"There is no state or condition more holy
than the Earth."
___ R. J. Stewart, "Power Within the Land"
The British writer R. J. Stewart makes this firm and startling claim to counter the ways in which physical world has been disregarded and disrespected for so many centuries. He does not state that there is nothing but the earth, only that we should regard it as equally holy with every other realm.
This is quite a difficult thing for many people to do, especially those raised in the belief that the earth and all its works are somehow spoiled from the outset and that the only holy condition is the heavenly one. This concept and others like it have soured our relationship with the earth, causing us to abuse it as a commodity, a provider of resources, and a place to live our mundane lives as we wish.
What is holiness, and how can the earth be said to be holy? Holiness is nothing less than a condition of wholeness, completion, and attunement. The earth is holy in that it is the womb of manifest life, the partner in holiness with the otherworld, which is the originative fructifier of life. Both sides of this alchemical partnership are equally important; we cannot leave one of them out of the equation.
Awareness of the earth's holiness and partnership with the otherworld is still possible, especially when we stand at a place upon the earth where the veil between the worlds is thinner. In such a place we can still intuit earthly holiness. Even though the earth's surface has been abused, it is nonetheless a living womb of holy life, and we are its children.
"Meditate upon the earth as a holy place, and your own human state as a holy condition."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]
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