THE GAIA CONCEPT
“The Wilderness holds answers to more questions than we have yet learned how to ask.” Nancy Newhall
“Earth is best understood as a single, self-regulating, Superorganism. The planet is self-regulating through the interaction between living things and the inorganic environment on earth. Gaia’s goal is to maintain a balance in the ecosystem that allows Her to stay alive.” J. Lovelock and Lynn Magulis
Margulis was a microbiologist and although she did not believe Gaia was a conscious Being she was well aware of the fact that eventually pandemics would be a consequence of climate change and cause further disruption of the planet's balance. Scientists have been predicting for some time that it was not a question of if - but only when - we would suffer these consequences.
The healing and transformational benefits of the elements and of the Beings apart from their material benefits make it imperative that we sustain the natural world in an optimal state of being – if feasible - as close as possible to its own original nature. The Gaia hypothesis implies that Nature needs to exist for Her own sake. We, however, desperately need Her for our health and our own sakes’ as well. Lovelock said the current pandemic could even be seen as beneficial, in a cruel Darwinian kind of way.
"The far bigger threat to humanity in the early 21st century is global warming ... Climate change is more dangerous to life on Earth than almost any conceivable disease and if we don't do something about it, we will find ourselves removed from the planet."
Lovelock doubts we can switch from dirty to clean energy quickly enough to avoid a scenario in which Earth itself—via melting permafrost, the shrinking Arctic ice cap etc.—begins to drive climate change and global warming as well. To buy time, he argues, we need to turn to technology.
This drawing made for me by a young Kua San Bushmen in the Kalahari many years ago tells the story of creation. The Earth Mother was pregnant with all the Four Beings of the planet including the stars, the moon and even the fire. After the belly ruptured it sealed over again, becoming the earth's crust. The San men and women were the first people, hunter gatherers, living in the archetype of the Garden of Eden with all that nature could provide to keep them happy, healthy and alive. They lived in harmony with Gaia with respect taking only what they needed with gratitude and respect to the Creator, as did other indigenous people after them. The San knew, even if they did not express it, that "Gaia" was conscious too. The Quechua the same of Pacha Mama. The Ancestors add;
From the beginning of creation all Beings have conversed with one another and with all living things. The Ancestors
This was especially true of the San - the original "nature whisperers."
Unfortunately because of the earth changes we are losing more and more "parts" every day. Gaia is sick. Some are saying this is Her revenge. Karma works at all levels and there are consequences for everything that we do, a kind of collective, global karma. Covid 19 has now arrived and may be the ultimate test which we will discuss in a future blog. It is a unique, novel, pernicious and insidious virus and we are only now beginning to understand its behavior which is not only has acute, but also has lesser known chronic effects (the so called "Long Hauler Syndrome.") Will we prevail just to fight the next pandemic or the next flood, fire or hurricane or will we make drastic changes to the way we live our lives? This is clearly our only long term hope. We are living through an existential crisis. Native peoples especially the Mayans, the Hopi, the Kogi and others have been warning us for some time, notably below Chief Seattle and also the Cree.
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