What can the earth teach us about the Supreme Earth Mother?

To understand the Supreme Earth Mother, begin with everyday life. The grains, vegetables, and fruit we eat, the water we drink, and the timber and minerals we use all relate to the earth. Animals and plants grow here too. Through these familiar things, the Earth Mother becomes more than an unfamiliar deity's name: we can appreciate how the earth nourishes life.

In my experience of faith, love and acceptance are important virtues of the Earth Mother. The earth nurtures living beings and also bears the waste left by our lives. After death, our bodies ultimately return to the soil. Through the changing seasons and the growth and decline of life, this support continues. It is like a mother caring for her children, giving much without rushing to claim credit.

Understanding these virtues should also turn us back toward ourselves. Can we show more acceptance and less insistence on winning when things happen? After doing something, can we take on more responsibility rather than always rushing to claim the credit? Learning gratitude and broadening our hearts in everyday life brings our understanding of the Earth Mother into our own practice.

I have also used the earth receiving the waste of daily life to explain this acceptance. But that is a comparison to aid understanding. Learning from the Earth Mother does not mean literally letting others put excrement on you. Worship should involve learning the spirit a deity represents, rather than taking one image literally and requiring yourself to endure everything.

In my experience of faith, remembering that heaven and earth nourish my life makes it less easy to claim all the credit for myself. Being grateful for this help, softening our hearts, and becoming willing to share with others brings reverence for the Earth Mother into daily life.