Alexandra Pimor (first published 23.09.2020 on www.natural-arts.co.uk)
We are now coming into one of the most significant moments in the history of this world - and I realise that I am being anthropocentric in stating this - but then again, we perceive the world from our own prism, our vantage point; and well, mine is as a spirit experiencing life in a human body, hence anthropocentric. Still, we are not the centre of the universe. The earth, the sun, life, stars, people... do not revolve around us, around me.
Whilst we (modern civilisation) know this from the time of Galileo, humanity does not seem to have fully understood what this means. We have not, to a large degree and from a dominant Western cultural perspective, assimilated this knowledge and understanding that we are not the be all and end all of life itself. We are yet to fully acknowledge and live the truth that we are both a part and an expression of Nature; a thread, a vibration, a nuance of light and colour in the miracle of life incarnate. We are interconnected to each other - the entire diversity of human and non-human fauna, flora and biota across Gaia - we are interrelated and we are interdependent. Yet, there is still a huge part of us that lives as though that were not the truth.
The Western Eurocentric culture, based on a paradigm of dualism and separation, the primacy of the rational mind and a systemic patriarchal convention, has generated a dearth of suffering on so many levels, and has thus much to answer for. Yet, like all experiences, it also has much to offer and teach us. This awareness... this experience... this wisdom has its merits and virtues, if only it could be balanced and integrated within a broader holistic wisdom, honoring the diverse traditions and cultures of life on this earth.
In this digital age of mass communication and widely circulated information, the coming together of our common human history now includes the ancestral memories and understandings of our indigenous elders; the talents of our emerging leaders and spiritual warriors; the wild aspirations and creative dreams of our young. The interlaced meshing of minds and hearts is the way through which we will conjure up the new vision of the world we want to manifest, live in, enjoy and care for, so that the next generations of younglings can carry on with our blessings as our living heritage.
The question is: WHAT IS OUR VISION?
I do not imply that there is a singular unique vision. Nor do I wish it or believe in it.
Instead, I believe that our vision will come from our values, our ethics, the principles that we know in our hearts to be sacred, and the guiding force behind our decisions and actions.
I have been inspired to reconsider my relation to the sacred (not to be confused with the divine) when I read the magnificent novel by Starhawk The Fifth Sacred Thing, an epic tale of spiritual, magical, and philosophical transformation on an individual and collective level, calling for brave choices made consciously and based on what I term sacred (not religious or dogmatic) morality.
In this book, we have the Declaration of the Four Sacred Things, which I include below. After you have read the Declaration, I invite you to reflect on those words and their visual articulation as a pentacle. I invite you to reflect on your Life and the meaning you choose to gift It. I invite you to share your vision of the world we are all called to co-create consciously, from the heart and the sacred morality we ascribe to it.
Declaration of the Four Sacred Things
The Earth is a living, conscious being.
In company with cultures of many different times and places,
we name these things as sacred:
air, fire, water, and earth.
Whether we see them as the breath, energy, blood, and body of the Mother,
or as the blessed gifts of a Creator, or as symbols of interconnected systems that sustain life,
we know that nothing can live without them.
To call these things sacred is to say
that they have a value beyond their usefulness for human ends,
that they themselves become the standard by which our acts, our economics,
our laws, and our purposes must be judged.
No one has the right to appropriate them or profit from them at the expense of others.
Any government that fails to protect them forfeits its legitimacy.
All people, all living things, are part of the earth life, and so are sacred.
No one of us stands higher or lower than any other.
Only justice can assure balance; only ecological balance can sustain freedom.
Only in freedom can that fifth sacred thing we call spirit flourish in its full diversity.
To honor the sacred is to create conditions in which nourishment, sustenance, habitat,
knowledge, freedom, and beauty can thrive.
To honor the sacred is to make love possible.
To this we dedicate our curiosity, our will, our courage, our silences, and our voices.
To this we dedicate our lives.
Starhawk The Fifth Sacred Thing (A Bantam Book July 1993)