The Earth as a Holy Place

'There is no state or condition more holy than the Earth.'
      - R. J. Stewart, Power Within the Land

    "The British write R. J. Stewart makes this firm and startling claim to counter the ways in which the physical world has been disregarded and disrespected for so many centuries.  He does not state that there is nothing but the earth, only that we should regard it as equally holy with every other realm.
    This is quite a difficult thing for may people to do, especially those raised in the belief that the earth and all its works are somehow spoiled from the outset and that the only holy condition is the heavenly one.  This concept and others like it have soured our relationship with the earth, causing us to abuse it as a commodity, a provider of resources, and a place to live our mundane lives as we wish.
    What is holiness, and how can the earth e said to be holy?  Holiness is nothing less that a condition of wholeness, completing, and attunement.  The earth is holy in that it is the womb of manifest life, the partner in holiness with the otherworld, which is the originative fructifier of life.  Both sides of this alchemical partnership are equally important, we cannot leave one of them out of the equation. 
    Awareness of the earth holiness and partnership with the otherworld is still possible, especially when we stand at a place on the earth where the veil between the worlds is thinner.  In such a place we can still intuit earthly holiness.  Even though the earth's survace has been abused, it is nonetheless a living womb of holy life, and we are its children.
    Meditate upon the earth as a holy place, and your own human state as a holy condition."
-  Caitlin Matthews, The Celtic Spirit: Daily Meditations for the Turning Year, 1999, p. 217

Caitlin Matthews, The Celtic Spirit: Daily Meditations for the Turning Year, Harper One, 1999

Walkers Between the Worlds:  The Western Mysteries from Shaman to Magus.  By Caitlin and John Matthews.  Rochester, Vermont, Inner Traditions, 1985, 2003.  Bibliography, index, 441 pages.  ISBN: 0892810912.  

     It seems to me that R. J. Steward is saying that the our experience of the 'Holiness' of the Earth is primary, fundamental, and superior to other experiences of 'Holiness'.  And, further, that there is "no condition or state that is more holy than the Earth."  

     Quibbling about the prose of such an inspirational writer as Caitlin Matthews seems rather petty.  However, for those whom the 'supernatural' seems a rather imaginary realm described by a fanciful collection of anthropomorphic stories, these otherworld realms and their inhabitants inspire less that the miracle of a plot of fava bean leaves glistening with dew at dawn.    

"This morning outside I stood
I saw a little red-winged bird
Shining like a burning bush
Singing like a scripture verse
It made me want to bow my head
I remember when church let out
How things have changed since then
Everything is Holy Now 
It used to be a world half there
Heaven's second rate hand me down
But I walk it with a reverent air
'Cause everything is Holy Now"

-  Peter Mayer, Holy Now