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This episode of Living Myth considers how Earth Day and the oldest traditions of Easter are secretly connected. “One of the open secrets trying to be rediscovered at this time is that a deep capacity for renewal exists in the depths of our own souls, just as it resides in the unseen depths of the earth itself.”

This year Easter and Earth Day come within a few days of each other and that causes me to consider ways in which the two events are secretly connected. The title Easter remains a muted memory of Esther, the ancient goddess of the dawn, who arrived from the east bringing light and the promise of renewed life. Esther is a bright earth goddess who also represents the womb of memory and the deep fertility of life's ever renewing cycles. Naturally, at least for ancient people, any sense of renewal or rebirth had to involve the eternal feminine and the deep sense of the earth as both tomb and womb.

In the religious Easter story, the significant event is the rising of the Son of God after two days in the tomb. In the ancient story of Esther, the significant issue is the resurrection of life itself, returning from the depths of winter and the dark of the underworld. Most of the symbols associated with Easter actually come from this old story about the recurrent renewal of life on earth. Thus, it is no accident that there are eggs in the Easter baskets or that egg hunts used to focus upon finding a singular golden egg.

A certain style of creation myths begins with a golden egg floating silently on the primordial, dark ocean. On one level, the egg represents the earth which is more oval shaped than round. On another level it is the cosmic egg with all the life-giving force of creation not yet become manifest. As the life force grows inside it the cosmic egg cracks from within and both the earth and the firmament of stars above it become revealed.

In Greek myths, the first thing that comes out of the broken shell at the moment of creation was Eros, the god of connection, relatedness and love. As if to say, the world cannot exist as a living entity until love breaks through the form that holds it back. And each spring the force of life once again breaks through the hard surface at winter’s end and a new beginning pours forth into the world.

All over the earth festivals of renewal used to occur that were not simply a commemoration of the original time of creation. Rather, there was a sense of a re-actualization as by symbolically engaging with the symbols and the stories of recreation, people too could be renewed, could be as if reborn by having the original potentials of their lives restored.

In the old stories, Esther was so intimately connected to the creative energy of the earth that each time she took a step, flowers would spring from the place where her foot had lifted. In that sense, the instinct to gather flowers and even adorn oneself can be seen to arise from the natural connection to the eruption of beauty and abundance in the earth. There can be great beauty and meaning in the pageants of Easter services and practices. Yet, it seems to me that Earth Day may be an instinctive attempt to reconnect to the archetypal energy of re-creation and hidden abundance, precisely when the earth itself is in grave danger and the sacredness of life is in question.

As people are learning, in all too tragic ways, human behavior and misbehavior has dramatic and lasting effects on the delicate balance of life on earth. On one hand, it becomes evident that if we do not radically alter the destructive patterns of human societies irreversible harm to the planet will be done. On the other hand, there is the implication that if humans have the capacity to destroy the earth, we must also have the power to help correct the imbalance and return to practices of contributing to creation ongoing. It is as if we are backing our way into cosmology again.

In other words, it is not simply that we have lost touch with the sacred energy and regenerative powers of the earth; but also that we have fallen out of the story of cosmology. Although tiny and frail in many ways, humans are also the microcosmic version of the greater macrocosm. For, it is our human heritage to be woven into the fabric of life on earth and also be sewn into the seamless system of the cosmos.

That interwoven sense of life gives birth to the ancient idea that humans are the makeweights in the scales of time. Not in the inflated or heroic sense that humans are here to dominate or control. Rather, in the old understanding that humans appear as the potentially conscious beings able to recognize the wonder of creation and contribute to the ongoing story of life on earth.

Just as in the myths of the golden egg, the energy for creation and re-creation must come from the inside out. One of the open secrets trying to be rediscovered at this time is that a deep capacity for renewal exists in the depths of our own souls, just as it resides in the unseen depths of the earth itself. The inner life of our own souls remains essentially connected to the living cosmos and the soul of the world.

We are living in the dark times again and we need to reconnect to the ancient and recurring sense that the core dynamic of the cosmos exists as the mystery of life, death and renewal at all levels. We need to reconnect to the original source of life, both to restore the potentials of our own lives and be able to imagine and envision the steps and practices needed to help restore the balance of the earth itself.

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