{"id":45200,"date":"2023-08-18T07:54:43","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T14:54:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/publictheology\/?p=45200"},"modified":"2023-08-21T10:28:32","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T17:28:32","slug":"2023-parliament-of-the-worlds-religions-gaias-wizard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/publictheology\/2023\/08\/2023-parliament-of-the-worlds-religions-gaias-wizard\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 Parliament of the World’s Religions: Gaia’s Wizard"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Gaia\u2019s Wizard<\/h2>\n Oberon Zell, Earth-Mother goddess Gaia\u2019s wizard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Gaia\u2019s wizard. Let\u2019s take a look.<\/p>\n Every religion is ultimately concerned about \u201cthe ultimate\u201d or \u201cthe Real.\u201d Right? Every religion supports freedom and human rights. Right? Well, such beliefs are certainly enthusiastically embraced by virtually everyone here in Chicago at the 2023 Parliament of the World\u2019s Religions. Well, almost everyone.<\/p>\n This thrust toward ultimacy which I discussed in a previous post, \u201c2023 Parliament of the World\u2019s Religions: Ultimate Unity<\/a>,\u201d drives classical theists to integrate Big Bang cosmology and a trillion galaxies into the doctrine of creation. The God of Israel has created this unfathomably immense and magnificent universe. \u201cHow big is our God?\u201d is a question asked by astrophysicists Michael Summers<\/a>,\u00a0 Grace Wolf-Chase<\/a> and NASA\u2019s Jim Spann<\/a> in separate sessions here. God is cosmic. And beyond Cosmic. Solo Deo gloria<\/em>!<\/p>\n Not so, says Gaia Wizard Oberon Zell.<\/p>\n Gaia is the goddess of our planet, not the cosmos.<\/h3>\n Millennial Gaia by Oberon Zell<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n I met the wizard in the hallway and we discussed the symbolism of his colorful robe as well as his theology. Oberon Zell<\/a> is a transpersonal psychologist, metaphysician, naturalist, theologian, shaman, author, artist, sculptor, lecturer, teacher, and ordained Priest of the Earth-Mother, Gaia. Gaia is the earth-mother goddess appearing in pantheons all over the archaic world from Egypt to the Americas. She gives life through the crops, love, and community. If I understood the wizard of OZ correctly, she is the primary if not the only divine force giving life to our planet and its orbiting moon.<\/p>\n What I find fantastically interesting here is the lack of concern for ultimacy in the goddess this Wizard OZ worships. Gaia is the deity in charge of Planet Earth. Not the Milky Way let alone the other galaxies. There is no sensibility of the Beyond at work here.<\/p>\n How big is God?<\/h3>\n Astrophysicists Grace Wolf-Chase, Michael Summers, and James Spann.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n In another previous Patheos<\/em> post, \u201c2023 Parliament of Religions: How Big is God?<\/a>\u201c, I reported that the \u201cScience and Religion \u201d track at the Parliament has provided excellent presentations by astrophysicists. They have described our immense cosmos in terms of Big Bang cosmology, a trillion galaxies, and lots of exoplanets likely to support extraterrestrial life. That is our interdependent world. That is the universe God has created. That is the relational context within which our beloved planet Earth exists.<\/p>\n The Beyond and the Intimate<\/h3>\n In my systematic theology, God\u2013The World\u2019s Future<\/em><\/a>, and in some Patheos<\/em> posts, I\u2019ve contended that the Beyond and the Intimate are two sensibilities that must be triggered for us to know that God is present. On the one hand, God is that than which nothing greater can be conceived, St. Anselm rightly contended. On the other hand, God knows us better than we know ourselves, St. Augustine rightly observed.<\/p>\n Now, I certainly appreciate religious creativity. And I\u2019m fascinated with the religious fringe. But, in the case of Gaia\u2019s wizard, I\u2019m a tad disappointed. Gaia, co-extensive with our precious yet tiny planet, is simply too small to connect with our religious sensibilities.<\/p>\n Gaia\u2019s Wizard is part of a series on the 2023 Parliament of the World\u2019s Religions<\/h4>\n 2023 Parliament of the World\u2019s Religions: Ultimate Unity<\/a><\/p>\n 2023 Parliament of the World\u2019s Religions: Planetary Hugs<\/a><\/p>\n 2023 Parliament of the World\u2019s Religions: How Big is God?<\/a><\/p>\n 2023 Parliament of the World\u2019s Religions: Food Insecurity<\/a><\/p>\n 2023 Parliament of the World\u2019s Religions: Gaia\u2019s Wizard<\/p>\n 2023 Parliament of the World\u2019s Religions: Gaia\u2019s Wizard<\/h4>\n*********** ** ***********\u2593<\/p>\n Ted Peters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Ted Peters is Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of Symstematic Theology and Ethics at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary and the Graduate Theological Union. Along with Robert John Russell he co-edits the journal, Theology and Science<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>published by CTNS. He is author of Playing God?<\/em><\/a> Genetic Determinism and Human Freedom <\/em>(Routledge, 2nd<\/sup> ed., 2002) plus a single volume systematic theology, God\u2014The World\u2019s Future<\/em><\/a> (Fortress, 3rd<\/sup> ed., 2015). Along with evolutionary virologist Martinez Hewlett, he has co-authored three books on the evolution controversy.\u00a0Peters\u2019 edited and co-edited books such as AI and IA: Utopia or Extinction<\/em><\/a>? <\/em>(ATF 2019) and The CRISPR Revolution<\/em><\/a> (forthcoming Praeger 2023) explore technological and ethical scenarios that alert us to the need for public policy formulation before matters get out of hand. Ted has just published a new book, The Voice of Public Theology<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>with ATF (2023). Visit his website, TedsTimelyTake.com<\/a> and his Patheos<\/em> blog site on Public Theology.<\/a><\/p>\n \u2593<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Does worship of the earth-mother goddess, Gaia, connect with the paradoxical religious sensibilities of the Beyond and the Intimate?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4597,"featured_media":45206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[1132,3764,3761,1870,748,3776],"class_list":["post-45200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-progressive-christian","tag-parliament-of-the-worlds-religions","tag-astrophysics-and-religion","tag-gaias-wizard","tag-god","tag-science-and-religion","tag-sensibility"],"yoast_head":"\n2023 Parliament of the World's Religions: Gaia's Wizard Gaia's Wizard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Does worship of the earth-mother goddess, Gaia, connect with the paradoxical religious sensibilities of the Beyond and the Intimate? 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