The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) have a sacred tradition of sending greetings and thanks to “our eldest brother, the Sun.” They thank Him for “being the source of all the fires of life,” and for showing up “each day without fail.”
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This sacred tradition extends to Mother Earth, as well. She is continuously thanked for giving us “all that we need for life,” and for supporting our feet even as we walk all over Her.
In order for Sun and Earth to be honored, the People must remember to “live in balance and harmony with each other and all living things.” Each Haudenosaunee Thanksgiving Address: Greetings to the Natural World therefore begins with that reminder, and continues with extending “greetings and thanks to each other as People.”
What, then, can be said of a world that has enslaved people for commercial profits (from cotton fields to office cubicles), divvied up the earth into real-estate chunks, hawked bottled water, and even stalked Grandmother Moon? Is any one of these deeds more ethically untenable than any other?
Yet folks are suddenly up in arms over one woman’s claim to the sun… Following the well-trodden path of legally-sanctioned commercialism, Angeles Duran – a logically clever, 49-year-old woman from Spain – has now registered this ownership claim with her local notary.
She, unlike many others of her ilk, has at least allowed for some vestiges of humanitarianism. She’ll only be charging a fee to those of us who wish to benefit in any way from the sun’s heat and light – plus, she’ll donate some extorted profits to government pension funds. There’s even a plan in there somewhere to make a dent in world hunger.
Karma, however, can be a very strict taskmaster. Stephen Messenger cautions that Ms. Duran may soon find herself with some hefty debts of her own. After all, he reasons, someone might soon lay claim to the entire universe, and then bounce her great ball of fire on out of there if she fails to pay up…
Resources
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/11/woman-in-spain-now-owns-the-sun.php
http://www.nmai.si.edu/education/files/thanksgiving_address.pdf
Copyright November 30, 2010 by Linda Van Slyke All Rights Reserved
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