Cycles, ceaseless


DailyCycle.jpg Cycles are eternal, universal, and simple. Cycles are obvious, undisputed, respected, and commonly worshiped. This examines in-depth the existence of cycles and their involvement in the Earth-human spiritual relationship.

Cycles taken for granted are lives.

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The most obvious and respected cycle to all of us humans is the day. We do similar things most every day. Eat, sleep, labor, learn.

The next most obvious and respected cycle is the waxing and waning moon (Lunar cycle). Lots of neat mythos relate to the full moon. The tides flow in concert with the moon's location.

The most celebrated cycle is the year. However, their accumulation is easily the thing taken for granted the most. We all have yearly celebrations, but our lives last on average only 67 of them (average human life expectancy). 67 is not a big number.

Just like the day, us humans do similar things almost every year. Probably the most obvious things are celebrations. Why celebrate? Events of meaning, of course. Most humans celebrate meaningful events, usually at least 1 meaningful event each year. Birthdays, holidays, anniversaries. These are very personal events, meaningful to a limited set of people. But, what about common events; events meaningful to a large (even very large) populace, perhaps even the entire human race?

The nature of the universe to us humans is simple. We are born, we grow, experience life, try to understand it, procreate, and die. The cycle of life from birth to death is a trait all humans possess. Each of us in his or her own time must come to terms with this fact of life. We are given this special life, this fight to exist. It is appropriate that we recognize it. Indeed, we should celebrate it!

SolarCycleSystem.jpg To Earth, a well-known cycle is the year. Ceaselessly spinning around the Sun, again and again, the Earth year is a fairly well-established cycle. Over thousands and thousands of them, the year has substantially influenced human life. (Hint, the year was here long before humans were.) We are part of this planet and this solar system. Regular daily sleep is required, we eat from the Earth's resources, the Sun gives us energy to live. Life would not exist without, at a minimum, both the Earth and the Sun. Earthly provisions and human sentience is a symbiotic existence. We take care of one another, and are given almost unlimited energy from the Sun. Within these relationships, humans are compelled to survive and be aware. Longevity demands it.

In recognition of this yearly cycle humans celebrate birthdays; an event that recognizes a human life-form born to this planet. This human-Earth relationship is a fundamental reality... and each of us usually celebrates it twice. Once for our birth, and once for each full rotation of the Earth about the Sun. What a wonderful existence this is for a life-form to willingly recognize the planet to which it was born.

Yearly cycles are easy to celebrate. There is enough time and environmental variety between repeating events for humans to crave them on an annual basis. It takes preparation and time to celebrate. Yearly seems appropriate. It's not too often. (My feeling is that spending every day preparing for a big event the next day would grow tiresome and repetitious.) However...

The daily cycle is also real. The Earth rotates daily providing daylight and nightlight. So, what about the daily cycle? What could be done daily to celebrate the daily cycle? In many religions a simple verbal recital is customary. Wiccans recite the Wiccan Rede. It is short, easy to memorize, meaningful, remembering, and respectful of this life.

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Each human life has a relationship with Earth. Each of us was born individually, each of us sleeps individually, and each of us dies individually. But, we have so many things in common. Paying tribute to our common traits seems relevant, and gives us an excuse to again celebrate life. Who doesn't like to have an excuse to have a party? Life is too short to not enjoy it. What common Earthly events can we celebrate together? We are already celebrating the yearly cycle, as a species and as individuals. These celebrations are too infrequent to gain a deep appreciation for life, given the limited human lifespan. Another trait we share is that each of our lives change. Given our close relationship with the Earth, what planetary changes exist for us to recognize?

How about the seasons? Too obvious? Too convenient? Undisputedly real. Seasons are a fine indication of planetary change, change essential for life to grow and thrive. Change is an interesting reality. If it's too drastic, life is upset, possibly eliminated altogether. If change doesn't occur at all, life stagnates and likely equally eliminated. Without planetary cycles, the Earth would either freeze or boil. Given the appropriate level of change, enough variety exists for life to thrive. As anyone can deduce, change is necessary for life to exist at all.

The Earth-human relationship is and remains at the origin of all human behavior. Seems like a basis on which common meaning can be found, thus common events can be derived. Less obvious items of meaning to humans include ancestry, worship, love, challenge, growth, luxury, necessity, and preparation. Every human has these traits to some degree, and they all derive from the Earth-human relationship. So, upon the items of common meaning are built common events, events that allow us to rest and honor the items of meaning.

These meaningful events are cyclical, to recognize the simplest most meaningful manifestation in my universe - the cycle.

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