Looking through the creation myths of the world, we find a common thread. Humans and animals used to be brothers, sometimes even cut from the same cloth. Sometimes the decisions that humans made created an entire species of animal, sometimes we were able to change our forms at will and some of us decided to keep animal forms and some of us chose human forms. Some animals are still believed to be able to change their shape between animal and human.
Indigenous cultures often believed that all of life was family – we formed a Brotherhood of life. We have our animal brothers, our plant brothers, our Earth brothers, our air and weather brothers… we are family. All of these things are comprised of energy and life and we are all connected.
Naturally, “Brotherhood” here is used as a gender neutral term.
Brotherhoods are a special kind of relationship, though. Just like in our nuclear or heart families, we sometimes get along, we sometimes have conflict. Some of our brothers we’re closer to and some of our brothers we just don’t understand. Sometimes this changes throughout our lives as we learn, grow, and explore.
Recognizing the sanctity of life is an amazing step that we can take during our lives, and recognizing the sanctity of our Brotherhood is an extension of that. When we recognize the world around us not only as resources and experiences, but also kin and brethren, we deepen our connection to the Earth and all the life, in all it’s forms, upon it.
