Care for a drink?

SUMMARY: Vampires have permeated our myths for thousands of years. Today, these demons are portrayed as glamorous beings starring in major film, such as the recent cult film Twilight. But vampire legends date back over 4,000 years. The earliest account of these creatures of the night derives from Mesopotamia. Lamatsu was a serpent demon who reportedly stole children from their homes and devoured them. Lamatsu was also responsible for infants who were found dead in their cradles. Lamatsu was one of the variations of Lilith, who you can read more about in my post "In The Beginning, there was Lilith". But Lamatsu was not alone. Vampire-like monsters have existed in almost every culture, from China to Eastern Europe. Even Mexico has the legend of the Chupacabra, a demon who feeds on the blood of goats every night! There are countless vampire stereotypes, most of which have no connection to the true vampire myths. For instance, the notion about sunlight being deadly to vampires is only about 400 years old. And this myth predates the major use of the Crucifix by 2,000 years, so it obviously has no effect on vampires.
     This video addresses the interesting matter of the scientific background of vampires. Scientists believe that vampires do not exist due to the theory of exponential growth (The authors argue that with vampires feeding on people who turn into vampires who are feeding on people who turn into vampires that it will only take 3 years for everyone on Earth to become a vampire). This, however, does not mean that vampires are completely fictional. Porphyria, for example, is a rare disease that has sunlight cause enzymes to be released in your body, enzymes which cause rapid skin cell deterioration. The video also addresses a recent vampire movement, saying that there are thousands of people around the world who believe themselves vampires, feeding on anything from human blood to psychic energies.

ANALYSIS: Vampires are one of the oldest myths around the world. They have roots in cultures on almost every continent, and have scientific explanations. Today, people believe themselves vampires, and vampires have become a mere shadow of their once omnipotent demonic selves.

REFLECTON QUESTION: Do vampires exist, or could they? How is it possible that there were myths of vampires in the Americas, Eurasia, Africa, AND Australia thousands of years before they all had contact?

CITATION: Galaxy Garden (2010, August 18). Real Vampires are All Around You! The Truth about Psychic Energy Suckers. Retrieved March 11, 2012, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIgzc_jrzTM&feature=related 

Mother Dearest

SUMMARY: "Most of us sense that the Earth is more than a sphere of rock with a thin layer of air, ocean, and life covering the surface. We feel that we belong here, as if this planet were indeed our home. Long ago, the Greeks, thinking this way, gave to the Earth the name of Gaia."--James Lovelock, THE AGES OF GAIA.

     Earth. Many believe it to be the sole location of life in the Universe. It used to be thought of as the center of creation. Ancient civilizations worshipped its very existence, even creating the Earth Goddess, Gaia, to represent all of Earths eternal glory. But Gaia is not the typical portrayal of sweet Mother Nature. She is the omnipotent Mother Goddess, and a real dura mater to boot. According to Greek Mythology, she was responsible for her husband Uranus' demise, and did this by pressuring her son Kronos to destroy him. She was the first Goddess to rise out of Khaos (the time before creation), and sleeps until she can return the world to its void.
     That is not to say, however, that Gaia was viewed as an evil goddess. On the contrary, she was revered and spanned more cultures than almost any other deity.


Stautes of Gaia such as this one were very common around the ancient world. Image from the Elohim Centre

     Followers of the Gaia Hypothesis believe that Earth is indeed a living, breathing organism, as can be seen in this quote:

      " All the entities [of the Earth] interact as a whole,
like organelles in a cell. Only when [the scientist]
separates them or observes them individually for a short
time, do they assume different properties including life and
death. Long term, in congress, the entities appear to sense
and communicate, thereby sustaining the optimum environment
for their cell's life. (Cohen, HOW NATURE WORKS, p. 78.)

Biologist and author Lewis Thomas (THE LIVES OF A CELL) suggests that the atmosphere is the Earth cell's membrane wall as it regulates precise amounts of energy capture, storage, and release.

Life means holding out against equilibrium--banking against entropy by using membranes. The Earth has its own membrane, the atmosphere, to constrain the effects of the sun. In Lovelock's words,

The biota--the sum of all living things, including
plants, animals, and micro-organisms--not only profoundly
affects the Earth's environment, but acts to maintain and
enhance life on the planet. (GAIA: A NEW LOOK AT LIFE) "

ANALYSIS:  We are learning that Gaia may be resilient, but we also see that we are changing nature, permanently. Increasingly, acts of nature are not "acts of God," but of humanity--or, we might say, in-humanity. Nature is no longer an independent and autonomous force, and it's no longer true that "everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." We are, in fact, doing much about it; for instance, recent storms which have ripped into the Caribbean and southeastern U.S. coasts, and across Asian islands and continents, are increasing in intensity as a direct result of the oceans' warming. As the band of warm water in which such storms incubate widens and deepens, the size of the storms increases, and the power of the wind increases geometrically. It is probably not coincidence but rather human intervention which has brought us, in the last 15 years many of the most destructive tropical storms ever recorded.

REFLECTION QUESTION: Do you believe that Earth is a living creature? Do you believe that it deserves to be treated like one, and do you believe we currently are?

CITATION:

Beversluis, Joel. "The Gaia Hypothesis." A SourceBook for Earth's Community of Religion. 1995: 212-214. SIRS Renaissance. Web. 04 Mar 2012.