CHANGE AND TRANSFORMATION

Two videos have crossed my path which combine a dire warning with a hopeful possibility. I recently saw a video on Link-TV’s weekly show, Global Spirit. The documentary (and companion book) is called “From the Heart of the World: The Elder Brothers’ Warning.” (http://www.linktv.org/globalspirit/kogi) The Kogi people are one of three tribal cultures of the secluded Tairona civilization located in the Sierra Nevada de Marta of Colombia, South America. They are called a civilization because of the level of culture and intellect they have achieved. The shaman elders of the Kogi speak a cogent warning to their “younger brothers” of the modern world: honor the planet, the Mother, before it’s too late. The Kogi call themselves the Elder Brothers who serve as the guardians of life, responsible for holding the world in balance, which they have done continuously for many hundreds of years.

The warning the Kogi make in this film comes from their sense of responsibility as the Elder Brothers, and it is so significant to them that they are temporarily coming out of seclusion just to deliver this message and to protect their sacred sites. The story they tell us is about how the Younger Brothers were asked to leave the Tairona homeland and live in the lands across the sea because of their disobedience to the Elder Brothers and disrespect to the Mother. Many centuries later, the Younger Brothers returned to slaughter, steal from, and subjugate the Indigenous Peoples of the Western Hemisphere. To escape the genocide, the Kogi retreated higher into the mountains where they remain to this day.

The Kogi shamans, called Mamas, see these mountains as directly linked to the life-support systems of the planet. The glaciers have retreated from their sacred grounds in the mountain peaks, the green grasses have turned brown, and native species are disappearing rapidly. The Mamas interpret these signs as evidence that too many minerals have been taken from the ground and too many forests have been destroyed. The Mamas can no longer protect the world alone.

The Kogi’s prophetic warning to the Younger Brothers is just this: the bond between humanity and the natural world must be respected or the whole planet will die. To reconnect with the world, the Younger Brothers need to understand that the Mountains are conscious and alive and cannot be walked on without consequences. “The Mountains are dying,” the Mamas said to BBC filmmaker Alan Ereira, “because you have sold the clouds.” (To find out more about the Tairona cause, go to the website http://www.taironatrust.org).

The second film that I’ve come across recently is still in the making, funded by hundreds of ordinary people who will be named in the credits. However, the spokespeople in the film are well-known leaders who represent a wide range of interests in social change and consciousness transformation (e.g., Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Al Gore, Deepak Chopra, Dennis Kucinich, Fatima Gailani, Melodie Chevalier, Marianne Williamson, May Lee, Lynne Twist, Jason Crowe, and Derrick Ashong).

The trailer for the movie (http://theshiftmovie.com/) has this to say:

“Think of humanity and the planet as one organism. . . . We have arrived at a moment in our evolution where we have to make a choice. From time to time, evolutionary leaps occur and it seems like this may be the moment. The Shift – it’s happening.”

The visuals pan the world with rapid clips of mass demonstrations, activist leaders, humanitarian and environmental organizations, celebrity benefit events, social entrepreneurs, and youth actions. The feeling evoked is a cohesive sense of a global movement that combines the diversity of specific issues (such as peace, climate change, and social equality) into a single groundswell of consciousness at the level of humanity itself. The release date is projected for some time in 2010. “Help finish the movie . . . the first film ever by the collective, for the collective.”

Together, both movies help me to see, as a whole, Gaia’s call for change through those close to her, the Kogi People, and the opportunity for global transformation. With the help of a media feedback loop, we can see the rise of compassion in the consciousness of humanity all over the globe. Perhaps this represents a rise in the awareness of the Planet-as-a-Whole.

Together, these videos give me a sense of a Great Movement of change that is happening on all levels, all at once. Whether or not the destruction continues, change will happen, either toward deadening or creating a new way of being human.

The Kogi still live in the Garden of Eden, while I am cast into a maelstrom of domination and destruction, reaching for the peace of living in my full-circle socio-ecological niche. Maybe my lifeboat through all these changes is less about material self-sufficiency and more about being willing and trained to change myself, like who I think I am.

I am a part of something greater than myself. I am but an atom of this Cosmic Being, just one drop in the churning Sea of Change. I can only do my part and try my best for the good of all. I’d rather light a candle than curse the darkness. I am a Prodigal Child coming back to my Mother, my Source, my Life. I have a long way to go, and the path goes through great grief as well as great joy. Sharing these two eye-opening films with you is my next step on the Way.

Susan Adair
22 February 2010