Listening to the Wisdom of the Earth

Today, climate change is one of the most urgent challenges we are facing in the 21st century. From flash floods in the hills of Uttarakhand to waterlogging in India’s major cities, from wildfires raging across California to rising seas threatening entire coastlines and countless lives, we have all witnessed nature’s fury repeatedly. Yet, in policy circles and intellectual spaces, the crisis is still framed as a modern problem that demands purely modern solutions. This refusal to agree and adapt to the wisdom of the older generation might cost us more than we think.

For most of recorded human history, people have lived in constant dialogue with the natural world. Their survival depended on reading its signs, respecting its cycles, and adapting to its moods. Across continents, nearly every indigenous and traditional culture saw nature not as an exploitable resource but as a living relative, an ancestor, or even a deity. This worldview intricately established an environmental ethic into the fabric of everyday life. This is seen expressed through rituals, taboos, seasonal customs, and community laws that ensured the land, water, and forests endured for generations.

In India, closer to home, we have always considered nature as a mother—something beyond mere words, deserving dignity and respect. Growing up, every Indian has seen trees being worshipped, water regarded as divine wherever it flows, and rivers revered through aartis like the famous Ganga Aarti. These traditions reflect the deep reverence we hold for nature and its resources.

Our ancient texts, such as the Vedas, have always emphasised the importance of living in harmony with nature, with dedicated branches of knowledge like Vanya Shastra, Aranya Shastra, and Ayurveda. These are not just mere written records; they are living traditions woven into everyday life. For example, during Sankranti, when the sun moves northward and winter approaches, we eat Ellu Bella as a custom (a mixture of sesame seeds and jaggery) to keep our skin hydrated and maintain good health. As part of Deepavali celebrations, we hang mango leaf strings (toranas) at the entrance of our homes, a practice proven to have medicinal benefits as the leaves release compounds beneficial to respiratory health.

In our own times, activism for nature continues. Recently, the Telangana state government’s decision to raze a forest in Hyderabad was met with strong resistance. Due to protests by environmentalists and nature lovers, the plan was halted. Historically, too, India has seen powerful environmental movements, such as the Chipko Movement, led primarily by women. They stood as a testament to the courage and commitment of communities protecting forests from being felled for profit and colonial greed.

Global Parallels — Nature as Sacred & Sustainable Practices

Across the world, ancient cultures have woven environmental stewardship into their very fabric, often without calling it “environmentalism” at all. Their guiding philosophies were not about saving the planet in the abstract, but about living so closely with it that waste, overuse, and destruction simply felt unnatural to them. In this section, we explore philosophies and practices from around the globe!

Japan — Mottainai

In Japan, the term mottainai carries a meaning far deeper than just “don’t waste.” It is rooted in Buddhist and Shinto beliefs and stands for the idea that everything has intrinsic value because it holds the essence of the divine. For example, a chipped bowl is repaired, not just discarded right away. Clothes are mended until they can no longer be worn. Food is consumed fully, with gratitude for the life taken to nourish one’s own life. Long before the global recycling movement, mottainai shaped a culture of waste reduction and repair.

Pacific Islands — Tabu or Tapu

In many Pacific Island societies, tabu refers to sacred prohibitions from hunting and fishing that protect certain places, species, or activities. A lagoon might be off-limits for years, allowing fish populations to regenerate during the given time periods. Certain reefs or trees are declared sacred, never to be touched, giving them the time to adapt locally to the climate and the environment. These restrictions, though enforced through deep spiritual belief, have ensured ecological balance long before marine biology became a science. India mirrors this with fishing bans during specific periods in water bodies where all the life forms are considered divine and not meant for consumption.

Africa and India — Cow Dung Plastering

Across rural Africa and even India, cow dung is used to plaster homes, keeping interiors cool, repelling insects, and acting as a cheaper and more eco-friendly alternative for these people. For the longest time, cattle have been wealth, life-givers, and protectors in human life. Even in Indian villages, this practice is nearly identical, with the added benefit of antiseptic properties and utilisation of animal waste in innovatively productive ways. This also reduces dependence on toxic industrial dyes, chemicals, and tiling.

South America — Guarani Forest Gardens

The Guarani people of South America cultivate “forest gardens” that mimic the layers of a natural forest. Fruit trees form the canopy, coffee and cocoa thrive in the middle layer, and bananas and medicinal plants in the lower tiers. This polyculture maintains biodiversity, enriches the soil, and resists pests naturally. The different kinds of crops also ensure that the soil is not dry and barren of minerals due to overutilisation of them.

Cultural Logic Behind These Practices

Overall, from several instances we have observed that declaring elements of nature sacred was a way to protect them without written laws. The fear of divine retribution or the pull of spiritual purity ensured compliance. Rituals are often aligned with agricultural and climatic cycles, serving in a cycle with ecological calendars and the clock of nature. The important thing is that it was the community consensus that enforced these norms. And most importantly, the solutions required no fossil fuels or factories, two of the biggest sources of pollution today.

These traditions again prove that reverence can be as powerful as regulation. The climate crisis we face today demands we revive the old truth: to harm nature is to harm ourselves. Across continents, the wisdom still whispers if only we choose to listen, carefully, beyond the noise of machines.

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