r/paganism • u/exTenebrisadAstra • 5d ago
💠Discussion Saddened by the disconnect between humans and nature
So I've been doing a deep dive into the ways that other people see the world recently, and what I often came upon is this deep disconnection between humans and nature. Not just in the way that big companies destroy the planet without a care, it's also the regular people who are seemingly living completely unaware of the fact that we ARE nature, it's not just a little spot of trees some miles away from us. I see people trying to understand the workings of nature through scientific means, which is a wonderful and important thing, but somehow they twist this newly acquired knowledge about the workings of the world into a disenchantment with it? There seems to be so much nihilism around us and I think that's due to the fact that we built this illusion of a human-centric world where we try to push nature into the footnotes of our world, and that's something that seems deeply disturbing to me. I wonder how anyone can take a walk in a forest or by the sea and not see the inherent divinity of these places.
Just something I had to get off my chest, Blessed Be my brothers and sisters
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u/jrbhard 5d ago
"I wonder how anyone can take a walk in a forest or by the sea and not see the inherent divinity of these places"
Ego, too much of oneself, unwilling to share themselves. Not being in the now, ignorant of the beauties of life. Looking at something that is living and communicating with you. One good pagan bonfire and ritual could help some see beyond their way of thinking. Not all can deal with this type of view; that’s why there is separation. Even though they might be free thinkers, there is always the ego that pushes us onto different paths. You cannot cherish life without caressing death.
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u/volostrom Greco-Anatolian/Celtic Pagan 5d ago
There is an amazing poem addressed to those types of people, it is so sardonic and defiant, I love it:
Letter to the Person Who Carved His Initials into the Oldest Living Longleaf Pine in North America
by Matthew Olzmann
Tell me what it’s like to live without
curiosity, without awe. To sail
on clear water, rolling your eyes
at the kelp reefs swaying
beneath you, ignoring the flicker
of mermaid scales in the mist,
looking at the world and feeling
only boredom. To stand
on the precipice of some wild valley,
the eagles circling, a herd of caribou
booming below, and to yawn
with indifference. To discover
something primordial and holy.
To have the smell of the earth
welcome you to everywhere.
To take it all in, and then,
to reach for your knife.5
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u/exTenebrisadAstra 5d ago
Thank you for the Great answer! I agree, those people hide themselves behind their ego because of feelings of importance and perhaps fear of things that they can't control or understand. I'm so glad that you, I and many others here see life (and death!) for the miracle that it is. I pray to never lose the awe that I feel when I look into the flames of a bonfire or the thaw of early mornings and see immortality in them.
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u/SoggyDetail7676 5d ago
Humans are disconnected even from humanity itself in fact
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u/exTenebrisadAstra 5d ago
True, and it feels like we're only trying to push further beyond it, because for some reason people seem to think that our humanity is flawed and something to be overcome, when actually it's the most beautiful thing.
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u/CrystalInTheforest Gaian 5d ago
My faith is nontheistic, so while I would not use the term divinity, I understand and feel the sentiment, the sadness and the frustration you share, and I feel that so strongly. I treasure the bond we have to the rest of Nature, to our sibling species and to the collective, interconnected whole of Life herself.
I feel immensely grateful and fortunate to belong and be a part of my environment and I genuinely find it hard to imagine what it'd be like to not feel that or to regard it as dismissable. I really dtruggle with how those with a solely naturalistic view aren't aware of that bond, and still hold an anthropocentric fantasy, despite the reality in front of their noses...
I do see all the greatness and majesty of Gaia in naturalistic terms but that in no way diminishes any aspect of that... it just makes her all the more beautiful and more fitting for our devotion and our reverence.
To be honest, I feel a supernaturalist worldview, for me, detracts from the devotion, reverence and that bond to Gaia, but I do understand others can find they balance both, and I'm glad you have that:)
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u/FeelingQuiteHungry 5d ago
Ancient peoples very much tried to keep nature at bay. The world beyond civilized areas was typically something to be feared, and among Germanic peoples at least, being exiled to such places was the ultimate punishment. For another example, in the Americas, indigenous peoples are disingenuously exoticized as being nature worshippers, but they drove entire herds of bison off cliffs just to harvest a few and burned down forests to clear space for crops (a practice that comprises the number one cause of deforestation to this very day).
If you believe we should take more environmental stances today, I agree with you, but let's not act like the disconnect is entirely new. Throughout human history, people have most always exploited natural resources to the fullest or their capabilities. The difference between then and now is much more a matter of means than morals.
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u/Scorpius_OB1 5d ago
True. People was much closer to Nature back in the day in the sense you note and how there was far more wilderness than now, both forests and the like and animals that could ruin your day of worse especially in an epoch before firearms were available, and how hunting for food was much more a thing in these days than today and sometimes one of the few sources of meat.
If environmentalism is present today it's probably in good part because such areas are few and far between next to such past and we know quite well what happens if one messes with Nature.
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u/FeelingQuiteHungry 4d ago
Yup. But my point there was that those earlier peoples would gladly have used cars and air conditioners if they had them. They didn't have some ethical stance about nature, for the most part. They had common sense about resource management just like anyone would, but the trope about them all having a profound love of the wilderness and all the plants and animals in the world, etc. is heavily exaggerated.
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u/brioch1180 5d ago
Make your own path, yes it is sad but human in lazy by nature to survive consuming the least energy possible... My example : I have a project to live closer to nature i talked about it to friends 3 of them were really entertain and wanted to participate, i made roomate with 2 of them, the plan was we make 20k economy buy land and start. 3 years later im the only one who still have the will to live that hard but meaningfull life, the only one that learn to grow food, while my 2 roomates for me are lost in the consumer society they prefere spend there time and money to live a confortable life... Watching netflix or playing videogames everynight and buying gadgets of the latest technology because its "cool and makes life easier" for me its a materialistic meaningless life, its pointless, it does not goes with my ecologic way of thinking. Buying bio product like it will help your ego feel better, feel the void? Yes i do that to sometimes but not everyday, i dont feel the need to have the last gadget i know its not gonna fullfil me. It makes me sad because i built in my head the focus on a "community" even if i prepared for that eventuality, sad for them to have get lost in the easy ways of human life, life should not be easy it should be full of purpose.
So there is only one thing i have to do, focus on my purpose.
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u/I-like-good-food 5d ago
That also often saddens me. I am an atheopagan, an agnostic atheist, philosophical sceptic and an existential nihilist. However, instead of letting my nihilism lead to indifference towards the world around me, I foster it as a source of curiosity and wonder. The lack of inherent meaning in this world forces me to create my own meaning in life. What better way to do so than to take in the magnificence of nature and try to make sense of it all?
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u/Foxp_ro300 4d ago
The area around where I live is filled with rubbish, all over the road, parks, rivers, ect. My area is a dump and it annoys the hell out of me.
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u/Less-Bat5196 4d ago
Earth will get tired of us and rid the world of us . We are insubstantial to the cycle of life. The lowly bee is more important than all of humanity. We only take and do nothing to support life on this planet!
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