Women and Mother Earth

If you're a woman (and even if you're not) you can relate to your body as being the earth – and the connection with earth as Mother. Somehow there seems to be a natural connection; one that women instinctively "get".

Perhaps it's because we, as women – have a natural mother instinct, whether we are mothers per se or not. We have a natural inclination to give, to love, to share, to nurture and to support others. It's our joy, perhaps our mission.

And it doesn't mean that we are weak. Quite the opposite.

The use of power to give to others, to understand and support others, to sustain through love, is a sign of strength. It means that we are complete in ourselves, value the love and connection that we have, and want to pass this on.

I think of these qualities when I think of the earth --- and then of Mother Earth. Do we relate to her as conscious, alive, providing for us, as the indigenous people do? And do we realize that, like a person, she can only take so much without falling out of balance?

Like all women, the earth needs to be protected in some ways, so that she (and we) can do our job. And the love that is poured out needs to be given back, so that there is a balance.

I sometimes think of the ways that the earth has been treated --- sometimes ignored, sometimes trodden on, taken for granted, sometimes abused and energy extracted from without replacement. I note that women have often been treated the same way in our world.

It isn't working, is it? The Earth is sacred. It provides life for us --- the air, the water, the food, the ground to stand on and build on. The feminine is sacred as well, in many ways.

Through Communities of Peace, we've recently been interacting with some of the women ambassadors in honoring Mother Earth and looking at ways that we can show love for her. Recently, we co-sponsored an event at the Embassy of Ecuador, with the focus on Love for Mother Earth. Ambassador Ivonne a-Baki hosted the event in DC. Ecuador has been a leading country in protecting Nature and has recently been In the news for this. We're grateful for the connection!

A picture of the event, and of Ambassador a-Baki, is on this site. About 75 people were in attendance, including a number of other women ambassadors.