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Conserve|
The
Path of Sacred Ecology by
Brooke Medicine
Eagle The
ancient people of
the land understood
that to be in harmony
with all things
was not only the
highest and finest
way to live, but
also the most practical,
useful, beneficial
and abundant. Their
practice was one
of being in harmony.
To be on the path
of sacred ecology
today means to take
our spiritual work
back into the realms
of daily practice.
This means becoming
conscious of the
kind of houses we
live in, the ways
that we use water,
the ways we use
energy and electricity.
I am always inviting
people to look at
alternative
construction methods
and technology that
can make their daily
lives a practice
in harmony and sacred
ecology. Water
is one of the most
basic elements on
which we depend
for our
survival.
I was raised in
the lifestyle of
a homesteading rancher
of the 1880's:
I carried water
in a bucket from
a spring deep in
a ravine, hauling
it daily up dirt
steps to our house,
for drinking, cooking,
and washing. When
I send my students
to sit alone upon
the mountain, I
ask them to take
only the amount
of water that they
absolutely need,
not a bit more,
so that they can
experience the preciousness
of water. When
they are on the
mountain I ask them
individually to
make a pledge to
care for, preserve,
and be lovingly
conscious of the
preciousness of
water by cleaning
up their own rivers
where they live
and watching how
much they use on
a daily basis. They
willingly make this
pledge to pay attention,
and take spiritual
action, in support
and honoring of
clean and plentiful
water in the world.
The
Hopi people have
always had the powerful
understanding that
if you put yourself
in a situation where
you have to pay
attention, you pay
attention! They
realized how easy
it is to get lax
and to forget, and
so they placed themselves
in a homeland where
there is very little
water, so every
day they are involved
in honoring the
preciousness of
water, and practicing
gratitude. When
my students come
down after two days
on the mountain,
they have a
different
awareness and appreciation
for water: they've
carried it a distance
to their site, and
when they've
had to measure the
sips that they can
take, it has a whole new meaning for them. Conservation
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