Child playing in the earth art sand tray.

Many wonderful altars are featured at this year’s annual Altar Show at the Nevada County Fairgrounds, which runs from November 8-16.   This year Earth Justice Ministries created an altar dedicated to Mother Earth and the Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth.

Our altar includes photos of a Ritual of Amends and Healing for Mother Earth that we held on Sunday, November 2, at a commercially logged site just beyond Cascade Shores in Nevada County.  Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) clearcut the area four years ago, treated it with herbicides to prevent undesired native species from growing back, and replanted it selectively with trees to create an “even-aged forest.”   The altar includes photographs of local clearcut forests and explains how Sierra Pacific Lumber Company turns diverse ecosystems into tree plantations for profit.

The altar displays photographs of the Ritual of Amends and Healing of Mother Earth, which included spoken word, prayer, music, dance, and the planting of seeds.  The purpose of the Ritual was to affirm the inherent rights of Mother Earth, to make amends for harm done, and to empower us to defend the rights of Mother Earth and all beings.

The Ritual and the Altar are both based on the Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, a document that was affirmed at the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in 2010, in Cochabamba, Bolivia.  Our primary focus was on the following words from the Declaration:

“We, the peoples of Earth are all part of Mother Earth, an indivisible, living community of interrelated and interdependent beings with a common destiny.  Each human being is responsible for respecting and living in harmony with Mother Earth.”

Our Prius in the clearcut in 2010.

Same area. Ritual for Amends and Healing, planting seeds for a diverse ecosystem 4 years later.

See more photos from the Ritual and the Altar at Earth Justice Ministries Facebook page.   Follow Sharon’s blog by clicking the “Follow Sharon Delgado” button at the right or by “liking” the Shaking the Gates of Hell FaceBook page.