By Kaifi Jamil Earth Day, as a national and international event, has been occurring for much longer than I have been alive, dating back to 1970. While I could have grown up with it in my youth, I did not become aware of it until the 2010s, when I became more conscious of climate change, environmental protection, and conservation. My interest in Earth Day and environmentalism also coincides with my conversion to the Druid way, a spiritual philosophy based on reverence for Nature, polytheism, and celebrating the cycle of seasons across the Earth. Its values and worldview make it a “living philosophy” and way of life rather than merely a belief system. Within this philosophy I celebrate at least eight high days, which are mainly the solstices, equinoxes, and four cross quarter days that occur between the astronomical dates. These eight points in the year are collectively known as “The Wheel of the Year” in the Druid way. I have learned to integrate Earth Day into this cycle as an occasion that I treat as another holy day, because its spiritual value arises from wanting to protect and conserve the biosphere of the planet. Since this event takes place on April 22 each year, it always falls between the Vernal Equinox (approx. Marcy 21) and Beltane (May 1). I observe most of the high days by practicing a combination of ritual, prayer, meditation, and observing the local ecosystem. I do this for Earth Day as well but especially appreciate the secular and public dimensions of this holiday.
Earth Day events often involve conservation-related volunteering, public entertainment, and educating the public about environmental concerns, all of which help the occasion to feel like a community endeavor, which I also appreciate greatly. In particular, volunteering and informal education strike me as the most meaningful ways to celebrate this occasion, and when I volunteer, I consider it a form of service to the Earth Mother and the Divine. Recently I have observed the effort to expand Earth Day into “Earth Month” for all of April, which helps to further expand its significance in the calendar year.
For me, the desire to conserve the natural world and its many species is based on an eco-centric worldview that considers humanity to be a small part of the vast landscape of the Earth and not its “most important” or most worthy species. The anthropocentric worldview is deeply embedded in human economies, cultures, and religions for millennia, but it is not the oldest value system if one considers ancient animist cultures.
When I reflect on the overall value of Earth Day in the context of my personal life, I emphasize its religious, ecological, and moral aspects most of all. I do not wish to politicize it in a partisan fashion, for this has already happened with the issue of climate change, to the detriment of the environmental movement. The religious significance of Earth Day arises from valuing the Earth as a sacred being Who is also our larger self. Its ecological importance comes from the fact that humanity is part of the biosphere and relies upon a habitable climate and environment to survive. And Earth Day remains morally crucial because if the Earth is sacred and essential to human flourishing, then we have an ethical duty to conserve the planet and its atmosphere so that future generations can thrive.
Kaifi Jamil serves on the Leaders in Energy (LE) Leadership team as a Research Analyst & Thought Leader and participates in the Ambassador and other LE activities. He is an environmental advocate who is passionate about promoting clean, renewable energy for the good of the American economy and health of the nation’s many ecosystems. Kaifi earned a Bachelor’s degree in political science from The Johns Hopkins University, a J.D. in law from the University of Maryland School of Law, and M.S. in computer science from Bowie State University. He previously worked in federal IT consulting before fully pivoting toward a green career. In his spare time, he is fond of visiting parks and trails to commune with Nature, hiking, Pilates, ecological volunteering, reading science fiction and fantasy, and spiritual philosophy.
