Mother Earth and the Grief of Whiteness
What is your relationship to cultural grief? How do you connect to Earth as your Mother, your lifeline, your home?
On November 20th, the Intuitive Collective hosted a free gathering around a fire to honor Mother Earth. We joined over 300 groups all over the world holding ceremony to bless, thank, and honor our home and Mother. This event, Earth Heart, was held at the same time as the UN Climate Conference in Brazil, and you can read more about Earth Heart here.
At the end of this newsletter I will share a channeled message that came through from Mother Earth during our intuitive listening practice around the fire.
But first I feel called to share (albeit imperfectly) about cultural grief. About being a white person whose lineage and cultures were stripped from their ancestral homes and the lands they tended, loved, and with which they lived in cyclical rhythm.
The Grief That Brought Me Here
In our group rituals and gatherings we honor the land and the indigenous caretakers who have always protected Her, as well as our ancestors who lived in intimate connection to their own lands. It's meaningful to make this declaration, and yet it also reminds me how much I've lost to empire, colonization, and the pressure to align with white patriarchal power.
My ancestors that I'm aware of are both colonizers and the colonized: insular Maronites in Lebanon/Syria, rural villagers of Southern Italy, workers in Ireland, and soldiers and merchants of Britain and France. If I were to travel back far enough on both sides of my family tree, I would reach indigenous tribespeople, pagans and mystics, villagers and farmers, healers and wise ones whose traditions were entwined with the land's medicine and rhythms. Mother Earth gave life, and the people shared it with one another.
My ancestors came overseas across different centuries and for various reasons—some to the British Colonies who later fled as Loyalists to Canada, others as immigrants to the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s. I may not know their individual stories, but for many, the pressure to survive led to wrenching separation from homeland and cultural expression.
Homogeneity is traumatic. Whiteness is not a culture. We live on stolen land. The grief that must be felt is not only for the indigenous peoples whose land has been taken, but also for those assimilated into Whiteness and its power structures—who left their cultures behind, who no longer feel deep connection to the planet, who sacrificed so much for survival in an unhealthy system.
When the underlying energies of a country/empire/land include removal, power-over, oppression, extraction, and profit... no wonder we feel emptiness and separation from who we really are. We are One with the Earth. We are One in humanity. We are the natural world, not apart from it. And yet, due to injustice and unprocessed grief of disconnection from Mother Earth and culture, we have been fooled into seeing ourselves as part of a hierarchy—one group better or more worthy than another.
My grief has brought me closer to my ancestors. I long to know their stories, myths, traditions, and secrets. I have marked their villages on the map, studied their local traditions, and prayed for a chance to visit and put my feet on the same soil where they grew food and listen to old sang songs they sang together.
My grief has moved me to host ceremonies like Earth Heart and unlearn white supremacy and appropriation in spiritual spaces. My grief inspires me to donate money to Indigenous organizations protecting Mother Earth, fighting for the return of their lands to those who understand and love Her instead of extract and abuse Her.
My grief reminds me that I'm not just white (whatever that is). I'm born from the DNA of so many thousands of generations of ancestors from all over the earth—all the way back to the first humans.
My grief is healing. It is spiritual. It is personal. It is ancestral.
A Message from Mother Earth
During the Earth Heart ceremony, we spoke about our love for Mother Earth, our gratitude for the life She gives us all, and how we were raised to either appreciate Her or ignore Her. Then we sat around the fire for an intuitive listening practice.
After we meditated, prayed, centered our bodies, and connected our hearts to Mother Earth, I channeled the following:
Mother Earth, do you have any
messages for me?
[visual: a mother cradling a baby in her arms]
I give you [fire] light to remind you of your own light.
I may be your mother, but we are also One.
The way a child is in the womb, one with her mother, so I am with you.
[visual: I saw the Empress tarot card, often depicted as a pregnant woman in a lush landscape]
[visual: I pictured a sailboat on the ocean]
I am the wind in your sails. When you do not know where to go, I will guide you. Let go of the rudder. I will steer your boat. There are many Beings here to help. The whales, the dolphins, the octopi... Let all your family speak to you and guide you. When you connect to all Beings, you are connecting to all my children and all those not on this physical plane in 3D. Wider. Bigger.
[visual: I zoomed out and saw the entire planet with galaxies surrounding ours twinkling in the sky]
The Family of Love is endless. You are never alone. Let us help you. You are no less worthy. No less perfect.
Sing to me a new song. A song of Life. Create it in your heart, as you are a song in my heart.
What is your relationship to cultural grief? How do you connect to Earth as your Mother, your lifeline, your home?
What song will you sing to the Heart of Earth?
You are held without judgment. Let's walk the road together.