Father in the Sky, Mother in the Earth

(Image: Tracy Dyson gazing at Earth from Cupola ISS, where she spent six months)

From the indigenous wisdom of Native Americans, who saw the Earth as a nurturing Mother, to the modern warnings of astronaut Ron Garan, who critiques our flawed economic systems, a consistent thread emerges: the planet’s survival must take precedence over profit-driven growth.

The insights of astronauts experiencing the Overview Effect, and the ancient wisdom of cultures venerating Earth as Mother, demand a radical shift in our priorities. We must place the health of the planet first, followed by society, and only then the economy, to ensure a sustainable future.

The Roots of Reverence: Native American Wisdom and Early Environmentalism

The call to protect the Earth is not new; it is woven into the spiritual and cultural fabric of many indigenous traditions. Native American tribes, for instance, have long viewed the Earth as a sacred Mother, a life-giving force to be respected and nurtured. This perspective is not merely poetic but practical, emphasizing sustainable living in harmony with nature. The Lakota, for example, speak of Unci Maka (Grandmother Earth), a nurturing entity whose cycles sustain all life. Similarly, many tribes recognize a Great Spirit that encompasses Father Sky, symbolizing the interconnected duality of the natural world. This worldview inherently rejects exploitation, prioritizing balance and reciprocity.This indigenous reverence for the Earth set the stage for early environmentalists like John Muir, whose writings in the late 19th and early 20th centuries laid the groundwork for modern conservation. Muir, often called the "Father of the National Parks," saw nature as a sacred space, describing the Sierra Nevada as a cathedral where one could encounter the divine. His advocacy for preserving wilderness areas, such as Yosemite, was rooted in a belief that humanity’s survival depended on protecting the natural world. Muir’s philosophy echoed Native American teachings, emphasizing that humanity is not separate from nature but part of it. His work inspired the creation of the Sierra Club and influenced policies that preserved vast tracts of American wilderness, laying a foundation for later environmental movements.

The Rise of Modern Environmentalism: From Hippies to Earth Day

The environmental movement gained momentum in the mid-20th century, fueled by growing awareness of humanity’s destructive impact on the planet. The 1960s counterculture, embodied by the hippie movement, rejected materialism and embraced a back-to-the-land ethos that echoed indigenous and Muirian values. Hippies advocated for simpler, more sustainable lifestyles, often drawing inspiration from Eastern philosophies and Native American traditions that revered the Earth as a living entity. Their idealism, while sometimes dismissed as naive, helped shift public consciousness toward environmental concerns.

This momentum culminated in the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970, a landmark event organized by Senator Gaylord Nelson and activist Denis Hayes. Earth Day galvanized millions, bringing environmental issues into the mainstream and leading to the establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and key legislation like the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. The organizers of Earth Day built on the legacy of Muir and indigenous wisdom, framing environmental protection as a moral and practical imperative. Their work underscored the urgency of addressing pollution, deforestation, and resource depletion, issues that remain critical today.

I actually helped organize and run the 1990 Renewing the Earth Symposium: A Global Call to Action. This gathering brought together leading ecology thinkers like David Suzuki, Fritjof Capra, Randy Hays, Hazel Henderson, and Ernest Callenbach—whose diverse perspectives converged on a shared urgency: humanity must rethink its relationship with the planet. Suzuki, a geneticist and broadcaster, emphasized the interconnectedness of ecosystems, warning that human survival depends on preserving biodiversity. Capra, a physicist, applied systems thinking to argue that the Earth operates as a living system, not a machine to be exploited. Hays, a lawyer and environmental advocate, pushed for legal frameworks to protect natural resources, while Henderson, an economist, critiqued traditional economic models that externalize environmental costs. Callenbach, author of Ecotopia, envisioned sustainable societies that prioritize ecological balance over profit.

The Kyoto symposium crystallized the need for a paradigm shift, echoing the earlier calls of Native Americans, Muir, and Earth Day organizers. These thinkers argued that the dominant economic system, which prioritizes short-term profit over long-term sustainability, is fundamentally flawed. Their discussions foreshadowed the urgent warnings of contemporary figures like Ron Garan, who builds on their legacy to demand a new hierarchy of priorities.

Garan, a former astronaut, brings a unique perspective to the environmental movement, informed by his experience of the Overview Effect. Garan argues that the current global economic system is built on a "big lie"—the assumption that endless growth and profit can coexist with a healthy planet. He points out how this system treats the Earth as a disposable resource, ignoring the long-term consequences of environmental degradation. Garan’s critique is not abstract but a practical warning: if we continue prioritizing profit over the planet, we risk catastrophic consequences, from climate change to resource depletion.

Garan proposes a new hierarchy: the Earth’s survival must come first, followed by society, and only then the economy. This reordering challenges the status quo, which places economic growth above all else. He argues that a healthy planet is the foundation for societal well-being and economic stability, not a secondary consideration. Garan’s perspective is grounded in his experience aboard the International Space Station, where he witnessed the Earth’s fragility and interconnectedness firsthand. Seeing the planet from the night side, with its glowing cities resembling a biological organism, reinforced his belief that humanity must act as a steward, not an exploiter, of the Earth.

Garan’s advocacy is deeply tied to the Overview Effect, a transformative experience reported by astronauts who view Earth from space. This phenomenon, first described by author Frank White, involves a profound shift in perspective, a sense of awe, and a recognition of humanity’s interconnectedness. This experience has been articulated in vivid terms by astronauts like Edgar Mitchell, Michael Collins, the Apollo 8 crew of Frank Borman, James Lovell, and Bill Anders and, in 2021, at age 90, William Shatner. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overview_effect

The Apollo 8 crew, the first to see the whole Earth from space, captured this fragility in the iconic "Earthrise" photograph, with Bill Anders remarking that they had discovered Earth, not the Moon. Edgar Mitchell, an Apollo 14 astronaut, described an "explosion of awareness" and a sense of oneness with the universe, prompting him to found the Noetic Institute to study consciousness. Michael Collins, part of Apollo 11, noted the Earth’s fragility, describing it as a small, shiny, beautiful sphere. William Shatner, after his Blue Origin flight, was profoundly moved, and said, in part:

“Everybody in the world needs to see. It was unbelievable. Unbelievable…to see the blue color go whip by, and now you're staring into blackness. That's the thing. The covering of blue is this sheet, this blanket, this comforter of blue that we have around. We think, ‘Oh, that's blue sky’. And there's something you shoot through, and all of a sudden, as though you whip a sheet off you when you're asleep, and you're looking into blackness, into black ugliness. And you look down. There's the blue down there and the black up there. And there is mother and Earth and comfort. And there... Is there death? I don't know. Was that death? Is that the way death is? whoop, and it's gone. Jesus.”

“It was so moving to me…This is what I've never expected. Oh, it's one thing to say, ‘Oh, the sky and the thing and the fragile’, but it's all true…Ah, it's mysterious and galaxies and things. But what you see is black. And what you see down there is light, and that's the difference. And not to have this? …What you have given me is the most profound experience I can imagine. I'm so filled with emotion about what just happened. It's extraordinary. Extraordinary…I hope I never recover from this. I hope that I can maintain what I feel now. I don't want to lose it. It's so much larger than me and life…It has to do with the enormity and the quickness and the suddenness of life and death and the... Oh, my God…I can't even begin to express what... What I would love to do is to communicate, as much as possible, the jeopardy, the moment you see the vulnerability of everything. It's so small. This air, which is keeping us alive, is thinner than your skin. It's a sliver. It's immeasurably small, when you think in terms of the universe. It's negligible.”

The Overview Effect has deeply affected many who have been able to see the whole Earth from space, where national boundaries disappear, and the Earth appears as a single, fragile system. This perspective reveals the folly of treating the planet as a resource to be exploited. Instead, it demands a unified, global effort to protect it, aligning with the wisdom of indigenous traditions and the advocacy of environmentalists like Muir and the Kyoto symposium participants.

Earth as Mother: Ancient Wisdom and Modern Relevance

The reverence for Earth as a nurturing Mother, paired with a sky deity as Father, is a recurring theme across cultures, from Greek mythology’s Gaia and Uranus to the Maori’s Papatūānuku and Ranginui. In Tengrism, the blue sky (Tengri) and brown earth are seen as humanity’s parents, with shamans mediating the relationship between humans and nature. Native American traditions similarly honor Earth as a mother figure, emphasizing respect for the natural world as a prerequisite for survival.

These cultural narratives offer a powerful counterpoint to the modern economic system critiqued by Garan. They frame the Earth not as a commodity but as a living entity that sustains all life. This perspective aligns with the Overview Effect, which reveals the planet’s fragility and interconnectedness, and with the environmental movement’s call for sustainability. By integrating ancient wisdom with modern insights, we can construct a worldview that prioritizes the planet’s health over profit.

The Urgent Need for a New Paradigm

The convergence of these voices—Native American wisdom, John Muir’s conservationism, the hippie movement, Earth Day, the Kyoto symposium, and Ron Garan’s modern critique—forms a compelling case for immediate action. The current economic model, which Garan calls the "big lie," is unsustainable. It externalizes environmental costs, prioritizing short-term gains over the planet’s long-term survival. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion are not distant threats but present realities, demanding a fundamental shift in how we structure our societies and economies.

Garan’s proposed hierarchy—Earth, society, economy—offers a practical framework for this shift. By placing the planet’s health first, we acknowledge that human survival depends on a stable climate, clean air and water, and thriving ecosystems. Society, the second priority, thrives only when basic needs—food, water, shelter, and community—are met within the planet’s limits. The economy, as the third priority, must serve these higher goals, not dictate them. This reordering challenges policymakers, businesses, and individuals to rethink growth metrics, embrace renewable energy, and invest in sustainable practices.

The Overview Effect reinforces this urgency, showing that our planet is a fragile oasis in the vastness of space. Astronauts’ experiences remind us that humanity’s fate is shared, transcending borders and ideologies. Similarly, the ancient wisdom of Earth as Mother calls us to act as stewards, not conquerors, of the natural world. The voices of Muir, the Earth Day organizers, the hippies, and the Kyoto symposium participants amplify this call, each adding depth to the argument that we must act now to protect our planet.

Conclusion: A Call to Action

The urgency of Ron Garan’s message, echoed by environmentalists across time, cannot be overstated. From Native American reverence for Earth as Mother to John Muir’s wilderness advocacy, from the countercultural ideals of the hippies to the global awakening of Earth Day, and from the intellectual rigor of the Kyoto symposium to Garan’s cosmic perspective, the message is clear: our current path is unsustainable. The "big lie" of prioritizing profit over the planet threatens not just ecosystems but humanity itself.

We must heed this collective wisdom and act decisively. This means restructuring our economic systems to prioritize sustainability, investing in renewable energy, protecting biodiversity, and fostering global cooperation. It means listening to indigenous voices, whose ancient knowledge offers timeless guidance. It means embracing the awe and interconnectedness of the Overview Effect, recognizing that we are all passengers on a fragile, beautiful planet.The time for incremental change has passed. As Garan warns, the survival of the Earth is not an abstract ideal but a practical necessity. By placing the planet first, followed by society and then the economy, we can forge a path toward a sustainable future. Let us honor the legacy of those who have fought for this vision—from Native Americans to John Muir, from the hippies to the Kyoto thinkers and astronauts—and act with the urgency this moment demands. The Earth, our Mother, depends on it.