Gus diZerega is a Gardnerian Elder with over 25 years practice, including six years close study with a Brazilian shaman.
I have always felt that my beliefs are based upon seeing the sacred in all that is our beautiful Mother Earth. Beauty is everywhere around us, and we need to care for our world and look after her. This is what Gus diZerega has to say on the subject of our Mother Earth, Gaia and spirituality.
"The world is beautiful. This is so universal a perception that what requires understanding are those few poor souls who do not see it. When we love something or someone, we love their beauty. When we see beauty, it calls forth our love for it. Beauty and love are two sides of the same phenomenon. In people we might be attracted initially by their physical beauty, but if our love deepens, we are also attracted by their inner beauty.
Love and beauty are two of three qualities Pagan mystics have said unite the world in a seamless whole: the good, true, and beautiful. Love is the ultimate expression of the good, beauty is integral to love, and the realization of this unity is what we grasp as most ultimately true.In this sense, that which is beautiful celebrates the sacred. A beautiful flower or sunset or storm expresses and celebrates the sacred. So does a beautiful ritual. And the more deeply we are aware of the sacred, the more pervasive our perception of beauty becomes.When we see something or someone as beloved and beautiful, we want to be in harmony with it or them. This does not mean that those we love are not also useful, but that is not why we love them. We love them because they are beautiful, and love them more deeply the more deeply we see their beauty."http://www.patheos.com
