In spite of the diligent work of modern physicists, the overwhelming majority of existence is still a mysterious space. Prior to humans discovering atoms, it seems most of our kind had already come up with millions of ideas about what that vast expanse might be, and even plenty of beliefs about its creation. Is there any human culture that doesn’t have at least one creation story?
Regrounding’s founders were raised in atheist and atheist/agnostic households, and so at early ages, we came to view the world through a generally modern western science lens. But life has since lead us to a more expansive, considerate place, wondering differently about the great mystery than we used to.
That unknown, mysterious space is where most cultures imagined great creative forces lived. Humans have called this power by many names, names like tao, qi, pneuma, prana, ruach, spiritus, Creator, The Divine, The Goddess, Beloved, God, Spirit, The All Powerful, and so many more. Among some big name religions, this power is often imagined as a human form, and while humans do seem to need metaphor to grasp the dimensions of time/space that are so much bigger than us, Regrounding instead believes that connection to the great mystery can be had without the devotion to a human-like deity. We’re not monotheistic. But if we were, Water would probably be The One. Love of and for the tangible world, the one all around us, the one who bore our kind, is the guiding principle of our animistic religion. We wonder about the lives of many beings who live among us. This wondering out of love inevitably leads to grief, for the cycle of life is quickly apparent when you fall in love—your new beloved will one day die.
We may experience fierce feelings that look like devotion as we develop love for individuals of all kinds. Relationships wherein love is the motivation, for at least one of the participants, makes that relationship sacred, to at least one being. Water birches, tree frogs, and California quail are a few examples of those we adore. These connections define our hierarchy of sanctity, and as animals, we experience that our most durable relationships are with individuals we know personally and interact with often.
Beauty is also foundational to our beliefs. Beauty lives in the being who loves. And beauty also exists without loving intentions. Communities of life who’ve found their groove, their temporary equilibrium, are beautiful regardless of human blessing. And individuals of all kinds, surrounded by an intact community of cohorts or by an obliterated network of connections, can be beautiful, too. And then there are those parts of that great mystery–that immeasurable, unnamable creative and destructive energy–who are the opposite of what we humans may think of as beautiful. Yes, sometimes The Beloved wants to crush things, kill torturously, cause mass extinctions, and the like. The patterns of creation seem to cover the whole gamut of possibility. So any religion that teaches with surety about the structure or intent of this seemingly boundless creative force takes us away from lived experience, diminishes the mystery, and is often used coercively. Meanwhile, metaphor, myth and stories of struggle often more closely capture the complexities of living as the animals we really are.
The dominant society today teaches us that killing is evil and death is to be feared, all the while killing life at an ever-accelerating rate, and increasingly commodifying and distancing us from death, and deaths of all kinds. And so, Regrounding is compelled to bring connection and beauty to the hard reality of the death of a loved one. More on that here.
Humans have created many, many religions because of Spirit-driven questions such as, “Who am I? What is real beauty? What compels my beliefs, my words, my choices, my doings? Do they serve beauty or not? Do they serve connection or alienation? Do they serve love or fear?” And so, we believe, if there is to be any hope rooted in human behavior, for avoiding the mass extinction being caused by our kind’s destruction of land, it starts with asking those questions and making small changes within yourself. While this may not be possible for the most marginalized, we see nothing but positive from the rest of us becoming more caring and careful beings.