Copyright © 2014 by Ellen Gunter and Ted Carter. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—without the written permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books. North Atlantic Books P.O. Box 12327 Berkeley, California 94712 Cover photos: Nest © iStockphoto.com/malerapaso; Earth © iStockphoto.com/jimmyjamesbond; Collage by Mary Ann Casler Cover and book design by Mary Ann Casler Earth Calling: A Climate Change Handbook for the 21st Century is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective linking various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature. North Atlantic Books’ publications are available through most bookstores. For further information, visit our website at www.northatlanticbooks.com or call 800–733–3000. The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows: Gunter, Ellen, 1947- Earth calling : a climate change handbook for the 21st century / Ellen Gunter and Ted Carter; foreword by Caroline Myss. pages cm Summary: “Nature - Environmental Conservation & Protection”—Provided by publisher. ISBN 978-1-58394-767-8 (pbk.) eBook ISBN 978-1-58394781-4 1. Human ecology—Philosophy. 2. Environmental degradation. 3. Climate change—Social aspects. 4. Mind and body. I. Carter, Ted, 1956-II. Title. GF21.G86 2014 304.2′5—dc23 2013034234 v3.1 For Johnny, called home first —ELLEN GUNTER For my life partner, Greg Bembry, and my parents, Bob and Julie Carter —TED CARTER Contents Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Foreword by Caroline Myss Introduction PART 1: WE SNOOZE. WE LOSE. Chapter 1: Understanding What We’re Made Of A Stroke of Good Fortune Our Spiritual Skeleton Why the First Chakra Is Important The Earth Is an Energy Being Too Our Common Immune System Nature as the Cure to Our Disconnection A Marriage Made in Heaven How We Start Healing Chapter 2: The Bed We Have Made The Microcosm of Us New Orleans PK The Widening Impact of Global Warming Drying Up—Our Dwindling Water Resources The Heat Is On Saving the Oceans: Earth’s Blue Heart The Age of Wildfires Stormy Weather A Hurricane Cassandra The Coming of the Whirlwind Prophets without Honor The Way We Were PART 2: WAKING UP Chapter 3: Oil Is One The Opposite of Nature Spindletop: The Mother of All Salt Domes Oil and the Open Road The Merchants of Light The Birth of the Energy Age Changing the Face of War Fueling the Postwar Boom Emerging Uncomfortable Trends The End of Easy Oil Mining the Deep Keystone XL: The Real Price of Remote Oil Boom Times in the Bakken Gas Fracking: Cracking the World Open Squeezing Oil from Rocks Coal: The Eighteenth-Century Ideal Rainforests, Oil, and the Air We Breathe Externalities: The Real Cost of Things Different Kinds of Efficiencies Seeing Ourselves Anew Where We Go from Here Chapter 4: Seeds of Discontent The Seed Savers The Seed Safes The Dangers of Lost Seed Diversity A Slow Process That Hit the Fast Track The Seed Changers The Case of the Unknown Illness Fail: GMOs Enter the Marketplace Farmers: GMO Crop Contamination and Farmer Liability Environment: Frankenfish and Gene Jumping Us: GM Products We Live with Today Biotech and Industrial Agriculture Myths How Did GMOs Get Past the FDA in the First Place? The Distinction Is the Difference Public Distrust Is Driving More Openness The Seed Healers The Modern Origin of Our Break with Nature The Cost in Despair The New Earth Stewards PART 3: YOUR EARTH CALLING Chapter 5: Reconnecting to the Earth Stepping into Your Soul’s Journey Witnessing Yourself: Keeping a Journal Waking Up: Learning to Look Your Place on Earth: Seeing Where You Live Learning Your Bioregion Waking Up: Learning to Listen Biodynamics: The Earth’s Healing Power Findhorn: Mother Nature as Miracle and Mystery Beginning an Earth-Based Spiritual Practice Getting Started: Reconnecting to the Earth Forgiveness Prayer Chapter 6: The Alchemy of Action What Moves You? Start with Dirt Plant (or Help Tend) a Vegetable or Flower Garden Plant a Meditation and Healing Garden Be a Conscious Consumer Grow Hemp (If It’s Legal) Getting Started on Your Activism Earth-Advocacy or Green Organizations How to Fight Fracking GMOs and Global Food Security Healthy Living, Eating, and Gardening Organizations Ocean Conservation and Action Offset Your CO 2 Repurposing and Design Seed Saving and Activism Tree Advocacy Groups The Act Part of Action Civil Disobedience: Putting Skin in the Game Climate Activism Everything Breathes Together Bibliography Notes Acknowledgments About the Authors Foreword If I could, I would make this book, Earth Calling, essential reading for every single person drawing a breath on this planet. There is not one living human being whose survival is not intimately woven into the exquisite ecological systems of this Earth, all of which are designed to support the whole of life. Let’s face it, when it comes to the business of living, we human beings are takers. We have to learn how to be givers. We consider it a progression of our conscious awareness to come to the realization that we should not litter or pollute, though we are making meager progress on that front. We still think of recycling as an environmental advancement. Let’s be honest—we are still living in a sort of haze about the environment crisis brewing in our atmosphere. It’s sort of real, but not really real. A crisis that is represented through statistics and predictions can only inspire people to change so much, right? Reports of melting ice sheets that will subsequently cause water levels in the oceans to rise—which, in turn, will cause the eventual disappearance of small islands and coastal cities—seem like the makings of a good Hollywood action film. Actually, Hollywood has made several films already capitalizing on the threat of ecological disasters, making them not more real for viewers but, sadly, more make believe. Meanwhile, as film watchers enjoy the fictitious presentation of the breakdown of Earth’s ecological system, Al Gore continues to trumpet his powerful message, presenting some of the same scenarios being depicted in Hollywood films, only the possibilities and probabilities Gore speaks about are real. While Gore has acquired world-wide recognition and growing support for his relentless efforts to raise global awareness that the Earth’s ecological system is in crisis now—right now—he is constantly derided by a largely skeptical public that still wants the facts delivered Hollywood style. And it has to be noted that among those skeptics are Earth’s major power brokers—that is, those who would have to change their way of making wealth if they actually admitted that their “taker” lifestyle is contributing to the destruction of the life system of the planet. We’ve never had global crimes or global criminals before, but we do now. The majority of the population, of course, still wants to simply believe that all this business about climate change and a multitude of environmental problems—from personal health to the destruction of our soil, our seeds, and our animals—is the stuff of good fiction and great films. I don’t blame them. I’d love to live in that bubble, too. But I know far too much, and so does Ellen Gunter, who with great care and, I might add, with enormous personal anguish, devoted years of her life to writing a book with the intention of shattering personal bubbles. I can’t tell you how many times I called Ellen and asked, “How’s the writing going today?” only to find her in a dark, sad place. Perhaps that day or that week she was organizing the data about air pollution in China, the latest oil industry scandal, a disappointing ruling from the EPA, or what GMOs are doing to our health. Every deep researcher of social, political, medical, or any truth experiences a particular type of exhaustion that comes from acquiring an overload of facts that so many people do not know, but should. With Earth Calling, Ellen has been able to pair that with an even deeper desire to find the right words that can inspire people to realize the significance of all that she has learned. More importantly, Ellen understands that if enough readers actually “get” the urgency and power of her message, we can shift the direction of the Titanic. We don’t have to hit the iceberg this time. We can each do our individual parts, and together we can weave an alternative to endless pollution, underwater water reserves being poisoned by fracked gas and oil, and corporations determining what vegetables you can plant or buy. The list is so long. And it’s all in this book. This book owes much to Ted Carter’s understanding of how the Earth works and how it speaks to us in countless ways. He was a tireless source of wisdom, insight, and clarity, and his steady voice was a constant through this long birthing. Ellen and Ted gave the book the title Earth Calling, and nothing could be more appropriate, as Earth is a living Being—granted, the largest living Being you will ever encounter—and it is calling each of us to fall back into alignment with the laws of nature. That call manifests through our intuition, through our organic knowing that something is not right with how the forces of life feel. We can all sense this in our bones and in our blood. We can feel the pain in the animal kingdom—admit it. We’ve grown more sensitive to the feelings of animals. We are all becoming “animal whisperers” now, whether we want to be that sensitive or not. We are all awakening to the understanding that it’s not okay to do nothing when you know something should be done. No more looking around like some sort of helpless ninny and saying, “Someone should do something!” If someone said that to me now, I would hand that individual this book with these instructions: Read until you are fully inspired. Don’t worry; you will be. Every one of us is living through a historic time, one of environmental and ecological transformation. Earth itself is a participant—indeed, the greatest participant of all. If she does not make it, none of us will. As human beings, as spiritual brothers and sisters, we have a calling to participate in this transformation of life that is unfolding before us—and within us. We have a calling to walk this beautiful Earth together, to participate in our own and in the Earth’s transition into a global human community. Perhaps none of us will live to see that, but we must all begin to walk together in that direction—it’s where we are all being called. Earth is calling. Of that I have no doubt. Caroline Myss Oak Park, Illinois January 2014