Animism

Animism can be defined as an attribution of spirit to things beyond human beings, including animals, plants and the entire earth. Animism is a way of seeing, experiencing and engaging with the Earth. Animism is the belief that everything is connected and interconnected. Within animistic druidry, there is an understanding that God/dess does not exist as one or many beings but is all around us within every fabric of life. In the video below, researcher John Reid talks about Animism not only as a belief but as an experience.

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Watch the video below where Māori woman, Bianca Ranson, explains how Māori customs and values impact her life and work.

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Reflection

What are your thoughts on animism as a worldview and experience?

What do you feel we can learn about ourselves from animistic traditions?

Can animism contribute to healing our planet? How?

Divine Feminine

In the earth-based spiritualities of Paganism, Wicca, and Druidry, there is a profound connectedness with the Earth and the place humanity occupies within it. Paganism is often used as an umbrella term in the UK context for earth-based religions, although there are some differences among them. In the Wicca movement, many different traditions are practised around the world, with the most well-known Wiccan traditions being the Dianic, Alexandrian, and Gardnerian. Many adhere to the Rede, ‘An’ it harm none, do what ye will’, holding the belief that whatever an individual does will return to them threefold.

Research

Spend some time further researching the different Wiccan traditions and their connections to the sacred earth.

Within Paganism and Wiccan traditions, there is often an emphasis on the divine feminine and Goddess Worship. The Earth itself is regarded as the Goddess and is often referred to as the Mother or the Mother Goddess. The Divine Masculine is also honoured, frequently in the form of the Horned God or the Green Man. The Glastonbury Goddess Temple and Community is one example of earth-based Goddess worship. Based in Glastonbury, the Goddess Community is dedicated to worshipping the Goddess in her many forms. Below is a chant from the Glastonbury Goddess Temple for Mother Earth.

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In some traditions, the Divine Feminine or Goddess is worshipped in the three forms of the Triple Goddess:

• Maiden – often described as ‘virgin’, but implying she who belongs to no one but herself.
• Mother – referred to as mother/bride – the mother of all. Some relate to this aspect of the Triple Goddess through their own motherhood or through their own creativity, as the mother of their creativity.
• Crone – the wise woman.

These are often associated with the phases of the moon: the waxing, full, and waning phases of the moon’s cycle.

The term ‘Thealogy’ was coined to reference discussions around Goddess Spirituality and Goddess Worship. If you are interested in reading more about Thealogy, you may wish to check out Melissa Raphael’s Thealogy and Embodiment. Another instrumental figure in the field of Goddess spirituality is Carol P. Christ, who wrote an article entitled ‘Why Women Need the Goddess’ in the late 1970s. In the interview below, she talks about what drew her to write this article and what the Goddess means to her.

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Reflection

How does the idea of the Divine Feminine sit with you?

Have you encountered Goddess worship before?

What, if anything, does Goddess mean to you?

The Wheel of the Year

In Celtic earth-based spiritualities, the earth is understood to have a cyclical flow, divided into eight, with each sector recognising the cycle of life and the relationship between the earth and the sun, between life, death, and rebirth. Through this, we can understand the dependence of all living things. One cannot exist without the other.

*This image comes from: https://gatherandgrow.com/blog/the-wheel-of-the-year-seasonal-living-for-spirituality. 

Watch the video below, where Philip Carr-Gomm discusses the wheel of the year and the wheel of life in a recorded video of a live session. Philip Carr-Gomm is a guest speaker at OneSpirit Ministry Training and is a member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. You can find out more about this at the link here: https://druidry.org/.

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A solstice refers to the longest or shortest day experienced throughout the year, with the Winter Solstice marking the shortest day and the Summer Solstice marking the longest day. An equinox refers to the time when day and night are of equal length, where the amount of daylight and nighttime is the same. The video below describes how the solstices are connected to the movement of the Earth. Watch the video here:

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Reflection

Thinking about your own connection to the seasons of the earth, do you mark seasonal transitions? How?

How do you distinguish between the four seasons? What makes you think of summer, for example?

Earth-Based Spirituality

Here at OneSpirit, we begin our journey through the faith paths with Earth-based Spirituality. We start with an understanding that earth-based religion and spiritualities are at the root of our comprehension of religion, and the thread that runs through all begins here. In our Ministry training, we delve deeper into how the thread of earth-based paths intertwines throughout religious traditions. In early human life, the interactions between humans, animals, plants, the weather, and the entire environment were essential for survival. There once was a profound understanding of our place in the universe and the significance of our connection with the natural world.

Nature Within

We are becoming increasingly re-aware of our connectedness to the natural world, and the role we play not only in damaging the world around us but also in healing it; with many climate activists urging humanity to see itself as part of nature, not separate from it. It can be argued that the rise in religion, particularly the Judeo-Christian religion, has led to a sustained separation of humanity from nature. Anthropocentrism prevailed, and humans further separated themselves from the natural world, as above the natural world.

Here at OneSpirit, we work to recognise our grounding in these earth-based spiritualities, the connectedness that exists within all of us, and with the natural world.

Please watch the video below about humanity’s connectedness to nature:

*Click on the video to play; then click ‘cc’ for captions.

Reflection

Thinking about your own living context, how do you feel connected to nature? Where do you go for that connection?

Do you find it difficult to do on a daily basis?

Does the idea that we are all connected to nature resonate with you?

Earth-Based Spirituality 

What are Earth-Based Paths?

When you hear the term ‘earth-based paths’, what immediately comes to mind for you?

Throughout this module, we ask you to reflect on your place on the earth and the impact you have on the world around you. Considering the climate crisis we find ourselves in, what can we learn from earth-based spiritualities to reconnect with the natural world?

Earth-based spiritualities is an incredibly broad term, and like any other religious tradition, there are many differences in how this is realised for an individual. Perhaps the common thread across them is the deep connection humanity has with nature and the understanding that humans are part of nature, not separate from or dominant over it.

Opening Reflection

What is your understanding of the climate crisis at present?

How would you describe your own connection with our natural world?