GAIA
Mother Earth
GAIA
(Gaea) was Mother Earth in Ancient Crete and Greece (the
Greek common noun for "land" is ge or ga) . Her
Roman name was Terra, she was Apia and Ghe in the Near East.
Some of her alternate names are also: Ge and Ma.
Mythology: In the beginning there was only formless chaos:
light and dark. Then chaos settled into form, and that form
was Gaia. Gaia, the Earth was the firstborn from Chaos,
the great void of emptiness within the universe. She gave
birth to Uranus (the Sky), Pontus (the Sea) and Ourea (Mountains).
Gaia was honored on the Isle of Crete 5,000 years ago by
the Minoan civilization. This civilization valued education,
art, science, recreation, and the environment. They believed
that the Earth is directly connected to its existence and
daily life. The current theories of the Gaia concept stem
from this ancient view that the Earth is a living entity.
Gaiam (pronounced "guy-um"), is a fusion of the
words "Gaia" and "I am" and represents
awareness and support of the interconnectivity of ourselves
with the Earth and all living things. At Gaiam, we believe
that all of the Earth's living matter, air, oceans and land
form an interconnected system that can be seen as a single
entity.
Earth Mother
In
Greek mythology we can track the cycle that archeology has
now confirmed: the movement from the matriarchal to the
patriarchal - from Mother Earth goddess Gaia, who embodies
fertility and protects life, to a dominant male sky god
who embodies vast power over the earth. As aggressive Achaeans
invaded what would become Greece, their male-dominated religions
fused with the existing female religions. The Hellenic invasion
of Crete destroyed the peace-loving, goddess and Earth worshiping
culture of the Minoan-Mycenaean. Gaia was supplemented and
replaced by male sky gods in a patriarchal rise, when the
immortal kingdom of Zeus was established on Mt. Olympus
about 1400 BC. (The earliest buildings, even during the
Mycenaean period on Crete, were still dedicated to Gaia).
The suppression of Gaia in Crete was part of the cycle moving
away from a female culture to a male dominated society that
started in fourth millennium B.C. This trend was further
strengthened by the continued suppression of the sacred
feminine during last two thousand years. The cycle is now
reversing.
His
Holiness The Dali Lama writes...
Excerpt from the foreward to "Dharma Gaia", Parallax
Press, Earth Day, 1990, "Our Mother, is telling us
to behave. All around, signs of nature's limitations abound.
Moreover, the environmental crises currently underway, involves
all of humanity, making national bounderies of secondary
importance.
It is important that we forgive the destruction of the past
and recognize that it was produced in ignorance.
If we develope good and considerate qualities within our
own minds, our activities will naturally cease to threaten
the continued survival of life on Earth. By protecting the
natural environment and working to forever halt the degradation
of our planet we will also show respect for Earth's human
descendents - our future generations - as well as for the
natural right to life of all Earth's living things. If we
care for nature, it can be rich, bountiful, and inexhaustibly
sustainable."
*Consultation
with a health care professional should occur before applying
adjustments or treatments to the body, consuming medications
or nutritional supplements and before dieting, fasting or
exercising. None of these activities are herein presented
as substitutes for competent medical treatment.