People think that goddesses only came into being long, long ago. People think goddesses are only found in ancient mythology. But people are wrong. I know because I am Aviana, the Wetlands Crane Goddess who helped create the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Reserve of New Mexico. I first manifest on Earth as an Otherworldly force in the early 1900s. It was the migrating birds and waterfowl, in particular sandhill cranes, who called me into being.
You see before Euro-Americans arrived in the land of the American Southwest, the Rio Grande was a mighty river which flooded every year bringing life and renewal to the land. These wetlands were a favorite wintering habitat of the Sandhill Cranes. They left their summer nesting grounds of Alaska, Canada and the northern United States and headed south for the winter. Every year in November hundreds of thousand of cranes arrived in New Mexico. Here they fed on grasses and small animals throughout the short winter days.
In February their mating rituals began in these wetlands with exuberant dancing. Then when the weather was just right they began the long journey back to their summer nesting grounds far, far to the north. Once in their summer breeding grounds the courtship rituals ensued in earnest, pair bonding occurred, eggs were laid and hatched and the raising of their young began. Both the female and male Sandhill Crane participate in the incubating and raising of their young – a character trait that endears them to my goddess heart.
Then summer passed and as winter neared, their migration south began again. The ongoing cycle continued as the original Mother Goddess had helped put into place.
But change gripped the land. In the early 1900’s the construction of dams and irrigation projects began along the Rio Grande in support of agriculture in the arid region. By the late 1930’s much of the State’s wetlands had been lost. In addition to Sandhill Cranes, the wetlands of the Rio Grande attracted Snow Geese, Mallards, Great Blue Herons and American Avocets.
I, Aviana, turned my attention to tackling this terrifying loss of habitat for migratory waterfowl. As a Goddess I have access to many forms of communication, both of this world and the Otherworld. I decided that my best course of action was to influence President Roosevelt, whose policies recognized the importance of addressing critical environmental issues alongside economic and social projects. By the middle of that decade Roosevelt might have been surprised to find his dreams often teeming with Sandhill Cranes and other waterfowl. His dreams were rich and beautiful – filled with vistas of migrating birds, rivers, wetlands and occasionally a beautiful women flying with the Sandhill Cranes or walking through the marshes with them and other creatures.
Roosevelt heeded my call. In 1937 he began the process of creating a wildlife reserve. The Bosque del Apache Wildlife Reserve was officially established in 1939 – ready to fulfill its mission of protecting the wildlife and habitat of the Rio Grande wetlands.
Though the establishment of the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Reserve was a success many serious environmental problems persist today.
So I and my sisters, who continue to manifest anew on Earth, persevere in our work of influencing the power brokers of the day. The task is huge. The key players are stubborn in their resistance to our influence. Disturbing headlines cause despair daily.
Yet sometimes we have breakthroughs. You’ll see my hand and those of my sister goddesses in many places such as when – unexpectedly the honest, caring politician wins. And in Brazil the rate of deforestation of the Amazon decreases. While in the United State the green new deal is struck down but another version surfaces and the movement away from the use of fossil fuels begins in earnest.
Or when a growing number of countries grant legal personhood status to Mother Earth. Then Ecuador strikes a deal to swap its $1.6 billion debt into a loan to protect and preserve the Galápagos Islands. And Europes’ last wild river is protected, becoming Vjose River National Park.
Being modern goddesses, we have our hands in technology too. The dreams of Team Ninja Trollhunters must have been inspiring, urging them to protect Earth and resulting in the banning of 600 climate change deniers from Twitter.
One of the biggest surprises was when the US Supreme Court decided not to rule on local climate cases – making the possibility of successfully suing giant fossil fuel polluters possible. But I might have to call on my Fierce Goddess sisters for help with this group of black-robed humans as they did not heed my urgings in the matter of protecting the nation’s wetlands. That group is a very hard nut to crack for sure.
And one of my favorite breakthroughs – Wadi Gaza begins to bring its severely polluted wetlands back to health.
But Goddess has always worked in participation with her human children. Help us emphasize the urgent need to protect and honor all species on our spinning blue globe. Though some look to space for solutions, we goddesses urge you all to keep yourselves centered and grounded on Earth. It’s up to you to hear our messages and heed our urgings. You must read the signs provided by our Mother Earth, who herself has become fierce. She calls us all to take action now.
PostScript:
Here are a few more photos I took in January 2022 while visiting the Bosque del Apache – sunrise to sunset. There were very few cranes there that year as the usual allotment of water used to grow corn for the cranes was eliminated. Our ongoing drought caused the water distribution from the Rio Grande to go to agriculture instead. But we did see many cranes along the river in Albuquerque that year.
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This is a beautiful place in New Mexico. Thank the goddess for her work!
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Esther,
It really is a wonderful place. I remember the Bosque del Apache back in the early 2000’s when it was even more beautiful than now. It was much less “developed for visitors” and felt much wilder. But I suppose the changes had to be made to protect the reserve from being so loved by the ever growing number of visitors.
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Having spent so much time at the Reserve while living in New Mexico and then discovering that I can visit with Sandhill cranes each fall and spring when they leave and return to breed here in Maine seems almost miraculous to me – more so than the “exceptions to the rule” of which you speak -the military, violence, and colonialism have destroyed a sustainable way of life that even our goddesses can’t reverse. Is it just my perspective or is it the norm to keep trying harder and harder to deny what is really happening to our planet and the people who revere Her?
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Sara,
There is no way for me to deny what is happening to our beautiful Earth and to all the beings who rely on her. I see, hear and live the reality of our dire state of affairs every day. I think that is what you are accusing me of in your comment but perhaps I am wrong.
But I choose hope over despair. It’s not easy and I have to continually make that choice. There is nothing rational about this hope that’s for sure.
I recently heard Ervin Laszlo speaking on his work and his new book – “The Survival Imperative, Upshifting to Conscious Evolution.”
Here’s a quote from that book which rings very true to me-
“We have reached a critical juncture in our evolution on the planet. Now we face a survival challenge: evolve or perish. If we are to set forth our tenure on Earth, we need to evolve the way we relate to each other and to the planet. This calls for a change in the way we act, which in turn calls for a change in the way we think. This is a crucial, and by no means simple task.”
As I am an artist, not an activist, my work is an attempt to change the way we think – to change the story we tell ourselves about life. As Laszlo says – “We need to wake up to the realization that the problems, the crises and the threats we experience are symptoms of the way we have been, and on the whole still are, thinking and acting. We live in an era of rapid change — an evolution of which the outcome is not yet decided.”
Hope allows me to see the horrors of our current situation and yet get up another day to work in my own artist way for a future in which we live in harmony with life and the universe.
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Gosh, I was not ‘accusing’ you of anything Judith, I was only questioning the difference between the exceptions to the rule and what is really happening on a global level. I actually know Ervin personally and of course what he says is true – we NEED to make a choice here but so far we have not and time is running out – not sure where hope comes in here –
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Sara,
Thanks for your reply. I’m so glad to know that I misunderstood you. I think hope comes into the situation by the fact that without hope how can anyone take any action at all to right the wrongs. The “exceptions to the rule, ” by which I think you me the positive actions that have taken place concerning the environment, are examples of hope turned into reality and provide more hope that if those exceptions can happen then maybe more can too. Without the hope that things can improve how can any of us do anything to create that change. At least for me – without that hope I don’t think I could get out of bed in the morning as the onslaught of floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, droughts, fires, continuing extraction, pollution and oppression continue. Tough times indeed!
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I do get it Judith – and some days I barely can get out of bed but i keep advocating even without hope and you are right hope helps – i feel it mist in the woods where death and life are intertwined and it is clear that nature lives on – regardless!
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Sara,
For me too nature is what revitalizes me when I think I can’t go on. I am so grateful to live so close to the Bosque here in ABQ, allowing me to bike or walk there frequently. And then there’s the garden…. You are very strong to keep on even when you don’t have the hope.
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Fascinating and yes people think that the only Gods who exist, are the ones from long ago. But many Pagans believe they are still having children. Or perhaps this Goddess Aviana was worshipped long ago and she was forgotten. That wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to believe she’s reaching out to us now to intercede on our behalf.
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MiamiMagus,
That’s an interesting thought. Maybe Goddess Aviana influenced my dreams too and filled them with words and images of her existence. I like that idea.
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I can tell you, that in America, followers of the Greek God Dionysus have seen him with a Buffalo Head. In Native American form. Gods evolve.
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I agree that everything is in a state of evolution. When I studied Person-Centered counseling many years ago, I was struck by the theory of the Actualising Tendency, which promotes the idea that everything in the Universe is moving toward its potential, but life often throws up challenges that block the flow and restrict the path. My task was to facilitate change, providing space for clients to find the right solution and unblock the path. Some made small steps others waded in quickly but all evolved at their own pace. It seems to me from Judith’s post that the Gods and Goddesses are also evolving, and why not since they are part of us, and therefore part of the Universe? May they live within and without us, thrive, and help us to unblock the rubbish choking our modern world Aviana is beautifully depicted in the painting. Our inner sight may reveal many more such beings before we are done.
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Iona,
I love your statement – “the Gods and Goddesses are also evolving, and why not since they are part of us, and therefore part of the Universe?” I think that really expresses my own belief that we create the deities we worship from our own need to understand the universe. The universe is vast and limitless and Source from which it all comes is so, so far beyond anything a 3D consciousness can ever understand. Yet we try to make sense of it with our interpretations of the Divine.
I have often thought that Goddess touched me long ago and gave me the task to bring her message to the world. Now I see that task includes opening my inner eye to discovering new Goddess manifestations – Goddesses who help us deal with our crazy modern world. Your last statement is also so profound – “Our inner sight may reveal many more such beings before we are done.”
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I think a Goddess painting inspired by your inner world, introduces her to the world outside where she is needed also. There is a well-known quote from the Buddha that says, “With our minds, we create the world.” When so many terrible things are created from ignorance and greed. It’s good to see someone channeling creative wisdom and painting light into the world.
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Thanks for reminding me of what I sometimes forget – that the work of expressing a vision of a harmonious world is needed just like activism is needed.
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