The Gaia Paradigm is based upon the Gaia Principle: that the Earth is actually a kind of living organism. The original Gaia Theory is named after an ancient female Earth goddess of the same name. It follows that all her creatures, including Mankind, can be understood as cells in this huge living consciousness / being.

I, personally, am not a worshipper of any "divinity"; however, the word is useful in communicating a concept that may be new to many people, but I feel is already starting to grow in universal consciousness. It is difficult in our limited culture and language to express the sacred without using the language of the past. Poetry and metaphor are powerful tools in making "new" concepts comprehensible. Thus, I chose the name "Gaia Paradigm" to express the idea of a new cultural paradigm through the use of poetic metaphor. The idea "piggybacks" upon the original Gaia Theory.

Inclusion, and mutual respect never hurt anyone, in my opinion, and there is much healing there. Every man and woman has power: we all have the choice in how we act in the world. We all have the potential to be self-important and petty, but we can make an effort to evolve past these issues on a personal level. Who knows if it will ever get to the social level, but I for one, prefer to live in the world I describe: one of inclusion, respect, and appreciation.

It is odd to me that when one person (or sex) claims a small portion of their own natural power, that others are often threatened. Perhaps the reason lies in a misinterpretation of the concept of power: yes, in the old paradigm, power meant power OVER another, not personal power. It works like love: love is a kind of cornicopia (to use another ancient metaphor): giving love to someone or something else doesn't mean that you have less of it. Instead giving love returns more love to the giver. Gaining personal power doesn't mean that you wrest your power from another. No, it means that you have enough personal power to not need to take anything from anyone, including their power (self-respect). The more people live inside this reality of self/mutual respect, the more there is to go around.

People do not stand to lose anything going forward, but they stand to lose a lot if they remain stuck inside their bubble of superiority, exclusion, etc. Exclusion, exploitation, disrespect, etc all serve to only keep us in the hell that ultimately is self-hatred. We are taught that self-hatred and fear as young children, so we learn to strike first as a form of self-defense, and to fear anything new. We learn to hold onto our little islands of power and bogart our possessions from everyone else, use resources and leave nothing for anyone or anything else.

Continuing in this old paradigm of fear-based thinking is impossible, so an appreciation for the interconnection of all the cells of this Earth and ultimately our responsiblity for the Earth comes down to a kind of self-respect after all.

-- copyright Aliyah Marr