Nother Nature Essay, Research Paper
Nature is the essence that gives identity, the form, the defined sense of existence on this world to the living and the inanimate. I don’t see nature as a plant, a dolphin, but as this force, to what Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars describes. This nature is a force that guides us through our life, to what most people would believe as a higher power, to be reckoned with as much importance as our parents. To the Greek, the forest people, nature provides the source of continuing life, and the complete enlightenment of oneself. As what governments are to the people it rule, to the dominant lion that watches its prairies , its lionesses, to the boss at the job who gives us the paycheck – nature is the overwhelming being that provides the necessities for us to live parentally, to give us order in our directions, and the balance in power.
” Primeval nurturer of all that lives! ” (Encompassing Nature: To Earth Mother of All, pg 304). Homer speaks of praying for a better life, a greener pasture than any, a city of lovely women, wealth and bliss, sons and daughters roaming in peaceful meadows, and in return, a pleasant song again in the future. This nature is like a king, a god in the heavens that grants wishes when good deeds are done, this person provides what we best desire materially, and spiritually.
” Mortals through you abound in crops and children,
Lady, for you both grant and snatch away
The gift of life, ? ”
(Encompassing Nature: To Earth Mother of All, pg 304)
Like that king, that god, our parents would offer us the right tools, but indeed, we must ourselves learn the right knowledge, and apply it to fully live the life of what many dream of. The old philosophy, saying that its best not to fish for someone, but rather to teach that person how to fish, so he will not starve to death when there is no one to fish for him. For example, Rockefeller prospered off of the oily presence that nature offered, or my parents brings home the money that I ask for the best suitable use to fulfill my life.
The problem comes to greed, when a person takes too much advantage of this abundant resource that nature offers, its created instincts in us to fight off this individual, or group, to try and spread the wealth a bit. The idea of being fair, of justice is brought by nature in a cruel form, what many would say: ” An eye for an eye ” or ” What goes around comes around. ” As in The Forest People, the Pygmy legend Most Beautiful Song Bird identifies this utter-less law symbolically.
” When his son left, the father killed the Bird, the Bird with the most Beautiful Song in the Forest, and with the Bird he killed the Song, and with the Song, he killed himself and he dropped dead, completely dead, dead for ever. ”
(The Forest People, pg 83)
In this case, nature is represented by the bird, and the action of killing the bird by the father would be seen disrespect of nature in harming it. So in return, the father is killed himself because the Song symbolized the essence of life, and without the source of this essence, life would not be. Colin Turnbull brings this legend up to say that if you treat Nature with respect, then you will be treated as respectfully in return. This fear of nature overwhelming you, taking your life very easily sets the order of things as much an enforced law would act upon us.
With this law, brings balance to not only the moral standards, but the land and its animals too. Shown in the details that Achilles forged his shield in the Homer poem, The Shield of Achilles. Through this legendary shield, the opposites such as the warring of two cities, and the peaceful fields where an ox is killed by lions are carved. How others must perish for the stronger to grow, but when do strongest perish themselves you might ask? That is left in nature’s hands, for example, the dinosaurs, the dominant life forms that flourished on Earth for billions of years, wiped out slowly by the comet theory, then the following ice ages, and the harsh climate changes.
” On it he fashioned earth and sky and sea,
the never wearied sun, the moon when full, ?
Lastly he put the mighty river Ocean
around the well-wrought shield’s encircling rim. ”
(Encompassing Nature, The Shield of Achilles, pg 279, 281)
On the larger scale, you can see that the tranquility of life encircles the thrill, the liveliness of life within. It’s a passive, unseen presence watches over us to make sure that the circle of life will be continuous as to how the social status of the parent cares and leads the children towards the better life. Homer shows the balance of Nature, much that of the Ying and Yang, the two opposite forces that work together.
The Greek poets, and Colin Turnbull realize through their experiences and wisdom that Nature is not only everything around us, but ourselves as well. Unfortunately some people nowadays is describing this as an outside being. We will always have a part of Nature within each one of us, the materials around us. Even the universe itself is one great massive Nature as to what we judge so far on only the planet Earth. Nature is the second parent that we never truly realized, the parent of our parents and all those we see alive or dead, or maybe it’s just the genes? However mother nature does take the similar role: to care, to love, to provide, and even to punish.
Bibliography
Encompassing Nature
The Forest People