Evolution is not hierarchal. Even though it denotes a tendency for a basic form to seek becoming ever more complex in a given environment, it is not like a ladder that continually climbs up toward a goal. In fact, sometimes it has proved to move from complex forms toward more basic expressions, for example with the disappearance of the eye in species existing without sunlight. One thing is for certain, that Evolution is not humanistic, in that it cannot conclude that the human condition has been the intended culmination of this reality.

Humanity can be understood as a marvelous co-creation and special in the sense that we appear to be the first being on this world to express something as astounding as, “I am this.” This is a declaration of utile self-awareness and something that is not observed elsewhere - albeit glimmers of it exist in our primate cousins, dolphins, elephants, certain birds and a few other species. There is no question that we are held within the same parameters of an eternally changing super process. This process is one that pursues an expression of intrinsic Life Will. This is the Impetus within all living things, which arises through the lens of a given form surrounded by a broader environment of influences.

Evolution looks more like a bush that branches off of roots, sprouts new branches and then buds again. Branches fall off and new ones form. It is non-anthropic, meaning, the process of billions of years of evolutionary life on planet Earth has not been specifically set to give rise to the human species. We have consequentially existed for only about 200,000 years as Homo sapiens sapiens.  It is vital to point this out since the vast majority of our religions and philosophies say overtly, or even subtly suggest otherwise, that humanity is central to creation.

The evidence of life’s history on our planet clearly illustrates a tale which should be embedded into our cosmology and our myths. If anything is to give us humility, taming the human-centered arrogance of so many of our views, then knowing this Greatest Story will.

Life on planet Earth is not be about our species being its main protagonist but to our experience we most logically gravitate toward self-interest, since this is the law of nature within the will of the species to survive. Having a clear understanding of from whence we came coupled with the evidence of current environmental shifts, we see clear paths toward working within the laws of Nature, which are to seek symbiosis in order to flourish or to continue on a path of parasitism which will lead to death. Since we are so vastly spread out and arguably the greatest impact upon the life systems of this era, it can be claimed that the first law is about the dialogue we maintain with the rest of life on the planet. This is where we begin derive our earth-based ethics.

As all things are a special co-creation, we can also say that we are a special co-creation in that we are a marvel. This salvages some of our tattered self-esteem from being ousted from the special creation slot that our culture is addicted to. At least we can get to be a special creation. In short, it was through Gaia’s hand that our common ancestors transformed into us but only through the application of our own innate will. This is our co-creative process. This will, again, is the same will which resides in all living forms and directs evolution. The drive within all living things, therefore, is the central cause to seek change and the environments in which beings survive create the lens from which the creative venture to change will ensue. In our special case, the Artist co-created a masterpiece who would lift the sight of Life to heights that would be able to look back upon itself and declare awareness.

The flight of a bird is likewise a miraculous incarnation of the forces of Gaian will. It is comparably a Monet to our Da Vinci. The strongest evolutionary theories display that birds are the dinosaurs who survived the Permian extinction event 65 million years ago. Having begun their evolution significantly further back than that, birds constitute one of the most successful and creative beings on the planet. Feathers were willed into existence through the transformation of scales and hair. Flight is another form of wizardry that was willed through no apparent need but to take to the sky. Therefore, birds, just as all life forms in their own right, are a special, non-static creation. All beings contain the ability to bend form reality. To a Pagan, this also brings things alive in a way never before conceived, since all things therefore become potential sorcerers.

As a planet, birds, fish, reptiles, insects, plants, etc are very much a part of us and we are very much a part them, whether we recognize it or not. If a human being was suddenly to find himself stranded on a foreign world and a gray fox also appeared at a visible distance, the human would almost surely try to keep close to its common cousin for a sense of security. This is a very hypothetical situation yes but think about it. Next time you are walking outdoors do the old exercise of feeling the leaves, breathing in the air deeply, or coming into contact with some element so that you may again have that glimmer of heart felt enlightenment of unity. Know that our bodies have budded from the very same root source that all other life forms surrounding us has. We empower ourselves when we remember our kinship to everything, not just distant and separated. We are natural to the Earth and inseparably tied to each and every life form and very much to all the elements that constitute the planet.

There is nothing on this world that is not us, thus the impacting realization comes to us of Gaia, the Earth as a single, living organism, as our Greater Being beyond our body experiences. This image creates a transcended understanding of ourselves, as the planet, not just an individual, not just a race, not just a species. This enhances an awareness of connection, not separation, as the foundation to living with certain values which promote freedom, balance and health. It also declares us natives once again of the planet and lifts us to a higher consciousness to live as such.

Photos accompanying this essay were provided by Jarrett Terrill