A Greenpeace activist, Wiccan High Priestess, and proud Soccer Mom, Francesca Howell has been involved in magical traditions and wildlife preservation since childhood. In this one-of-a-kind book, she shares her everyday suggestions for spiritual renewal through connecting with nature. The meditations, ceremonies, and spellcraft in Making Magic with Gaia spring from an ancient Pagan tradition of Earth stewardship, which blends deep ecology, magic, and activism to bring the reader into a closer communion and harmony with Mother Earth.
Packed with practical suggestions (recycling, gardening without pesticides, and conserving water) and mystical rituals (shamanism, crystal magic, and Power Animals) for helping the planet, this book is written for anyone with a spiritual ecological awareness. Not the witchcraft of Gothic novels, Making Magic with Gaia is based on a modern religion with ancient roots that can heal the Earth as it heals the practitioner.
A Greenpeace activist, Wiccan High Priestess, and proud Soccer Mom, Francesca Howell has been involved in magical traditions and wildlife preservation since childhood. In this one-of-a-kind book, she shares her everyday suggestions for spiritual renewal through connecting with nature. The meditations, ceremonies, and spellcraft in Making Magic with Gaia spring from an ancient Pagan tradition of Earth stewardship, which blends deep ecology, magic, and activism to bring the reader into a closer communion and harmony with Mother Earth.
Packed with practical suggestions (recycling, gardening without pesticides, and conserving water) and mystical rituals (shamanism, crystal magic, and Power Animals) for helping the planet, this book is written for anyone with a spiritual ecological awareness. Not the witchcraft of Gothic novels, Making Magic with Gaia is based on a modern religion with ancient roots that can heal the Earth as it heals the practitioner.
Making Magic with Gaia: Practices to Heal Ourselves and Our Planet
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Making Magic with Gaia: Practices to Heal Ourselves and Our Planet
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Overview
A Greenpeace activist, Wiccan High Priestess, and proud Soccer Mom, Francesca Howell has been involved in magical traditions and wildlife preservation since childhood. In this one-of-a-kind book, she shares her everyday suggestions for spiritual renewal through connecting with nature. The meditations, ceremonies, and spellcraft in Making Magic with Gaia spring from an ancient Pagan tradition of Earth stewardship, which blends deep ecology, magic, and activism to bring the reader into a closer communion and harmony with Mother Earth.
Packed with practical suggestions (recycling, gardening without pesticides, and conserving water) and mystical rituals (shamanism, crystal magic, and Power Animals) for helping the planet, this book is written for anyone with a spiritual ecological awareness. Not the witchcraft of Gothic novels, Making Magic with Gaia is based on a modern religion with ancient roots that can heal the Earth as it heals the practitioner.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781609257682 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Red Wheel/Weiser |
| Publication date: | 04/17/2020 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 176 |
| File size: | 1 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Making Magic with GAIA
PRACTICES TO HEAL OURSELVES AND OUR PLANET
By Francesca Ciancimino Howell
Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC
Copyright © 2002 Francesca Ciancimino HowellAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-60925-768-2
CHAPTER 1
Hearing Gaia's Voice
I who am the beauty of the green Earth, And the white moon among the stars, And the mystery of the waters, ... I call upon thy soul to arise And come unto me. For I am the soul of Nature.
The Charge of the Goddess, in the traditional Wiccan Book of Shadows
Nature is the greatest teacher and healer. People of all ages, beliefs, and cultures acknowledge the therapeutic qualities of sticking their hands in the earth, planting a garden, or taking a walk in Nature. Medical doctors have traditionally advised their patients to avail themselves of such benefits. Children know to do this instinctively, as the more intuitive, authentic beings they are. Witness how they love to collect rocks, pinecones, and other little gifts of the earth. Is there more to this than simply the healing effects of exercise and fresh air? Is there a force, an energy emanating from Mother Gaia, even through her smallest "representatives"—the rocks, wood, plants? I believe the answer is, without a doubt, yes.
In this chapter we'll look at how we can begin to communicate with Gaia, day in and day out, in our daily work on the spiritual and the practical planes. But first let's think about the word Gaia in its modern context.
In 1975 a renowned British scientist named Dr. James Lovelock, Fellow of the Royal Society, published a theory, based on his life's work and observations, proposing that Mother Earth is a living, self-regulating being. He called this intelligent life force "Gaia," in honor of the primordial Earth Mother of the Greeks. This "Gaia Hypothesis" became known worldwide and, to Lovelock's total surprise, was not attacked by the theological establishment as he had anticipated. It was, however, initially scoffed at by the scientific establishment.
Lovelock theorized that the presence of an intelligent, all-pervading life force shows itself in the many, well-balanced systems that regulate the health of our exquisitely unique planet. Not only does the atmosphere regulate itself constantly to maintain its heatretaining properties, but the salinity of the seas also keeps itself within the appropriate range.
Together with his colleague Lynn Margulis, Lovelock demonstrated how Gaia's and our actions and life processes are interrelated and interdependent. He compared the human body's ability to balance its temperature through homeostasis to Gaia's process of temperature regulation, which illustrates not only Gaia's innate intelligence but also how we humans are a reflection of her. Without this "intelligence network," as Lovelock writes in Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, "our lifeless Earth, no longer a colorful misfit, a planet that broke all the rules, would fall soberly into line, in barren steady state, between its dead brother and sister, Mars and Venus."
This reflection, each to the other, human and earthly Mother, is echoed in many teachings from the ancient mystical arts. Our ancestors understood many things that we are just now rediscovering through science and metaphysics. Take, for example, the following law of occult doctrine, which was taught and recognized by Renaissance alchemists and Magicians and is still used in Wiccan ritual.
As above, so below; as the Universe, so the Soul; as within, so without.
It is said to come from the Emerald Tablet of the ancient Magician and sage, Hermes Trismegistus, who is sometimes deified.
We can see this same principle expressed in how our human bodies, as well as those of other mammals, mirror the balance in temperature and composition that Earth regulates in herself and her atmosphere in order to maintain ideal health.
Of course these are ideal states. By now we all know that human activity has thrown Earth's atmosphere out of balance. One need only think of the so-called Greenhouse Effect, a global warming caused by emissions from burning fossil fuels and other pollutants that have become trapped in Earth's atmosphere. T his warming has already caused destructive changes in weather patterns, in the seas, in forests, in animal life, and in humanity. The Greenhouse Effect is, in fact, only one indication among many today that Mother Gaia is ill, and much of her illness is directly caused by human activity. Likewise many illnesses in humans and other species are linked to environmental degradation.
As the Gaia Hypothesis indicates, Gaia is intelligent and aware. She works to balance herself and life on Earth. By tapping in to our deep connection with that intelligence, we can work to heal her. We can learn to communicate with her—and to develop a deeper communion with her. We can also communicate with her many representative beings, both on the earth plane and on the astral or metaphysical levels.
It is important to note, too, that Lovelock suggests that Homo sapiens may simply be an extension of Gaia's brain. We might be Gaia's memory, her data processing and technological abilities. In Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, he states:
Still more important is the implication that the evolution of Homo sapiens, with his technological inventiveness and his increasingly subtle communications network, has vastly increased Gaia's range of perception. She is now through us awake and aware of herself. She has seen the reflection of her fair face through the eyes of astronauts and the television cameras of orbiting spacecraft. Our sensations of wonder and pleasure, our capacity for conscious thought and speculation, our restless curiosity and drive are hers to share.
Lovelock suggests that it is not just humans who interreact with Gaia but that there are other highly evolved mammals—the great whales, for instance—who may share in this role as well.
Take time to meditate on these extraordinary ideas. Let Gaia's voice speak to you and move through your consciousness. If indeed we are an extension of Mother Gaia, capable of using our knowledge and technology through her influence and urging, imagine what a peaceful, harmonious world we might create! Perhaps she has called to you already. As you begin to deepen your relationship with the primordial Mother, you will start to feel a completely different connection with the world and all the intricate life-forms around you. Remember: you too came from the jungle, from the desert sands, from the seas, from the mud. Traces of that evolution still flow in your blood, salt your tears, shape your bones.
Scientists now know that the smallest changes in Gaia's atmosphere can affect the weather and the climate, which in turn can affect the seas and the continents across the world. Lovelock points out that we have the perfect percentage of oxygen in our atmosphere—even a small increase would cause fires to break out indiscriminately. Doctors have seen how the tiniest shift in our bodies' chemical makeup through hormonal or endocrinal changes affects our moods, minds, and whole sense of self. Why should we not then accept that "God/Goddess works in mysterious ways," as the old expression goes—subtly, delicately causing change in our world? Too often we do not appreciate or even notice subtleties. We expect huge, explosive, Hollywood-esque results from our actions or thoughts, certainly from anything calling itself "magic." However, this is how the energies of the Universe work—deeply and widely, but quietly.
Think of the soft greens of spring that first creep across the land and the trees, an outward sign that the miracle of rebirth has begun again. At first we see only a slight wash of color, similar to Impressionist painters' opaque watercolors, or gouache, magical evidence that the earth is alive and growing. Someone not attuned to Nature could miss the miracle's first signs altogether. Likewise, if we are not attuned, we may miss opportunities to give back to the earth. Rather than tossing our kitchen scraps into the garbage and having them hauled to the local landfill, for instance, we can choose to compost them into a richly fertilizing gift for the soil. Like the medieval alchemists and Magicians who sought to "transmute" dross metals into gold, those who are aware and attuned to the magic all around us can use composting as a form of pure alchemy in our very own kitchens and gardens.
Wiccan History and Deep Ecology's Forerunners
Modern Wicca has a short modern history with a long and venerable bloodline, as does Deep Ecology. While it is beyond the scope of this book to cover the full history of either, let me offer a few key names and points. We could say that this is a history of those who have, in one form or another, heard Gaia's voice.
Deep Ecology in the United States and Europe sprang from the work of nineteenth- and twentieth-century philosopher-ecologists including Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Aldo Leopold. These forerunners of the North American ecology movement built on the works of European writers, artists, and poets of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries who sensed the sacredness of the web of life and the call of the divine in Nature. In the past thirty years various well-known writers, including Arne Naess, Theodore Roszack, loanna Macy, and Ciary Snyder, to name a very few, have explored the themes of Deep Ecology. The concept of Deep Ecology is usually attributed to Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess, who first discussed it in detail in 1972. He proposed a new realm of study that could be termed ecosophy, "a philosophy of ecological harmony or equilibrium."
In this view of humanity's relationship with Nature, we are an integral part of the natural world, sharing a oneness and an equality with all beings; we do not dominate Nature as is generally accepted in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Deep Ecology shares with Wicca and Paganism the idea that Divinity is "immanent"—dwelling in and permeating all of Nature. This philosophy is often called either Pantheism, or Panentheism, depending on one's interpretation of the terms.
Wicca's current form hails only from the early to mid-twentieth century. Unless we include the Victorian period's Renaissance of interest in the occult, the Golden Dawn et alia, it must be considered a recently organized phenomenon incorporating and consolidating many ancient practices. Some have pointed at the medieval Knights Templar, at medieval and Renaissance Free Masonry, and at other more recent influences as background to Wicca's evolution.
This formal religious tradition incorporates the beliefs of many Pagan, pre-Christian, polytheistic Earth religions. The practitioners are part of an Initiatory tradition, a Priest- and Priestesshood, and are bound by a code of honor and ethics known as "The Wiccan Rede." Its message is summarized in the commonly quoted admonition: "An [sic] it harm none, do what ye will." This archaic English means: "If you harm no one, you may do as you like." Wiccan traditions generally regard the earth as sacred and as embodying divine spirit, often known as Gaia. It is an inclusive religion, as polytheistic Pagan religions generally are, and is still flexible and growing, finding its shape. The modern form is often called "Neo-Paganism," to distinguish it from earlier eras. I will use the simpler term, Paganism.
Many ask, "Are Wicca and Witchcraft the same? What is their connection with Paganism?" The simple answer is that all Wiccans are Witches and Pagans, but not all Witches and Pagans are Wiccans. Paganism in particular is an umbrella term for many polytheistic world traditions, whether you look at the original American Indian tribal religions; the indigenous African, Asian, or South Pacific religions; the ancient classical Mediterranean cultures; the pre-Christian European traditions; or any others. Many people who are not initiated practice spellcraft and various techniques of magic; they can be called Witches, but they are not Wiccan.
In a sense one could say that the two modern paths, Wicca and Deep Ecology, were conceived, gestated, and born in similar times and through similar circumstances, in part through the nascent environmental consciousness and movements of the past two centuries. One might also add the Feminist movement to this fertile era's brainchildren. Indeed there is a connection among the three philosophies and movements. We are witnessing a true renaissance in Earth-revering thought and philosophy, springing forth from many camps. Some who work in these fields use other names for themselves, for example Eco-Pagans or Eco-Feminists; some might call the area of thought Bio-centrism or Bio-ethics. However, these are mere labels, nothing more than semantics, like so much of what we humans discuss and debate ad infinitum. What truly matters are our thoughts, emotions, and actions as well as the awareness that our actions, even small acts of conservation or the projection of healing energy, can help to restore Gaia.
The Gaia Group and Other Wiccan Deep Ecologists
Less documented are the more recent traditions of Wicca that teach a kind of enlightened ecology and Earth Stewardship. The phrase Earth Stewardship is used by many with an ecological consciousness. In the tradition of Wicca that I practice, the founders define it as "an initiatory Earth religion with Wiccan roots, dedicated to the care and protection of Mother Earth through both magical and practical means." My aim here is to add to the body of literature and the manuals of magical practice related to spiritual Earth Stewardship, not to create another introductory book to Wiccan practices for the Neophyte.
As the environmental movement began to grow and gather momentum in the 1960s and early 1970s, Wiccans also began to wake up to the relationship between the two burgeoning movements and philosophies. In the early 1970s, two young Wiccan leaders living in New York City began to disseminate their ideas on Craft devotion to Mother Earth and the connected concept of our sacred duty as Wiccans. Incredibly, they met with derision and a general lack of interest. Today, with the huge growth in environmental awareness and responsibility in the general public as well as in the Pagan community, such a negative reaction seems incomprehensible.
These two admirable and unpretentious early magical activists are my Initiators and the founders of the Gaia Group. Since they work "regular jobs" and do not feel comfortable fully revealing their Wiccan roles, I will call them by their public Wiccan community names: Myrddin and Crystal. Crystal recalls from the early 1970s:
There were a lot of pressures in the political arena at that point. The Vietnam War was finally over. However, the Cold War was in full swing, and most people believed there would be another Vietnam sooner or later. We were still living very much in fear of atomic war. If my memory serves me right, the fear of atomic war was what gave birth to our desire to 'save the planet.' But we soon realized that there was more to saving the planet than averting war. The Gaia Network originally was founded to promote magic for global peace and expanded of its own to include the environment. Neither of us ever sat down and had a fullblown revelation from the Goddess. It all just sort of grew. I think a lot of minds were attuned to the same thing at the same time. I believe that Divine Mother used the threat of atomic war to wake us up.
Crystal has admirable humility about her contributions, as she credits Gaia with moving the Peace Network. Crystal shrugs praise off, saying: "We were just Witches who listened to Momma."
There have always been some in Witchcraft and Paganism who espoused a green consciousness. The much-mourned poet laureate of Wicca, Doreen Valiente (who died in September 1999), wrote of an ecological awareness in the early twentieth century in the U.K. Craft. Avant-garde Pagan and New Age communities and covens, such as the Church of All Worlds (CAW) of the Zells, put forth similar ideas. CAW is still publishing its Pagan environmental journal, Green Egg, after some thirty years. In a 1995 edition of Green Egg Anodea Judith, a High Priestess with CAW, described their ecological vision: "... our Mission Statement: to evolve a network of information, mythology, and experience to awaken the divine within and to provide a context and stimulus for reawakening Gaia and reuniting Her children through tribal community, responsible stewardship, and evolution of consciousness."
Perhaps the best-known activist is Starhawk, the author of some of Paganism and modern Witchcraft's seminal works. Her second work, Dreaming the Dark (1982), described in detail her community's extraordinary activist commitment. However, such environmental awareness and commitment was spotty and not much touted by the larger Craft community in the 1960s and early '70s.
The Gaia Group, which formed in 1977, is today a recognized coven and grove of teaching. Myrddin and Crystal were well trained and well connected in the American Wiccan community of the 1970s, when the Craft was rapidly beginning to take shape in the United States. Although they originated in different Wiccan traditions, they shared an enormous compassion and concern for Mother Earth and all her beings. In creating a new tradition, based in "traditional Wicca" but breaking new ground by espousing the path of Earth Stewardship, they broke away from the standard Craft practices of the time.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Making Magic with GAIA by Francesca Ciancimino Howell. Copyright © 2002 Francesca Ciancimino Howell. Excerpted by permission of Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1 Hearing Gaia's Voice
Chapter 2 Lessons in Balance and Simplicity
Chapter 3 Nature's Feedback Loop to Healing
Chapter 4 Portals and Guides into the Elemental Kingdom
Chapter 5 Gifts from the World of Shamanism
Chapter 6 Transformation through Crystal Magic
Chapter 7 Gaia Alchemists and Activists
Epilogue
Appendix A A List of Crystal Helpers
Appendix B The Wiccan Circle Casting
Appendix C An Earth Healing Ritual
Recommended Reading
Endnotes