The various forms of consciousness produced by evolution are the way in which Mother Earth becomes self-aware.

 

In recent posts, I've been talking about evolution in relation to God, the transcendent aspect of the creative force.  However, the other aspect of the creative force involves the feminine Presence who indwells the Earth from the very beginning, not - like God - through self-emptying, but - as a "Goddess" - through original identity.  Native Americans call this presence "Mother Earth" or "Earth Woman." Some tribes describe the creative process as involving BOTH masculine and feminine versions of creativity.  The Hopi, for example, speak of Tawa the Sun God and Spider Woman the Earth Goddess together creating all of the world's creatures.  Renaissance philosophers - drawing on the writings of Plato long before - refer to the feminine creative force as the Anima Mundi, the "World Soul."  In any case, in this scenario, evolution involves the process by which Mother Earth or the World Soul evolves a multitude of different forms of consciousness, each of which contributes a different nuance to her own self-awareness.  Or, as Teilhard de Chardin puts it: "The consciousness of each of us is evolution looking at itself and reflecting upon itself."

Desert writer Edward Abbey posits that human beings are part of this greater Earth-consciousness.  He writes: "Is it not possible that rocks, hills and mountains, and the great physical body of the Earth itself may enjoy a sentience, a form of consciousness which we humans cannot perceive only because of the vastly different time scales involved?  For example, the mind of a mountain may be as powerful and profound as that of Buddha, Plato, Spinoza, Whitehead and Einstein.  Say that a mountain takes 5,000,000 of our human or solar years to produce a single thought.  But what a grand thought that single thought must be!  If only we could tune in on it.  The classic philosophers of both east and west have tried for 5,000 years more or less to convince us that MIND is the basic reality, maybe the only reality, and that our bodies, the Earth and the entire universe are no more than a thought in the mind of God.  But consider an alternative hypothesis.  That Buddha, Plato, Einstein and we are thoughts in the minds of mountains, or that all humanity is a long, long thought in the mind of the Earth.  That we are the means by which the Earth, and perhaps the universe, becomes conscious of itself . . . If so, then our relationship to Earth is something like that of our minds to our bodies.  They are interdependent."

Photo: Magenta Paintbrush and Mount Rainier close to sunset; Spray Park, Mount Rainier National Park, WA; July 28, 2013

If you'd like to make a donation to help fund Nature Photo-Quotes, please go here.  Thanks!