LOVE of Mother Earth – a blog by Godi Godar
I am blessed to have grown up in the heart of the Congo Basin Rainforest my whole childhood, nurtured by Mama Earth. The Rainforest is our mother. She provides us with all that we need: climate, shelter, medicine, water, food, the air we breathe and so much more. The resilience of her lungs are vital for our survival.
Growing up with this rainforest mother taught me how to relate to and respect all living creatures. She gave me survival skills and taught me that forests are a sacred place. Not only a place to connect, learn and communicate but a truly divine place if you really tune in. My ancestors who have become one with the forest, continue to teach us through her wisdom and knowledge that all tribes and family members pass on to the next generations.
The gifts of the forest are abundant:
– traditional ceremonies
– honoring a women when she gives birth for the first time.
-the funeral tradition (Matanga) when someone passes and again becomes one with the forest
– the tribe’s Medicine Women and Men
– the sacred sites
– the stories and proverbs
-how to communicate with animals and birds
– the Pygmy wisdom (the aboriginal forest people)
These tribal and cultural experiences I learned from Mother Earth are the best education. I would never have learned all of this wisdom and or carry my inner sense of peace in any school or university. I am always grateful and thankful for the knowledge that Mother Earth has gifted me.
Mother Nature is a healer. She provides sanctuary where you can always go to calm down and find peace. I was born in a place were the forest took care of us and the tribe took care of each other in same way. We understood that when we killed any animals or plants to nourish ourselves we gave thanks and praise for the animal’s and plant’s sacrifice. We never took for granted, but gave blessings to all because we all are related and we feed one another.
Unfortunately, many humans today are disconnected and self destructive. We must go into the forest again to regain our consciousness. To be conscious is to sense, see, feel, hear, touch, smell and taste. We can change, we can remember where we all come from, we can reconnect with Mother Nature. We are all one! As the animals and plants of the forest sacrifice themselves to nourish us, I too am nourished by serving others and protecting this forest mother.
Knowing Mother Nature means knowing yourself – being disconnected from Nature means you are disconnected from yourself. Whatever you do, be thankful and grateful for all. Be humble and Mother Nature will always be on your side, even when it seems like it’s taking forever… but always have hope…
The Bantomba people (my tribe) believes in the legend of the Turtle Iyanzanguba who represents Mother Earth. She gives birth to all living creatures and carries them on her back to protect them, just like many creatures give birth and care for their children. One world = “One Love.” The legends and beliefs of my tribe are portrayed in the logo of the non-profit that I started, Go Conscious Earth, to protect my mother, my rainforest and my tribe. There is a song, sung by my dear friend Meredith. Would you share this song with me?
“There is a turtle under my feet…
She is swimming through universe..
She is my mother, source of my birth…
She is my lover, my beautiful Earth…”
Give thanks and much love every time! Keep on smiling!
About the AuthorGo Conscious Earth and the process of saving one million acres of rainforest.
Godar’s mother passed away in 2012. Her final words to her son were, “God will bless you in this project.”
News + Stories:
Love, Society and Planets – A blog by Pepe Caudillo
I would LOVE to start by expressing my gratitude to Abundance NC for the many things they do, like inviting me, and you, to think about an important element in our lives that, little by little, is becoming less obvious, less touched, less spoken, less cultivated or practiced: LOVE. When I see, read, hear…
To The Girl I Used To Be, With Love
I remember her so clearly. Chocolate skin and dark tight curls gleaming in the Bahamian sun; frolicking on a long stretch of warm white sand. Always going a little farther down the beach than she was supposed to. I know her bright questioning eyes and full petulant lips that hint at the stubbornness just beneath…
Big.
Taking off your clothes on stage isn’t for everyone… Last fall, I decided to take a burlesque class. Yup. One of those take off your clothes, on a stage, in the light in front of a bunch of folks classes. A friend asked if I wanted to join them in this burlesque class and I…
Winter Solstice: Standing Still in the Abundant Pause
It is the Winter Solstice, the day when the Northern Hemisphere begins its slow shift back towards the sun, and we take time to reattune our senses to the subtle changes and cycles of the seasons. The Latin roots of the word ‘solstice’ mean ‘sun stands still’. When I watch the sun today cross…
Upcoming workshops + events
Bikes & Barnyards Summer Camp!
A Summer Camp
with TRIANGLE BIKEWORKS • June 17, 9 AM – June 21, 5 PM:
Days of exploring, laughing, and riding, learning camp & forest skills and stewardship, care & functioning of ecosystems and nature and, discovering cooking local! On the last we’ll camp out under the stars while preparing a meal over a fire! The hope is that you’ll never want to go a day without riding your bike again!
