Earth Day

Being an Earth path following witch, I celebrate the Earth for most sabbats, any time I go to my garden, even watching things on the Discovery Channel.  

I worship the goddess Gaia as the spirit of the Earth and mother goddess of all its inhabitants.  She is a primordial Greek goddess from whom many of the other Greek gods and goddesses were born.

Gaia isn't the only Earth goddess; almost all ancient peoples had some version of Mother Earth.  The ancients were connected to the Earth in every way, from morning until night.  And they knew that their very survival depended on that connection.


We still depend on a connection to the earth, but most people don't take the time to think about it.


In my work, I constantly pull from nature for inspiration and sometimes for natural materials.  And while Pagans like me tend to wear a lot of natural jewelry, we're far from the only ones who find beauty in shell, stone, and metal adornments.  Wearing natural jewelry gives us an extra connection to the earth that we can take into even the most artificial environments.

So Earth Day is both a joy and a peeve of mine.  I love the idea of a day dedicated to conservation of the natural world.  I love the idea of a day when people really think about this planet we call home.  I love the idea of people treating the earth like it's their house instead of their gigantic resource mine and garbage dump.

But why can't Earth Day be every day?  I'm certainly not the first person to advocate for this idea and I definitely won't be the last.  People are becoming more environmentally aware - the number of suburban Americans who I see bring their own bags to stores is proof of this.  Previously that seemed to be a "city thing".  People rush for the latest in hybrid technology for their next car.  But then there are oil companies that advertise their gasoline by talking about innovations in green technology.  There is still a huge section of the population that refuses to believe that humans are to blame for any part of the global climate change we've seen documented for decades.

So why can't we all take just a little time every day to give back to Earth since Earth has given us everything?

We can.

We can filter our own water instead of buying bottled.  We can carry washable aluminum bottles instead of plastic ones.  We can bring our own bags to the store and not mow the lawn or gas the car on Ozone Action days.  And we can take the time to notice the beauty of the natural world around us.

Millennium Gaia statue by Oberon Zell.  You can buy it here.
Natural Lava Rock bracelet can be found in my Etsy shop.