There are a lot of people today who profess to be “into Nature.” They get a lot of ego gratification out of bragging to the world that they love Nature and all things Natural. Many even claim to be “pagans” of some sort who supposedly serve gods and goddesses of Nature. But …
But … I take issue with many, even most of these people, because when you look at their actions and their lifestyles, their false claims fall apart quickly. The question really needs to be asked, “If you TRULY are attempting to resonate with Nature, then shouldn’t you be doing the THINGS OF NATURE, and not the things of the world?”
If you want to be LIKE NATURE, then you must mimic Nature to the best of your ability. There are far too many people out there who are talking the talk but not walking the walk.
Allow me to clarify. What does it mean to “be Natural?” It means to follow the ways of Nature. What then are the ways of Nature? Simple. The components of Nature are: Beauty, Peace, Solitude, Silence, Color, Clarity, Innocence and Purity. When you go out into Nature – for instance high up in a beautiful mountain meadow – you can both feel, as well as, visibly see these components in place all around you. The air is clean, the water is clear. There is a stillness to life and a quietness all around. The world smells fresh and sweet. The animals are grazing in peace. There is an aura of innocence and purity that shines crystal clear to any human eye that is blessed to witness the serenity of such an unblemished Natural setting.
In such a lovely scene, a person can actually sense the Presence of God in the purity of the surroundings – for never forget that God will never dwell in that which is not pure.
Yet, most of those “gathering people” I know who profess to be “one with Nature,” exhibit the very opposite of the Natural components just explored.
As a writer of both metaphysical and spiritual topics, I have attended several pagan and neo-pagan gatherings of all types, most of which were held outside in Natural settings, but none of which came even close to exhibiting the characteristics of Nature.
During those gatherings, several people were smoking cigarettes, others were smoking marijuana, most were drinking alcohol and becoming louder and more adolescent in their behavior as the gatherings carried on. Children were running around naked, yelling and fighting with each other, being ignored by parents. Really bad (corny) music could be heard from several corners of the events. People were dancing and laughing loudly and rattling off inane conversations in the coded clichés and phrases of the contemporary pagan culture. Nearly every person, man, woman or child, felt it necessary to attend the gathering in some sort of costume meant to represent Native American dress, or something out of medieval England. Most of the women were dressed like hippies out of the 1960’s, dancing and undulating their bodies in semi-sexual ways in the attempt to look “really cool” to anyone who was sober enough to be watching them.
Every once in a while a woman would laugh loudly and yell out the name of an ancient Greek goddess, and then look around the crowd just to see if anyone had noticed her doing so. Some men and women were dressed in black, wishing to give the impression they were legitimate “witches,” and all professed to have magical “control” over the powers of Nature. A few were even attempting to “smudge” the impurities out of the Natural setting of Nature! Others were sitting cross-legged on the ground in front of really rickety looking imitation Tipis, trying for the life of them to look like they were something they were not. And … oh yes … nearly everyone felt it was their obligation to go into the woods every once in a while to pee out the abundance of beer they consumed during the “festivities.” Others defecated openly in front of children; still others threw up the contents of their alcohol-bloated stomachs whenever and wherever the urge hit them to do so.
I attended these gatherings primarily for reasons of research, but every time I left one of them, instead of feeling refreshed at having been in Nature, I felt as if I needed to go home and take a bath in order to rid myself of the embarrassing display I had witnessed – AT THE EXPENSE OF TRUE NATURE.
And don’t get me wrong, this is not meant to be a rant, it is meant to point out how absurd, hypocritical, warped and disgusting the contemporary culture has become in fooling itself into believing a person can resonate with Nature simply by inventing costumes, rituals, and activities that look cool, hip, “in” and groovy.
On the contrary, instead of honoring Nature, these simpletons are polluting it. Not with cars and factories down below in the valley, but by the filth of their very presence. When a person walks into what was once a pristine mountain meadow, expecting to smell the sweet fragrance of wild flowers and pine trees … and gets accosted by the stench of marijuana, urine, stale beer, vomit and cigarette smoke. When a person expects to experience silence and peace … and is beaten around the head by loud music, drunken chatter, and out of control human children screaming for all they are worth. When a lovely scene of Nature is turned into a trash dump …
At none of the gatherings I have attended over the years has there been the presence of even ONE wild animal there to witness the activities. Wild animals stay away from such events. Remember, they are True Beings Of Nature. They are beautiful and pure. They cannot mix with that which is ugly and poisoned by the nonsense of mankind.
Perhaps it is time for MOTHER to make things right down here. Maybe this little world needs a serious taste of reality. Hmm …I like that idea.
Dr Parsons has provided a wonderful and interesting article here on his observations on adherent and abhorrent human behaviour as it related to the natural world.
I have observed instances of this behavior here in Australia at a place called Mt Nebo where over 100 alternative living people set up log cabins during the 1980’s and the like in the jungles that grow in this area. They were trying to escape the so-called “rat race” of Brisbane, the capital of Queensland. They were supposed to be alternative living types but when I was invited one time to visit several of the cabins etc., I discovered there were electricity, lighting, electric cooking facilities and all kinds of other mod-cons such as television! There was no outside showers, toilets or vegetable gardens which one would have thought prerequisites for alternative living.
It appeared to me that they really weren’t coming with nature. Most of then were from rich families I later found out. They liked walking in the jungle or just loved the look of the bushland but they really knew little about the jungle, its plant life and its animals and how the jungle really functioned. Most of the “alternatives” were alcoholic, drugged-out hippies as described in Dr Parsons article. Many of them, especially the better looking females, were very arrogant, rude and offensive. Their language was often very disgusting and not lady-like.
Within a short period of time (maybe 6 months if that), most of these people abandoned their cabins and huts and returned to the city. They really did not commune at all with nature or tried to see the scientific and spiritual nature of such vegetation, clean air and clear, pure streams etc. It seems the alternative living ethos was just a passing fad for these characters.
Dr Parson notes that the components of Nature are: Beauty, Peace, Solitude, Silence, Color, Clarity, Innocence and Purity. I would say that none of those alternative types regarded the jungle (nature) as all of these things together or for any length of time. In a way Nature was used and possibly abused (especially with their rubbish buildups).
There are still a few hippies living in the jungle, probably trying to remain anonymous and using the jungle as a type of shield from the rest of the society which they despise.
These “alternative” communes or “Intentional Living Communities” are all over America, and your observations are correct Trevor. They are the same here. Most are populated by old hippies or young hippie wantabe’s who are either quite well off and do not have much of a deeper-searching form of spiritual life, or they are lazy losers who want to live off the government “entitlements” that are so easily given out here in the USA. Their lives are a complete waste, but they do get their fifteen minutes of fame and ego gratification from the media, and from all of those who live together with them.