The Earth Mother is perhaps the oldest God known to human kind. Native Americans have spoken of her from their very beginnings. We have no written record of her earliest origins but she may well have arisen with the first concept of God. After all, the Earth Mother is only a natural extension of the experience of being mothered, and motherhood is something far older than human kind. Even animals share an experience of being cared for by a mother who nourishes and protects with her very body. It is only natural to extend those same attributes to an Earth that sustains and nourishes all creatures.
It is a point of view that changes ones relationship with all of nature. The belief that all creatures were born of, and nurtured by, the same Earth Mother gave early cultures a kinship with nature mirrored among Native American groups today. Claiming Earth as Mother makes brothers and sisters of all creatures. Being born from the body of the Goddess makes all creatures her flesh and blood and thus all creatures share her sacredness. This reverence for life in all its forms is an innate part of all Earth Mother religions.
Burials in earliest times reflect this belief. Early tombs were "oval" in shape, a womb in which the body was placed. Bodies were buried in "fetal" position.. Earlier cultures were sent back to Mother Earth to be born anew. What happened to this life engendering point of view? What are the implications now to societies that are so removed from their connection to the "natural" world?
In the "Predynastic Period," bodies were buried in the "fetal" position in shallow oval graves. With the founding of the Egyptian state at the beginning of the Dynasty era burial practices changed and tombs began to appear.
In earlier cultures the giving Mother Goddess was replaced by a judging and dictating Sky God. Often the transition was "harshly" imposed by those who would "gain power" by the new view. New concepts swept across these older cultures with warriors on newly domesticated horses. The concept of warfare, walled cities, subjugation and personal wealth took over. Even in places where the transition was less forceful it was accompanied by a "lessening" of women's status and a "cheapening" of all life.
In a society of fad religions and strange and destructive cults, the Goddess requires no faith. She is merely the personification of a natural system, we see working around us daily. We are intimately connected with the Earth whether we realize it or not. In a time when many religions set us "apart" from a male God and "above" the animals, the Earth Mother makes us family with both Goddess/God and every living thing; offering a deep sense of connection and completeness. It is a healing vision for a time in need of healing and a hope for the future.
Perhaps, like all children, we needed to test our independence, find our own road, separate ourselves from Her. But hopefully as we mature we can develop a new, close and respectful relationship with our Mother Earth.
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