Hello everyone! For this journey, I decided to revisit a question I started to explore as part of a recent shamanic workshop: “What is humanity’s role in the Earth’s evolution?”
I specifically set the intent to visit the spirit of Mother Earth. If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you may remember she made a brief appearance in another of my posts about… ummm, mushroom people. Yes, you read that right, mushroom people.
Honestly, this is one of my all-time favourite journeys. And I’ve done quite a few over the years. But what I experienced today really resonated with me. So, without further ado, here’s what happened. Enjoy!
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Intention set to visit Mother Earth, I settled onto my cushion. Even before I closed my eyes I felt a sense of downward motion. So, when I opened my eyes to non-ordinary reality, I wasn’t surprised to find myself, still sitting cross-legged, on a platform slowly lowering itself down into the earth.
You’d think it would be dark, but there was a soft glow emanating from the rocks, growing brighter the further down I went. Then the platform gently stopped in a large cave, nestled somewhere deep in the earth’s crust. Ahead I could see a small table with two chairs. And Mother Earth sitting in the far chair wearing a light brown business suit, of all things.
I stood and walked over to sit in the other chair as Mother Earth picked up a tea pot and started pouring a dark brown liquid into the two cups set out on the table.
“Here,” she said, passing me one of the cups, “this is one of my herbal blends. I think you’ll like it.” And she raised her cup in a cheers gesture before taking a sip herself.
Compassionate spirits sometimes offer me food and drink like this, always with some sort of healing properties. So I happily took a sip, noting the (unsurprisingly) earthy tone.
As an aside, if you’re doing your own journeys, it’s important to only accept gifts like this from compassionate spirits. Just like in ordinary reality, don’t go accepting things from strange spirits you’ve never met before. And if you’re up on your fairy folklore (the real lore, not the sanitized Disney stuff), you know sometimes that can lead to a world of trouble!
As I sipped my tea, I sensed someone leaning over my shoulder. I looked up to see one of the Mushroom People from the journey I linked above. This one was wearing a classy waiter’s tux while holding out a silver tray to me. With a single biscotti on it.
“Oh, you should try dipping that in the tea,” Mother Earth said encouragingly, “it’s so good.” How could I refuse? I took the biscotti, nodding thanks to the Mushroom person, and dunked it in my tea. And she was right, it tasted great.
Okay, you may be wondering at this point what any of this has to do with the role of humanity in earth’s evolution. I’ll admit, I’m not entirely sure, but every part of a shamanic journey has meaning. If nothing else, I think this gives you a little taste (pun intended) of Mother Earth’s personality. Which in turn will give you a hint as to what’s important to her.
“So,” I asked, “what can you tell me about humanity’s role in your evolution?”
“Hmmm,” she replied thoughtfully, “evolution is a tricky term. I have a growth cycle just like the rest of you.”
And then, as sometimes happens in my journeys, I was filled with the ‘knowing’ that evolution implies a steady path forward. But she specifically said she had a growth cycle, which includes creation, existence, and death/transition. So she was inviting me, and all of you, to think about the idea of life and evolution differently.
As I considered that, Mother Earth stood and walked to the nearby wall of the cave. With a wave of her arm, the scene of a green, grassy field emerged. Almost like a giant high-definition monitor had appeared in front of us.
Rising from my chair and walking over beside her, I asked what she was trying to show me. Instead of explaining, she took my hand and we walked through the monitor into the grassy field. That’s not abnormal in non-ordinary reality, but it was still an impressive trick.
Standing there, I watched the tall grass wave around me in the light wind. It was an incredibly tranquil moment.
Mother Earth turned to me then, saying, “Rather than asking the role humanity plays in my evolution, ask yourself ‘how am I part of the world?’ instead.”
I immediately started to say something about being part of the global ecosystem, but she gently shushed me and said, “No, don’t intellectualize it. Feel the question.”
So I stood there, closed my eyes, did my best to quiet my mind, and let the question sink into me. How am I part of the world?
“I am creativity,” I blurted out suddenly. It came from somewhere deep inside myself. And I don’t think I meant just me. Per her question, I think that was an answer about humanity.
“Good,” she said softly, her words flowing on the wind rustling the grass around me. “You all think of yourselves as discrete beings. Separate consciousnesses. And you each do exist. But you’re not separate the way you think you are.”
I felt Mother Earth rest a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “What else?” she asked.
Sinking deeper into myself, her hand the only thing keeping me anchored, I followed Mother Earth’s question.
“I am colour in the winter,” I heard myself say.
What??
But this image held me so strongly. Me, in my signature red coat, this beautiful splash of colour in a winter blizzard. An upwelling of happiness just flowed through me. Unlike the creativity that apparently is characteristic of all humans, this part was specifically about me.
“Oh, I love that!” Mother Earth exclaimed. My eyes snapped open to see her gleefully clapping her hands together as she did a little jump in the air. And I realized we were standing in a snow-covered field now. Me being the brightest point as far as the eye could see.
Can I tell you what being colour in the winter actually means? Intellectually, not yet. But it feels ‘right’. It’s a powerful metaphor – the true language of the spirit world. So believe me, it’s something I’m going to be feeling into going forward.
Resting her hand on my shoulder again, a huge smile on her face, Mother Earth went on to explain, “What you all don’t understand is that you are part of me. And I’m part of you.” Well, that’s significant. I know the idea of all life being connected isn’t new, but in this journey I was feeling it. And it’s not just all life. All manifest ‘things’, including rocks and water, are connected.
“What that means to your original question,” Mother Earth continued, “is everything you think and do, every moment you create, influences me. And through me, every thing and every person in the world gets influenced.”
Okay, that’s worth taking a moment to unpack. What Mother Earth is saying is that every thought, feeling and action we put into the world is transmitted to her, and through her. Again, this isn’t an original concept. But for me it drove home how everything we do directly influences everything and everyone else in the world!
Mother Earth nodded, picking up on my thoughts as only spirit guides can. “You asked what role humans play in my evolution. You are all creators, unlike any other being that’s part of me.”
Resting both her hands on my shoulders, and looking me squarely in the eye, she continued. “If you continue to create unconsciously, to react without understanding, you’ll create random chaos.” And you have to admit, there seems to be more than enough of that going around right now.
But she smiled as she continued. “Instead, if you are conscious and take care in what you create, even in your thoughts, you can manifest something amazing. All the more if you consciously work together.”
She was reinforcing the idea that, if we are all consciously self-aware and compassionate, our collective creativity can change the world for the better. And from a shamanic perspective that’s not limited to humans. Imagine what we could do if we consciously aligned our intent with all of the beings (animals, plants, fungi, inanimate matter) that makes up the Earth? What could we achieve?
I don’t want to risk making that sound too easy. It’s a lot of constant work to be mindful of our thoughts, feelings and actions. To create rather than destroy.
I suspect we’ll never get it perfectly right – we’re only human. But, every moment is an opportunity to create something positive. Let’s make the most of each of those moments we can, and not berate ourselves for any missed opportunities.
Mother Earth gave me one last smile, then blew me a kiss of autumn leaves that started whisking me back into my body. As I flew away from her I started to say ‘goodbye’, but somehow I understood that our constant interconnection (human and Earth) meant there really is no such thing as goodbye.
So, instead, I said a heart-felt ‘thank you.’
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That journey impacted me quite profoundly. In the best possible way. I can only hope I’ve done it justice in how I’ve related the story to you. If you’ve got any thoughts or questions, please do leave a comment.
Take care, my interconnected friends on this great growth cycle of the world.
Eric, your shamanic guide… into the unknown.