I continue to experience “insight” into ways in which our modern, Western culture is a result of an incredible silencing of a completely different way of life. It is as though humans lived in such a different way with nature, until European expansion overtook the world between the mid-1500s to the 1700s. It was that power shift that not only silenced various aspects of ourselves, but aspects of nature as well.

I have the feeling nature is asking us to awaken from this self-imposed slumber. It is as though the centuries of silencing women, West African peoples, Native Americans, and other indigenous cultures is no longer going to contain what is needed on the planet: a relationship with the natural world. And small groups of indigenous groups the world over can no longer contain this power themselves, for it is as though it is being spread once again into cultures that earlier refused it.

What is a 42-year-old white boy from Texas doing with knowledge of medicinal plants, the Goddess tradition, Grandmother Moon lore, dreams, visions, and other “forbidden knowledge” that was beaten out of women, slaves, Indians, and anyone else within the last 500 years? I know there are hundreds, thousands more like me: men and women all over the world who are experiencing an “awakening” of knowledge that is announcing itself so quickly that it is impossible to stop.

Could it be that the planet and all of Her creations are desperately seeking community with us humans again, knowing that Her survival—and ours—depends on our growing awareness? Of course, I also believe that the planet will survive with or without us: but it is as though there’s a last-minute effort being made to allow the human race to once again join this participatory effort to experience harmony on the planet. It is as though that’s the gift of Mother Earth to her children, the human species.

Aurora Morales tells the story of the European expansions into Africa, the Americas and Asia from the mid-1500s to the 1700s. It was during these days, she says in Medicine Stories, that witch hunts became violently pervasive in the world, leading to a “major power shift” in the world:

 

The herbalists and midwives and practitioners of folk religions had a relationship with the natural world that would have interfered with the growing monopolization of resources both inside and outside Europe, by elite European men. It was a relationship of reciprocity, of respect, of participation. That relationship had to be broken and for several hundred years the women who conveyed the common lore were demonized, tormented, and violently put to death to destroy their authority. Among other things, the witch persecutions established elite male monopolies of knowledge, especially medical and spiritual knowledge. (pp. 47-48)

Our culture is being asked to move forward into unexplored ground, and it is being asked to do so amid growing religious Fundamentalism—and pervasive fear. The religious zealots are convinced of hell around the corner, while the politicians are convinced of terrorists around the corner. This mix of fear is occurring amidst strange activity by our Mother Earth. Things are changing, and quickly.

Those whose ears are attuned to other realms are being reminded, and asked, to return to a loving, working relationship with this “natural world.” We have indeed forgotten, as a culture, how to live in such a way. It has been, essentially, beaten out of us. But the natural world, Mother Earth, is inviting us to listen again—to return. We have done too much damage, and too much damage has been done to us. Now, with our growing awareness, we can affect a change.

Can we love what we are doing enough, and face anything that might try to stop us from doing what we love? Morales writes, “when Che Guevara said that the true revolutionary was motivated by love, he prefaced it by saying, ‘At the risk of seeming ridiculous,’ because love, as a force that is spiritual, personal and creative, is subject to ridicule. Love is subversive, undermining the propaganda of narrow self-interest” (129).

We must entertain the possibility of being ridiculed as we restore this relationship with the natural world. We must remind ourselves that the natural world, the planet and All Our Relations, contain greater wisdom and knowledge than all of humanity combined. There’s not a library in the world that contains this much knowledge. So, having our faith in the natural world, and our trust in these unseen forces, we must move forward and be open to whatever happens. Because this I know: the Gods have been silenced, and they’re asking us for a new voice.

And in that, I don’t think we have any choice.