May 3rd, 1998
LIFE BEGINS AGAIN - DID YOU NOTICE?
By Jackie Alan Giuliano
May Day has come again, a celebration of the ancient pagan sabbat Beltane. It is one of
the most important days of the Celtic calendar, marking the fertility of the springtime
before us. Beltane is a time to recognize the final phase of Spring planting. It is a time
to notice and nurture the tender new shoots of the recently planted crops, protecting them
from the uncertainty of Mother Nature. It is a time to dance around the maypole, a symbol
of the union of the Goddess and the God.
At this time of year, the Earth is renewing itself - birds and other animals are mating,
flowers are blooming, roots are growing, and life abounds. It is a time of renewal and
purification, a time to reflect on the bounty that lies ahead.
Hear ye the words of the Star Goddess
The dust of whose feet are the hosts of heaven,
She whose body encircles the universe:
I am the beauty of the green earth
And the white moon among the stars
And the mystery of the waters
And the desire of human hearts.
Call unto your soul: Arise and come unto me
For I am the soul of nature who gives
Life to the universe.
From me all things proceed
And unto me all things must return.
-- Zsuzanna Budapest
I am always amazed at the power of the Earth’s seasonal cycles to ground and center
me as well as provide lucid metaphors for the happenings of my own life. They are times to
celebrate, times to embrace the lifeforce, and times to reflect on the bounty of our
lives. But in our troubled era, they must also be times for reflection on the challenges
we face and the suffering of others. I am convinced, though, that if we all took time, at
least during the important seasonal holidays, to appreciate their power and reflect on how
they fit into our lives, we would find many less pressures in our paths. 
Child in the forest. (Photo J.A. Giuliano (c) 1998)
With the constant barrage of awarenesses of our environmental and social challenges, it
would be safe to assume that most of us are suffering from a form of psychic numbing. How
else can our minds cope with the overwhelming knowledge that we are destroying our health,
and that those who have been charged to protect us have other interests in mind? How can
we heal from this numbing? How can we feel alive again?
With the toxic load our bodies are faced with every day, many believe that we may all be
suffering to some extent. Yet how often do we ignore our ill health, brushing it off as
"the flu" because of a lack of evidence to the contrary? Some believe that the
problem of environmentally induced illnesses cannot be understood by applying traditional
scientific methodology to the problem. The answer may lie not in looking for a microscopic
solution, but a macroscopic one that involves an attempt to understand the complex
interactions and interdependencies that exist between life forms and life cycles on Earth.
Our challenges are great. The National Academy of Sciences, back in 1984, reported that
the lack of health information made it impossible to prepare a complete health hazard
assessment for any of the more than 48,000 industrial chemicals in commercial use. Partial
toxicity data was available for only 25 percent of those chemicals at that time.
Very little has changed since then. In Los Angeles alone, more than 40 air toxins are
known to cause cancer. Studies estimate that at least 20,000 people will contract cancer
over the next 70 years due to exposure to hazardous chemicals in the air. In the Los
Angeles area alone, it is estimated that an additional 5,873 people will die prematurely
because of particulate air pollution alone.
It will take decisive action to eliminate our environmental and social issues, to be sure.
It will take letters to elected representatives, boycotts of socially irresponsible
companies, and changes in behaviors for all of us. But we need energy for those actions,
fuel for our hearts and our souls.
That energy can only come from a connection with the Earth, the source of all our
strength, and from a deep appreciation of the web of life that we are all a part of. The
celebration of seasonal cycles can be an easy and meaningful way to create the energy we
all need for action.
So take a moment and dance around a maypole, even if it is only in your mind. Take a
moment to appreciate the vitality of this season and to visualize the new roots forming
all around you. Take a moment to be grateful for the bounty you have received. And look
around you, realizing that each and every day, life begins again.
We can never have enough of nature. We must be refreshed by the sight of inexhaustible
vigor, vast and titanic features, the sea-coast with its wrecks, the wilderness with its
living and its decaying trees, the thundercloud, and the rain which lasts three weeks...We
need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never
wander.
-- Henry David Thoreau
RESOURCES 1. Learn more about our seasonal cycles in a book called "Sabbats: A New
Approach to Living the Old Ways," by Edain McCoy. 2. You can visit http://www.pagespub.org/paganpages/Lena/goddess.htm
to learn more about the Earth’s cycles and how to celebrate them. You can also learn
about them at http://www.wiccan.com/sabbats.html
3. If you live in Southern California (or even if you don’t), you can check out the
Yoruba House, an African drumming cooperative that celebrates all the seasonal cycles.
Their web site is at http://www.primenet.com/~yoruba/welcome.html
4. Find polluters in your neighborhood at http://www.envirolink.org/search/, an EnviroLink Network project with
the Environmental Defense Fund. 5. Find your Congressperson and e-mail them. If you know
your Zip code, you can find them at http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ziptoit.html
6. Visit the owlcam at http://members.aol.com/owlbox/nest98.htm
to see a family of owls living and raising their young. Updated daily. 7. Learn who is out
there expressing their concerns at the Environmental Organization Directory at http://www.webdirectory.com/
8. Changelinks is a publication that provides a calendar of activist events in the
Southern California. Visit them at http://www.labridge.com/change-links/ and find a similar calendar for
your home town. 9. Find many lesser known environmental links at http://www.webdirectory.com/
{Jackie Giuliano can be found in Venice, California dancing around his own maypole,
celebrating the completion of his doctoral program. In another month, you can call him the
doctor. He is a Professor of Environmental Studies for Antioch University, Los Angeles,
and the University of Phoenix Southern California Campuses. He is also the Educational
Outreach Manager for the Outer Planets/Solar Probe Project, a NASA program at the Jet
Propulsion Laboratory to send space probes to Jupiter’s moon Europa, the planet
Pluto, and the Sun. Please send your thoughts, comments, and visions to him at jackie@deepteaching.com and visit his web site
at http://www.jps.net/jackieg} |
