A beginning: Earth Wisdom, Creation and the Big Bang

One theme that we encounter time and again in the natural world is the process of emanation. Heat, light and other forms of energy radiating out from a central point or body. This is fundamental to how, in this Earth Wisdom tradition, we view not only the beginning of Life as we know it (Creation), but also the ‘continuing of Life’ in each moment. We are now informed by our more mainstream sciences that in the beginning there was a big bang, and that light and matter emanated from a single point which contained all of the potential of life that we now see around us.

Whilst writing this section I came across an insightful account of the Big Bang called ‘BIG BANG Version 1.0‘ which describes the beginning of the Big Bang as a place where “matter cannot exist because it’s so hot and dense that you just have a tight bundle of pure energy, infinitely dense and infinitely small… before that Time and Space don’t exist at all and the Laws of Physics as we know them totally break down.”

Science also tells us that the universe is still expanding and now we know that the further you move away from the point of the big bang structures become more complex – a few giant stars give way to billions of galaxies and sub atomic particles become more diverse. We see this same process in cell division and in the natural world around us such as with trees evolving from single stems into structures with many intricate branches. It’s amazing to think that you evolved from a single cell!

Eywa and Spirit – Avatar and the Shirt Wearer

In Avatar, James Cameron introduces a consciousness (known as Eywa) that underlies all Life on the planet Pandora. In Earth Wisdom we call this Spirit; we see that all things whether animate or inanimate are unique expressions/emanations of Spirit. You can think of it as a conscious and living Life force (that’ll wake the Star Wars fans up!) that is constantly evolving and expressing itself through a myriad of forms. In accordance with this emanation of Life, the Human is seen to be a ‘Shirt Wearer’, an aspect of Spirit wearing layers of consciousness which ultimately express themselves physically through our bodies, behaviours, words and actions. This concept of the Shirt Wearer is very similar to the ‘Avatar’ concept: an Avatar is a Na’vi body which is operated remotely by a human mind! (The Na’vi are the indigenous population of Pandora)

So, what does all of this mean to the Human? From an Earth Wisdom perspective everything that we experience in our lives, including whether we are happy or sad, all begins with the Self. The quality of our outer world is therefore determined by the quality of our inner world, and “our focus determines our reality” (Star Wars fans might recognise that quote too!).

So, what is Earth Wisdom?

Earth Wisdom and Earth-based spirituality, in their simplest form, can be seen as a deep reverence for, and a oneness with all of Life. They are a marveling of the natural world around us in all it’s beauty and incredible complexity and are a reflection of our own inner landscapes. For this reason they provide a fascinating and truly holistic path of personal development – a way of understanding the dynamics behind our patterns and the ways in which we relate with ourselves, one another and all of Life.  A former teacher used to ask me…

“Well, do you want to be a Sacred Human, or just another two-legged?”

What he was referring to was the choice between taking the often easier option of being a ‘two-legged’, following an unconscious and Self-ignorant Life path. Or, the other more courageous path of the ‘Sacred Human’, the warrior Human Being that faces the Self and looks deep beneath the surface, discovering and learning what it is that ‘makes us tick’. This, with the right training and support can lead to a more conscious Life where we are able to choose each thought, word and action; we are in command/at cause of our lives rather than victims of the circumstances that we find ourselves in.

The reverence of Life spoken of earlier can lead us to feelings of awe and wonder, a state that some may describe as a ‘religious’ experience. However, there is a distinct difference between the strand of Earth Wisdom being spoken of here and that of mainstream religion – it is a path of Self  Authority; a path that empowers and expands the mind beyond our limited ego and comes with no judgments, and no strings attached!


About the author

My name is Antony, and my main trade has been graphics, database and web development since I graduated from university with a BSc in Ocean Science! This year I will be concentrating my focus on the running of Earth Wisdom courses here in the UK. I have been drawn to aboriginal philosophies and traditions around the world for many years now and though I have experienced different branches of Earth Wisdom, it is the ‘Origin Teachings of the Delicate Lodge’ that I have spent the last 7 years studying, and will continue to deepen my understanding of during this lifetime. It is these teachings that form the basis of my understandings shared through the pages of this website. However, though I do co-run Earth Wisdom courses in the UK , I want to be clear that the views shared on Avatar Blues are my own unique interpretation only and not a portrayal of the actual teachings. I currently live in Cornwall, England with my wife and three beautiful children (I’m making my own tribe!).

more coming soon…