Mother Earth lives

To explain the Mother Earth project, we are publishing an excerpt from a conversation I had with the desert after many years of walking.

Is there a connection between kangaroos and humans?

It’s hot again. None of us speaks a word. Tanja and I move forward kilometer by kilometer in an amicable silence. At times, it is torture and torment for body and mind. My thoughts leave my body and fly around. Suddenly we see kangaroos hopping through the flickering mirages in front of us. “Do you notice anything?” the voice of the desert, rarely heard recently, asks me. “What am I supposed to notice?” “You’re thinking about the meaning of your march again. You must finally understand that this path you are walking has a very deep meaning for you. That the path through the deserts of Australia has led you deep into your own self. Or do you still doubt that?” “No, but when it’s as exhausting as it is in these moments, the annoying questions of meaning come up again and again.” “Ignore them and look at nature instead. Learn from us. Perceive us. Breathe us. Stay attentive. Don’t become dull and don’t take the events around you for everyday life. See them as miracles. Look at them from a different perspective. You have the possibilities. All the possibilities. Do you understand?” “I think I do.” “So – what do you see?” “Kangaroos. I see kangaroos jumping over the ground. They’re jumping through a mirage.” “Yes, very good. And what does your observation tell you?” “Hm…, I don’t know. Something is different. You’re right. But what?” “You know it. Let it flow. Watch the kangaroos and your feet.” “My feet?” I ask the desert in amazement and look down. Back and forth, back and forth. Step, step, step. Left foot, right foot. “What should be different than usual?” “Nothing is different than usual. Just your perspective. The way you look at the events happening around you has changed in recent years. Or has it? So – watch the kangaroos.” “I don’t know. First I’m supposed to watch the kangaroos and then my feet? Is there a connection between my walking feet and the kangaroos…?” “Think about it…”

Step, step. Back and forth. Stapf, stapf. Hop, hop. Step, step. “My God, yes! Yes! There’s a connection between my feet and the kangaroos. It’s the same rhythm. My feet hit the ground in the same rhythm as the kangaroos hop across the plain in front of us.” “Very good… And go on.” “Go on?” “Yes, go on. That’s not all.” “Hm, we have the same rhythm. It’s the same vibration. The same wave. The same language? Yes, we beings walk on the skin of Mother Earth. It’s like the beating of a drum. A great mother drum. It is indeed a kind of language. An understanding. Through my steps I beat on the skin. The kangaroo’s hopping makes it hit the skin. We create vibrations. Vibrations can be measured. It’s like the presenter’s speech, which comes clearly and distinctly over a certain frequency from the loudspeaker of our radio. Is that why I hear your voice?” “Yes, that’s one way you’re talking to us, at least at this moment. What is it supposed to show you? What does this insight tell you?”

“Hm…, we are all connected. We all live on the same planet. On the same skin. It’s the same message over and over again. A message not to destroy this skin, so that we are not separated from each other. So that humans and nature remain one. Without you, the surface we walk on every day will be pulled out from under our feet. So we have to be careful what we do with this skin. It’s ultimately the same as our own skin on our bodies.” “Good. That’s right. Maybe you should express yourself differently and just face the fact that all humans are connected to kangaroos. That all people are subject to a rhythm, which you may also call the mother rhythm or earth rhythm. It’s like the heartbeat. The heartbeat in whose rhythm you vibrate together. In this case, the kangaroo symbolizes connection and rhythm. There are many symbols and you humans have a close connection with us, i.e. with the various habitats of nature, such as the outback, the deserts, the primeval forests, the mountains, the oceans and the poles. Don’t forget that there are no limits with us. It all belongs together. That everything that exists is part of the system. That you humans finally understand and don’t cause yourselves even more harm by clinging to materialism. Tell the others. Write about it…”

You can’t own the skin of the mother drum!

“… Also tell people that you can’t own the skin of the drum. How is that supposed to work? You humans can only borrow a piece of it for your lifetime. But you can’t own them. You can exploit the piece of skin, dig deep holes, throw your waste at it and then pass it on to your descendants. But don’t forget, you can’t own the skin of the earth. It is part of the general communication system. It is the rhythm of life and the food source on which you stand, walk or build your cities. But remember: the skin can never belong to one person. It always belongs to everyone, regardless of race or skin color. You only borrowed your own skin for a few years. When you die, it goes back into the general public, into Mother Earth. So think about what you do with the skin you live on. Remember that the skin of Mother Earth, the skin of the Mother Drum, is just as impossible to possess as the air we breathe. It is the common property of all inhabitants of this planet. Earth and air belong to the kangaroo just as much as to humans. It is important to understand that it is madness to start a war over the skin you call land. That won’t get you anywhere. Can you see now how important this approach is? What connections are there between your walking feet and the hopping kangaroos? Where can this realization lead you? Do you realize that this small insight can show you a path to infinity? So stop asking yourself about the sense and nonsense of your undertakings. The efforts guide you into other worlds, are tools to open your mind…”

Yet another explanation of why Mother Earth is worth protecting

“Remember that we are the supermarket where you help yourselves and the plate from which you eat. Never forget that we are the water you drink, the water you bathe in. That we are what you breathe. Remember how painful it is to thirst, starve, freeze, sweat or suffer from disease and die. If you continue to rob your own supermarket without restocking the shelves, if you continue to throw your waste on your own plate and tip over your last cup of water, you will cause endless suffering to yourselves and to future generations. We, the desert, the jungle, the forests and meadows, seas and lakes, rivers and mountains, in short, Mother Earth, will no longer be able to help you. We would be sorry for you because, and this is very important to know, we all love you because we are a part of you and you are a part of us.”

How the conversations with Mother Earth and the desert came about is described in detail in our Australia diaries.