the good earth
9. ~ a globe bead.
today is Earth Day.
a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the Earth's environment. it was founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970 and is celebrated in many countries every year.
my little glistening globe charm represents my love of maps & atlases of all kinds, from transportation guides like the London Underground Tube map to the amazing satellite images on Google Earth. I loved them so much I studied cartography at college.
...but it is also a reminder of what a beautiful, yet so fragile place the planet that we call home, is.
this iconic photograph taken by apollo 8 astronaut, Bill Anders on Christmas Eve, 1968 - showing the Earth seemingly rising above the lunar surface perfectly captures exactly that sentiment .
"...and for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo eight has a message that we would like to send to you. 'in the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth. and the Earth was without form and void. and darkness was upon the face of the deep. . . . and God saw that it was Good." And from the crew of apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck.... and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth."
— flight crew of Apollo 8, live telecast Christmas Eve, 1968.
the words of NASA's astronauts are fitting sound-bites for our future.
"...suddenly, from behind the rim of the Moon, in long, slow-motion moments of immense majesty, there emerges a sparkling blue and white jewel, a light, delicate sky-blue sphere laced with slowly swirling veils of white, rising gradually like a small pearl in a thick sea of black mystery. It takes more than a moment to fully realize this is Earth . . . home."
— Edgar Mitchell, apollo 14.
"...as we got further and further away, the Earth diminished in size. finally it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful you can imagine. That beautiful, warm, living object looked so fragile, so delicate, that if you touched it with a finger it would crumble and fall apart. seeing this has to change a man."
— James B. Irwin, apollo 15.
play your part, however small - together we can keep the earth 'good'.
i will be at my local ecology garden in Cobourg, Ontario - at dawn, to celebrate Earth Day with
members of the Mississauga Ojibways of Alderville First Nation, Rice Lake who will be conducting the Sunrise Fire Circle.
06.30am ~ the ceremony begins...
The burning of sage, sweet grass, fungus is called smudging. It is traditionally used to prepare and purify a person, place or thing for a time of openness and truth in the presence of the Creator. Prior to everyone being smudged, the eagle feather is smudged. Smudging is done for these reasons:
Mouth - so that anything we say will be positive and helpful to others who hear us.
Ears - that what we hear and listen to will be positive and help us to learn.
Eyes - that what we see is positive and we can see that in others, not to look at the outside.
Mind - that what we think or how we react will be positive, with only the well being of others in mind. Not to be clouded by anger, lust, greed, etc.
Heart - that our hearts will feel our pain and joy, to be able to heal and use that to help others.
Body - that we will use our bodies in positive ways and take care of our physical health.
strawberries are heart berries, connected to all - used for Spring ceremonies, and roots for purifying body.
in support of Earth Day - profits from my lavender & lilac 'butterfly island' soap are all donated to the Cobourg Ecology Garden - available at my etsy shop.
take-away gift bags including a guest size butterfly island soap & travel size aromatic bath salts are available from local store, Peech's Market at 148 Third Street, Cobourg. profits also donated to the garden.
coming soon from soapstar...an eco friendly household soap with orange oil & lemongrass - perfect for making your own environmental laundry detergent. check out this awesome recipe at the art of zen crochet blog.
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What a great post. Those photos of the Earth are so beautiful. Happy Earth Day!
ReplyDeleteLovely post! Looks like you had a great time :)
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