We know the world is changing. Part of that change is the realisation that the way we live is damaging life on this planet. The primary concern of religions in the world today is the control and salvation of humankind. Churches and temples are growing empty. Priesthoods are seen as either defunct or corrupt. Religions are used as a pretext to sell arms to each other and spread war and dissension, perpetuating a medieval mind set that is long out worn. The 19th Century saw to that. Other ideologies rose through the 20th century with little concern for citizens and even less for the ecology of the world, failing to recognise cultures as part of the ecology. Rampant capitalism slowly ensconced itself in spurious legality until, by the end of the century, the catch phrase had become ‘greed is good’.
As the older generation slowly fades, (slowly because of the efficacy of modern drugs and means of keeping failing bodies alive), so the following generations struggle to make their way in a collapsing economy and step into the shoes of their forebears ignoring the call of the day. It is only among a few, though a growing minority, that others are calling out for change. It is primarily the young who see the loss of species as a real danger to the web of life – a phrase that has recently entered the common awareness. Meanwhile the ‘business as usual’ profit-makers still scour the seas crushing the lesser lives that higher forms depend upon. Every supermarket has a wet-fish slab, with the dead eyes of faltering species staring in recrimination at the passers-by. Sustainable pesci-culture means overstocked farms, breeding sickness and disease among the stifling stocks unable to breathe because the weight of life in a blocked off pool that in no way resembles the open seas and a hazardous life escaping predators.
The lives of fodder animals is even more horrendous, never seeing the sky, often not knowing their mother, is it any wonder that human society is tearing itself apart? Meanwhile the internet continues to promote violence and vengeance as a form of justice, or, worse, sexual entertainment. Boys and girls disappear from the streets, in some cases by the very hands of off duty police officers. So long Britain. Hallo Camp Profiteering.
As the cry of life-forms in every shape around the world grows louder, before being finally silenced, so the human response is to leave the churches empty with their paedophilia and fashion shows, and in place of this to turn to nature and restore the ancient wisdom inherent in every society. Long before we took to robes and ritualised approaches to God we stood in awe of the sunset and the crashing waves, of the waterfalls and the rainbows, of the deep deep forests and the call of birds at dawn and dusk.
All of this is rising again entering the hearts and minds of many who have been forced to stay at home during the spread of this global pandemic. Now love of nature is promoted as ‘tourism’ when it is something much deeper than that. It is the longing in the human heart to find its own essential self at one with the world of living things. Commerce is not living. It can never be called thriving, though it is commerce which has popularised this word today.
Commerce is a gambling wheel. And as Dylan said ‘the gambling wheel’s shut down’.
The deep sea container vessels that plough the seas spread the stench of diesel or worse through their endless recrossing of the seas. The plankton are dying, and with them our oxygen supply. Globules of oil cover the surface, blocking out the sun and poisoning the waters.
If you doubt the strain the sound of engines is placing on an otherwise silent environment I recommend you travel from Britain on the overnight ferry to Sweden, or somewhere similar. Sleep in a cabin below decks, close to the thud of the engines and see how you feel in the morning. Now imagine that continuing for your entire life, and you will gain some insight into the destruction of the seas that ‘harmless trade’ is doing daily. Some years ago it was said that the explosions of submarines from the First World War were still echoing in the sea. How much more, since then, has the traffic grown, slamming thudding motors across the narrowing seas gulfs. Is it possible for a fish to think with that noise going on?
Do you care, or is your only goal to gain a collar to wear, or a shawl to put across your shoulders. The old religions are dying, swiftly dying as the 5th root race ends its tenure on Earth, and the 6th race, rises in recognition of the sanctity of life and declares, ‘We cannot stand for this any longer.’ This is the Shamanic religions rising. This is the coming spirituality.
