I’m an earth baby. Through and through. I need trees above me and dirt beneath my bare feet. It’s why I recently left the city.
The other day, I spent hours, ripping up weed matting in my new front yard. It was suffocating the huge Eucalypts and compromising the soil quality.
It was back-breakingly, hard work. But I loved every moment. I felt like I was contributing to my environment in a real, tangible way. I was tending mother earth so the giant trees I’ve inherited, can thrive. So they can provide shelter for native animals and shade for my family, for decades to come.
I was becoming a guardian for my little patch of earth.
When I visited Purnululu National Park in July, I had a tour with a local guide Michael. Amongst hours of indigenous knowledge that he shared on the tour, he corrected my incorrect interpretation of the Totemic system within Aboriginal culture.
I’d always assumed that a totem was something handed down from generation to generation. Your father was Wedgetailed Eagle, so that’s what you are.
No.
Michael explained that his totem was a tawny frogmouth – because when his mother was pregnant with him, she hit and killed two of the birds while driving. The belief being that now, the spirit of the animal was now within him (her baby) and now it was his duty to care for the tawny frogmouth for the duration of his life. He was their guardian.
Another example he gave for how totems can be decided was the father of a baby in utero, spearing a kangaroo, and the baby, being born with a birthmark in the same spot the animal was speared – hence giving the baby the totem of kangaroo.
Regardless of whether you believe in the spiritual element of this ancient tradition (fwiw, I absolutely do), you gotta respect and admire the way that animal conservation is encoded so deeply into Aboriginal society.
For all of the native animals, there’s a selection of people whose job it is to care for them. To ensure they thrive. To be their guardian.
In doing so, it ensures the survival of a whole species of animal.
So back to western astrology. All the soil tending the other day, got me thinking… I’m a Capricorn. An earth sign.
So, what if the element associated with my sun sign, was also like a totem for me? An invitation to care for mother earth, however I can?
Imagine if everyone considered the same thing, and became guardians of the element of their sign? Imagine how much we could achieve on a global scale, if we accepted the invitation to care for our element? Between all of us, we could care for all of the elements and all the creatures and plants that rely on them for their survival.
And no. This doesn’t mean I’ll be giving up making music for a landscaping business anytime soon (although hey – never say never). But I will continue to look for ways in which I can care for the earth element, where I can.
Maybe you can do the same – in any small or big ways you can think of.
xx Phoebe
