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