"Besides the sadness that we all feel by seeing people in pain... What are your feelings and thoughts towards Nature when a natural catastrophe happens?" Ayesha posted this on Groovy Witch's Book of Shadows 3 years ago. She didn't get many answers but I think she raised a good question, which is why I decided to bring it up again. So, seriously, as pagans how do you react when these phenomena happen leaving behind a wave of destruction?
Natural catastrophe is just a word we humans put on natural events that negatively effect us. Of course these are tragic for us, but for nature there necessary for the health of the Earth.
Ok, these phenomena obey to Nature's functioning and the definition of natural catastrophes makes sense mostly to us humans.
This might give perspective of the heathen way to see it. Wrote this last week of Hurricane Gustav. A mighty Jotun is growing, and has his eye on our shores. He brings with him great destruction, and a furious host. Surely there are those, who now living, will meet the doom of their days when they face him. If I will meet him, I know not, nor do I know if my doom rides the edge of his winds. All I ask is that the gods look on me and my kin when this giant comes to my land. This raging Jotun rises against us all. Let us face him with courage, not with the fear of the half-wise. Let us stand in awe and respect, as the heathen born. Let us know that this destruction and chaos is allowed by the Mighty Ward, Friend of Man, in his great wisdom. Let us know that this giant that comes from Eastern waters is no friend of man, but serves the role of his short spun wyrd. A role that we would all sure perish without. So, rise up mighty Jotun, Staff of the Gods, and bring your fury where your fate deems so. We will not be afraid, and if your raging winds take me, then deliver me to the table, where I may feast with my people. Waes Þu hál Mihtig Esa, Waes Þu hál Mihtig Wena, geunne ús sige ond dém gód úrum daedum.
we need natural disasters... no matter how badly people suffer cos of them. Ying yang man, we need darkness to see the light... so what im saying is we wouldnt be able to appreciate natures pure beauty without them, they create a contrast between how destructive nature can be, and how truely beautiful it is... eace:
Ok. Ying Yang, man. I agree. Maybe I didn't express myself quite well but what I was asking for were the thoughts/feelings that led you to the sort of conclusions that were written above, as well as the thoughts/feelings you experience when you hear about or get personally affected by these phenomena, even after having established your own interpretations for them. I brang back this question because I imagined that this couldn't be an easy going subject to people who have pagan believes... I mean, in the process of acceptance I'm sure there must be a crazy dialect of theology, psychology, personal cosmology (and a lot of other areas that finish with gy) that could be really interesting to share. Anyway... thank you all for your attention, particularly Heron, whose poem corresponded to my expectations (By the way, what do the last lines mean? In what language are they written?).
It is Old English, means "Be you whole mighty Esa (Cosmic deities) Be you whole mighty Wena (Land deities), give us victory, and deem good our deeds."
Many humans don't understand they are part of nature. They seem to think they are something other than nature or are divided from it. This is from western religion where it is suggested that the "creation" is separate from "the creator." In the east, the creation is a transformation or incarnation of the creator, so nothing exists outside nature or is separate from it. So one must adapt and understand your place in nature. Not to feel in conflict with nature, or to view it as (sometimes) "good" or "bad" or something that needs to somehow be controled. (As if ...) Also the only way to have a truly universal love, as from a deity, is for it to be a detached love that is equal (although not necessarily fair human perspective) and does not favor any one situation or entitiy over another. No matter what happens, nature can't be wrong. It just is, and it takes it's natural course.
Hippiechick, actually, there is a need to "order" nature. The gods ordered the chaos potential in order for the fertile nature we know of, but the entropic nature is nature just as much. In a microcosmic way, we also order nature for life to be possible. We clear out home sites, and keep the wood, Utgard, at bay by mowing and clearing. Sure, you could not do any of that, but your chances of giantish forces moving into your area increase. You keep a trim yard, less chance of snakes and spiders getting you, yeah? But that chance is never completely gone. In the ordering of nature, the gods kept the wisdom of balance. Order becomes stagnance without the energy of the chaos potential. If we try to order nature to the extreme, then the fertility goes away....and that is the problem of the western world. The wisdom of the balance is gone, therefore, order becomes a life taking chaos, but in the form of stagnance of ice, rather than the chaos of the energy of fire. In the middle of those two extremes we find the prime makings of a fertile nature...but the balance has to be kept....this is what the gods gave us, and this is what we have forgotten. Be whole...Gar.
I don't even feel bad. I am like George Carlin on this one. He talks about how when a fire breaks out he secretly hopes it gets bigger and more out of control, he doesn't want people to die, he just wants to see nature basically 1 up human beings. Which is how I see it. I don't feel bad, its just part of living on this planet and the consequences we need to accept if we choose to live in an area where one of these natural disasters are more likely to hit.
