Welcome to the home page of the Temple of The Living Earth. This is a place of healing and fellowship for all people who are open to the healing power of Mother Earth. It is a place where the pure hearted seeker may find a path to healing on a personal and global level. It is a place where the ancient spirits of this land are honoured and revered. And it is a place where Mother Earth and all her fruits be they winged, four-legged or two-legged; plant, tree or herb, are held as sacred. Within the Temple of The Living Earth we strive to live the Way of The Warrior, every step we take is as a prayer. We meet each situation and each moment in life from an attitude of honour and respect; every bird, squirrel and tree is family. We all spring from one mother: Mother Earth. We all shelter in the warm embrace of one father: Father Sun. The stars and galaxies that leave us in awe of their splendour are all created by the same Creator; we call him Great Spirit, God, Allah and many many other names. Each culture and era finds names that fit their needs, but He is always the same: the first and the last.

I once read a story of a young woman who was visiting an Indian reservation. Her occupation was nursing, so when she heard that one of the elder women was sick she went to  help in any way she could. When she arrived at the old woman’s home the village Medicine Man was already administering to her, so, aware of her place as a guest, she allowed him to do his work and decided to visit the old woman the following day to check on her condition. The next day she was surprised to find the woman much improved. In the ensuing conversation, the elder told her of the ways of her people and their beliefs. In the whole story, there was one thing the old woman said that made a deep impact on me personally: God is so complex and mysterious that we Humans can only understand a very small part of Him. That is why there are so many different religions in this world, we are all looking at a different part of Him.
 
The Temple of The Living Earth deals with the small part of Great Spirit, that I see. It deals with a living, breathing entity that is the planet we live on and of which we are a living part; I call  this entity Mother Earth.  Just as our own mother provides for us and protects us. so too does our Earth Mother. As we honour and respect our own mother, we must also honour and respect our Earth Mother.
 
It must follow then, that if the earth is our mother, all her fruits are our siblings. In this manner we must treat all living things as relatives and accord them the love and respect they deserve. There is a very practical side to this reverence of nature: the respect is returned manyfold. As I talk to the Crows and honour them, they too talk to me and as I listen with a pure heart they teach me their lessons. As each relative, winged, four-legged, plant, tree or herb and even rock is approached and revered with pureness of purpose and openness of mind; they too teach their lessons and offer their help. The lessons to be learned by our leafed, feathered and furry relatives are the teachings of the Temple of The Living Earth. The Shamanism of the Temple of The Living Earth is the study and use of totems for protection and healing of self and others, and also our Mother Earth.
 
The gifts of Father Sun are also important as I walk along the Way of The Warrior. In my position as an ordained minister and teacher, I do not have the luxury of keeping a low profile. As I believe my task is to teach and live the Way of The Warrior, I often find myself in situations where I am not fully understood at first glance. People tend to make very quick judgements; it is a function of Human nature to fit everything we encounter into one of
hundreds of preset compartments or in some unfortunate individuals only one or two! We look, compartmentalize and react, favourably or unfavourably. What we don’t immediatly understand we consider to be threatening and become fearful. What we fear, we attempt to destroy. If you don’t believe me, put a snake in a crowded room and observe Human
nature at it’s most basic. Anybody who understands snakes would know that it’s biggest priority in this scenario is to get the hell out of the room as quickly as possible, not to bite as many Humans as it can before being bludgeoned to death. The snake knows the nature of Humans, it is in his genes after countless generations of Snake-Human encounters ending up with one less snake. He understands the nature of fear.
 
The gifts of our Father Sun are those of courage, pride, honour, wisdom. He helps us to continue in the face of ridicule and hardship; he helps us to overcome our fear. They are there for the asking. It is those gifts that enable a warrior to walk into any situation without fear; they are the gifts that allowed the Ancestral Spirits of this land to fight to the bitter end for what was theirs. Above all, they are the gifts that teach us which battles to fight and which to avoid. This is also part of the teachings of the Temple of The Living Earth. It could be said that dealings with Mother Earth and Father Sun are the practical aspect of the Way of The Warrior. Is is what we are and how we live our life. Conversely, the religious aspect of the Way of The Warrior is our relationship with Great Spirit.  It is the way we worship and pray; our rites of passage that deal with birth, coming of age, marriage and death; our celebrations of the seasons. Most Shamanic systems are very much an individual undertaking, an apprentiship followed by solo practice. But with the creation of the Temple of The Living Earth I am establishing a community, a tribe that comes together in ceremony, as well as a place of learning and discovery. As we come together in celebration and fellowship, we strengthen each other and add power to our prayers.
 
I invite you to spend some time in the Temple, read our beliefs and the articles I have written on those beliefs. I welcome any questions or comments that you may have and can be contacted by clicking on the Email button at the end of the page. We are located just outside of Chicago and at present I am taking students on a one on one and small group basis. I have no plans to develop any Email courses; the nature of our Shamanism is such that it cannot be taught through books or study guides, it is very dependant upon a personal, face to face relationship between teacher and student. If you would like more
information regarding becoming a student drop me an Email.
 

May it be beautiful in front of you
May it be beautiful behind you
May it be beautiful either side of you
May it be beautiful above and below you
May it be beautiful within you

Rev. Stephen Morley
Spring 2000