Gods and Ages

Over on John Michael Greer's blog the topic of the Changer has come up again, in the context of both climate change and invasive species.

I say "has come up" in the passive voice, though somewhat incorrectly. I brought it up, as did another at the same time and synchronistically, which suggests that the thought was a shared one and its source external.

If you aren't familiar, the Changer is a figure from the folklore of the Pacific Northwest. He appears in many of the legends gathered by the folklorist Ella Clark in her volume Indian Legends of the Pacific Northwest. His job is exactly what it sounds like-- There comes a time for the old world to give away to a new one, and so the Changer comes, and transforms the world. A typical example runs as follows:

Up to this time, stones had had life; bees, flies, and other insects had been giants. The Changer removed life from stones and made the insects less harmful. Crane had been troublesome to many people by tripping them whenever they tried to cross the river. Changer transformed Crane into a bird that could do nothing but wade around in the water looking for fish.

Not all of the Changer's adventures go well, and not all of his changes have results we might like. At one point he goes to the house of a man of Fire. The Man releases the Fire, and it chases the Changer all through the land. The Changer asks for help from various beings, including Boulder, Tree, and River, but no one can help him. Finally, Trail tells tells the Changer, "Lay down on me, and the Fire will pass over you."

***

On Mr. Greer's blog, I posted the following comment:

Years ago, when I lived in California, I used to go on a morning run through a local woodland. It was a beautiful place, open fields with medicinal herbs, light and pleasant tree cover, trails for walkers and horses. It occurred to me one day that the dominant trees in this particular wood were Pacific Live Oak, Eucalyptus, and Canary Palm. One of these is a “native” California tree, the second is Australian, the third, African. According to current environmental dogmas, this was, therefore, no “natural” woodland but a contaminated zone infested with “invasive species.” This did not seem to bother the trees. It also did not bother the understory herbs, which were also a freewheeling mix of California “natives” with imports like fennel, mustard and milk thistle, or the many species of birds, insects and small mammals that also made their homes there.

One day while running the stories of the Changer came forcefully into my mind, and I realized that this was his work. The trees, the plants and many of the animals had been brought here from “elsewhere”– as had many of the humans. And the result was a new world. This was a revelation to me, as I was still a radical environmentalist at the time, full of facile slogans like “The Earth isn’t dying, the Earth is being killed.” No, the Earth is not being killed– least of all by those who have no capacity to harm her. But she is being changed. And in a thousand years, no one will have any idea that oak trees are “from California” but eucalyptus “doesn’t belong here.” There will only be the woods, a place where you can gather acorns for bread, eucalyptus leaves for medicine, and palm syrup to make alcohol.

What's interesting to me to note is that several commentators responded to me by pointing out that the eucalyptus trees increase the risk of fires. This is true, of course; like the many other highly resinous trees that line the Pacific coast, they're prone to going up in flames. But that's totally irrelevant to the point that I was making, which was, "Here is a different world," not "Here is a better world."

It's been clear to me for some time that we are indeed in a new age, and I accept the theory that the Age of Aquarius began in the late 19th century. But I realy think that most of us are still so locked in the model presented by John of Patmos-- and for that matter, the Poetic Edda, Hesiod's Works and Days, and Plato's Politicus-- in which the next age must necessarily be an improvement upon the present one. Unfortunately, the evidence both of history and of occult theory agree that there is no such necessity.

Indeed, to my mind, the following is the very best image of the Age of Aquarius--

The time ofthe Water-Bearer, rising out of the sea at the end of the age of Oceanic Pisces--

Ruled either by Saturn, Lord of the Grave, or Uranus, Lord of Chaos--

Or Both--