Natural Reflections
We and The Earth are One Integration of the Mystical and Scientific
by Maureen Latta

The day was hot as I sunned myself on a rock at the spectacular rapids near Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. Noticing the warmth of the rock beneath my skin, as if it were a living thing, I began to think about the similar elements that make up our two bodies, mine and the earth’s–magnesium, zinc, iron, calcium. It seemed that everything making up the raw material of my body also was present in the earth.

I had the distinct feeling that the aboriginal peoples of the world were right: the earth is alive and we are part of it. I was familiar with the idea that "the earth and I are one." But this was the first time I felt it.

Science originally cut itself off from that perception to objectively study natural systems and forcefully extract the secrets of nature. Things have changed. A quick read of the latest scientific book titles, such as The Living Energy Universe by Gary Schwarz and Linda Russek, shows that a handful of scientists are now proposing an integration of the mystical and the scientific. It is the only way to truly understand the earth.

"In the twenty-first (century), it is our challenge to allow our scientific methods of developing physical awareness and our spiritual approach to the mysteries of the natural world to become mutually informative," says astronomer Luke Keller in a recent issue of Parabola. "We are challenged by our own discoveries to realize that ‘supernatural’ is a misnomer."

Perhaps due to the complexities of modern discoveries in, for example, quantum physics, the average person’s awareness of our evolving knowledge is lagging behind. It was Albert Einstein who stressed the importance of giving the general public the opportunity to experience the results of modern scientific research. "Restricting the body of knowledge to a small group deadens the philosophical spirit of a people and leads to spiritual poverty," Einstein said.

Scientists studying quantum mechanics describe particles not as distinct objects, but as collections of waves that complement one another. "All matter, according to this type of physical description, is connected in a physically measurable way," Keller says.

What we need to know is that the separation we observe between objects is an illusion created by patterns of matter and energy.

We’ve come full circle to the ancients’ perception of trees, water and rocks as possessing "spirit." The return to an animated universe in the twenty-first century is the single greatest hope for those who care about the earth. When scientific experiments in such diverse fields as astronomy, physics and biology all lend support to a radically different way of perceiving ourselves and the earth, the pillage of the earth becomes unsupportable. So do racism, sexism and the exploitation of non-human species. The idea of seeding landmines in a foreign country becomes as abominable as injecting poison under our own skin — a self-destructive act reserved for addicts and suicides. Even the simple and common act of spraying pesticides on the lawn becomes appalling.

This new understanding of the earth’s systems is so radically different that many, even most, of our current practices, habits, economic and corporate systems will become ethically unsupportable. This dawning of awareness is the dramatic change that everyone predicted would come with the dawn of a new millennium, without realizing precisely what it would be. It’s no coincidence that it comes at the same time that scientists are predicting dire global consequences as a result of unsustainable industrial development.

However, science can only accomplish so much. It is the immediate, sensory experience of coming into contact with the living earth that propels the individual on a new course. That experience can be pleasurable or terrifying. In his famous painting, The Scream, Norwegian artist Edvard Munch depicted his experience of walking along a bridge and suddenly hearing the unbearable agony of earth and sky. He painted that picture in 1893. It’s time to listen to the earth and stop pretending that we don’t share a common spirit, a common fate.

Maureen Latta is a freelance writer living in Saskatoon. This article is reprinted courtesy of EarthCare Connections, P. O. Box 2800, Humboldt, SK S0K 2A0. Phone: (306) 682-2407, Fax: (306) 682-5416, Email: earthcare@sk.sympatico.ca, Website: www.earthcare.sk.ca.