Artist: Carmel Pacey
Title: Grace Immanent
Medium: Acrylic
Contact: www.paceydesign.com
Feature Article
Fertility and the Earth Mother image have been sacred themes from the earliest times. All over the ancient world we find archaeological evidence of nature worship and animism. The relationship of ancient man to his environment seems not to have been one of subject to object but a more personal, one-to-one relationship of one subject to an equivalent subject, like a dialogue between friends. The most ancient of art forms express this. They are offerings to the deified forces of nature and the ancestors.
In a time when children were the only form of life insurance, and ancestor worship dictated the need for descendants, human fertility was of vital importance – as was the fertility of the land. Fertility cults all over the ancient world involved rituals that equated the two, and within that context we see early representations of the human figure in ways that have archetypal significance – the Earth Mother type of image.
Even in modern western society, whose ideal of feminine beauty is sadly reduced to an asexual thinness that makes little girls anorexic, these figures strike a resounding chord in our psyches. The primitive earth mother image appears as the voluptuous Venus of Willendorf in Europe, the Dogu figurines of Japan, at Mohenjo-daro in prehistoric India and many other ancient sites. In later times we find her as Kuan Yin in China, Kannon in Japan and even the Virgin Mary of Christianity. The Greeks worshipped her as Gaia and the Romans as Terra Mater (Mother Earth). The Celts called her Ana, Danu, and Cailleach. Hindus worship the earth as Bharat Mata, Mother India. The land is the body of the mother goddess, its rivers and mountains her features. The whole land thus becomes sacred, and she is worshipped as Devi.
The essence of the fertility cults was distilled in the worship of Yoni and Lingam, stylised abstractions of female and male genitalia, the seat of creativity. A similar shape to the Yoni is the Mandorla or almond shape often seen in representations of the Virgin Mary. We in the west have outwardly lost touch with these old nature religions and have treated nature as something to be conquered, or at best ‘husbanded’ and subdued, perhaps a consequence of the male-dominant major religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Yet under that façade there has always remained a feeling of mystical unity with nature and the personification of it as female and nurturing.
The Goddess has not gone away; we live and walk on her body, the Earth. When we abuse the natural resources of our land and pollute its waterways, we are wounding the mother from whom we sprang and on whom we depend for our existence. The Earth, our mother, responds to our actions, striving to restore balance when we destroy it. It’s a fallacy to make a distinction between ‘natural’ and ‘synthetic’. Nothing we have or can create on this planet originates from any source other than this planet itself. It is the only source of raw material we have, and all our synthesis and manipulation can only take apart and rearrange the basic material that is of Mother Earth herself.
Mother Earth is a living organism and there is nothing we can do that will actually kill the planet, but we may change it enough to destroy our own habitat and therefore ourselves. Over the ages the planet has adjusted and responded to our mistakes, resulting in changes of weather, fertility, vegetation and populations, and it will continue to do so. We are an integral part of this planet so the adjustment is not without consideration of us, but we do have the wilfulness to push the system beyond the point where we can remain a part of it. Our demise will not be revenge on the part of the Earth Mother, but the simple result of our own actions. She will continue with or without us.
So in the light of contemporary crises and climate change, we are seeing a return to more open and public acknowledgement of the archetypal Mother Goddess, Earth Goddess, Gaia. The original Greek concept of Gaia was as the creator of all there is. According to the ancient Greeks, in the beginning there was only Chaos, a state composed of the Void, Mass and Darkness. From this emerged Gaia, and she created all the other gods and creatures, including humans. Her own body became the planet Earth and all creation lived upon her. Perhaps worship is too strong a word for the modern attitude to the Earth Mother principle, but honour and respect for Earth as our mother creator and nurturer are emerging as not only important but very attractive. It seems to be ingrained in our psyches as an ancestral instinct and we might do well to pursue that instinct.
By Carmel Pacey.
Regular Article
Activate your space to encourage love into your life or to improve your current relationship.
February is the month that we all can focus on LOVE. Are you single and wish you were in love? Are you in love with your current partner? Do you need a boost to your love life? These are the questions often asked when Valentine’s Day comes around. One of the quickest and best ways to attract love is to adjust your environment.
Our surroundings affect us and the quickest way to put out the flame of passion is to have a mess in our bedroom. Cupid will run a mile to get away from a room that is cluttered and stagnant!
If you are single make sure you clean out half of your cupboard space and leave it empty to allow for someone new to come into your life. I know of a couple just recently who have fallen deeply in love. The man has been by himself in his home for over 20 years and has filled all of his storage space in the home with his belongings and the belongings of his family. He would love his new lady to live with him but for now he has too much stuff for her to fit into his life (His House). I have advised him to start de-cluttering if he wants her to move in and live with him. His house is also in need of fresh paint as the walls hold the energy of the past and it keeps the space stagnant even if he physically cleans it. When you show the Universe that you are prepared to share you space with someone special your romantic life will be activated.
Stand at your front door facing into the house. The far right corner of your home represents your relationship area. How does it feel? Is it in need of some adjustments? If you have clutter in this space, well clean it up, and then make it special and inviting. You can add a love seat with some warm lighting for intimate moments if the space permits. If you have wall hangings that represent solitude, change the image to represent two people in love.
Now walk to all room door entrances in your home facing in, look at what is in the far left hand corner of each room. You should get the picture now that a small adjustment or a large overhaul in these areas will start to shift energy in your love life. As you make adjustments set your intentions by saying an affirmation out loud, “I give and receive beautiful love everyday.” Clap your hands to activate your intentions to the space.
Make sure you are always in gratitude of the love that you have in your life whether it’s with your current partner, children or friends. Have a love affair with yourself. Buy yourself flowers and go to bed with a pink sheet wrapped around you, and remember to say your prayers to the Great Mystery! ‘Ask and you shall receive.’ ‘Do and it will be done.’
By Susan Skyring (Based in Cairns) Feng Shui Consultant
Clairvoyant/Medium www.metaphysicallyspeaking.com