

Like all sacred times, the Equinox is a perfect time to reflect on our inner spiritual work. Because we are a reflection of the universe surrounding us, what takes place outside must also occur within us.

This time of year, as we move from summer to autumn, is the time of Harvest. The Earth, by this time of year, has given us everything. Fruits, grains, and vegetables. Now, tired and withered, she lies down to rest. At this time, we can give thanks for the abundance of the Earth, and all that she provides. Equally it is an opportunity to reflect on the abundance in each of our lives, and all the things we can be grateful for. It is an opportunity to turn within and to reflect on what gifts, strengths, experiences and skills we can harvest and take forwards with us into the darker months.

What are you grateful for? What life lessons have helped you learn and grow? What can you harvest internally that may be supportive in the coming months?

The Equinox, both Autumn and Spring, is the only time when both the northern and southern hemispheres experience roughly equal amounts of daytime and night-time. These are the days when the sun is exactly above the equator making day and night equal in length. Equinox is a Latin word that means ‘equal night; – It is the time of equal day and night.

Energetically, the Autumn Equinox is a time of balance and pause, a transitional moment between the bright half of the year and the dark half of the year. This time brings the light and darkness to the front together, neither one preceding nor following the other. Spiritual guidance can be taken from this rhythm of nature. The Autumn Equinox is a perfect time to consider and invite balance into your life – shadow and light, inner and outer, masculine and feminine, the dance between ego and Soul.

Take a moment to slow down and listen inwardly. Is there something your body is asking you for? In which areas of life do you need to re-find balance?

To think of the Equinoxes and Solstices in terms of a life, the year is “born” on the winter solstice, matures at the spring equinox, and reaches the prime of life at the summer solstice. The autumnal equinox marks the descent into old age, and, finally, the moment of the winter solstice marks simultaneous death and rebirth, starting the cycle anew.

And so, from a spiritual growth perspective, Autumn is about endings, as reflected in our natural environment, with the trees losing their leaves and plants dying off. It’s all a very natural process. And so the Autumn is also a time to descend into one’s own darkness. Darkness, when ignored and exiled, grows and takes over. But when given the opportunity to be worked with and exposed, provides an opportunity for growth once the light returns.

Autumn is a time to feel into the areas of your life that need to be let go of, consider what no longer serves you, gets in your way, and needs to wither. Remember—we all have leaves, of a sort. For a time, they gather energy unto us, but at a certain point, they no longer serve us. They lose their chlorophyll, turn brown, wither, and must be released. As you watch those earthly leaves fall to the ground to nourish the next generation of nature, consider your own leaves.

What do you need to let go? Are you allowing for this release or are you hanging on to the dead?

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to celebrate these ceremonies of the ‘Wheel of the Year’, an annual cycle of seasonal festivals that were celebrated by our foremothers and fathers. As we find ourselves in the midst of ecological chaos, one of the most potent ways for us to find ways to come back into balance with the earth is to reconnect to her seasons and cycles, honouring these, as we learn to tune in, celebrate and adapt to her natural cycles. Happy Equinox everyone.

Tag: Ritual

Good Grief: Truth Rituals for Our Times

Celebrating Mabon, the Autumn Equinox