Initially I wanted to write Earth week entries about each of these forces separately. Each deserves an entry to explore more deeply it's significance to our culture this Spring, but for lack of time and the busy nature of my schedule, I am going to have to combine these elements into a single post. Much like in our own lives, we must balance and integrate forces like these daily. It is time that we reevaluate what we are willing to call reality and reassess the value and meanings behind our relationship with these forces. In spite of the brief introduction to each of these natural forces that I will attempt here, remember that a lifetime of study and awareness is required to begin to understand fully the part these forces play in our lives.
Happily, the Earth is getting lots of attention this week, but we often allow our connection with Mother Earth to slide out of focus, or drop off our radar completely. As you may have noticed, my own focus, in life and blogs is on the Earth and her gifts, sustainable development and patterns that connect us with the planet, her resources and our relationship with Starship Earth, our fellow passengers on our flight around the Sun, and the island mentality that must come to light if we are to survive here without poisoning ourselves or tearing at the web of life that sustains us until it can no longer hold the weight of our species.
With gardening season upon us here in the Northern Hemisphere, many millions will be turning the soil, many for the first time. This simple act can grow within us new respect for creatures that share their space with us, as well as the life that goes on all around us on this miraculous planet. In a single cup of healthy soil more organisms can live than the number of people we typically meet in a lifetime. Protecting the earth and her soils from the harsh effects of sun and rain are paramount in the gardener's mind. Mulch your gardens to conserve moisture, retain fertility and protect soil life. If anyone has ever laid in the sun too long, or been stuck out in the rain with no shelter, they know that nature can be harsh. Single celled critters and soil microbes are even less able to cope with sunburn or direct hits from raindrops than we are. Protecting the Earth takes on a whole new meaning when you realize that soils are alive. Once sterilized, it is just dirt.
Air too must be integrated and available in healthy soils. When planting, be careful not to destroy soil tilth or texture. Turning soils that are still wet, treading on planting beds, or killing off beneficial organisms can lead to difficult conditions for many plants. Even roots like to "breathe" and compaction rates as a number one cause of declining fertility in soils. Again, mulch can act as a shock absorber underfoot, protecting delicate structures that plants form to sustain their lives as well as our own. This invisible element, Air, swirls and flows around us all the time. The atmosphere is 1/6 as viscous as water, but has incredible power nonetheless. Just as we understand watersheds, the basins that collect the waters that flow together into local waterways, the air too comes from far away locations bringing substances and qualities with it. Here in the Western Great Lakes Region, we normally get most of our air from Canada in Winter, the Pacific Northwest in Spring and Fall, and the Southwest in Summer. Of course the daily changes that occur in the atmosphere are much more varied than that, but learning to feel the changes and understand them gives one greater insight to weather, pollution issues and intimacy with the vital fluid that we breathe to sustain life. Just this spring, I had a bought with pneumonia that was a direct result of a stagnant bolus of air that stayed over Northeast Wisconsin for ten days. During this time, the air quality continued to be degraded by transportation, energy and industrial contaminants. Lungs are not designed to handle this sort of onslaught. Air is to be revered and Creator intended for us to be blessed with pure and unadulterated air to breathe.
Fire as we know has the unique ability to warm us. The burning of calories in our food are fire on a microscopic level. Metabolism, even of tiny organisms creates heat and this is a by-product of life itself. The most available source of energy that we know is the Sun. The solar furnace that bombards the earth is responsible for most of the swirling winds on our planet, virtually all of the life as we know it on the earth's surface, and for the vast reserves of fossilized carbon which we are burning at rates never imagined in generations past. the fire that burns within each of us is just a chip off the old block. The sun creates virtually every calorie we take in. Even the lowly mushroom, growing on dead roots, or trunks of trees makes it's living from plants that have had their day in the sun. We often use phrases like "burning desire" or "flames of passion", "hot blooded" or "fired up" we all know this force, but often we overlook the ubiquitous nature of fire in our lives. We must learn to honor and respect this powerful energy within us and surrounding us to begin to treat it with the respect it deserves.
Water too has an undeniable place in our existence. Our bodies are made up of roughly the same percentage of water as the rest of the planet's creatures. Without it, we cannot survive. Without clean water in abundant supply, all forms of life must either adapt or perish. This lowly molecule has amazing characteristics that we still do not fully understand. It is an awesome solvent, requires large amounts of energy to change phase, solid to liquid, liquid to gas. it helps moderate temperature because of it's ability to absorb and give off energy slowly. It is made up of only two elements, Hydrogen and Oxygen, and it is extremely tightly bonded, even though each chemical in isolation is highly reactive.
My own fascination with water began as a child. Surface tension, adhesion, cohesion, solubility, the addition of surfactants to this fluid and fluid dynamics absorbed my attentions as far back as I can remember. For many, the commodification of this vital fluid creates vast wealth and destroys the environment. Rather than respecting the power of this element, man has sought to harness the waters that flow, utilize their energies for man's benefit and to not consider what riches lie in the fluid itself, or the watercourses that surround us. Mankind's ability to survive and thrive depend on clean water being available to all people in relatively unlimited quantity. As you look around the planet, there are large areas whose future is being called into question because of this dwindling resource. The first Earthday was brought about because of the gross neglect and poisoning of vast bodies of water. The public got enraged and called for better protection of this essential resource. Now, forty years later, the threats that water faces are much more occult (hidden), mush more pernicious and far more complex than sludge belching out from pipes, draining industrial waste into the local creeks and rivers. We have done a pretty good job of going after folks who desecrated water in that way. What we face now is the withdrawal of trillions of gallons of water from below ground, infiltration of harmful materials into the water table, and deposition of dangerous chemicals that are falling from the sky. A life out of balance harms all creatures great and small, the wisdom of this lies in the waters that make all life possible.
Spirit too is being commodified. It is becoming harder and harder to find communities that are not burdened by mega-churches. Fortunately there are many good folks involved in the reawakening of spirit amongst the people, but the rise of fundamentalists of all flavors is a disturbing trend in World Spirituality. As we grow mentally and emotionally, we need to grow spiritually as well. When you study these relationships, or those facts, it is well to realize that they tie into spiritual practice as well. The Spirit which guides us is not the exclusive domain of any religion. Spirit is like the magician's assistant who climbs into the box, only to be "pierced" with skewers. Each faith tradition thrusts it's way into the box. As we watch, we can be sure that this or that dagger has inflicted the death blow. As the container is run through with more and more skewers, we cannot help but know that the space inside, as we know it can no longer contain a living breathing person. One of the pieces of steel must have surely found it's mark. To our horror, the assistant keeps right on smiling. Then, as if by magic, the daggers are removed and she springs unharmed from the case. The religious leaders of today, many of them, are claiming to have a fast track to salvation and that being a member in good standing of their church will assure us eternal life and favor with "the lord".
Spirit cannot be bought, sold, bartered, renewed, cleansed or in any way destroyed or harmed by human activities. It may be the spark of life, but life is just a mirror that reflects spirit. Coming to know spirit the way that I have begun to, it can be undeniably seen in all living creatures, in each element, in every facet of every action taken by every creature. We speak of spirit of the age, spirit of giving, holiday spirit and the like. What is most profound for me is that as we pass through life we know when our spirit has been touched, but explaining that to anyone else is virtually impossible. Each of us must make peace with the spiritual realm on our own terms. Those who claim to "know the way" at best can only tell you what seems to have worked for them. I heard an analogy once that holds true for many parts of our lives. "We determined what we put into our bodies by the people giving it to us. Once a guy came to the door in a large cowboy hat, silver belt buckle and boots. The first thing he did when he came in the house was to close all the curtains, lock the doors and all the while he was there he kept getting up and pulling back the blinds to look out with obvious paranoia. He put a large bag of pills on the coffee table and said that they were for us. We decided that if they were what he was, we wanted no part of them."
All of our lives must be spent looking critically out into the world for relevant data that can help us along our own path. The idea that someone else can find our personal truth in matters of spirituality would be laughable if so many of us had not been misled into thinking that religions have things figured out. Spirit is alive within us and as such need not be contaminated by any other being or their version of truth, or their understanding of what they have been led to believe. Creator gave us each gifts that we cannot fathom. Many of us go through life never even understanding our full potential. Spirit is ours to explore, it does not belong to anyone else. It is not for others to even understand or dictate. Our souls are ours to "save", and in truth cannot be "sold", "spent" or "squandered". Our spiritual life, as well as the spirits of everything that surrounds us are far too important to trust to others. When God/ess is alive within us, great things happen and no one can mediate our experience with the eternal except our own self.
This Earthweek, challenge yourself to study your own relationship with these five elements. Let me know what you learn. I'm always interested in finding other seekers along the path to enlightenment.
Namaste', Tony C. Saladino
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