Well, step one in any healing process is to admit that there's a problem. Step two is to be willing to do what we must to fix it. The Craft is one of the most proactive spiritual paths I know of, in that it encourages each of us to take responsibility for our own actions, not blaming what happens to us on external Deities or demons. The Rede is a direct exhortation to act upon our Will. With our understanding of the ways that thoughts, emotions, and energy effect our environment, we can work to overcome any problem on many levels.

And frankly, I think our first responsibility at this time is to recognise the capacity we do have for making a difference and avoid the contagious illness of despair. In whatever way our constitutions and personalities are suited, we can work on many levels to help the problem. The glass and paper one person recycles might be a drop in the bucket, but if we show our kids that this is fun, they will tell their friends...if we campaign to make recycling easier in our municipality, more people will do it...if corporations pick up on the idea people are concerned, they'll change packaging...we have already seen this happen...enough people doing a little can make a difference...

All the practical things one can do in the way of reducing, reusing, recycling, simplifying one's life and choosing products and ways of acting that do no harm to our world are a natural outgrowth of Wiccan philosophy. We know we are connected to all living things and that God/dess is in every thing, and this naturally grows into a wish to treat everything in the world around us with respect...thus, a lifestyle that interacts gently with the friends we share this planet with.

There are many places where one can pick up tips about ways to shop, clean, drive, garden, use water, and recycle that are gentle on the planet. If you can find it (it's out of print) there is a wonderful little booklet called Good Planets Are Hard to Find : An Environmental Information Guide, Dictionary, and Action Book for Kids (And Adults) by Roma Dehr, Ronald M. Bazar, and Nola Johnston. If I get enough requests to summarise this information here, I'll do so. But my primary interest is to explore some of the magical ways we can help Gaia. This is work we can do in addition to what others are doing.

We know that what we focus our energy, minds and will on is more likely to happen than the things we avoid concentrating on. This is why it's important to stay positive, to concentrate on what we can do rather than allowing ourselves to give in to feelings of helplessness. The flip side is that magic offers us the gift of something we can do that we know works on levels where it can accomplish more than we can by managing our individual households. One of my personal bugbears is the prophecies of planetary destruction that one hears among New Age chanellers. Yes, if we continue the way we are, the planet is in trouble; but we'll be in more trouble if we allow ourselves to expect it than if we acknowledge that precognition shows us futures that may be, not futures written in stone. Suitably warned, we can do something. Get enough people helping, perhaps we can make a difference.