Here’s a new poem I’ve come across…
“The beauty of the trees,
the softness of the air,
the fragrance of the grass,
speaks to me.
The summit of the mountain,
the thunder of the sky,
the rhythm of the sea,
speaks to me.
The faintness of the stars,
the freshness of the morning,
the dew drop on the flower,
speaks to me.
The strength of fire,
the taste of salmon,
the trail of the sun,
and the life that never goes away,
they speak to me.
And my heart soars.”
– Chief Dan George.
“We are all connected; To each other, biologically. To the earth, chemically. To the rest of the universe, atomically.”
– Neil deGrasse Tyson
“I enter a swamp (or a forest, or a meadow, or a canyon) as a sacred place – a sanctum sanctorum. There is the strength, the marrow of Nature.”
– Henry David Thoreau
“Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
– Mary Oliver
“Life is but a momentary glimpse of the wonder of this astonishing universe, and it is sad to see so many dreaming it away on spiritual fantasy.”
– Carl Sagan
“There is no supernatural. The natural is super enough!”
– D. Dorroh
“We are part of the earth and it is part of us.”
– Chief Seattle
“My religion is nature. That’s what arouses the feelings of wonder and mysticism and gratitude in me.”
– Oliver Sacks
“Heaven is home. Utopia is here. Nirvana is now.”
– Edward Abbey
“Our story is the story of the universe. Every piece of everything, of everything you love and everything you hate, of the thing you hold most precious, was assembled by the forces of nature in the first few minutes of the life of the universe, transformed in the hearts of the stars or created in their fiery deaths.
And when you die, those pieces will be returned to the universe in the endless cycle of death and rebirth. What a wonderful thing it is to be part of that universe. What a story, what a majestic story.”
– Professor Brian Cox
“What I know in my bones is that I forgot to take time to remember what I know. The world is holy. We are holy. All life is holy. Daily prayers are delivered on the lips of breaking waves, the whisperings of grasses, the shimmering of leaves.”
– Terry Tempest Williams
“The love of wilderness is more than a hunger for what is always beyond reach; it is also an expression of loyalty to the earth, the earth which bore us and sustains us, the only paradise we shall ever know, the only paradise we ever need, if only we had eyes to see.”
– Edward Abbey
“But I’ll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you’ll come to understand that you’re connected with everything.”
– Alan Watts
“Open all your pores and bathe in all the tides of nature, in all her streams and oceans, at all seasons.”
– Henry David Thoreau
“Observe always that everything is the result of change, and get used to thinking that there is nothing Nature loves so well as to change existing forms and make new ones like them.”
– Marcus Aurelius
“Why should we not look on the Universe with piety? Is it not our substance? All our possibilities lie from eternity hidden in its bosom. Since it is the source of all our energies, the home of all our happiness, shall we not cling to it and praise it?”
– John Dewey
“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
– Albert Einstein
“The sun is my father, the earth is my mother and all men are my family.”
– John Toland
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive – to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
– Marcus Aurelius
Hey everyone, tomorrow is the Summer Solstice (20th June 2012) in the Northern Hemisphere. The word comes from the latin “sol” meaning sun and “sistere” meaning to stand still. It is the longest day of the year. It is also called Midsummer’s Day. The sun is at its most powerful on this day. Celebrated by almost all cultures historically, it is an important time of the year for Pantheists as one of the four major solar festivals.
It is a time when the whole earth is alive and crops are growing strongly. The flowers are blossoming and the trees are green. It is a time for fun and frivolity. It is traditional to celebrate this festival by having BBQ’s and Bonfires, watching the sunrise and eating summer foods e.g. salads.
After this day the days will begin to get shorter again as we move towards the harvest and the winter. Celebrating this festival helps us to become attuned to the ever turning cycle of the year and the changing seasons.
Below are some videos to get you in a summery mood…
Walking on Sunshine – Katrina and the Waves
Revolution in Paradise – Heath Hunter
Hot Hot Hot – Crossfire
Theme from A Summer Place – Percy Faith
This site is dedicated to the Philosophy of Pantheism so lets take a look at what it really is…
Living in Devon, in the UK, I am quite close to Dartmoor. It is one of my favourite places, a vast wilderness of nature. Today I watched this program called Earth Pilgrim, made by Satish Kumar. It is based on Dartmoor and gives his take on life and nature. The philosophy espoused is very much a pantheistic one. There are six parts to the program.
One of the most amazing facts that science teaches us is that we literally are “stardust.” Stars had to die, to explode and spew their “guts” across the universe in order for planets to be born and ultimately life to arise on planet earth. If that didn’t happen life couldn’t arise. So a thought for the day – stars died for you so you could be here!
Taking the theme further, here is an interview with Neil DeGrasse Tyson on this most astounding fact in the universe.
I came across this video….it just blows the mind!
And to explain it a little easier…
Having studied Judaism, one of the aspects of it that fascinated me the most was the art of daily blessings. In Judaism, people say blessings for many different daily tasks and this helps to remind them that all things are sacred in life, even the most mundane areas of life. For example, there are short blessings to say when waking up, eating, washing, going to bed and even when going to the loo. I wonder whether we as Pantheists could learn from this and create our own Thanksgivings that we say when we do different things each day and in that way it would help to keep the sacredness of daily life at the forefront of our minds. So here’s a few times we could say thanks….
Waking up
Having a wash/ bath or shower
Getting dressed
Going to the toilet
Eating
Drinking
Seeing an awe-inspiring sight
Leaving the house
Entering the house
Greeting a friend
Leaving a friend
Getting undressed
Going to bed
There are probably many more but that’s the one’s I’ve thought of so far. Perhaps they could begin with the words “Thanks be to Mother Nature for….” I haven’t got any further in exploring this idea but these are some of my preliminary thoughts and hopefully I’ll expand them more in future posts.
We are part of a vast universe and it is hard to understand from our limited human perspective. These videos help to give some context to just how immense a universe we live in, and just how small we really are.
The Pale Blue Dot
The Immensity of the Universe
The Cosmic Perspective
The BBC has an article on its website entitled “Does outdoor play help keep the doctor away?” It looks at whether spending more time in Nature is good for our health. I think the answer is obvious – the more time we spend in nature, the more physical activity we will be doing and the healthier we will be. The human body also needs a certain amount of Vitamin D which we can only get from spending time out in the sun. There is also a lot of evidence to suggest that there are psychological benefits to being out in nature and I have certainly found that to be true myself. Perhaps not spending time in nature can have detrimental effects on our health and give us a kind of Nature Deficit Disorder as the article suggests. As Druids, it should seem obvious that this is true and we have long believed in the benefits of an existence lived close to nature, but its also nice to see science backing us up.
When we spend time in nature we are refreshed, we develop a love for nature and begin to become more attuned to the cycles of the natural world. We develop a relationship with the other beings around us and we are taught the secrets and the ways of nature.
The Japanese have a term “Shinrinyoku.” This literally mean “forest-bathing” and means that spending time in forests has health benefits for us. What a wonderful thought! Perhaps we should try an experiment – one hour forest bathing every day for a month and see if it makes any difference?
Nature is Sacred 