Minding Our Manners with the Earth

While working as a vortex guide in Sedona, Arizona, I hd the opportunity to introduce many people to the experience of the Earth as a conscious being. this is a core idea for many indigenous peoples and often missing from liberation conversations. Today I'll talk about sensing the Earth as alive and three easy strategies for respectful interaction.

Meeting Gaia

Whether you call her Gaia, Pachamama, Mother Earth, or some other name, the Earth has a presence, an energy. I'd even go so far as to say that there's both an overall Earth consciousness and coal spirits or entities. But that's a topic for another post.

So we've established that the Earth is living and conscious. What next? Do we just sit on the grass and start meditating to see if we can feel her?

Not quite.

There's one tiny yet crucial step that often gets skipped. and that is to introduce yourself. I do this every time I travel and meet a new place. The response isn't always the same. sometimes it's very subtle, a quiet acknowledgement. Sometimes it's big and joyous. At least for me, there's always a response of some kind.

Introducing yourself is simple. Try to find a good place to sit, close your eyes, and breathe deeply. Notice how your body feels in the moment. Then see if you can sense the energy of the Earth.

Before going any deeper, introduce yourself. For me, this looks like saying in my head, "Hi there. I'm Kaatje. It's great to meet you. I'm grateful to be here." Of course, it's important for you to choose your own words. Then feel for any changes in your body or your sense of the Earth.

That shift is the cration of what's called a relational field, an energy field generated by the conscious creation of a relationship. Most humans generate relational fields when they come together without even realizing it. With the Earth, it's onluy generated when we as humans acknowledge its conscious nature and deliberately come into relationship with it.

Please and Thank You

I've met many practitioners who rush into ritual, meditation, sessions, or whatever else they intend to do. It's easy to assume that once you can feel the earth, you can do whatever you want to with that energy.

As far as I'm concerned, that's part of the problem. It's not enough to recognize the sentience of the Earth. It's important to also recognize that we can't just take her energy or try to work with her without asking first.

My advice: slow down. Part of being in right relationship with the Earth is remembering your manners. You wouldn't barge into a neighbor's house and start watching TV in their living room because you'd been invited over once. No. You'd knock and ask if they want to join you for a movie night.

It's the same with the Earth. Always ask for permission. Follow the same process of tuning into first your body, then the Earth. Ask for permission for whatever it is you want to do. And then wait to feel a change. Most of the time, it's a 'yes.' But every once in a while, there's a very clear 'no' and it's important to honor this.

This is a great practice to use when taking anything from the Earth. Whether it's removing a pretty rock or harvesting medicinal herbs, try asking for permission. When you get a 'no' from the plant or the earth, leave it there. When permission is given, it becomes a gift.

Ready to try it? Here's a guided meditation that can be used for introductions, asking permission, and expressing gratitude.

Earth Connection Meditation.m4a.zip

Download ZIP • 1.90MB

Feeling It

For some, tuning into energy is a very new practice. I've been learning about energy since I was a child, so I got a significant head start. If all this energy talk is new to you, that's fine. Seriously, props for trying something new!

It's important to note here that there are lots of ways to experience energy. Some people can see auric fields an other energetic phenomena. Others can hear subtle shifts. I'm more kinesthetic. I experience energy as a presence, like how you can feel someone stand next to you even with your eyes closed.

I've found that one of the easiest ways for newcomers to experience Earth energy is as subtle shifts in physical sensation. That's why I encourage you to feel your boy before even trying to sense the Earth.

Having said that, pay attention to your other senses. If you start seeing or hearing something strange, but you don't feel anythng in your body, that doesn't mean you're doing it wrong. It just means you experience energy differently than I do.

If you've tried all of this and still aren't experiencing anything, don't worry. You're not broken. You may just not be tuned to the right frequency. You can always keep trying. Sometimes it just take practice. If nothing else, using good manners with the Earth is a wonderful practice that probably is creating shifts that you can't even feel.

There is one more thing you can try. In this video, I'll walk you through using dousing rods to track subtle changes in energy. Dousing rods are perfect for beginners because you don't have to experience anything to see that something's different.

Tip: Try to stay neutral and open when using the rods. The only times I've ever seen them refuse to work for someone was when that person was extremely skeptical about the non-material world, to the point of wanting nothing to happen.

Relationship Repair

When most people think about our role as humans regarding the Earth, they think about the climate crisis and how to heal our out-of-balance ecosystems. While this process is undeniably essential, I believe that it's important to add this relational component.

Repairing the Earth isn't just about fixing a bunch of physical stuff we broke. It's about healing a relationship that most of us forgot even exists. It's time to start orienting to the Earth as an ally that we have wronged, rather than just an inanimate object in need of repair.

These practices of introduction, permission, and gratitude are powerful steps towards building this relationship back up. They're also just the beginning.