WTH are Gaia and Pachamama?

And Healing the Earth?

Mother Earth, also called Gaia or Pachamama in South America. She gives us firm ground under our feet, a foundation, and is holding the abundance of the living world, grounded in nature and provision. AI Illustration

As a teenager I read a book that would entirely and once and for all change my life. It was called The Secret Life of Plants.

There was this one experiment. A man named Cleve Backster had hooked a plant up to electrodes. Nothing special, you’d think. Until someone came into the room and ripped the neighbouring plant out of its pot and trampled on it. Later when that man walked back into the room, the electrodes on the first plant spiked hard. It recognised him as a threat.

In Damanhur, a spiritual community in Northern Italy, took that step further. They wired plants to a synthesiser and let the plants make music.

Findhorn

The book further described how some people in Scotland lived in caravans with little money. Poor soil, harsh weather, and wind straight off the North Sea. It was reported that some devas, nature spirits, had told them how to treat and fertilise their plants, with the result that their vegetables grew amazingly big, so big that many people from around the world came and wanted to see it. There, it said, plants grew huge and lush, in a place where almost nothing should grow. This was the beginning of world-famous Findhorn.

I wanted to see it. Not believe, but see with my own eyes, and this became a pattern: be open and check it out, similar to what Paul says in the Bible:

“Test all, try it out and keep what is good.”

That became my motto. And thus, my knowledge, wisdom and experience grew far beyond what average people can imagine. In this little series I will give you a sneak peek and some insights into the wondrous world that most people haven't the slightest clue about opened up for me, and maybe for you too if you apply the motto that is on every wall in CEAEC, the Brazilian university for consciousness:

“DO NOT BELIEVE ANYTHING: MAKE YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE."

And because I am curious, inquisitive and neophilic as hell, I wanted to see it and check it out myself. With my newly wed husband, we drove there with our car to check it out. So Findhorn became the place where I spent my honeymoon. What I found changed my life for ever! It was different than what I had expected – no huge veggies but something else, amazing ... We, my husband and I, joined the so-called Findhorn Experience Week. It was a group of guests that were guided by a so-called 'facilitator', and part of that experience was to work with the community members:

Work is love in action

I vaguely remember my husband at the time worked in the kitchen, and I worked in the garden. Before we started the work, we stood in a circle, holding hands. The man leading the group thanked the wind and the rain.

That struck me. Thanking the rain? In Germany, we curse the rain. It ruins plans. You can’t go swimming when it rains. You reschedule. Rain is a problem.

In Findhorn, rain was a gift – as it is everywhere else in the world, by the way – but it changed my way. Same thing, different way to look at it, different perspective!

Tools were treated in a special way

The second thing: how they treated their tools.

They handled them with care. With respect. Not like objects you use and toss aside once you don't need them any more. After the work, every tool got cleaned, with thanks. Sometimes oiled. With care and with protection.

A spade treated like that stops being just a tool. It becomes part of a cycle where thanks, respect, and work belong together.

What’s left when the theory falls away

I can’t prove the plants in Findhorn grew that well because of the circle, the thanks, and the ritual. At the time I arrived at Findhorn, the focus had shifted from 3 people talking to devas to a community that lived and loved with respect in a remarkable and astonishing way. Nothing I had ever experienced in this way. The effect stayed with me when we went back home. Something had shifted in me — for ever.

The journey continues.

I do not mean the outer journey; I mean the inner journey of learning and expanding my mind.

In the west, many took the saying of the Bible:

“subdue the earth!” in a very disrespectful way. Many have read it as 'take what you want'. Without care or respect. Without asking or gratitude. By force if needed.

The Wild West in USA

The white man killed many buffalos just to get their skin and let the rest rot. Without limit. Without any bond to the animal. This is shown impressively in the movie of Kevin Costner, “Dances with Wolves”. It is based on historic facts. In this film it is clearly shown how the indigenous Red Indians treated nature in a much different way than the white men.

To me, Earth — Gaia or Pachamama, as some call her lovingly — has become a mother. The least even a materialist should be able to agree to is that

Earth carries us and nourishes us.

Full stop.

Kahuna

In Hawaii, the healers were called Kahuna. When they go into the jungle to pick herbs, they ask if they are allowed to take some and harvest. They never just take something without respect and thanks. And they make sure they do not take it all so it can grow back.

What Pachamama really means

'Pachamama' is South America's term for the Earth; She isn’t a figure you believe in. She's in a relationship. You speak to her. You thank her. You listen to her.

Some even speak to stones and listen, and yes, if you listen properly, they talk to you too. Not only gemstones. Sometimes plain field stones as well. I discovered that by serendipity. As I was digging to take some stones with me, they weren't wanting to tolet go but were very firm. So I started talking to them, more as if I were talking to myself. Let go, come with me!” and they said, "No, we belong here; you should not take us with you. We have a function to fulfil here.” I was baffled. Granted, it was somewhat of a holy place near Damanhur. I have heard people report that stones taken from Ayers Rock did bring them bad luck. These stones should stay there. Well, I haven't checked that one, but it sounds plausible to me after my experience.

The earth isn’t a thing.

Gaia

The Greek word 'Gaia' means much the same: The earth as a living system. Not an object. Something with a life of its own, an organism.

The earth carries us, and she feeds us.

The Celts and the oldest tree

When the Celts arrived in a new area, they looked for the oldest, largest tree. They asked permission to stay and if they were allowed to live there.

Same logic as the Kahuna.

Same as the red indians

As Pachamama.

Same as Findhorn,

• thanking the wind and rain.

Four cultures, one principle: you are not the owner of a place.

You are a guest.

Behave like one, bring a present, gratitude and respect.

This is how my journey with talking to Mother Earth and being asked to act on her behalf started — and if you are open and interested, I can give you some easy clues on how to get access to this way of communication with any easy method that I have developed that you can use too. But do not use it light-heartedly, like an experiment or ouja borad, use with care and responsibility.

Next in this series: how the earth speaks through specific places, through what happened there.