“Oh all you sentient beings of this threefold world
[i.e. the entire universe, both visible and invisible]!
Because I, the All-Creating Sovereign, have created you,
you are My children and equal to Me.
Because you are not second to Me, I am present in you …
Oh all you sentient beings of this threefold world,
if I were not, you would be non-existent. …
Because all things do not exist outside of Me,
I firmly declare that I am all – the All-Creating One.”
Kulayarāja Tantra
I kind of smile, at looking at contemporary, urgent political, and ecological issues, taking resource at what just some years ago, most of Mankind sneered as a discarded Old Mythology, or at best ancient dead Religions!
In philosophy, panpsychism is the view that all matter has a mental aspect, or, alternatively, all objects have a unified center of experience or point of view.Baruch Spinoza, Gottfried Leibniz, Gustav Theodor Fechner, Friedrich Paulsen, Ernst Haeckel, Charles Strong, and partially William James are considered panpsychists.
Panpsychism is related to the more holistic view that the whole Universe is an organism that possesses a mind (see pandeism, pantheism, panentheism and cosmic consciousness). It is claimed to be distinct from animism or hylozoism, which hold that all things have a soul or are alive, respectively. Gustav Theodor Fechner claimed in “Nanna” and “Zend-Avesta” that the Earth is a living organism whose parts are the people, the animals and the plants.
Many Neopagans worship Gaia. Beliefs regarding Gaia vary, ranging from the belief that Gaia is the Earth to the belief that she is the spiritual embodiment of the earth, or the Goddess of the Earth.
Gaia (pron.: /ˈɡeɪ.ə/ or /ˈɡaɪ.ə/; from Ancient Greek Γαῖα, a poetical form of Gē Γῆ, “land” or “earth”; also Gaea, or Ge) was the goddess or personification of Earth in ancient Greek religion, one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia was the great mother of all: the heavenly gods, the Titans and the Giants were born from her union with Uranus (the sky), while the sea-gods were born from her union with Pontus (the sea). Her equivalent in the Roman pantheon was Terra.
The Gaia hypothesis, also known as Gaia theory or Gaia principle, proposes that organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a self-regulating, complex system that contributes to maintaining the conditions for life on the planet. Topics of interest include how the biosphere and the evolution of life forms affect the stability of global temperature, ocean salinity, oxygen in the atmosphere and other environmental variables that affect the habitability of Earth.
The hypothesis was formulated by the scientist James Lovelock and co-developed by the microbiologist Lynn Margulis in the 1970s. While early versions of the hypothesis were criticized for being teleological and contradicting principles of natural selection, later refinements have resulted in ideas highlighted by the Gaia Hypothesis being used in disciplines such as geophysiology, Earth system science, biogeochemistry, systems ecology, and climate science. In 2006, the Geological Society of London awarded Lovelock the Wollaston Medal largely for his work on the Gaia theory.
Gaia theory, which views the biosphere as a self-regulating system, that maintains homeostasis in relation to many vital chemical and physical variables, is sometimes interpreted as panpsychism, because some think that any goal-directed behavior qualifies as mental. However, the goal-directed behavior of the biosphere, as explained by the Gaia theory, is an emergent function of organised, living matter, not a quality of any matter. Thus Gaia theory is more properly associated with emergentism than panpsychism.
So-called naive panpsychism, as opposed to philosophical panpsychism, is sometimes used to refer to the idea of inanimate objects as sentient and/or intentional. This is similar to animism. The attitude of labeling this philosophy “naive” could be considered a vestigial Eurocentric belief in the inaccuracy or unimportance of non-Western world views. It could be considered to be a colonial artifact utilized as a tool of domination to discredit the philosophical contributions of the colonized. In addition, it downplays the possible role that indigenous philosophies may have played in the formation of panpsychist ideas in the Western world.
Panpsychism, as a view that the universe has “universal consciousness”, is shared by some forms of religious thought: theosophy, pantheism, cosmotheism and panentheism. The hundredth monkey effect exemplifies the threshold for this applied cosmic consciousness. The Tiantai Buddhist answer is that “when one attains it, all attain it.”
Panpsychism also plays a part in Hindu, Buddhist, Dzogchen and Shinto mysticism, and for that matter in most if not all Animistic Native Religions, and Mother Goddess Cults, like Pachamama, in the Andes, Rhea, for the Greeks, Durga, or Kali for the Hindus, Nerthus, for the Germanics, Dea Matrona, for the Gauls, Ninhursag for the Sumerians, Tuuwaqatsi for the Hopi, Nut, or Isis for the ancient Egyptians, etc. It will be hard to find a place on Earth were the ancient goddess has not being worship.
To many specialist this may strike as oversimplification, syncretism, or whatever they may choose to name it, however in an age of rapid, and expanding communications, and the phenomenon we call Globalization, it is impossible now for people around the world not to see the same phenomena expressed under a different guise all over the Earth, by those old, native cultures who perennially have lived close to the land, and that colonization, and modernity has not alter the close connection to their roots, in a world hybridized by the seed of our Western disconnected ways, our lack of awareness, on many Ecological issues, something as simple as were food come from, not from our sterile well provided markets, packaged in attractive colored containers for us to buy, actually the packages seem to create more garbage volume than the product itself!
In my view Panpsychism it is a way for the reductionist, mechano-materialist to reconnect with an emergent ecological consciousness, for so long time sleep in our Western culture without give in totally to a Theistic world view of the world, fine, and dandy, if you are too proud to apologizing for your past mistakes it is beyond you, if backtracking to a Theistic view it is too much to bear, after you unshackled yourself of the heavy yoke of God, ignoring that there is more to God than the Paternalistic Judeo-Christian, chauvinistic male centered views, associated with the word God, or sin…uhh, scary!
Anyway welcome to fight for your hard won new ecological panpsychic awareness! Now let’s look what those poor, ignorant, undeveloped third world people are doing down South!
Rights of Nature
President Evo Morales of Bolivia, Morales has declared himself Bolivia’s first Aymara president. this may not be true by blood only, since other presidents had some native blood in them, however Evo Morales is the first president of Bolivia who grew as an Indigenous individual, and that by class, and socioeconomic factors belong to the real native people of Bolivia, and do not serve the Criollo’s policies, subservient to an Eurocentric colonial model of economics, and racism, were for centuries the native people has been marginalized from education, and economic opportunities a sort of an apartheid not institutionalized by laws, like in South Africa, but enforced by custom, and racist behavior from the classes in power. Together with Rafael Correa president of Ecuador in 2010 issued a declaration of Rights of Nature. (See my post on this blog of June 2011, PACHAMAMA; MOTHER EARTH, GODDESSES,THE STRUGGLE OF INDIGENOUS CULTURES, AND THE MESSAGE OF THE MAMA KOGUIS TO YOUNGER BROTHER.)
By comparison native cultures, unlike us a supposedly more advanced culture we lag behind on defense of Ecological issues, muddled in a morass of rampant commercialism, corporatism united to a corrupt government, and media who it’s married to a exploitative plutocracy who despoils Mother Earth at will, and export our Eurocentric views, and way of life to the poor, and practically defenseless Native Cultures, with our implicit consent, since we do not even object to be labeled “consumers” and passively accept to go out and shop for whatever they advertise to sale us .
In contrast Indigenous cultures still are close to the land and know were food come from, and because their dependence, it is immediate to the source were food come from, and their survival depends on it, their ecological awareness usually it is not clouded by our modern commercialism, and lack of connection to Mother Earth. Many governments in third World countries follow the same obsolete, and harmful policies that big money dictates, and despite their “Independence” from a colonial past, they are still subjects of our Imperial economic policies, and they lack the power to be truly independent, and not subjects to the whims, and caprice, dictated by our corporate plutocrats, and “free market”capitalism, so individuals, and small communities, have to organize and fight for their Indigenous rights to have access to their own land, water, and many other resources, that manly foreign capitalist ventures, came to their lands to exploit, despoil, and marginalize this people even more, ignoring their rights to life, clean soil, clean water, and free access to it, in their blind pursuit of wealth, they trample on the natural rights of this poor people who have lived with their ancient ways close to the land, Mother Earth who give sustenance to all of us.
NEOPAGANISM
Because of the principle of separation of church and state, the U.S. government does not formally maintain a list of recognized religions. Both the U.S. and Canada register religious groups as tax-exempt organizations and grant clergy the right to conduct marriage ceremonies.
However, many European federal governments have ecclesiastical affairs ministries which do formally recognize religions. The governments of: Iceland in 1973, Norway in 1996 and 1999, and Denmark in 2003 have officially recognized Neopagan religions which worship Viking Gods such as Odin and Thor.
HISTORY
The Romantic movement of the 18th century led to the re-discovery of Old Gaelic and Old Norse literature and poetry. Neo-druidism can be taken to have its origins as early as 1717 with the foundation of The Druid Order. The 19th century saw a surge of interest in Germanic paganism with the Viking revival in Victorian Britain and Scandinavia. In Germany the Völkisch movement was in full swing. These pagan currents coincided with Romanticist interest in folklore and occultism, the widespread emergence of pagan themes in popular literature, and the rise of nationalism.
During this resurgence in the United Kingdom, Neo-druidism and various Western occult groups emerged, such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and the Ordo Templi Orientis, who attempted to syncretize “exotic” elements like Egyptian cosmology and Kabbalah into their belief systems, although not necessarily for purely religious purposes. Influenced by the anthropologist Sir James George Frazer’s The Golden Bough, several prominent writers and artists were involved in these organizations, including William Butler Yeats, Maud Gonne, Arthur Edward Waite, and Aleister Crowley. Along with these early occult organizations, there were other social phenomena such as the interest in mediumship, magic, and other supernatural beliefs which was at an all time high in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
Another important influence during this period was the Romantic aesthetic movement, which venerated the natural world and frequently made reference to the deities of antiquity. The Romantic poets, essayists, artists and authors who employed these themes in their work were later associated with socially progressive attitudes towards sexuality, feminism, pacifism and similar issues.
It is the belief of modern Pagans that the religious beliefs of pre-Christian Europe “possess continuing value for us in our own time, even after centuries of suppression and neglect.” Strmiska asserted that contemporary Paganism could be viewed as a part of the “much larger phenomenon” of efforts to revive “traditional, indigenous, or native religions” that were occurring across the globe.
Contemporary Paganism, Modern Paganism, or Neopaganism,
Is an umbrella term referring to a variety of contemporary religious movements, particularly those influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe. Although they do share commonalities, contemporary Pagan religious movements are diverse and no single set of beliefs, practices, or texts are shared by them all.
Contemporary Paganism has been characterized as “a synthesis of historical inspiration and present-day creativity”, in this manner drawing influences from pre-Christian, folkloric and ethnographic sources in order to fashion new religious movements. The extent to which contemporary Pagans use these sources differs; many follow a spirituality which they accept is entirely modern, whilst others attempt to reconstruct or revive indigenous, ethnic religions as found in historical and folkloric sources as accurately as possible.
Most modern pagan religions celebrate the cycles and seasons of nature through a festival calendar that honors these changes. The timing of festivals, and the rites celebrated, may vary from climate to climate, and will also vary, sometimes widely depending upon which particular pagan religion the adherent subscribes to.
Some pagans also draw inspiration from modern traditions, including Christianity, Buddhism and others, creating syncretism like “Christian Witchcraft” or “Buddheo-Paganism”. Since many pagan beliefs do not require exclusivity, some pagans practice other faiths in parallel.
Eclectic pagans take an non dogmatic religious stance, and therefore potentially see no one as having authority to deem a source “apocryphal”. Contemporary paganism has therefore been prone to fakelore, especially in recent years as information and misinformation alike have been spread on the Internet and in print media. A number of Wiccan, pagan and even some “Traditionalist” or “Tribalist” groups have a history of “Grandmother Stories” Typically involving initiation by a Grandmother, Grandfather, or other elderly relative who is said to have instructed them in the secret, millennia-old traditions of their ancestors. As this “secret wisdom” can almost always be traced to recent sources, tellers of these stories have often later admitted they made them up.
A number of Wiccan, Neopagan and even some “Traditionalist” or “Tribalist” groups have a history of spurious “Grandmother Stories” usually involving initiation by a Grandmother, Grandfather, or other elderly (and conveniently dead) relative who is said to have instructed them in the secret, millennia-old traditions of their ancestors. As this “secret wisdom” has almost always been traced to recent sources, or been quite obviously concocted even more recently, most proponents of these stories have eventually admitted they made them up. These “origin myths” are sometimes also referred to as “The Myth of the Wicca.” In these cases, rather than a case of folklorists from outside the community calling the Wiccan stories “fakelore”, phrases such as “Grandmother Stories” and “The Myth of the Wicca” have become synonyms and shorthand for a specific type of fakelore found within the communities in question.
Some claims of continuity between contemporary paganism and older forms of paganism have been shown to be spurious, or outright false, as in the case of Iolo Morganwg’s Druid’s Prayer. Wiccan beliefs of an ancient monotheistic Goddess were inspired by Marija Gimbutas’s description of Neolithic Europe. The factual historical validity of her theories has been disputed by many scholars, including historian Ronald Hutton.
While most pagans draw from old religious traditions, they also adapt them. The mythologies of the ancient traditions are not generally considered to be literally factual by pagans, in the sense that the Bible and other Abrahamic texts are often thought of by their followers. Eclectic pagans in particular are resistant to the concept of scripture or excessive structure, considering personal freedom to be one of the primary goals of their spirituality. In contrast, some Reconstructionist movements, like those who practice Theodism, take a stricter religious approach, and only recognize certain historical texts and sources as being relevant to their belief system, intentionally focusing on one culture to the exclusion of others, and having a general disdain for the eclectic mentality.
In all honesty most Western Neopaganism are fringe groups not taken very seriously by most, and easy to criticize by serious scholars like The English academic Graham Harvey noted that Pagans “rarely indulge in theology.” And I will add a magnet for people wanting to fulfill personal fantasies, or break the mold that our current society impose on us as acceptable behavior, and traditional thinking, Neopaganism is a way to liberate the individual from the prevalent Materialism, and Judeo-Christian mental, and psychological moral straightjackets, the downside of it is that in many cases some individuals embrace Neopaganism as a license for a “anything goes” type of behavior, inspired no doubt, by an oversimplification of historical accounts, and Hollywood portrayal of Arthurian legends.
The Earth Connection
Contemporary paganism emerged as part of the counter-culture, New Age and Hippie movements in the 1960s to 1970s. Reconstructionism rose to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s. The majority of pagans are not committed to a single defined tradition, but understand paganism as encompassing a wide range of non-institutionalized spirituality, as promoted by the Church of All Worlds, the Feri Tradition and other movements. Notably, Wicca in the United States since the 1970s has largely moved away from its Gardnerian roots and diversified into eclectic variants.
Paganism generally emphasizes the sanctity of the Earth and Nature. Pagans often feel a duty to protect the Earth through activism, and support causes such as rainforest protection, organic farming, permaculture, animal rights and so on. Some pagans are influenced by Animist traditions of the indigenous Native Americans and Africans and other indigenous or shamanic traditions.
Eco-paganism and Eco-magic, which are off-shoots of direct action environmental groups, have a strong emphasis on fairy imagery and a belief in the possibility of intercession by the fae (fairies, pixies, gnomes, elves, and other spirits of nature and the Otherworlds).
Some Unitarian Universalists are eclectic pagans. Unitarian Universalists look for spiritual inspiration in a wide variety of religious beliefs. The Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans, or CUUPs, encourages their member chapters to “use practices familiar to members who attend for worship services but not to follow only one tradition of paganism.“
In my view this fringe groups are part of a new global consciousness who is trying to correct the disconnection, and ecological blindness brought by industrialism an economic and social system based on the development of large-scale industries and marked by the production of large quantities of inexpensive manufactured goods and the concentration of employment in urban factories, the abandonment of our agrarian past in favor of an urban culture that cuts our connection with Pachamama, our Mother Earth, and that Native, and aboriginal cultures still embrace, preserve, and respect. This inevitable point for a break from our blindness, and the path in to ecological unsustainable living, and a re-encounter of the eternal values that promote sustainability based in our wise, and respectful use of Nature, a recognition that historically the Western dominant culture went astray with Industrialism, and the values of modernism, that calls for our humility to recognize our failure, and a return to embrace Mother Earth as the sustainer of life, and a return to Her, embracing the ancient values that sustain, and preserve Her.
Top put up. I watch for reading extra. Cheers