A sacred food system

What would a food system based on the Sacred Principle look like?

It may take many names, but the common approach would be that this food system would be built on values.

Four values ground this food system: relationship, reciprocity, respect, and reverence.

In relationship, we would understand that we are interconnected and interdependent with the food we eat. We would be in deep relationship with the land. We would honor our relationship with water - rain, streams, catchment systems. We would be in right relations with our neighbors, practicing trade as mutual aid, community, circular economy, to fulfill needs and flourish together. The principle of relationship would shift us from the center of control and domination to one of fluidity and interconnection in a web of relations.

The type of relationship is one rooted in reciprocity. A mutual give and take, offering and accepting. The land is generous, and provides for us abundantly. And we must care for the land. Stewardship would be a central practice. This is in contrast to extractivism, to feeling entitled that the earth serves us only, or a mentality of scarcity. This food system them would take into account the full circle of growth, cultivation, harvest and decomposition, to be mindful of waste, energy, and resource use. An understanding of karma, that we get what we give. In the Andean cosmovision, ayni, posited on the conception of a living relationship of mutuality and interconnection with community and creation.

Quechua farmers conduct a ceremony to thank Pachamama, or Mother Earth, for the potato harvest. Potato Park, Cusco, Peru 2014. Photo from Yes! magazine.

This puts us in a position of respect. To interact with, not dominate, natural cycles. To have respect for nature´s intelligence. To respect the farmers, ranchers, pickers, drivers, butchers, food preparers, that use their hands and skills to bring our food to us. To trust the wisdom engrained in seeds, soil and sun. To have respect for the ultimate power of nature, humbly kneeling down in the dirt, seeing ourselves as one manifestation of creation, as sister and brother to corn, bean, and squash.

And from this place on our knees, to practice reverence. Whispering prayers of gratitude. Carrying out ancestral rituals of planting and harvesting. Eating as ceremony. Recognizing the awe-inspiring process of sprouting and blossoming. Leaving space for the sacred.

Comments

El futuro del origen: un relato ecotópico

Flora estaba perdida. Debería de haber regresado a la comunidad antes del anochecer, pero ya era imposible. Se le llenaron los ojos de lágrimas. “ ¡Se van a preocupar!” lamentó. “Voy a perder mi propia celebración. Y encima, ¡tengo que ver dónde pasar la noche y buscar cómo volver mañana!” T enía apenas 14 años y era la primera vez que iba a pasar la noche sola en el monte. Hoy era su caminata, un paso determinante del rito de la primera sangre. Cuando partió esa mañana, estaba nerviosa por el reto de estar a solas y elegir su propio camino. Ahora se sentía como un fracaso: había tomado una decisión equivocada al elegir la ruta. Además le pesaba la decisión que tenía que tomar sobre la ruta de su vida, el área de la comunidad donde contribuiría. ¿También haría la decisión equivocada? Estaba perdida en todos sentidos. Sin embargo, no tenía miedo. Desde la infancia, Flora había aprendido a integrarse en el territorio, conocer las plantas y animales y desarrollar su i...

Mitos nuevos

La inspiración del siguiente texto ha sido el llamado a escribir nuevos relatos, nuevos mitos. Como parte de este proyecto del "Principio Sagrado", el mito central es el asesinato de Tiamat por Marduk, la epopeya de la creación de Babilonia. Esta historia de creación, escrita en cuneiforme en tablillas alrededor 2000 a.C., marcó el cambio en la mitología y la conciencia colectiva de la sociedad occidental de una cultura de la Diosa, con el principio feminino de creación como central, a una ideología de un solo Dios Hombre Creador; instauró la ruptura de la humanidad con la naturaleza. El texto describe el brutal matricidio de Tiamat, diosa madre caracterizada como caos, por Marduk, un dios guerrero-salvador-creador que pone orden. Este mito todavía vive en nuestra sociedad, dentro de los mitos de creación de la cultura Judeo-Cristiana y en cada cuento de hada de un caballero matando a un dragón - y en nuestra programación patriarcal y trato de la naturaleza. Conocido como el...

Parenting and the sacred masculine

The ultrasound said the sex of the baby was female. We picked out a name and for over a month, got used to the idea that we would have a baby girl. At the next ultrasound, the doctor asked if we knew the sex of the baby. What a strange question, I thought, when I had handed him the paperwork from the last appointment. That is when we found out the first ultrasound was wrong, and our baby had the undeniable anatomy of a male. I was in shock. It felt like such a huge change. And the fact that I felt it so deeply also came as a shock, because I had convinced myself that it did not matter, that we would be gender neutral, that society places so many associations and expectations on sex and gender stereotypes, and I would resist that. Lucky thing, we had decided to keep the sex secret during the pregnancy, so we were the only ones who knew of this change of plans. I did this, especially, to avoid the pink-and-blue dichotomy of newborn clothes and gifts. We refused to tell p...

The Sacred Principle Project

Search This Blog