March 1 09 Gabriel

march 1

Hello all,

Thank you for your patience.

I love Amara's version. It is the "poetry" that I was hoping for. It is very different than mine, in many ways, but it succeeds at a lot of things that my letter doesn't. Your language lives.

There are a few things that I would like to still see in our letter - things that are articulated in my version, but are not clear in Amara's.

One thing is… Who is Gaia?
We shouldn't assume everyone knows she is the earth. Many people may have heard her name, but they may have associations with science, feminism, or literature that color how they read our call. I would like to introduce her, as a courtesy.

Another thing that I think is essential is acknowledging the conflict that exists between two consciousnesses - one which sees humans as A PART of Gaia, and one which sees humans as SEPARATE from Gaia. This gathering is not just to celebrate people who identify with the former, but to develop tools for transforming the latter.

Lastly, while I think that Environmental / Ecological concerns are a huge part of why people come to camp, I know that there are other issues that are crucial. Issues like War, Capitalism, Mental Health, Gender/Sexuality, Poverty and Oppression are all part of the big picture that draws people to become Magickal Activists. Though Ecology seems to be the main concern of any conversation about Gaia, it's crucial to recognise how capitalism, war, sexism, racism, and so many other things are what's behind the destruction of this beautiful planet. I would like to find a way to include these things in our call.

Comparing our two letters side by side, they are different, but they work the same way… They speak of the past, the present, and the future.

I would love to get feedback from others… or at least some thoughts on what I've said.

Thank you so much for all your work on this…

Here is another version, still, perhaps not complete, but a step closer. Tell me what you think!

Free Activist Witch Camp: August 1-7, 2009
The Gaia Creation Story

Our Bodies
pulsing, bleeding, breathing, birthing, dying, cycling, harmonizing
Our Community
warriors, healers, predators, prey, white blood cells, bacterial culture, mycelium
Earth's story
turning, floods, fires, eruption, extinction, evolution, uprising, sacred balance
Our Path
networks, veins, roots, trails, tributaries
To Home
hearts, community kitchens, forests, villages, the multiverse

In the days of ancient Greece, the poets spoke of Gaia, the Universal Mother, the Deep Breasted One. She is Earth, the Mother Goddess at one time worshipped in all cultures, by all people. It is from her that all life is birthed and to whom all life returns when it dies.

Once humanity lived in blance and harmony with Her, conscious of our deep interconnectedness with all living things.
Now humanity lives as though there can be no limit to our consumption or desecration of her gifts.

War, poverty and oppression haunts the lands. Mass extinctions which were always a part of Earth's story, threaten to come again. Many of us believe that "globally we are on the verge of collapse." Culturally, systemically, communally, bodily what does this mean to us?

This year at Free Activist Witch Camp, we come together with Gaia, and begin to remember our ways of honoring, and loving our Mother. We return to our connectedness, through Her, with all living things on this planet, and the very matter that is this planet. The microcosm of our selves, our relationships, and our communities expands to include the macrocosm of Earth. Together we walk a path back home.

May we find our place as we recognize ourselves as cells working in harmony, whatever our unique calling may be, to restore balance.

Together weave the story of Mother Earth with our own, embracing our connection to her and to each other.
Come home with us.

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