In many ancient cultures and civilisations, nature was referred to as "Mother Nature" or sometimes "Mother Earth." In ancient Greek mythology, Gaia is the goddess of Mother Earth. In the ancient Hindu Rig Vedas, the goddess Prithvi is the name of Mother Earth, also known as Vishvadhaya, or the "all-nourishing." In ancient Sumerian mythology, Ninhursag, the goddess of fertility, growth and creation was identified as Mother Earth. Nature has thus always been referred to as benevolent and nurturing. It is evident that the relationship between humanity and nature until fairly recently has been one of reverence and awe. The earth, sky, stars, rivers and volcanoes were associated or identified with gods and goddesses. To quote an example from ancient times, the Ganges River in India was believed to be sacred and was worshipped as the goddess Mandakini and the goddess Yogini, the goddess of purification and forgiveness. It was believed that the purification of the soul after death was achieved by floating the remains of the dead in the Ganges River. In ancient Egypt, it was believed that there was a mythical river, one depicted in thousands of etchings and murals, which the dead had to cross in order to reach the underworld, salvation and eternal life. As for the actual River Nile, this was absolutely pivotal for the whole of ancient Egyptian civilisation. The flooding of the Nile was the guarantor of fertility. Sacrifices were made to the Nile to ensure its steady flow, and the floods were celebrated in a special festival. In the ancient Gandharan civilisation along the mighty Indus River, floods were celebrated as the harbinger of fertility, growth and food security. They were referred to as Bara Pani, or "big water," and they would spread for miles across the River Basin, spreading rich alluvium soil, replenishing underwater aquifers, and ensuring rich crop yields. All animal, plant and human life depended on the river. Throughout the Indus Basin, poetry was written and songs were sung in praise of it. Indeed, such stories and the romantic folklore associated with them form a major part of the literature of all languages spoken along rivers even today. Nature has also invoked awe and fear in the form of volcanoes or storms. Stories of severe storms and rain bringing apocalypse on earth are present in many ancient mythologies. The hazard feared the most was drought, and animal sacrifices were offered to the gods to please them so that they would bless the earth with rain. Many ancient societies followed unwritten rules regarding nature and had myths associated with it. It was considered a bad omen to incur the wrath of nature. In his famous poem "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" written by English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798, there is the story of a wretched old mariner who brought the wrath of the gods upon himself and his ship when he deliberately killed a beautiful albatross that had followed the ship and been fed and taken care of by the crew. All of a sudden, the winds stopped blowing, the ship was stranded, the sun became blindingly hot and the crew got parched-lipped with thirst and died one by one. They blamed the mariner for killing an innocent bird, hanging its carcass around his neck –
And I had done a hellish thing, And it would work'em woe: For all averred, I had killed the bird That made the breeze to blow
If we compare such beliefs with the callous manner in which marine animals and birds are being killed today, it is amazing to realise that only some 200 years ago it was considered evil to kill a beautiful bird in this way. In the ancient Greek poet Homer's Iliad, sacrifices are offered to the gods before embarking on a journey. In the ancient Arabian Peninsula, we find a loving and devoted relationship between human society and the desert and the camel. The desert itself is an important character in the history of the area's civilisation. Its moods, temperatures and weather patterns were observed and blended with the fabric of society. The desert was home and a place of sanctuary and liberation, and ancient Arabic literature is full of praises of the desert and the camel. In short, never in the whole history of human civilisation has nature been treated with the kind of indifference, disrespect or defiance we see in our post-industrial age. When man started on his journey to rapid development, food security and dependence on the weather and the seasons seemed less important, and the attitude towards nature became more and more callous and insensitive. Development itself is not undesirable, of course, but modern development with its complete disregard of nature has brought devastation in its wake. Mega-dams producing electricity have also disturbed the flow of rivers, and the use of carbon-based fuel and massive carbon dioxide pollution have raised global temperatures. Deforestation has damaged animal habitats. The same rivers that were once revered are now full of waste and sewage. The same oceans from which it was once considered evil to unnecessarily take animal life are now littered with plastic waste. Mother Earth, once the protector and nourisher of all life, has become the target of the worst abuses in the name of development. This attitude towards nature is making entire ecosystems vulnerable, and hundreds of thousands of species are at risk of extinction. Anthropogenic activities are the reason for the damage to the atmosphere that has induced climate change. The real challenge today is not just to find solutions to the impacts of climate change, but also to realise why the attitude of modern man has changed towards nature. How can we find our way back to looking at nature as man once did in ancient times? How can we re-imagine the world as a shared home for all species, including all flora and fauna? The impacts of climate change are bringing ever-increasing disasters, including erratic weather patterns damaging crops, rising temperature in oceans destroying marine life, stronger storms, rising water levels threatening low-lying coastal cities, and countless other problems. Ultimately, human societies are going to be the worst affected by the impacts of climate change. Business as usual will result in food shortages, destroyed coastal cities, climate-induced migrations and conflicts. It is vitally important that we find solutions to the climate crisis and generate awareness and a sense of urgency to inspire a sustainable transformation towards more responsible societies. The writer is a social development professional and climate change activist and trainer based in Pakistan.
*A version of this article appears in print in the 5 August, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
