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TechnoratiThe Century of The Rights of Mother Earth
Perhaps the most impressive statement in the speech of the President of Bolivia Evo Morales Ayma to the General Assembly of the U.N. on April 22nd, when that date was proclaimed the International Day of Mother Earth, was: "If the 20th Century is recognized as the century of human rights; individual, social, economic, political and cultural, the 21st Century will be known as the Century of the Rights of Mother Earth, of the animals, plants, all living creatures and all beings, whose rights must also be respected and protected."
We now stand before a new paradigm, centered in the Earth and in life. We are no longer mired in anthropocentrism, which failed to recognize the intrinsic value of each being, independent of the use we made of it. A clear awareness is growing, that everything that exists deserves to exist, and that everything that lives deserves to live.
We must therefore broaden our concept of democracy, as a biocracy, or sociocosmic democracy, because every element of nature, each at its own level, forms a part of human sociability. Would our cities still be human without the plants, the animals, the birds, the rivers, and pure air?
We now know through the new cosmology that all beings possess more than mass and energy. They are also carriers of information, with a history. They become complex and create orders that comport a certain level of subjectivity. It is this scientific basis that justifies the widening of the juridical personhood of all beings, especially of the living.
Michel Serres, the French philosopher of science, fittingly affirmed: "The Declaration of the Rights of Man had the merit of saying ‘all men have rights' but its defect was in thinking that ‘only men have rights'." Only through much struggle are the rights of the indigenous, of the Afro-descendants, and of women gaining full recognition. Similarly, it will require a great deal of effort for the rights of nature, of the eco-systems and of Mother Earth, to gain recognition.
Just as we developed the concept of citizenship, the government of Jorge Viana in the State of Acre, Brazil, coined a word, florestania, for the way of life in which the rights of the forest are affirmed and guaranteed.
President Morales requested that the U.N. issue a Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, whose principal topics would be: the right to life of all living beings; the right of the Planet to the regeneration of its biocapacity; the right to a pure life, because Mother Earth has the right to live free of contamination and pollution; and the right to harmony and equilibrium with and among all things. And we would add, the right to connect with the Whole of which we are part.
This vision shows us how far we have come from the capitalist conception, of which we have been hostages for centuries, and according to which the Earth is seen as a mere instrument of production, without purpose, a reservoir of resources to be exploited at our pleasure. We lacked the perception that the Earth is truly our Mother. And the Mother must be respected, venerated and loved.
This is what the President of the General Assembly, Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, stated at the closing of the session: "It is very right that we, brothers and sisters, take good care of Mother Earth because, when all is said and done, she nourishes and sustains us." For that reason, he appealed to everyone to pay close attention to the original peoples. In contrast to the violent robbery of the agro-industries operating all over the Earth, and in spite of all the pressures on them, they keep alive the connection with nature and with Mother Earth, and produce in consonance with her rhythms and with the possible capacity of endurance of each ecosystem.
The decision to welcome the celebration of the International Day of Mother Earth is more than a symbol. It is a total change in our relationship with the Earth, fleeing from the dominant pattern that can lead us, if we do not make profound transformations, towards self-destruction.
Free translation from the Spanish by sent by Melina Alfaro, done at REFUGIO DEL RIO GRANDE, Texas
50 Comments so far
Show AllDear friends, how can you expect that a world arbitrarily chopped up into 'nations', fighting for unevenly distributed resources that are running dry will ever be able to manage ecology? This is not even sensible! Starry-eyed dreams of traming viscious capitalism will only lead to disaster.
We need to see reformists (certainly including the 'theologian' Boff) for what they are - treacherous impediments to progress. The ONLY known way to break the vile and violent paradigm of imperialism is world communism, which can only be brought to life through a dictatorship of the proletarian. The Russian revolution of 1917 is our university for what needs to be done. In short, if you want universal peace, sustainability, equality and affluence, you must build the party of this revolution.
We have "Mothers Day", but sadly there is no "Mother Earth Day". There is no day for Gaia in whole yearly calender. The biosphere is so blatently ignored and is being devestated and it is devestating for our species chances of survival.
On mothers day, my family and related got together for a lunch, had lots of food, and hopefully a good time was had by all. There was no observance of even the Christian form of "Grace", that once was seriously said before meals, before tucking more food into our over fed bodies.
No person, religion or government that I know of, has regularly consecrated a whole single day to mother earth. Not a single Holy Day, not even a holiday. Prove me wrong. All you many faiths of Christians, Buddhists, Jews, Hindus, Muslims,and Zionists (Possibly not a real religion), and all of your multifold warring and killing sects. The Sabbath may give some respite to mother earth, but not out of respect. Show the world how you worship and respect the real provider for all life. If not, then your human sect is a religion of self service and death for mother earth.
Please let there be a mother earth day, and let us celebrate it not by simply feasting,or carousing, or shallow conventional sentimental tokens, supposedly to show our thanks to the mothers of our families. Why not show a deep respect for Mother Earth? Can our rapist activities stop for a single day? Can we reflect on what we are and where we have come from?
Sioux Rose
B3NIGN: It's part of the worldwide patriarchal cults that dishonor THE MOTHER, and steal all HER assets and then trade them on the basis of the utlimate dishonest form of derivative/collateral: paper money. When I think of all those trillions being printed "hot off the Federal Reserve Press" and how they will be used to cash out more of the irreplaceable priceless resources being traded the way some societies toss their sisters and daughters to be used by soldiers for a pittance. There is no grace because religions DISHONOR the feminine side of the Deity, or Source. The circle is a model that has NO sides and the Zodiac, based upon it, suggests 12 co-equal governing principles intended for our world. IF all are held in balance and equally respected, we would not have war raging because Mars would not be alloted the lion's share of any society's wealth just to make weapons to destroy their neighbors' wealth (not to mention bodies and resources). Until human beings come to understand the degree to which their unquestioned belief systems (most of these emerging from religion, but of course made full use of by elites and dark authoritarian powers of state) cause conflictful rather than harmonious relationships, all remedies will be bandaids that fail to reach CAUSE or alter the deadly paradigms now operating at "maximum play speed."
Sometimes I miss my once rural Loudoun County, VA which is nowadays more of a suburban sprawl. I could move to another rural area further west or south but then I'd have a much longer distance to travel to work as if travelling 30 miles east to Washington isn't bad enough. There needs to be some way to educate our children in schools about the need to respect mother earth even more than ever though I know corporate America won't let that in very easy. Despite the sprawl, my husband and I are still able to enjoy breezy days as if we're at the sea. Perhaps we will have to make the best of what's left of the natural beauty out there.
great story, wonderful ideas of Evo.
i have been writing down all the books, and i'm sure they have a lot to teach.
Still I feel called upon to mention that Indigenous people have known and understood themselves a part of Mother Earth for hundreds of thousands of years. And have always known how to listen to the Earth, the rivers and trees and animals and plants. This ancient beautiful knowledge was never written, because it was told from generation to generation. Plant medicine was known by the women who gathered plants, and knew all their gifts better than any botanist.
so it is a beautiful moment - the best this century i think- when the first Indigenous head of state stands before the u.n. and introduces the "civilized" world to the deep spirituality of Mother Earth, and of his people.
Sioux Rose
ABUELO: Right on! I believe we carry soul memory although enculturation into the present incarnation aided and abetted by so much forced instruction and discouragement of sensitive introspection (not to mention what dreams reveal) on the part of parents, schools, and "the programmers" disable that memory. Nonetheless, I have always had the ability to connect to nature and "hear" it speak to me. If, for instance, we experienced previous Indigenous lifetimes where we bonded profoundly with the earth and its creatures, that sentience continues as an aspect of present character and sensibility. Ironically, there are probably some who are born into Indigenous families today who hate that lifestyle and can't wait to rush to some urban city to eke out their prospective fortune, while a white girl like me has always felt the connection to the Indigenous and hated growing up in a home where windows were shut air tight against the elements. (I still argue with friends about this. Just about every friend I visit closes windows and either runs AC unnecessarily on cool, breezy nights, or heat, when the opposite cooling factors are available.)
There's a line in one of my favorite films, "My Dinner with Andre," where Andre's dinner guest mentions sleeping with his electric blanket that he adores. Andre says indignantly, "How can you cut yourself off from something as profound as the changes of season?" It is this disabled sentience that operates on far too many scientists disconnecting them from the larger POWERS all around them. Some contest the writing of Carlos Casteneda but I don't believe imagination alone can account for all that his books reflect as a sort of diary/journal of contacts with "power." Or as Shakespeare put forth centuries ago, "There are more things in heaven and earth than dreamt of in your philosophy, Horatio." There are far more Horatios than Hamlets these days!
One of my favorite Shakespeare quotes. : )
This is a good thing and I look forward to looking into the books that are listed here but is has been said that whoever or whomever can destroy something(the environment, eco-systems, gaia) then they control it.
And it is not just the 'elite' and their corporations and as Souix Rose so elegantly termed it, "Chicago School Remedies", that are doing their dead level best to scrape the earth to the core for their selfish benefits and damn the others.
It is all of us exercising that control for survival reasons and as good and hopeful as these books listed here are sure to be, I just cannot get Donella Meadow, Jorgen Randers and Dennis Meadows books off my mind on their research called 'Limits to Growth' which details rather well the effects of the ecological footprint of 6.8 billion people on our planet.
So much so, they claim that even before 2000 the planet has been basically over harvested by about 20%, meaning that 20% more of renewable resources are now being taken from the planet where the sources are running out and the sinks are filling up with the wastes.
Science has helped maintain a fix but if the human population is not contained and controlled the planet will revolt and that will not be pretty.
Given the number of people, particularly in the USA, who call themselves Christians and who claim to follow the bible, some more benign translations of the bible for the current times are clearly needed.
The binary religious syndrome of control, dominate, subdue (and kill, of course) as preached by Genesis "Go ye forth and subdue the earth" is a sizable roadblock to any path treating the planet with anything approaching care, let alone reverence.
Perhaps a Bible version 1.1 could undergo discussion in ecumenical circles? No, I thought not.
The problem is we the people have been shoved into the big cities and suburbs while the rest of the land, rural as can be, was privatized to bring out the worst. Like spreading the jelly over the pancakes, perhaps we need to even out the population density. Only then will the chances for humanity respecting mother earth be better.
Loudoun County, VA where I live at used to be rural just a decade ago and nowadays it's so full of suburban sprawl. Some rural areas like mine have become more like exurbs and even suburban sprawl. It's hard to say if evenly spreading out the population will necessarily work well. The suburban sprawl in my area as well as in St Louis County where you described the ongoing sprawl pretty much makes it harder to prove that it will work well. I do agree though that too much population packing isn't a healthy idea either.
Don't forget the Farmers Market. We recently visited friends in Boulder, Colorado who took us on a walk to their local community garden. Every one who has a plot there lives in the city and works full time at day or night jobs. They find the time in the mornings and/or evenings to come tend their little plots. It's amazing and encouraging to see how much fresh food is being produced in a small empty field in the middle of the city.
There was a wonderful Tajikistani tea house we went to and had an amazing dinner. The food came from a farm in the city owned by the restaurant. It goes to show that even in the city one can tend a garden and eat healthy. In fact, even though I live in the sticks, I sometimes admire my city dwelling brethren. They rarely need to hop in a car. Perhaps concentrating humans isn't such a bad idea. If we were spread out too much we'd cover too much land and have to drive further.
I've heard we could stick the entire human population in Texas and have about an acre of land for each individual. I cannot verify the validity of that estimate however. Peace!!
Sioux Rose
The best way to defuse/deflate/disable MARS rules is to honor, respect, and invest in Venus which IS one manifestation of the Earth as Mother. The nations of South America, several of which survived the "Chicago School Remedies" are now demonstrating to the world a Renaissance of more holistic values, where more citizens share the benefits of their nations' assets. The south is rising!
Hey Sioux Rose, check this out:
http://www.coyotenetworknews.com/productcart/pc/radioshow.htm
I think you'll like it.
Listen to the April 30, 2009 Show
Restoring Intimacy with Everything
Here's a brief description:
"Full Venus Woof - Here comes the Energy of Amazon, Durga, Sekhmet, Nemesis, and the Trickster Wrathful Dakinis!
Caroline Casey welcomes long-time astrological ally Daniel Giamario www.shamanicastrology.com to navigationally guide us through the Mars-Venus cycles of now (with whom all indigenous traditions are intimate) with their pertinence to our personal and collective lives."
This is not spam, and I'm not being paid to tell you about this. It just sheds light on the auspicious Venus/Mars alignment coming into play in the cosmos.
Check it out. Sit back with a warm cup of tea and listen (about 1 hour). Enjoy!
-Your brother, Moondoggy
Sioux Rose
Hello MOONDOGGY, thanks for that link. By the way, what you posted above about the stories the mountains tell is beautiful, very moving. It's an amazing mosaic to see from a plane, too. The earth is a beautiful organism, so diverse and so amazing in so many ways. Glad you're able to love Her.
Thanks Sioux Rose!
I must confess, I've become kind of a fan of yours. Thanks for all your wonderful contributions here on CD! You've enriched us all who read your posts.
Yes, the earth is a beautiful organism indeed. I always try to get a window seat. Then I just stare out the window the entire flight. What a miracle flight is, and what an opportunity to see mama's face from on high. I don't want to miss a minute of it.
You can really see the difference when flying over a wilderness area in contrast with cultivated or developed landscapes. The grid of squares turns into squiggly lines and broad brush strokes of forest peppered with lakes and so forth.
Flying to Ireland was an amazing experience for me. The clouds gave way to a patchwork of fields of every shape and size, bounded by rock walls and hedges. In contrast with the geometric grid of the United States it was like going back to the middle ages.
Sioux Rose
MOONDOGGY: You sweetheart, you! Your mentioning Dr. Alberto Villoldo, wow. I think he is one of the most enlightened persons on this earth. I adore the man and have considered taking out a loan to travel on one of his shaman tours into South America. By the way, given your profound connection with Earth Mother are you a Sagittarius or Taurus? If not, no doubt moon, Venus, rising sign in one of those zones.
This morning I was inspired to write an article detailing how the misuse of the first four elemental foundation principles sets the stage for an authoritarian (and/or totalitarian) system. There are only a few astrological publications and they tend to shy away from "left" political discourse, and sometimes progressive/left publications shy away from astrology. You make me feel like less of a pariah! One needs a strong sense of Truth or confidence to seek ways to provide this understanding, as anything that connects the individual with the planet and the planet's relationship to its spiritual neighbors in space can basically only be a good thing in a world otherwise so tunnel-vision focused on self, and ego, and Mars rules!
By the way, you have a developed capacity to paint evocative pictures with words. Are you using that skill in any professional way? Writing songs, stories, articles, movie scripts? Although markets and marketing are always a drag, you do have a gift!
Hi again SIOUX ROSE. I don't know if you'll come back here or not but wanted to mention Mountain Astrologer and Daykeeper Journal, both on the web, in case you haven't heard of them. Though they are Astrological publications, they don't shy away from "left" political discourse.
What are the first four elemental foundation principles which you mention?
Incidentally, We've found Dr. Alberto Villoldo on Youtube, which lead us to some other timely videos of wise indigenous elders speaking on behalf of Mother Earth.
Again, I thank you for your encouragement. Cheers.
MOONDOGGY,
I have also seen those videos with the indigenous elders. They are absolutely wonderful, and I have been sharing them with friends.
SIOUX ROSE: How kind of you!
Grandfather Sun was in Cancer on the day I was born, and so was Mercury. The Sun was on the eastern horizon as my mother was giving birth. Moon was in Gemini, Venus in Leo, Mars in Taurus, Jupiter in Sag, and Saturn in Capricorn.
My partner is the astrologer in this family so I consulted with her on my chart. I'm an earth bro, so I find Astrocartography fascinating. I don't know if you're familiar with any work done on conception Astrology, but the thought intrigues me that I was conceived in Jamaica. Yeah mon.
Yes, I love Mama Earth. I reverence all of life and celebrate the one I am living. It's a lot of fun. Aaaand a lot of work! Worth every minute. But what is work anyway if not love made visible? Speaking of...
I have so much to say, but I have this other life that's not at this computer. So no, I'm not writing professionally at the moment. I humbly accept your compliment. I'll go work on it.
Incidentally, creative writing was my favorite subject, but that's because I had a ski pass and never had to show up for class. I carried a notebook in my backpack and would go write about my experiences in nature.
So I could go skiing and call it research.
My reverence for Mama Earth and Grandfather Sun and a silly notion that we can make work play and play work guide my footsteps on this beautiful earthwalk.
Blissings! -Moondoggy
Sioux Rose
Thanks for sharing some of your chart coordinates. I heard most the Taurus/Sag in your love of the earth. You are a caring human being and that in and of itself means enlightenment. I know you will teach others as whether you write or otherwise, your words carry beauty & power. Stay blessed, Sioux
We were writing each other simultaneously. Thanks for your friendship. Cheers!
Beautiful!
Sweet and fresh like a light breeze blowing through a wild forest after a Spring rain shower. Kinda like today (at least here in the Rocky Mountains where I live).
If we all take this attitude, then happiness will replace the madness.
The Earth is our mother and all of life is our brothers and sisters.
We are all Mitakwe Oyassin (related -Lakota)
InLakesh (I am another you -Mayan)
If we DO NOT take this attitude, Mother Earth will shake us off like the fleas and lice that we appear to be.
Hola amigo.
In the mountains surrounding our little hacienda in Montana, the rocks tell a story. If you look around you'll see old sea floor and ancient beaches, untold numbers of layers upon layers of rocks of every color.
A mile of wanderings and one journeys across millions of years of time. This landscape has seen many changes over immense ages. What was once the floor of an ancient sea is now a band of tilted rocks 9000 feet into the sky.
Pondering the forces that created these mountains, trying to imagine how they came to be, one cannot help but conclude that great forces have caused the land to turn over upon itself. Meteors hitting an ocean would cause a global tsunami. One look at the moon and you can see how often this part of the universe has experienced meteor traffic.
The evidence that this kind of event has happened many times in the past, tells me how likely it can and will happen again. Should the day come when another such event takes place on our Mother Earth, then all the works of man, no matter how grandiose, could be wiped away in a single day.
Yes, my brother, she may just shake us off like fleas and lice. Maybe tomorrow, or maybe ten thousand years from now. Mother Earth would live just fine without us. In the meantime, perhaps we can learn to live within a more conscious "biocracy or sociocosmic democracy". It would sure make life better for everyone.
Life is a beautiful gift. We should treasure each day and remember to take no more than what we need, always giving something back. Balance is the key. Adios!
"...We are no longer mired in anthropocentrism..."
If only it were that easy and that quick! I look around and see lots of anthropocentrism, lots of disregard for the rights of Nature.
Question: which 15 of our habits and tchatchkas, electronic or otherwise, are we willing to give up in the interests of the rights of Mother Earth and our Brothers and Sisters we're supposed to share with?
It is far more difficult than just getting rid of plastic bags, bottles, or recycling, hybrid cars, or hundreds of essentially useless gestures that do not change the structure that created them or made them necessary.
Continue your good work - but one little Earth Day does not change anything: as it is, it's a sop, a pacifier, a fuzzy diversion, a "Clean Tails League". More readical action is required.
er...rAdical.
And ultimately, Mother Earth has the last 'word'...( we are here to experience and share this most excellent paradise and be one with it, how lucky/blessed is that? Well, maybe a curse too if you are aware, which brings us to around to that word, ultimately)...
the most basic, primal aspects of life, those of garnering one's own needed water, food and shelter, in a nature-intimate and regular way, are hostage to the ownership of property, and the supporting use of economic, mental, emotional and physical force...our ultimate challenge: how to respond to the imposition of ill will?
imagine individual awareness and effort, inherent rights and responsibilities...shared sacrifices and rewards...how hard is life, really?
what a wonder this planet is, ready to give all we need and more, if we simply reduce that need, letting the world be, to provide as it would...
any going toward the magic of life and the mystery of the myriad animals and plants with whom we share this planet are going my way...
I feel a little guilt criticizing the suggested directions of a dedicated theologian and obvious lover of the earth, which is truly our mother of all existence, but this criticism is honestly meant in a positive direction to all our goals.
Yes, the earth is critically important.
Yes, global warming is critically important.
Yes, human rights are critically important.
Yes, anti-war is critically important.
Yes, economic justice is critically important.
Yes, universal health care is critically important.
Yes, getting guns off the streets is critically important.
Yes, eliminating cluster bombs is critically important.
Yes, child nutrition is critically important.
Yes, disease control in Africa is critically important.
Yes, eradicating AIDS is critically important.
Yes, avoiding nuclear war is critically important.
Yes, yes, yes --- and hundreds of times over, all these separate issues are critically important.
However, (comma) just as the famous saying, "all roads lead to Rome" was true when Rome was once THE easily visible global Empire ---- today, "all the roads to the sorrows of our common ruling-elite 'global corporate financial' EMPIRE lead to a much more guilefully disguised Empire".
In other words, the traditional trick and deceit of Empire is to "divide and conquer" ---- and the vast multiplicity of 'issues', 'concerns', 'causes', 'sorrows', etc. are now being covertly used by a far more sophisticated and obscured global Empire itself to divide and distract attention, focus, wrath, and even popular vision of the only single, signal, seminal, and underlying cause of all our sorrows ----- which is the EMPIRE that is hiding behind the facade of its two-party, "Vichy" sham of democracy, and thus enabling and causing all of these sorrowful issues for all non-elite, non-ruling, non-powerful, and compassionate people throughout the world and "Mother Earth" that we all so passionately want to save.
The key, and the essential success factor in fighting against the oppressive and tyrannical global EMPIRE that is the cause and curse of all these human problems is not to be diverted by the symptoms of EMPIRE, but to focus 'laser like', like a surgeon, on the tumor of EMPIRE that causes all these symptoms and sorrows and dangers --- and to excise the metastasizing cancer of EMPIRE itself before it spreads any further.
Today, this cancer of EMPIRE is spreading globally to every organ of our body politique, our economic body, our social body, and our earthly body of our society and our entire globe (including the tumor that it is cursing 'Mother Earth' with global warming and other disasters which will surely be unsustainable).
But the only possible treatment that I can think of is to focus all our collective human energies on the cause (and not the vast and manifold symptoms) of this cancer.
By successfully diagnosing, recognizing, expunging and excising the core cancer of Empire, hopefully all of the equally important human and earthly problems that many dedicated single issue groups are motivated to fight for can be more successfully achieved (or at least dramatically improved) though our combined (rather than divided) efforts.
Alan MacDonald
Sanford, Maine
I agree. But what is that 'core' cause? Greed? Envy? Anger? Lust? Pride? Sloth? Gluttony?
Me thinks they've been around for awhile.
Old Peculiar, while it's interesting to speculate what pathologies cause the cancer of Empire it is really not necessary to cure it (by excising) as our forefathers did with the combined political-economic British Empire and our fathers did with the Nazi and Japanese Empires.
Certainly, my thoughts are that Economics (jaded and corrupted, despite any phony rationalizations) is at the heart of Empire ---- i.e. that the core pathology of Empire is most often (and maybe always) economics, as I describe in this essay:
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_alan_mac_070319__22economics_of_empire.htm
However, there can be little doubt that a pathological 'will to power' is endemic of those who create and actively participate in Empires and 'empire thinking' --- but since the incidence of sociopaths and psychopaths clinically unable to express normal human empathy or remorse is quite a low percentage (approximately that of corporate CEOs, hedge fund whores and private equity pirates), since modern treatment or restraint is quite effective, the corrective policy toward would-be monarchs and emperors who hear voices in their minds would seem to be significantly less demanding of our society than the mass incarceration of the world's greatest prison population of minor drug offenders which we currently do better than any othe country in the world (democracy or not).
Alan
Thanks, Alan. I read your essay and I agree with your assessment that economics (power) are at the core of most Empires/Empire-building.
However, still not convinced there isn't something more at play here on a fundamental level. I'm thinking of the work of Jared Diamond and the role of technological advances as well as just plain old 'luck' - i.e. being born in a fertile land with tamable animals as opposed to one lacking rudimentary necessities (the Fertile Crescent vs. Sub-Saharan Africa, for example).
Maybe I'm being naive here, but surely there are historical examples of empires being built on guaranteed 'security for all' --- or is possible for things like safety (or more appropriately, FEAR of becoming insecure or unsafe) be distilled down to economics?
PS - I especially like your reference to the GINI Index.
This article is "deep ecology" reiterated, and that encourages me. It's also no surprise at all that it is being reiterated by someone from an indiginous culture. Unfortunately, the assertion that "(w)e are no longer mired in anthropocentrism" is, in my view, dead wrong. Losing our anthropocentrism (sung to the tune of REM's "Losing My Religion") is a, perhaps THE first step toward restoring a balanced ecosphere, but (pessimism warning!) there are too many anthropocentrists around (and just too many people, total), propped up by powerful religions and governments, for anyone to reasonably expect anything but a very traumatic century ahead for our planet and its web of life.
Nevertheless, I hope these principles are preserved and adopted by the survivors of this century. May future generations live in appropriate "eco-socialist" democratic bioregions, advised by bioregional "ecologists-in-chief," and not in nation states ruled by "commanders-in-chief."
Good luck, Earth, and peace to all who seek it.
Another "deep ecology" book I read and speaks to healing the planet is Joanna Macy's "World As Lover, World As Self." Reading this list of new rights, I would think of some of them(perhaps all of them) as responsibilities as well(such as our right to be connected to the whole). Evo Morales sentiment(coming from the country that Noam Chomsky describes as currently the "most democratic society in the world[interview on "Democracy Now" in early April]) reminds me of one of the Buddha's four vows, paraphrased, "to recognize sentient beings."
Mr. Boff is an elder of the new cosmology, and his prophetic voice warrents attention. Thank you. May the Earth community of beings continue! Hi highly recommend you read his other books on behalf of the Earth.
Thank you all for those book ideas. I love adding more to my list!
I will pipe in with some recommendations of my own. Anyone read books by Stephen Buhner? "The Lost Language of Plants", "The Secret Teachings of Plants" and "Sacred Plant Medicine". Powerful reading.
Thanks for the referrence. That one on the Secret Teaching of Plants, speaks to me.
Yes, Sacred Plant Medicine, by Elliot Cowan. My wife was an apprentice of a student of his. Plant Shamanism. Dig it.
That book (and my wife) helped me realize what allies our plant brothers and sisters are.
Have you read The Secret Lives of Bees?
I believe the Cowan book you refer to is "Plant Spirit Medicine". "Sacred Plant Medicine" is by Stephen Buhner. Both are great.
And no, I have not read "The Secret Lives of Bees". Thank you for that one too! I think SIOUX ROSE would like to hear of that book as well, as I know bees hold a special place in her heart AND her stories.
Ah, yes, I stand corrected. Thanks! Plant Spirit Medicine, indeed.
Here's another book title:
Medicine For The Earth - How To Transform Personal And Environmental Toxins
by Sandra Ingerman, Author of Soul Retreival (Three Rivers Press, New York)
"The Next Great Breakthrough in Energy Work--Healing the Earth Itself" -publisher
"A masterpiece of alchemy with practical ways to transform and heal our lives and the earth." -Alberto Villoldo, Ph.D., author of Shaman, Healer, Sage and Dance of the Four Winds
"In this beautifully written book, Sandra Ingerman shows us how to work with our spirit allies to restore the health and vitqality of degraded natural environments. A major contribution to the integration of shamanic procedures with radical ecology." -Ralph Metzner, Ph.D., author of Green Psycology
Thanks for recommending his books. So far, the best book on the topic I have yet read is Warwick Fox's "Toward a Transpersonal Ecology."
Read Gary Snyder.
Again and again.
Especially The Practice if the Wild.
He grew up in your neck of the woods, even.
Yup, yup, yup! The Practice of the Wild has been on my shelf for years and years. Time to revisit, at your suggestion. "The bobcat that roams from dream to dream..."
Thank you.
Regret missing those two cats. Snyder is a class act, I met him once, and then his son in Brazil and did him a favor. I got a thank you card from Gary a couple of weeks later.
Yeah, that book by Fox is great. You might also find these other authors intersting:
Thomas Berry, The Dream of the Earth and the Great Work, anything by Chelis Glendinning, Andy Fisher's, Radical Ecopyschology, The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram, Theodore Roszak book on Ecopsychology. And Charlene Spretnak's many books. So many books, too little time...
Thanks for the references. I've read Roszak's "The Voice of the Earth" and the follow-up book, "Ecopsychology," which he edited. The others I will track down at the library!
Also, if you DO have the time, check out Morris Berman's trilogy, "The Reenchantment of the World", "Coming to our Senses", and "Wandering God" (although I must admit, the final book didn't mean nearly as much to me as the first two).
Peace.
Kudos to Evo Morales.
And I also really like the general theme of the article. As I have mentioned before, I think it's time to transcend and move beyond our ridiculous notions of nationalistic borders and start seeing ourselves as part of a much larger whole: that of the living, breathing ecosystem of Mother Gaia. And the idea of including and protecting the natural rights of animals and plants is a step in the right direction, though I do believe these thoughts ultimately have to come from within us rather than through laws and such.
I really like the sentiment of this article and the wise words of Evo Morales. Outstanding.
Where can I sign up for the sociocosmic democracy?