mother earth

Friday was Earth Day. Those of us who are crones remember the first Earth Day. It seemed like a rebellious and remarkable idea. The publication of Rachel Carson's New York Times bestseller Silent Spring in 1962. enlightened a generation to the abuse of our mother.Our children have grown up with the concept of celebrating the earth, and without realizing it,  Mother Earth. I applaud and encourage the setting aside of one special day to remind us all that the Earth is our only home and sacred. However, like all "holidays" there are those among us, who once they have fulfilled the expected one hour or so of clean-up at some park, beach or mountain, believe they have accomplished their task. Off they go for the rest of the year; often forgetting the lesson of that one day.
Mother  Earth. Sacred and adored. Honored and worshiped. The ancients knew the importance of recognizing the power of the Goddess, both to create and to destroy.  They gave her names and worshipped in different ways. But all cultures, all lands, all times gave homage.We, of the 21st century, are beginning to understand this power.

 Gaea ( /ˈɡeɪ.ə/ or /ˈɡaɪ.ə/; from Ancient Greek Γαῖα "land" or "earth;" also Gæa, Gaia, or Gea;^[1] Koine Greek: Γῆ) was the primal Greek goddess personifying the Earth, the Greek version of "Mother Nature," or the Earth Mother.Oaths sworn in the name of Gaia, in ancient Greece, were considered the most binding of all.Hesiod's Theogony (116ff) tells how, after Chaos, arose broad-breasted Gaia, the everlasting foundation of the gods of Olympus. She brought forth Uranus, the starry sky, her equal, to cover her, the hills (Ourea), and the fruitless deep of the Sea, Pontus, "without sweet union of love," out of her own self through parthenogenesis.
 Terra Mater or Tellus was a goddess personifying the Earth in Roman mythology. The names Terra Mater and Tellus Mater both mean "Mother Earth" in Latin;
Romans appealed to Terra over earthquakes, and along with the grain goddess Ceres, she was responsible for the productivity of farmland. She was also associated with marriage, motherhood, pregnant women, and pregnant animals. Terra's Greek counterpart is Gaia
 

Carl Gustav Jung suggested that the archetypal mother was a part of the collective unconscious of all humans, and various Jungian students, e.g. Erich Neumann and Ernst Whitmont have argued that such mother imagery underpins many mythologies, and precedes the image of the paternal "father", in such religious systems. Such speculations help explain the universality of such mother goddess imagery around the world.

From the earliest of times to  the present time, we may not give voice in worship to Gaia, but we speak often of the Power of Mother Nature. There is a saying amongst us mothers: I brought you into the world, I can take you out and I can replace you. HMMMM  maybe we should listen and respect her.

Enjoy the Earth, Love Her beauty and Give to Her your kindest actions.