Sons and Daughters

I was moved to choose a card from Magical Messages from the Fairies Oracle Cards (Doreen Virtue PhD) today for inspiration for my blog.

If you have been reading my previous blogs, you will know that I have been studying the book, Nature’s Way – Native Wisdom for Living in Balance with the Earth, by Ed McGaa, Eagle Man, as part of my course in Native American Spirituality at AIHT.

Yesterday, I was studying the chapter called Gone – Lesson of Buffalo, which talks about the devastating effects that humans have had on the biodiversity of our planet.  Ed McGaa tells us that, according to scientists, we are losing species at an astonishing rate of 17,000 to 100,000 species every year, even before many of them have been identified.

We impact species on the planet with everything we do, from fertilising the garden (contributing to nutrient pollution of the sea) to felling of trees (the planets lungs) and filling in wetlands (breeding grounds and water filtration systems) to develop our housing estates.  Even eating meat contributes to the death of our oceans as excrement from farms, particularly factory farms, creates dead zones in the sea, where their run-off ends up.  Methane from these farms is also one of the greatest contributors to global warming.

Species are disappearing faster and faster as we create situations which exacerbate problems.  As well as destroying habitats for many species, we often don’t leave sufficient area of habitat to allow all of the species, which depend on each other in the web of life, to continue to survive and thrive.

Many threatened species, like the buffalo, have been overexploited.  It is hard to believe that, in this day of enlightened thinking, we are still trading in body parts of many endangered species, such as tigers, rhinos, and elephants.

Being reminded of all the problems, which we have caused, left me feeling rather down, but it was reading about the US navy’s use of sonar that brought me to tears.  This is not using sonar to locate fish to eat, this is using high-power sonar to locate enemy submarines.  It has been shown that their sonar tests have killed many marine mammals.  Whales and dolphins have beached themselves, not only because their hearing, which they use for navigation and feeding, has been damaged, but in some cases, as their only means of escape from the painful sound waves.

I realised that in many areas in our lives, we are having a detrimental effect on animals and on the environment, and as we do so, we are bringing our planet closer and closer to a critical life-threatening situation.  As we impact daily on the fine threads of the web of life, we increasingly risk the collapse of the entire web, without which we can no longer survive.

I wondered what we possibly could do to arrest the damage and turn it around.

There is much that we can do, as individuals, to make a positive difference to the planet.  The first step is to consider the consequences of all of our actions.  Here are some suggestions we might consider:

• Think about what waste products we produce and where they end up. (Plastic bags, bottles, and other plastic rubbish threaten our marine environment.)  Consider using reusable containers instead of plastic wraps and bags, and reusable water bottles instead of plastic ones.  We can pick up plastic rubbish wherever we see it, as otherwise it will undoubtedly end up in the sea.
• Consider where our food comes from.  Are we contributing to greenhouse gases and nutrient run-off by buying from factory farms and feedlots?  Are we contributing to over-fishing?  We can consider an organic vegan diet, which has less impact on the environment.
• Consider what chemicals and other pollutants we are putting into the environment ourselves, and through our purchasing choices.
• Consider renewable energy sources, and energy efficient appliances.
• Lobby governments when environmental issues are brought to our attention.  Help governments to understand that, unless we start considering the health of our planet, the health of our nations’ economies will be of little concern.

Although there are many things each of us can do to help the environment, the greatest gift that we can give to Mother Earth is the message I received from this oracle card.  We can give Mother Earth the gift of our children and grandchildren, uncontaminated by prejudices against nature and her inhabitants.

Children are born with a natural connection to all of life – a natural connection to God and all of her creation.  They have no fear of frogs or flies, cockatoos or cockroaches.  Given enough information, they will instinctively act in ways that support Mother Earth and all of her charges.  They would not knowingly harm another sentient being for material gain.

If we can resist the temptation to instil fear into our children, we can raise a generation of sons and daughters who know that they are indeed, “watched over and protected” as they explore their world.  We can raise a generation of sons and daughters who respect all living things, including Mother Earth, as traditional Native Americans and other indigenous societies did.

We can raise a generation of sons and daughters who consider the consequences of all their actions on all of life on this planet.

http://www.nrdc.org/wildlife/marine/sonar.asp

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qT-rOXB6NI

http://www.lorelletaylor.com/truth/