A note from the founder:

You will be assimilated; resistance is futile.

No, don't worry, I have a life and don't take StarTrek that seriously. What I mean is that the Gaia metaphor and awareness will soon become predominate --it's that powerful. Some things are irresistable *and benign. This literal Gaia Church will expand, but as it does, the awareness of our place within the larger context will seep into the public mind. In a hundred years, it will suffuse the philosophies of other, older churches. This is a good thing.
. . I don't mean merely the sect of Christianity, but all beliefs. It will fit into them all. Will it all be the Gaia Church? No; they'll be called the same as they always were, but the greater awareness of our place in the "greater creature" will become part of them all.
But you don't have to wait a hundred years. It's here now, and you can take advantage of it now.

This is a Green spirituality... an organization to assist people to integrate their feelings of connection with the awesome interconnected reality of the world. This can be your only expression of spirituality... or a supplement. If you'd rather think of it as an ecological "Society", do so. The legal name is "The Gaia Society and Church."(verifiable as tax-exempt at guidestar.org)

We're not demanding, as a cult is. (See the file "Cult Stuff", below) In fact, that's a good test. A church can be very big and very old, and still be a cult. You might think of two or three of the very biggest in the western world that have distinctly cultish aspects. The Gaia Church has none of those aspects.

This had been brewing in the back of my mind for a couple decades. Of a scientific turn of mind, I was never comfortable with mythology, nor with what it could do for (or to) mankind. Suddenly, the Gaia Hypothesis framework snapped it all neatly into place. That "neatness" is the kind of thing that scientists go "Eureka" about. A theory must have "beauty" --all of them do. If not, something's wrong.

The idea started with the realization that James Lovelock's Gaia Hypothesis (now better called a full-fledged theory) was the world's first opportunity for a bridge... a valid connection between Science and Spirituality (tho not to organized religion).
. . Spirituality is what we'll call that feeling that man has always had of the ineffable connection we feel with the entirety of life of earth --that we (from humans to viruses) are all part of a larger whole-- a whole that is as integrated and interdependent as the various organs of your body.

I feel that this is the perfect basis for a framework of values we can call a religion. Fittingly, one of the ancient images made from that feeling was of a mother --Mother Earth, Mother Nature. Gaia is the name of the Greek iteration of that Goddess-image. We emphasize that it's here taken as only a symbol, not not *NOT* a supernatural being to be worshipped! It's a natural process to feel awe for. The center of our philosophy is the essence of nature itself (including your self) and tho everyone who "gets it" feels awed and overwhelmingly respectful, "worship" is somewhat the wrong word.

Gaia is not for those who search for more mythological concepts to believe in. No astrology, no crystals, no space aliens, Bermuda triangles, no idealized Olympic Goddesses, no manufactured mysteries out of someone's wild imagination. If you're *sure* you want that, may we respectfully ask you to look elsewhere. We are, so to speak, Sagan-ist, not paganist! We've come a long way from medieval farmers, and I prefer it here. Country *observation* is good --making up mystical meanings for the natural processes thus seen... is foolish. Existence is relationships, not meanings.

Think of Gaia as Ecological Zen, too. It's scientific, anti-superstitious, and the opposite of a cult. We strongly discourage true belief. We don't tell you what is, as we think that is self-evident, once one has sluffed off the brainwashings of society, and the simple errors of reasoning that most people accumulate without realizing it. Most people are the trees they can't see the forest for. (That's almost a Koan. It's sure Zen!)

You'll find that it's not all "intellectual" --not at all. I admit that it might take some light study on your part to get it all (not that you have to). But I'm sure you'll want to pause to think over a few things. Some are fun & funny, too.

Digest these essays and you have built upon your understanding... but tho it is a foundation to build upon, it is less that ...than a bed to give rest. ...somewhat less binoculars-to-see-farther ...than it's an operation to remove cataracts and see what is at hand. ...less a hearing-aid than a noise-canceller. We need to see more of what is, yes, but --with all the subtle brainwashing and simple assumptions we all endure-- it's actually a bigger job to see less of what isn't!

Legally speaking, the church is a California Corporation, federally tax exempt, etc....   The philosophy is, not coincidently, approximately the same as that of the author: Jon K. Hart. (No, it's not exactly the same. As I say: don't listen to what I say... listen to nature. Maybe I can help, but I can be wrong, nature can't. . "A sea-wave makes no aesthetic mistakes.")

Oh --a note on site policy. First: Our focus is on content, not fancy (hi-Kb) grafix. If I can easily spruce it up, I will, but it's not as important as finding a better word to replace an inexact one.
2: We'll never sell info about you. We don't gather it in the first place. 3: We tried to eliminate ad banners and watermarks, as it felt inappropriate for a spiritual site. 4: We pay no attention to Microsoft products, and very little Intel went into this creation. 5: We keep navigation simple --only one level deep, and each page has links back to: main (this page), next, and previous. (6: For literate readers: as writing is a graphic representation of speech, where there is a slight pause in speech -- needed for clarity-- we write a comma. Obviously. "Scientific American" & "Nat'l Geographic" should learn about that. N'tl Geographic is going downhill too. Some of their sentences are laughable, but most are irritating. It's the writer's duty to be clear, not a million readers' duty to work out what he meant to say.)

If you're on a timed ISP plan, you may want to [file... save as] to read offline.

Donations should be sent to The Gaia Church, 5509 S. Andrea, Sioux Falls, SD, 57108. Made out to "The Gaia Church". We'd like to advertize in magazines.

I hope you have fun with some of the essays, get informed from another, and get profound insights into reality from another. Best of all, form an informal discussion group.

Have fun.