Tribute to Ancestors

Mother Nature. (Photo credit: pinterest)

Civilized society is a funny concept to me. Our encompassing idea of civilized society brings to mind utopian rules that benefit all around us. People who live in the current age see civilized society as being a first world society: having an education, living in houses bigger than we need, driving cars, access to food when we think that we’ve gone too long without eating. We have a separation from what constitutes as a civilized society and what is an uncivilized society. Not everyone believes the whole world is civilized, and not everyone agrees that society is actually civilized.

I look at the root of both words, civil and society. Civil originates with the sense of “politeness” found in classical Latin. They had respect and consideration between each other, as well as an expectation of such from others. Society encompasses friendly association. You could say that civilized society is a worldwide concept of “polite company.”

I find it funny because as our societies grow and evolve, we lose track of our true friends or associates, and we forget the respect and consideration part of civility. We think of what will benefit ourselves, our future and our personal security. This isn’t a new revelation by any means. It has been long said that our advancement as human kind is a departure from humanity.

Think back to our ancestors, to the tribes and clans who worked the land, tended it, cared for it, respected it. Their visions of the future didn’t end with what would benefit them. They saw what would benefit generations ahead of their own and how the planet would still care for their descendants. They guarded their land and their future, not out of arrogance that they would be sole heirs to both, but out of love for both.

As our societies grew, as they became more civilized, we learned that we could manipulate both the future and the land to grant us things more immediately. Instead of just planting by seasons and progressing technology to aid in practical activities, we sought to get what we wanted whenever we wanted it and how life could be made easier for us.

Here we are today, where we have to be told the benefits of going outside and putting our bare feet on the ground for a minimum of five minutes a day, as though it were a sudden epiphany. Today, we’re relearning how to actually work farmland and relearning why chemical- and machine-processed anything isn’t great for us. We need to be told in scientific studies how being good, happy people lengthens and enriches our lives rather than just doing it of our own free will.

Civilized society has brought us many wonderful things. I can share this with people all around the world, for one example. Civilized society has also removed us from showing that respect and consideration, that friendly association, to one another and the earth.

It’s thoughts like these that don’t cause me to shy away from telling people about the kind of life that I lead. These thoughts actually make me explain my beliefs with happiness, because I wish everyone could remember what “polite company” was meant to be and share it with me. The thoughts that form in my head led me to being a druid, green witch, natural or earth magician, or whatever label that applies to someone who considers what is truly best for everyone, including the earth and its non-human inhabitants.