Recently, Erik shared an article that he had written for the Harvard Divinity Bulletin, where he described Gaian practices, for example meditation, fasting, and Do Nothing for the Climate Day. After reading it, I said to myself (and then to Erik), “There’s something missing here. Where is the celebration and expression of joy that is inherently ours as part of Gaia?” As someone who has been seeking connection through a spiritual practice grounded in the Earth, I have lightly explored and researched a few different Earth-based spiritualities over the past few years. And I’ve found that the piece that I really crave and am not inclined to initiate on my own is the celebratory aspect. I’m not inherently good at celebration. I tend toward the ascetic. To relax and savor the beauty of the Earth is where I need guidance, to follow the lead of others. Song, dance, poetry, affirmations, creative communality…these are examples of ways for us to tune into and honor the Earth. We have Bart Everson’s meditations, which are a lovely way to sink in and mark the wheel of the year. But Gaianism needs more. Which leads me to ask, as a new religion, should we deliberately come up with additional rituals and practices that we feel embody our values and resonate with our fellow Gaians? Or do we simply share the practices that have resonated with us personally, and wait and see what develops?
The answer may be a bit of both, and as Gaianism spreads and we have opportunities to mark the wheel of the year together in the flesh, we may want to come up with some celebratory or ceremonial practices to help us honor Earth in community. For now, we are mostly connecting virtually, so our options are more limited, but we can share how we are celebrating individually or in our households. For me, I’ve been inspired (virtually) by the work of Earthspirit, in terms of their sustained commitment to bringing people together at specific times throughout the year to celebrate with song, dance, and ritual. They also have created coming of age rituals for their community. What I’ve found more accessible in my own community is the Unitarian Universalist (UU) congregation, which has a principle focused on the “interdependent web of all existence.” The hymn book at the congregation I attend contains materials that are specifically chosen to honor Earth and although the UU’s focus is not Earth-centered spirituality, I have found it sprinkled in here and there (especially on Earth Day).
Being of European descent and specifically the British Isles, I tend to gravitate toward practices that I’ve learned of that are associated with that place, often called pagan practices. Living in a place with four distinct seasons, marking the wheel of the year feels very natural to me. (I strongly suggest checking out the “Wheel of the Year” entry on Wikipedia to learn more about its origins.) For the past few years, I have treated the equinoxes and solstices as major holidays in my life. I’ve taken off the day from work. I usually try to find a meditation to do, go for a long walk/hike, and make a special meal for my family. Poems or stories that I’ve collected over the past few years are collected in a document that I refer to each season, adding new materials or ideas each time.
If Gaianism is to fulfill its potential, it will resonate with all humans across the world. Does that mean that we develop practices that appeal to all? I would say ‘no’. Part of truly being in touch with our home planet is connecting with the specific place that we inhabit, which will differ in climate, geography, landmarks, non-human life, etc. As we develop practices and share them with fellow Gaians, we can establish universal elements that would be recognizable to all Gaians, while at the same time encouraging adaptation in a local context. Celebrations inherent to the places we inhabit will have an authenticity that brings meaning and resonance to those participating.
Glimpsing different approaches to Earth-based spiritualities, such as paganism, wicca, and druidism, I find the celebration. But I’ve been surprised that a dedicated commitment and focus on current environmental issues has not been centered. Gaianism is built upon the foundation of recognizing our current predicament, and addressing it as part of our spiritual practice. As we’re building the structure, let’s not forget to weave in the joy and celebration as well.
If this topic piques your interest, we’d like to invite further conversation, sharing of current practices, and some brainstorming around what celebration might look like in Gaianism. Be on the lookout for a gathering in early September, where we will focus on this theme. And in the meantime, feel free to leave your thoughts as a comment below.
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Anna Churchill is an Earth lover, mom to two teens, women’s health enthusiast, and aspiring locavore. She resides in Belmont, Massachusetts, with strong ties to Eastern Maine.
Bart Everson
Right on. I’m honored to be called out by name here. You’re absolutely right — we need more than meditations. In fact, as I see it, those meditations are best integrated into a larger celebratory framework. I’ve managed this a few times with varying results. I’ve been trying to seek out, participate in, or orchestrate Earth-honoring celebrations for over a decade now. There have been many challenges along the way. Still trying to figure it out! Sounds like we are doing many of the same things. I relish the opportunity to discuss this further.
Joey
Hii I’m new to this religion and I just want to say I’m so glad there is a community here bc I didn’t even know this existed and have been feeling a connection to the earth sense I was little, we should definitely find more ways to celebrate our love towards mother Gaia. 🫶
Erik Assadourian
Welcome Joey! Glad you found the Gaian community!
-Erik
Syulang
It’s interesting to read Anna’s thoughtful article, as it’s something was thinking about for good long while before finding this community, when my own beliefs and practices were essentially completely solitary.
From an outsiders perspective, it is easy to see Gaian faithi as austere, even harsh, as it’s completely odds with what consumer capitalism and unlimited growth perceives as joy and abundance, and upends anthropocentrism as a philosophical starting point. In reality, the “sacrifices” we make for Gaia are anything but, and for me, my faith is a source of immense joy, vitality and comfort. My bond to the rest of Gaia is both peaceful and euphoric, and this is something I am sure many (and indeed, probably all) of us share. This joy is something I feel should be recognised and celebrated communally, both as a recognition that through Gaia we are all connected, and also as a way to build our community and reach out to others. And finally, just to celebrate because the celebration itself brings joy and connectedness.
Creating more celebration and ritual is also very much in keeping with one of the key ambitions of the faith, to address the lack of positive communal bonds, experiences and celebrations in environmentalist circles more generally. In a time of fear and pessimism (or realism), we need those celebrations. I don’t, however, feel we need to “make up” any new events, as our calendar stands us in good stead as it is. We have the solstices, equinoxes, and crosses. These are the natural times we seek to come together, but finding shared ways to mark them is more tricky. There are also Earth Day and Overshoot Day, both of which have significance to us. Though I think it’s safe to say the latter is not something we can say is a “celebration”, it is certainly an event that demands to be remembered and noted every year in an explicitly symbolic way that befits our faith.
I am glad Anna makes the case for localisation of celebration. Respect for the land we belong to is important, as the local forms, expressions and temperament of Gaia each warrant their own respect and recognition on Her terms, and the cultural hubris, arrogance and absurdity we see with the Anglo-european consumerised Christmas being copy-pasted to the south (complete with plastic imitation Scandinavian conifers and petrochemical fake snow) is something that could not be more alien to our beliefs and ideals.
That said, a sense of “Unity in Diversity” is something we should strive for, both as a ritual expression of the fundamental truth that we, and all of our diverse local environments, are all part of Gaia, and also for the practical benefit of establishing and staking out a cultural framework that is resilient and enduring. I’d love to be able to join a celebration on the other side of the world, yet still feel and understand the bond between our scattered communities, and to Gaia overall, and see the similarities they lay beneath the differences in our lives and environments.
So what should our celebrations look like? I have struggled with this, not being one to traditionally seek out human company, and not finding joy in conspicuous consumption. However, I’d like to throw a few vague ideas onto the pile. It’s quite likely some of our local guilds are already doing similar things, and if so, please feel to give me a “Simpsons did it…” moment. One thing that I feel is important is that our celebrations are not a “humans only club”. We should include and welcome all lives we share a special bond of affinity or kinship with. Also, I trongly feel we need our own stories for our celebrations that both reflect and reinforce our shared beliefs and values relevant to that time of year, that strengthen our bonds of community, emphasise and ground us with our faith and values, and for those with children, pass on those values and beliefs to them. Stories can literally be stories, but also and artistic and creating narrating of actual events, observations, or discoveries, which when told by a good narrator take on a new meaning that inspires and enthrals.
Winter Solstice
Perhaps a celebration of two parts, to mark the two aspects of the turning point of the natural year. We rise early and gather together to witness the sunrise and embrace the chill of the year with a cold breakfast of local seasonal foods, then warm ourselves with tea over a fire. Afterwards, we have a shared forest bathe and forage any additional and special foods we wish to bring to our main celebration, and have group reflection or prayer on the significance of this day, the foods we have gathered, our belonging to and reliance on Gaia, as well as our love for, loyalty and service to Her.ii This I feel should be a common starting point for all our celebration days.
In the north (in the south, we might wish to do this at the summer solstice, as it fits well with the community reflection later on) we can also use this time in nature to find a keepsake that represents the year just passed to us – perhaps a leaf from a tree, or stone from a beach with special meaning to us from the past year, or a wild herb, seed or fruit we’ve learned how to prepare. At our main celebration (sunset for winter solstice, solar noon for summer), we can arrange these things together on the ground or a large rock, together with our decorations to form our “altar”, for want of a less formal term. This can be a focal point for our community to gather and give thanks to Gaia for our place in Her web of life, the growth and lessons we have experienced through Her, and the joy of life, sustenance, meaning, hope and beauty that She provides.
At sunset we come back together around a communal fire-pit and celebrate the warmth and light that will come with the turning of the solar year, and also pause to appreciate both that in winter, fire is a valuable resource, yet also at the same time the cool weather protects life from the wildfires of summer. Together, we cook and share a meal prepared in the fire, with an emphasis on it’s communal nature, a meal taken from one common pot or spit, followed by sharing and telling our stories we have made, new or old, religious or scientific, communual or personal.
In the northern hemisphere, this could also be the time when we come together more formally to reflect on the year that has just passed, and lay out what we hope to achieve together as a community in the coming year. iii
Summer Solstice
Again I feel this could be a two part celebration, rising early to come together to witness the sunrise, following the same pattern as before.
Summer is hot (I’m really working in the science as well as the religion here, I know – but bear with me, it won’t get any more technical, I promise) and so our celebrations might be coastal or near a good swimming hole where everyone can have a splash and cool off and just generally revel in the joy of sun and water, as well as giving us opportunity to recognise that the majority of Gaia’s expanse of life, that of the water, is very different to our limited experience as a species of the land – and we may wish to incorporate some group prayer or other reflection on this, as we don’t have any specific events to mark our relationship to water – and summer is almost always when water is most noticed and desired.
At solar noon, we have our communal meal of local summer foods, which we collectively prepare, cook and share, incorporating any foods we foraged or fished earlier, and sharing techniques for working with native foods. Rather than a fire-pit, we recognise the warmth and light of season is already at it’s peak, so perhaps we use solar techniques for cooking, or maybe an earth oven.
Afterwards, like in winter, we may again share stories, but focus more on song, dance and games. The day is long and the weather warm, so we seek to make the most of the abundant light and warmth, and make the most of our time together as a group. Our games could be those common to the dominant culture in the locale, but ideally focus on something the local Gaian community itself has developed a taste or appreciation for – perhaps ones rooted in traditional bush skills of the area that also echo resilience and appropriate technologies – such as archery, atlatl, fire making, bow fishing etc.
In the south, this could also be the time when we come together to reflect on the year that has just passed, and lay out what we hope to achieve together as a community in the coming year, and collect and share our keepsakes as well. This doesn’t feel as natural a turning point as winter, but it is the end of the human calendar year, so has practical benefit, and would also mean that we are having these discussions at the same time as our northern friends, which I feel is important for ensuring our scattered communities retain a strong bond between them.
Vernal Equinox
I feel this is one of the most under-observed of occasions for many. This to me is one of the most important of times, when we can truly serve Gaia and feel the bond with life stronger than at any other time. This is absolutely a time when we should come together, to share our skills in that most precious art of gardening… be it forest gardening, yard farming, guerilla gardening, balcony gardening, houseplants, or just getting rid of the Lawn of Nothing and replacing it with life. This is a precious time to me, and I feel it’s a time for real community building.
We start the day with the common pattern as before, and focus our celebration on a shared project of new growth. I feel this could take one of two forms, perhaps depending on what the community feels is most appropriate to them at the time. Firstly, we may take this in the literal sense – working together on a restorative project – be it bushcare / restoration / cleanup, a community garden (either an established one in the wider community, or perhaps one created by the local Gaian community itself), forest garden, or even helping out a member struggling with their own backyard rewilding/restoration or smallholding. In a particularly harsh urban environment, a community might mark the day with guerilla gardening.
The second sense is one of community development. This could include anything from coming together to share and develop practical skills (bushcraft, primtech, or even repairing/repurposing consumer technology), through sharing scientific or religious knowledge and practice, to more specific and deliberate community development efforts like focusing on mutual aid, or a longer 2/3 day forest retreat for adults, while some volunteers lead the children of the community on a bush camp.
Autumn Equinox
I’ve really struggled to think of the best way to mark this, so let’s brainstorm something!
Earth Day
As more of a human / civil / “secular” event, call it what you will, I’ve always found it hard to find meaning in Earth Day. My personal feeling is that perhaps rather than adopting Earth Day as one for celebrations, it is instead perhaps a good opportunity for doing something a bit strange for a community and culture united in our devotion to Gaia rather than anthropocentrism, and that is focus on what the humans are up to…but in a good way, for once. Earth Day is when human society is briefly interested in what is going on with the wider affairs of the world, and it’s a good chance to rally our people together to realise the missionary aspect of our faith. Grab your copy of Lovelock, because it’s time for some good old fashioned agitprop and indoctrination! I imagine this is way outside the comfort zone and experience of many of us, even at Earth Day events. I come from a pagan background where “missionary zeal” was not only an alien concept, but both frowned on and ridiculed as representing the worst of the Abrahamic faiths.iv Others among us come from academia, where communicating science is done impartially in the more focused and controlled environment of the lecture theatre. But our place is to serve Gaia, rather than stay in our comfort zones, and this day would be a good day to do what needs to be done.
Overshoot Day
Perhaps an “Anti-celebration” that goes very much against the idea of this debate, but I feel it needs a mention, for it is undoubtedly and important, if sombre day.
Firstly, I believe Erik’s observation that this should be a day of fastingv is absolutely on the mark. It feels almost wrong *not* to do so on a day so defined by mindless over-consumption. He also noted that the money which would have been spent on food on the day could be donated to an organisation dedicated to conservation/restoration, and encouraging others to do the same. I think this is a very good idea to adopt specifically as a community by collectively donating to a specifically local organisation with local projects, and volunteering our time collectively on this day to help bring these projects to life. By working collectively like this, we can help build connections, influence and visibility for our faith and culture among broadly like-minded groups, as well as making this restorative service to Gaia more meaningful, and also more effective, through combined effort.
Alongside this, as a ritual act of healing the hurt caused by our species running amok, we can come together for symbolic a tree planing. Before the day, each member of the group writes a short personal prayer on a scrap of paper, concerning the meaning of the day and any particular hopes, fears or pledges they wish to make to Gaia. At the time of planting each person in turn recites their prayer out loud, and then places their paper among the roots for burial. We remember that our service to Gaia is to heal, to protect, and to take our modest place in Her web of life, but also that despite the harm we have done, she is still unfathomably powerful, complex and enduring – We are not Her knights in shining armour, but more like leukocytes (white blood cells), helping fight off an infection in an infinitely larger, more powerful and more complex organism. The planting is completed by each member taking a small sip of water, then toasts (“To life!”) watering the tree with the remainder. Ideally, this would be done toward the end of the day, after the volunteering efforts, so that we can invite our non-Gaian but like minded friends from the local organisations we’ve worked with to join us for this ceremony, to deepen our bond with the wider community, and in the hope than more than one seed gets planted in the process.
Life Markers
Alongside this, I’ve seen discussion of the need for rituals to mark key life events – birth, coming of age, marriage and death. I feel these are extremely important to our resilience as a community and ultimately to establishing our culture as a living and enduring presence. We need to mark these moments both for us to share our joy and memories with our community, and also to sink a cultural root in the earth that will remain and endure through the changes ahead, so that others can find their way to serve Gaia. We are incredibly fortunate, in that we are here at the start, able to know, understand and define for ourselves what it is our faith and culture treasures and values the most. Those who come after us won’t be able to talk to us, and given the changes they will experience, their knowledge of us and the civilization we came from may be extremely limited, or just plain wrong. The symbolic language of the rituals, ceremonies and events we mark will likely be one of the few things we can pass down to them intact through any upsets. Plus also, on a purely selfish level, I want those things for myself and our community. My partner and I will pull the trigger and get married at some point, and I don’t want a generic celebrant with no understanding of my most defining and meaningful beliefs to spew generic quotes that in turn have no meaning or value. When I die I don’t want to be put in a box with a concrete cross on top of it with another generic celebrant. I want to be where I belong, among the roots of the eucalypts, illawarra palm and wait-a-while vines that will bring me back to Gaia, and I want someone who understands and feels that to comfort and guide my loved ones.
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i. I use the terms faith, belief and religion throughout this post. This is reflective of my own personal experience and journey. I arrived here through through pagan religion seeking scientific and secular philosophical insights into the sorts of questions raised by my faith rather than vice versa. As such, I feel far more comfortable framing my practice in religious terms, both to myself and to others, but I am not making any judgement or opinion on how others approach their own practice. Feel free to mentally substitute them with a term you feel comfortable with.
ii. This is a common theme to how I feel the start of a celebration day could work – get up with the sun, gather together outside, and forest bathe, forage and prayer/reflection, before festivities focused on the particular event. My reasoning here is that we start our everyday routine by reinforcing our bond to the rest of Gaia and seeking communion with Her through means of our sunrise rituals – whatever localised/personalised form they take. To me, it’s the bedrock of my daily life, and ensures that throughout the day I feel connected and reminded of my role, keeps my day to day mundane activities in perspective, and subject to a strong ethical compass. On these special celebratory days, we reinforce this common touchstone of our lives by keeping it at the heart of our practice, and extending it from personal, to communal. Foraging is a common theme too as celebration in the form of a shared meal is a natural element to all human social celebration, so it seems right that we bring something to the communal pot, directly from Gaia’s abundance, reinforcing both our bond and dependence on both Gaia as a whole, and each other as a community and culture. Also, it’s satisfying, and a fun and enjoyable activity to participate in together with others, as well as a useful skill to share/pass-on.
iii. The practice of giving numerous or excessive gifts around the December solstice has become an intrinsic part of consumer culture. Obviously, this is not something we can support or engage in. However, a gift exchange of some sort in the mid-winter time can be an important part of community bonding, and also provides a way for us to share our celebrations with non-Gaian friends and family. Perhaps this could take the form of a gift of sentimental, emotional or personal value rather than material, swapped at the time of our communal meal?
iv. The 2000s comic strip Oh My Gods gives you an idea of how much of a cultural trope it was/is within the pagan community
v. https://gaianism.org/what-are-you-doing-to-commemorate-earth-overshoot-day/
Erik Assadourian
Wow! So much here that I need time to process it all before responding! But am posting it now so others can comment too. Thanks Krystal!