CHAPTER THREE

THE ENVIRONMENT: HOPE SURVIVES

What can one say about the environment? Environment, good; toxic waste, bad. Clean water, good; air pollution, bad. Recycling, good; greenhouse gases, bad (although not always). There is a current trend in our society to see environmental issues in black or white, but I’m not sure they can be so easily defined. Greenhouse gases provide an atmosphere for our planet that keeps in the heat of the sun. Like a greenhouse (hence the term), the gases let in the light and heat of the sun and trap some of that energy, allowing our planet to be a horticultural hothouse for plants and animals alike. Without greenhouse gases, we’d be living on a ball of rock. And we’d be cold, besides.

This is not to say that spewing massive amounts of CO2 into the air is a good thing. Obviously, as we have seen in current years, it is not. Ask our polar bear brethren if they’re psyched that their snow-bound climate is shrinking, giving way to the next Club Med, and I’m sure they’d give you an emphatic “No.” (If they could speak human, that is.) The inhabitants of the Polynesian island Tuvalu, on the other side of the globe, would undoubtedly concur with their neighbors from the north. Their island is experiencing severe flooding, thanks to global warming. If the warming trend continues, their island nation will sink into the sea, becoming a modern-day Atlantis.[1]

So what does this mean for us, in our comfy, cushy Western homes, replete with digital thing-a-ma-bobs and automatic this-and-thats? Well, as with everything that happens on a gigantic scale, it’s difficult to say. The Earth has experienced climate change before. Recall the infamous Ice Ages I and II. (No, not the movies!) Comets crashed into our planet, changing the weather drastically and ending the reign of the dinosaurs. The Northern Hemisphere was covered in snow and ice for hundreds of years at a time. And yet, despite these truths, mankind survived. Eking out a difficult, hard-scrabble existence, humanity did not succumb (like the dinosaurs) to the variable elements. Instead, we endured, eventually building this mammoth, global society that sprawls before us today. Here we are, reaping the rewards of the trials and sacrifices of our prehistoric ancestors, perhaps leading our planet back to that very snow-covered, destitute existence.

As a lover of mythology, I cannot help but wonder if we have done this all before. Could we have created civilizations thousands or millions of years ago only to destroy them with our own self-important power and knowledge? The names hang tantalizingly close, on the very tip of the tongue. Atlantis. Shangri-La. Llhasa. Lemuria. Avalon. The Mayan Calendar claims that December 21, 2012, marks the end of the Mayan Great Cycle of the Long Count. Some modern spiritual followers believe this date marks the coming of the apocalypse, the end of the world as we know it. And some of them link the doomsday prophesy to our environment, especially global warming. Could the Mayans have tapped into an Earth-deep cyclic wisdom related to human life on the planet? My intellect dismisses the idea as ludicrous, but my child-like mind wonders at the possibilities.

Whenever I think about humanity’s impact on planet Earth, the movie Lost in Space pops into my mind. Unlike the kitschy 1960s television show, the movie (released in 1998) takes itself seriously, and it takes the end of life on Earth even more seriously. In fact, it is serious enough to be the main reason for the Robinsons to go gallivanting about in space. (That’s pretty darn serious, folks.) The beginning of the movie, the prologue, if you will, explains that the nations on Earth have banded together to save the human race by jointly creating a “hypergate” that will allow spaceships to pass instantaneously to the only other inhabitable planet that has been found, Alpha Prime. Within fifteen to twenty years, humanity will be able to pass through the hypergate to colonize Alpha Prime, leaving behind a devastated Earth. To highlight the importance of the mission, Professor Robinson (played by William Hurt) and Major West (a young, hunky Matt LeBlanc) have the following conversation.

West: Every school child knows that our recycling technologies will cure the environment. Sending a family across the galaxy is a publicity stunt to sell computers to people of all ages.

Robinson: Every school child has been lied to. Recycling technologies came too late. All fossil fuels are virtually exhausted. The ozone layer is down to forty percent. In two decades, the Earth will be unable to support human life.

A daunting statement and one designed to get people’s attention. Remember, Lost in Space was created about a decade before green living and environmental policies came to the forefront of public life. Before Al Gore and his movie An Inconvenient Truth, the only people thinking about saving the Earth were the Greenpeace activists in their boats and the hippies in their communal houses. Now soccer moms and Wall Street tycoons are looking at their actions and weighing them against the needs of the environment, against the healing of our planet Earth.

But is it too little, too late? Like the Robinsons, do we find ourselves accessing our collective environmental wisdom too late to save our planet? Only time will tell. But of one thing I can assure you: the human race is not one to lie down and die quietly. We will fight to continue our existence. Through frigid, snow-bound climates or starry-eyed space adventures, we will strive to live and learn from our past mistakes. For now, we can all pitch in by making small, everyday changes around the house—recycling plastics, metals, and glass; switching to energy-efficient fluorescent light bulbs; turning off the lights when not necessary; and conserving water. We can commute to work with others and refuse to dump toxic substances into the land.

If, as the Mayan adherents claim, our actions cannot stave off the end of the world and the environmental destruction of planet Earth, we will adapt. We have in the past; we will in the future. The message of humanity’s interaction with Earth is not one of despair but one of hope. We will find a way to continue, through the difficulties brought on by ourselves and survive. Will we be forgotten in the mists of time, relegated to legendary status like Atlantis, Avalon, or Shangri-La? Perhaps. But our stories will survive and our ancestors will endure, learning from our past actions, living their own truths.

ENERGY RETURN

Sometimes, when we look at the big picture, we lose the importance of the details. We ignore the subtle brush strokes of salmon pink and lilac purple that contribute to the creation of a wonderful, beauteous whole. Beauty is minute, stored in the smallest of spaces, shining from the littlest crevices of light. So, when choosing to work, magically and mundanely, to better the environment, it is very easy to lose oneself in the giant causes and issues and concerns of the day, forgetting that sometimes the tiniest action makes the biggest difference.

And so I encourage you, as you venture forth to save the planet, to strive to live your environmental truth every day. Don’t just jump on the nearest bandwagon on Earth Day and Arbor Day and Save the Ocean Day. Rather, perform small Earth-healing miracles every day. For every day that we live on planet Earth is Earth day. The universe, the Goddess, even the Earth Mama herself will view your small everyday actions through a filter of honesty and respect. These tasks, done with love over time, will add so much more to the universal environmental consciousness, because you are owning them as a lifestyle. They are not a fancy title that you strap on for special occasions and parades; rather, your actions enlighten your beliefs and buttress your words. Believe in the power of the one. Believe in the strength of the small. And you will change the world!

MANTRA

Asase ye dur.

Tumi nyinaa ne asase.

(Land is mighty.

All power emanates from the land.)

Figure 2: Akan symbol: Asase Ye Dur

Asase Yaa is the Earth Mother Goddess of the Akan people of Ghana, a country on the western coast of Africa. Asase Yaa is one half of a dual-deity belief system, along with her husband Nyame. Akan religious philosophy puts the God and Goddess far above earthly concerns, preferring to utilize intermediaries, such as ancestors or spirits, to access the Divine. This is not to say that Nyame and Asase Yaa are not available; they’re just slightly untouchable. Nowadays, Ghana is relatively monotheistic, with Christianity and Islam being its two main religions. Nyame has morphed with the monotheistic Supreme Deity to become God of the Bible or Allah of the Koran. Asase Yaa has remained separate from monotheism and does not play an important role in the structured religious life of the people.

She is not forgotten, however. Asase Yaa, despite being outside of accepted monotheistic religious practice, still holds an important place in the hearts of the people. As recently as November 2007, a feature article for the Ghanaian Homepage (an all-Ghanaian news source on the web) thanked Asase Yaa for saving President Kufuor from a near-death incident.[2] A goddess was mentioned in thanksgiving for saving a national figure?! Amazing! But such is the case in Ghana, where organized monotheistic religions coincide with ancient folk beliefs and customs. When European missionaries colonized Africa, in the early to mid-1900s, they preached that all traditional spiritual practices, ceremonies, thoughts, beliefs, and activities were no longer necessary due to the power of God. The Ghanaians, especially the Akan, the largest ethnic group in the nation,[3] held a belief system that included a supreme masculine deity already, so the ideas of the missionaries were neither foreign nor difficult to accept. Nyame became God. However, the missionaries were not able to wipe out cultural spiritual ceremonies and rites of passage. Naming ceremonies for babies, rites of puberty (mainly for girls), traditional marriage and funeral rites “are done before their Western counterparts.”[4] Asase Yaa falls into this traditional spiritual category and is still honored throughout the country.

Asase Yaa has two human-form children, both boys, and their names are Bea (or Bia) and Tano. Tano is thought to be one of the most important gods of Ashanti (a subgroup of the Akan) traditional spirituality. He is a powerful river god who sired all the small local gods of the people, especially the river gods. These “lesser,” Earth-bound gods serve as intermediaries between humans and Nyame, giving humans access to the Divine. Asase Yaa’s other son Bea probably has something to do with the land, as his name is the Akan word for place or location. He is considered the oldest son of Nyame and Asase Yaa. Having given birth to two healthy boys, the fertile Earth Mother Asase Yaa was not yet finished. Her last child with Nyame is well-known around the world and has numerous names: Anancy, Anancyi, Aunt Nancy, Ananansa, Ananse, Hanansi, Kompa Nanzi, Nansi, B’anansi, Kweku Anansi, and Anansi the Spider.

Anansi the Spider is not a god; rather, he is considered a folk-hero, serving an important role in legends and parables all over the world. His stories spread to the Caribbean and eventually to the American South when many Africans were kidnapped during the slave trade of the 1700s and 1800s. Anansi is a trickster character who uses his wits and cunning to trick more powerful beings so he can benefit from their stupidity. His most well-known role in folktales is as the keeper of stories. When Anansi requested the knowledge of all stories from his father Nyame, he was given three tasks to complete. If he accomplished all three tasks, then he would be granted the honor of the knowledge of all stories. But the assignments given him were not easy, especially for a little spider. In the African version of the story, Anansi must capture a jaguar, a hive of angry hornets, and a fairy who cannot be seen. The Jamaican version of the story has Anansi seizing the hornets as well, but substitutes in a leopard and a python.[5]

In the American South, Anansi’s struggle with the fairy who cannot be seen morphs into the tar-baby episode of Brer Rabbit fame from the Uncle Remus stories, which were derived from African-American folktales. In the African story, Anansi tricks the fairy through the creation of a baby made out of tar. When the unseen fairy investigates this strange-looking phenomenon, he gets stuck to the tar-baby and cannot get free, thus winning Anansi the knowledge of stories. In the African-American version, the tar-baby traps Brer Rabbit, the small yet cunning animal who serves as Anansi’s American counterpart. True to form, however, Brer Rabbit talks his way free of the clinging tar-baby and saves himself from becoming Brer Fox’s supper.[6]

As a goddess of fertility, it makes sense that the stories of Asase Yaa’s children should circle the globe. After all, she is the land that nourishes each and every one of us. In Ghana, farmers often honor the goddess of the land by halting work on her special day, Thursday. When they are tilling the land, they will request special permission before cutting into Asase Yaa’s soft, pliable surface. Consent is asked, once again, before digging to bury the dead at a funeral.[7] Rites are performed before trees are cut down as the “cutting of trees depletes the source of life.”[8] Asase Yaa, along with Nyame and the ancestors, is called upon before any traditional spiritual ceremony or function. A libation is poured on the ground, asking for the blessings of the God and Goddess, and any spirits present. During libation, Asase Yaa is invoked as a spirit mother who can influence the lives of those gathered before her. Sometimes, these offerings are made to ritual stools made of wood, which were housed in “stool rooms.” In these instances, the traditional offering was human blood, gunpowder, alcoholic drink, or spiderwebs. Today, human blood is no longer used as a sacrificial offering.[9]

Along with her all-encompassing fertile Earth Mother aspect, Asase Yaa is known as the upholder of truth. “Whenever someone’s word is in doubt, he is asked to touch his lip to some soil to become credible.”[10] Asase Yaa has a supreme interest in proper conduct as well, and helps to maintain traditional morals, ethics, and social behavior. As such, she is especially important for young Akan girls, who have strict rules to which they must adhere in order to stay within the moral structure of society. “In the Akan culture, women represent the beauty, purity and dignity of the society and are guarded against corruption by our traditional laws and regulations.”[11] No woman is allowed to get married without first going through the traditional puberty rites, and every woman must remain a virgin prior to participation. These rules are meant to ensure that mothers have the sought-after cultural morality and will pass these values on to their children. It is important to note that many of the sub-groups within the Akan culture (the Ashanti, Fanti, Akim, and Akwamu) are matrilineal in construct. This means that children inherit through the female line.[12] Women hold strong places of power within cultural groups and are often known as “Queens” when they display wise power and knowledge in guiding their people. When viewed with this in mind, the puberty rite becomes less of a male-dominated system of control and more of a self-regulating mechanism. After all, when one holds power, one must exercise responsibility.

Asase Yaa is a part of everyday life for many Ghanaians who still practice traditional spiritual activities alongside monotheistic religious beliefs. She is the land upon which we walk every day, giving us food and nourishment, fertility and life. The land is life’s sustainer, not only for the Akan but for all of us. Just as Anansi’s stories have spread across the globe, so too does Asase Yaa touch each and every one of us. Queen Boakyewa Yiadom I, Queen of Adamorobe, Aburi-Akuapem (Ghana), wrote that “the distinctive feature [of African religion] is the sharing spirit.”[13] And, in my mind, Asase Yaa exemplifies this idea. She is all around us, providing, giving, and returning our gifts back to us. The energy we pour forth into her returns to us again and again. As a traditional maxim from Ghana states: “The land is mighty. All power emanates from the land.” Asase Yaa is mighty and will guide and aid us, if only we acknowledge her presence, recognize the plight of her people, and accept the reciprocity of our actions.

Pathway to Asase Yaa

The Akan may use ornate rituals to honor Asase Yaa, but don’t worry; I’m not about to suggest you undertake a traditional Akan puberty ritual, complete with dancing and vows of chastity! After all, despite our global world view, cultural mores and ceremonies are distinct, having been created over thousands of years for specific societies. They should not be undertaken lightly and with little understanding of the history behind their meanings and implications.

Having stated that belief, however, I do think it would be appropriate to offer a libation to Asase Yaa on a piece of land that is near and dear to your heart. If you have a garden, consider following the example of Ghanaian farmers by asking for permission and giving an offering before tilling the Earth. If you don’t garden, follow your heart and choose a place that means something to you. Perhaps it is a ritual space or the roots of a flowering lilac bush. Maybe you honor the sturdy trunk of a tree or the wood chips that protect your little one’s feet at the playground. The exact place is incidental as all places on Earth resonate with the spirit of Asase Yaa.

Once you’ve picked your place, fill up a cup of water and pour it on the ground while offering up one of these traditional Akan prayers, or one that you craft yourself:

Nyame, we invoke your name. Asase Yaa, who was created on Thursday, we invoke your name. Our venerable ancestors, we are grateful to you for granting us health, children, wealth, love, and peace. We pray that you continue to protect us all.

The prayer goes on to include a few sentences concerning those who may wish your family harm. It is common in traditional Akan ceremonies to send away evil and blast its presence in the lives of the people gathered. In the West, we tend to not focus on evil influences, trusting instead in our positive thoughts and the power of our chosen deity. I include the end of the prayer for those who wish complete authenticity. Do not feel compelled to say anything that makes you uncomfortable or that goes against your own personal morality.

But anyone who has evil thoughts against us in the family; the one who wishes that misfortunes happen to us, we pray that the person is completely overpowered![14]

The following traditional prayer is often said at Christmas or the New Year by the head of the family:

Nyame here is drink; Asase Yaa here is drink; Great Ancestors, come and drink . . . We are not calling you because of some evil tidings. The year has come again and you did not allow any evil to befall us. We are offering you drink; beseeching that the coming year be prosperous. Don’t allow any evil to come near our habitation. Bless us with rain, food, children, health, and prosperity.

May you feel a connection with Asase Yaa always!

MANTRA

Pacha Mama

Mama Pacha

We need you.

We love you.

Pachamama is the Incan Earth goddess who is still worshipped by modern Peruvians. She is a goddess of agriculture, of fertility, of the Earth below our feet, and of the air we breathe. Pachamama is infused with inner power and might. Her name is often translated as “Mother of the Earth,” but she is actually “Mother of All.” The word mama indicates a sacred female presence full of wisdom and knowledge, a true “mother” to us all.[15] Pacha means time and space, sacredness, the Earth, infinity, and the Divine. It is a word that encompasses all that it means to be alive on planet Earth, from the beginning of time to the present and even beyond, into the future.[16]

In Peruvian mythology, Pachamama is tied directly to the essence of life through her family and the trials and tribulations she undergoes. It is said that Pachamama birthed the great god Pachacamac into the world, completely on her own. Now with this birth, there were suddenly two beings in the universe—a god who animates the world and all its creations and a goddess who nurtures and provides sustenance for those creations. Together, they created a set of twins, a boy and a girl, whom Pachamama birthed. Soon after their birth, Pachacamac disappeared from their home atop White Mountain. Pachacamac and Pachamama were never to be reunited again.

Alone, Pachamama provided for herself and her children, withstanding the dark nights and the cold days. One evening, the children and their mother saw a flame in the distance. Curious and intrigued, they decided to follow the bright light. Eventually they came upon the cave-home of Pachacamac’s brother, Wakon. The mother and children were elated. No longer were they alone in the world. Now they had light and company! But the good feelings did not last. When the children were out fetching water, Wakon expressed a romantic interest in Pachamama, which she refused. Incensed, Wakon killed Pachamama, chopped her up into little pieces, ate some of her, and then stored the rest of her body in a cooking kettle over the fire. When the children returned and asked for their mother, he told them she’d be back soon. But, of course, she never returned.

As the days passed, the children made friends with the animals around their new cave-home. One, a bird, told the children of Wakon’s actions, informing them that their mother was dead. He instructed the children to tie a boulder into Wakon’s long hair as he slept. The children did this and exited the cave, leaving their uncle behind. As they fled, a fox offered to hide them in his den. The children gratefully accepted. Burrowed deep in the Earth, in the warm embrace of their mother Pachamama, the children listened as their uncle stomped about, looking for them. Wakon demanded the location of the children from the cougar, the condor, and the snake but they refused to tell him. Finally, the shrewd fox stepped forward and suggested that he imitate their mother’s voice, calling to them from the top of the highest peak. Wakon, who had yet to notice the boulder hanging from his hair, thought the fox’s idea was brilliant and he ran to the top of the mountain. He called forth with the voice of Pachamama, leaning over the edge of the cliff. The boulder attached to his hair dislodged, tumbling forward into the abyss, dragging Wakon with it. Wakon’s death shook the Earth, causing massive earthquakes throughout the region.[17]

Eventually Pachamama’s children climb a long rope up to the sky where they are reunited with their father Pachacamac and they become the sun and the moon. Pachamama remains on Earth, forever separated from her children, yet forever a part of them. Together, her family is the universe that surrounds the Earth. The celestial beings that were important to the ancient Incans were the Earth, the sun, and the moon. Throw in some air to breathe and you’ve just described Pachamama’s immediate family.

As the Earth, Pachamama plays the biggest role in the everyday lives of humans. She gives us food and drink, shelter from the elements, and a place on which to live. To the Incans and to modern-day Peruvians, the Earth is a living, breathing entity with emotions, moods, needs, and desires. She needs us to love her. Juan Camargo Huaman, a modern Peruvian shaman describes Pachamama in this way:

Her rivers need to flow, they are her veins. Veins she is desperately trying to clean out with all the rain that has been falling. Her mountains are her shoulders. Her forests are her lungs. The hole in the ozone layer is a hole in her aura, and the greenhouse effect which is raising her temperature is because she is ill and running a fever. When the Earth is ill, then we are too; because we are like cells on her body, we need to heal ourselves in order to help her heal.[18]

When Pachamama is sick, when she feels unloved by her human children, she is thought to take the form of a dragon deep inside the Andes Mountains. This dragon causes earthquakes and disruptions in order to help humans re-focus their attention back on the importance of the Earth and of Pachamama.

Today, as in times past, it is quite common to give offerings to Pachamama at agricultural festivals, in times of need, before cutting into her soil, during harvest season, and on her special holidays—the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday (Fat Tuesday), any Friday, or on any day during the month of August. The offerings take the form of cocoa leaves, cornmeal, unwrought silver, china, wine, cigars, cooked food, or a special Peruvian fermented drink called chicha. They are usually placed in a permanent sacred offering site known as an apacheta. An apacheta is a hole or well in the Earth that is piled high with stones. In order to make an offering, you remove the stones, drop the gift to Pachamama into the hole, and then reassemble the stones. The apachetas often resemble cairns and can be found in individual yards, in the center of towns, and even at mountain passes, so travelers can make an offering for a safe journey. Sometimes they mark energetic openings or doorways along the Earth.[19]

Such is the power of Pachamama—embraced by the universe, connected to the soil. Pachamama is the Universal Mother, giving us the light of the sun and the moon and providing us with land to stand upon and food to eat. She is infinitely grounded in the here and now, yet wise and knowing beyond all comprehension. As the old Peruvian saying goes, “Wisdom comes through the soles of our feet.”[20] Pachamama is here with us every day, listening to our voices, waiting for our love.

Pathway to Pachamama

It is time to embrace Mother Earth with our bodies, to offer her love in a very physical way. It is time to give her a hug. A hug is one of those universal expressions that make people smile. It is hard not to feel connected, not to feel cared for and loved by the people around you, when embraced in a hug. Nowadays, in the industrial West, we don’t hug each other enough. We stay away from intimate human interaction by e-mailing, texting, and chatting via cell phone. And many of us are lonely and sad because we miss relating with people in the flesh.

One man, Juan Mann, started a worldwide movement based on the idea of the power of hugs. It is called Free Hugs Campaign[21] and it works to spread love and connection around the world, through the power of a hug. From Japan to Paraguay to America to Australia, people are creating signs, checking in with their local officials, and offering free hugs to the world. Amazing! So simple, yet so profound.

Let’s take this simple, profound idea and expand it to the Earth Mama under our feet. Choose a day, any day, and go outside and lie down on the Earth. Don’t bring a blanket or yoga mat to lie on. Instead, allow every part of your body to come in contact with Mother Earth. If you wish, invite friends and family members to join you. And while you all lie on the Earth, giving her a giant hug, hold hands and feel your love for each other as well. I promise you, you’ll sit up with a smile on your face!

MANTRA

Eriu

(Pronounced AIR-oo, the mantra should

be chanted like Om, by drawing out the syllables.)

Unlike the Greek goddess Gaia, who serves as the deity for our entire blue and green planet, Eriu is the very land of Ireland—her trees, her winds, her rivers and wells. To this day, Ireland remains deeply entrenched in its reverence of the land, of the actual green plains and rolling hills of the fertile, mystical island of the Gaels and the Tuatha dé Danann. There is power in the rocks and hills, in the very soil itself, and the Irish have never forgotten this truth. Lie on her grass and feel her comfort. Step on her dirt and feel her support. She is alive and breathing every day, smiling on the children who make their way to her shores.

Eriu is yet another example of an Irish triple goddess. With her sisters, Banba and Fotla, she creates a triad reminiscent of Brigid and Morrighan. In fact, Eriu, Banba, and Fotla share the same mother as Morrighan: Ernmas. They were the first goddess triplets born to Ernmas, the she-farmer and bountiful mother. In the Lebor Gabala Erenn, the eleventh-century Book of Invasions or Conquests, Ernmas births two sets of girls as well as five boys, displaying her prowess as a goddess of fertility and plenty. Undoubtedly, her fertile nature extends through her female children, especially her first three daughters, since they are the very land from which abundance spills to feed the people of Ireland.[22] The fertility of Eriu, Banba, and Fotla extends past sustenance to the granting of kingship, thus giving the goddesses a larger role in the shaping of the land of Ireland and its future.

Eriu exhibits her own innate ability to grant sovereignty when she is young in spirit, unknown to the touch of man. In The Second Battle of Mag Tuired, an Irish saga first written down in the ninth century, Eriu sits looking at a perfectly smooth sea when she is approached (via silver boat) by a beautiful man. The man requests an hour of lovemaking with Eriu, who initially rejects his suggestion. But the man is very persuasive and, before long, Eriu and the mysterious stranger have “stretched themselves out together.”[23]

This first sexual encounter becomes a monumental event in Eriu’s life and underscores her role as fertile Earth goddess and kingmaker. Her lover turns out to be none other than Elatha mac Delbaith, king of the Formorians, the race of beings that lived in Ireland before the Tuatha dé Danann arrived. Nine months after learning “the ways of men,” Eriu gives birth to a son who is named Eochu Bres, or Bres for short. Eventually, Bres becomes the leader of the Tuatha dé Danann, marries the goddess Brigid, and sires a son named Ruadan.

Although Bres’ rule as king is short, it is important to note the power of his mother Eriu. In her first sexual encounter, Eriu conceives a child that becomes a king. The king of Tara! As the land itself, Eriu grants sovereignty to her son, having remained stable and unchanging so the current of the sea is able to carry Elatha’s silver boat to her.

As the years progress, Eriu marries another Irish king, Cethor. Son of Cermait, grandson of the Dagda, Cethor has two brothers named Sethor and Tethor who also serve as the kings of Ireland, marrying Banba and Fotla, respectively. These sons of Cermait also are known as “son of” the individual gods they worship: “Mac Cuill – Sethor, the hazel his god; Mac Cecht – Tethor, the ploughshare his god; Mac Greine – Cethor, the sun his god.”[24] As the land of Ireland, it is interesting to note Eriu’s connection with the sun through Mac Greine. The land and the sun work together to sustain crops and vegetation for the people of the Earth. Both are needed to create life. Since the sun and the Earth are sometimes married in mythology, they are symbiotic entities that need each other in order to create bounty and abundance. Eriu’s marriage to Mac Greine and her encounter with Elatha show a goddess who is flexible, with an ability to work with others. As a fertility deity, she is comfortable with the power that comes from losing oneself in the merging of another to create something that is greater than either.

The way in which the three kingly brothers and their sister queens rule exemplify the intrinsic nature of Eriu, Banba, and Fotla. The kings share the rule of Ireland, dividing their sovereignty into thirds. The land remained whole but the time they ruled was divided up, so that each brother only ruled for approximately ten years out of the twenty-nine they held power. Every year, the crown would shift to another brother and the name of the land changed to that of the queen. So, when Mac Greine held power, the land was called Eriu; when Mac Cuill wore the crown, Banba was the name of the land.[25] All three goddesses hold the sovereignty of Ireland, yet Eriu makes the biggest impression in the ancient mythology. It is Eriu who not only makes a king through marriage but creates one from her womb. It is Eriu who is described as “generous,”[26] while her sisters’ personalities are not mentioned. And it is Eriu who changes the fortunes of the Tuatha dé Danann when the Milesans arrive on the island of Ireland.

The Milesans are the last of the mythological invaders of Ireland. They arrive from Spain to avenge a fallen comrade, Ith, who was killed by the Danann nobles out of jealousy for the land of Ireland. After Ith praises Ireland for its plentiful harvest, fish, honey, wheat, and moderate climate, he seeks to return home and is ambushed by the Danann lords.[27] They react to Ith’s compliments as though the land is a woman and Ith an unwelcome bridegroom coming to steal her away in the dead of night. Although the Danann race wields powerful magic, the threat of abduction is very real to the Danann men, perhaps even more so for Mac Greine, Mac Cuill, and Mac Cecht, whose wives are the very soil of the land. The Danann lords’ hasty reaction and decisive strike against Ith hints at the character of Eriu and her sisters. As the land itself, it is possible that Eriu, Banba, and Fotla care little for the actual group that rules Ireland, as long as the land is well cared for. After all, Eriu has already had sex and birthed a child with a Formorian. Perhaps the land wishes to be honored for the power that she is, not for the power she can bring.

After hearing of Ith’s unwelcome treatment in Ireland, the Sons of Mil gather their forces and sail to Ireland. The Danann princes use magic and druidry to hide the island from the Milesans, but after circling the island three times, the invaders find purchase at the harbor of Inber Scene. They walk out to explore the land and enact their revenge. Three days after landing, they meet Banba with her retinue, who states that the land is named after her and she asks that the invaders give the island her name. Her visit is followed by Fotla, who also claims the name-right of the land, praying that the Milesans allow her name to remain on the island. Neither sister tries to stop the invaders through words or deeds. Indeed, the daughters of Ernmas appear to accept the appearance of the Sons of Mil as appropriate and expected. Instead of pushing the men back into the sea, they request boons and favors.

The reasoning for this acceptance is explained when the Milesans finally meet Eriu, in the very center of Ireland, at Usneche. Eriu welcomes the invaders with grandeur and nobility, stating, “Welcome, welcome to you. It is long since your coming is prophesied. Yours will be the island forever.”[28] Obviously, Eriu, Banba, and Fotla have divined the fate of their land and seen that the Dananns would not rule the island forever. Gracefully, as branches swaying in the wind, the sovereign queens of the land accept the change of rulership and honor the line of new kings. Yet, Eriu demands her own respect as well, exacting an equal, give-and-take relationship with the Milesans. When one of the men scoffs at Eriu’s words, boasting about his own gods and demeaning her power, Eriu states that the power of his gods means nothing in the claiming of Ireland. She suggests that only through her will the land be taken. Then she insists that the land be named after her. The chief bard of the Milesans, Amergin, undoubtedly noting her power and sovereignty, agrees, stating, “It will be its chief name forever.”[29]

After countless magic spells cast by the Danann princes and a honey-tongued plea to the land (that verges on wooing) by Amergin, the Milesans troop onto the island and, amid much bloodshed, rout the Dananns. During the final battle, the queens Eriu, Banba, and Fotla and their kings Cethor, Sethor, and Tethor, die. The essence of the land is returned to the soil, winds, and waters from which it sprang. The power of sovereignty returns to the living land under the feet of the Milesans. But Eriu can never truly die, for as long as the land thrives, the goddess lives.

She arises, once again, to grant sovereignty, in the eleventh-century manuscript Baile in Scail. In this, she is known as Flaith Erenn, the bearer of the cup of sovereignty and power. Many years after the struggle between the Dananns and the Milesans, a descendent of the Sons of Mil, Conn, is greeted by the sovereign goddess. After stepping upon the Stone of Destiny (or Lia Fail) and hearing its screams, Conn’s druids tell him that he and his children will be kings of Ireland. After this proclamation, a mist forms around Conn and his advisers and he is spirited away to an unearthly house. There, they meet a mysterious horseman, the god Lugh, and a young female cupbearer, Eriu. The men eat and drink of the bounty of Ireland and are made most welcome. At the end of the feast, Lugh tells Eriu to give the cup to Conn. She does, naming every ruler of Ireland until Judgment Day. Then she and Lugh melt into the shadows, the fog lifts, and the house disappears. However, the cup of sovereignty remains with Conn.

Like the cup, Eriu stays with each of us who has been touched by the beauty and majesty of the land of Ireland. The land is alive, a deep spirit that roots each of us into the very heart and soul of Ireland and the goddess Eriu. Eriu is Ireland. She cannot be separated from its birds and beasts, its air and rain, from its mist and shining sun. Through the invasions of seven peoples, through the use of plowshares and the building of highways, she remains with her solid presence. She is the very essence of Ireland and praises deserve to be sung in her name. Hail Eriu, mother of Bres! Hail Eriu, queen of Cethor! Hail Eriu, lover of Amergin! Hail Eriu, cupbearer of Lugh! Hail Eriu, essence of the land![30]

Pathway to Eriu

My daughter brought home a charming children’s book the other day after visiting the library with her grandparents. It is told in the form of an Irish folktale and is entitled One Potato, Two Potato, written by Cynthia DeFelice. Similar in format to many folktales around the world, DeFelice adds a typically Irish element to the story by making her main characters spectacularly poor. Mr. and Mrs. O’Grady share one potato between them every day and are so skinny that they can comfortably sit on one chair. Yet, these Irish peasants are not bitter about their lot in life, but rather count themselves lucky to have each other, one blanket with holes, a tattered coat that they share in the winter, and one potato a day.

As you can imagine, their lives change when they find a large pot (which looks suspiciously like a cauldron) buried deep in their garden, deep in the Earth of Ireland herself. This cauldron reproduces anything that is thrown into it. So one potato becomes two and two potatoes become four. Well, you get the idea. And so did the O’Gradys, who proceed to throw just about everything they owned into the pot, becoming miraculously, magically abundant! The story evolves into some silliness until the O’Grady’s realize that they have manifested everything they could possibly need. They then thank the pot and re-bury it for someone else to find.

One Potato, Two Potato is a wonderful book to aid you in connecting with the power of the land of Ireland and manifesting earthly abundance. The wanton silliness is fun and enjoyable, while the details are reminiscent of Irish folktales of old. (The Fear Ghorta, as re-told in the story “Famine” by Michael Scott,[31] immediately came to mind when I began reading it.) Read this book out in the sun on a summer day. Share it with others during a drafty winter night. Give it as a gift. But, above all, remember its message: the land provides for us, and she deserves our respect, our thanks, and our love.

RITUAL FOR THE ENVIRONMENT:
LOVE FOR A TREE, LOVE FOR ALL

Suggested Ritual Days

March 14: International Day of Action for Rivers, as founded by the International Rivers Network

April 22: Earth Day, as celebrated in the United States

Last Friday in April: National Arbor Day, as founded by the Arbor Day Foundation in the United States

May 16: Love a Tree Day

Fourth Sunday in May: Love Tree Day, as founded by Michelle Skye

June 5: World Environment Day, as founded by the United Nations

Summer Solstice: World Whale Day, as founded by Reed Behrens

July 12: National Tree Day (Día del Árbol), as celebrated in Mexico

Any Thursday or Friday

Items needed

an outside tree of your choice

a flexible tape measure

a large length of ribbon in your choice of color

a bowl of water

a small rose quartz

A week or two before your ritual, take some time to explore your environment. Walk in a local park, swing at a local playground, investigate your yard and the street on which you live. While connecting to your environment, be always on the lookout for a tree that calls to you. (Preferably one that is in the public domain or belongs to you or someone you know. It is never a good idea to plunk yourself down on someone else’s lawn and start fiddling with their tree!) When you find your tree, measure the width of the tree using your tape measure. This measurement will help you to determine how much ribbon you will need for your ritual. I usually add a foot (12 inches) to the measurement, to ensure there is enough ribbon to make a bow. Now that you’ve got your measurement, go to your local fabric store and buy your ribbon. It doesn’t matter how thick or thin it is, just so it is long enough to tie around the trunk of your tree. I do not recommend using wire-edged ribbon as it is usually stiffer in texture and will be more difficult to use. However, if you fall in love with a wire-edged ribbon, go for it!

On the day of your ritual, gather your items and go to your tree. (If your tree is far away from your house, pack a water bottle with your water and pour it into the bowl once you get to your destination.) Sit under your tree and relax. Take deep, cleansing breaths. Try to connect to the essence of your tree. Feel her bark under your fingers. See what insects live among her roots. Notice the feathery patterns of her leaves and the shadows they cast on the ground. Pay attention to the colors of your tree and her scents and smells. How does the wind brush through her branches? How does it sound? Do not rush this section of the ritual, as you are allowing yourself to come in communion with your tree while calming and centering your mind.

Once you feel relaxed and completely connected with your tree, place the rose quartz in the bowl of water. Place the ribbon in the bowl of water and begin to think about all the love you have in your life—all the people who care about you and call you friend, daughter, sister, or mother. You are loved. Now consider the animals that you care for and/or see every day—the dogs that wag their tails in welcome, the squirrels that chatter above your head, the birds that sing sweet melodies to you. You are loved. Now begin to think about the Earth all around you—the oceans teeming with life, the land providing food and shelter, the wind bringing sweet scents and seeds. You are loved. Could any one person feel more love than you feel right now? You are surrounded by love, sweet and pure, innocent and giving.

And now, with your mindset of gratitude and love, consider the issues that hold most importance to you, the situations that seem too big for you to change—the plight of the polar bears, the children in Asia forced into prostitution, the families in the Sudan ripped apart by civil war, the clear-cutting of forests, the mysterious disappearance of the honey bees. Think about whatever cause or issue feels most important to you and send love through the roots of your tree to that situation. Tie the ribbon around your tree, surrounding it with your love and the love of the rose quartz crystal. Your love will be felt by the tree and will travel down its long roots, into the mysterious watery aqueducts deep in the Earth’s belly. There, the love will flourish, moving to the place and time and people most in need of it.

After tying your ribbon and spending a moment sending love to your tree, take the bowl of water and sprinkle it around your tree, giving back to the wondrous life that is serving as a conduit for your powerful message of love for the Earth. Then, tuck the rose quartz among the roots of your tree, taking care to simply follow the flow of the root structure; you should not gouge or tear into your tree.

Your ritual is now finished! You can replenish your love tree throughout the year, at various times that have meaning to you (birthdays, holidays, or other special days are wonderful times to give the gift of love). If enough of us perform this simple act, we can begin to change our environment and the world, one tree at a time, one person at a time, one issue at a time. Love is the great unifier. Our world has forgotten about the power of love. It is time for us to remind them.

[1]. Patel, “A Sinking Feeling,” 734–736.

[2]. Obenewaa, “The President’s Accident.”

[3]. Larbi, “The Nature of Continuity and Discontinuity . . .”

[4]. Yiadom, “We Believe That the Earth is God’s Gift to Us.”

[5]. Krensky, Anansi and the Box of Stories, 7–8.

[6]. Hamilton, Bruh Rabbit and the Tar Baby Girl, 15–28.

[7] . Yiadom, “We Believe That the Earth . . .”

[8] . Apeadu, “The African Indigenous Religion.”

[9] . World Culture Encyclopedia, “Akan Religion.”

[10]. Yiadom, “We Believe That the Earth . . .”

[11]. Osei-Adu, “Puberty Rites.”

[12]. Afrodesign Studios, “West Africa.”

[13]. Yiadom, “We Believe That the Earth.”

[14]. Starspirit International, Inc., “Akan Culture and Protocol.”

[15]. O’Neill, “Mama.”

[16]. Brown, “The Lessons of Juan Camargo Huaman—Peruvian Shaman.”

[17]. Lila, “Pachamama.”

[18]. Brown, “The Lessons of Juan Camargo Huaman.”

[19]. Lila, “Pachamama.”

[20]. Brown, “The Lessons of Juan Camargo Huaman.”

[21]. http://www.freehugscampaign.org.

[22]. MacAllister, Lebor Gabala Erenn, verses 62 and 64.

[23]. Gray, The Second Battle of Mag Tuired, verse 18.

[24]. MacAllister, Lebor Gabala Erren, verse 64.

[25]. Keating, The History of Ireland, section 12, 223.

[26]. Ibid., section 12, 225.

[27]. Cross and Slover, Ancient Irish Tales.

[28]. Ibid.

[29]. Ibid.

[30]. Much of the story of Eriu first appeared in Goddess Afoot!, 146–152. For more information and intimate workings with Eriu, Irish Goddess of the Land, including a guided meditation and ritual, please see chapter 8 of Goddess Afoot!

[31]. Scott, Irish Folk and Fairy Tales Omnibus, vol. III, chapter 6, 131–138.