What is Metal Gaia?
Welcome traveler! Here you will find an Earthy, Metal blog of sorts. In this blog I am exploring and looking for alternative ways of living amid what we call “civilization.” The modern day culture is one of toxic over consumption – and we accept this as the Status Quo. We’re so disconnected from the Earth and the natural in this day and age we might as well be living in a space station. Our animals (meat) is harvested and slaughtered by machines and laborers with sub-human wages. The clothes we buy and wear day to day and celebrate in the fashion industry are made by children overseas in sweat shops. Our key energy source – petroleum oil – is sustained by wars in the middle east (in which the U.S. government is killing 100,000’s and sending remote controlled drones to drop bombs on villages). This resource is choking the planet full of pollution and destroying the ecosystems that sustain us.
In short, our culture is a deadly, sick, toxic poison that is destroying life as we know it.
And if we are to cause a meaningful change, we can’t just change what we do, but we must change who we are on a deep fundamental level.
LEARNING FROM THE GREAT WORLD RELIGIONS AND PHILOSOPHIES
“We cannot invent our own values, because we cannot merely impose what we believe on our souls. This was Carl Jung’s great discovery.” – Jordan Peterson
Much of the ideas we accept as the status quo are actually very new in the scheme of history. And the jury is still out on whether these values are a failure or a success.
For eternal wisdom, it is best to examine ideas that have deep historical roots, ideas that are enshrined in the great religions or philosophies of the world. These values have lasted the test of time because they contain an element of truth, and a subconscious human understanding for nature’s laws.
In the past this blog had more of a pagan focus and was harsher on newer religions, but I’ve learned that this was an arrogant point of view. And even the newer religions on the stage of world history (like Christianity and Islam) have some wisdom that they learned from what came before. After all, if billions of people around the world follow these religions, they must also have a path to the truth.
I also no longer identify as pagan, but I think studying the world’s religions and the history of different cultures is still helpful. I now practice Islam. That word has scary connotations to people. But what it basically means is that I am a strict monotheist who wants to serve my Creator, and sees my Creator as something beyond male, female, human, or anything one could possibly comprehend. And I am interested in the brother and sisterhood of all mankind across the barriers of race, gender, class, or nation.
Around the world people are beginning to study different world religions, new and old and very ancient. All the religions of the world have important wisdom for spiritual growth—which is desperately needed in our time.
A picture of Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life
ANCIENT HEROES COME ALIVE VIA METAL AND ART
Underground music – most specifically metal – has embraced and celebrated many of the stories and themes of ancient Pagan Gods. Led Zeppelin incorporates runes in their band art. Amon Amarth celebrates the bravery of ancient vikings and the wisdom of the Norse Gods. Celtic and Viking warriors didn’t suffer fools.
RECONNECTING TO THE EARTH
So let us look to the old ways and find a new connection to our original mother, our Earth Mother. Let us honor her by asking questions, searching for truth, and finding alternative ways of living.
Metal Gaia 
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February 28, 2012 at 9:26 pm
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March 6, 2012 at 9:13 am
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March 19, 2012 at 7:24 am
You want a good Pagan Folk metal band..check out Eluveitie. They’re on my blog under the Music tab. They sing some of their songs in Gallish and embrace their pagan roots.
June 6, 2012 at 11:39 am
Awesome! Thank you! I’ll definitely check them out.
June 6, 2012 at 1:17 pm
I am so glad to have finally found a web page that speaks to me. I am no longer alone.
October 10, 2012 at 8:53 pm
Welcome aboard Phillip! Do you blog?
October 11, 2012 at 9:54 am
Awesome. Totally digging on this. Really happy you are combining so many things I love – Heathen/Celtic polytheism, metal music, rewilding/anti-civilization, kick ass women! Rock on! If you ever wanna contribute to the animist blog carnival please do! http://lifthrasirsuccess.wordpress.com/animist-blog-carnival/
I write Eaarth Animist http://lifthrasirsuccess.wordpress.com/eaarth-animism-tradition/
Grew up way off the grid in 70s, I used to be a rock journalist, my first exhusband was recently on Oz Fest tour, I honor Vanir, some Celtic, some Hindu, and some Vodou Deities as they ask me. Main commitment to finding the normal human ways of Paleo people as we’ll be there again soon, just with a much more sickly planet and people. Keep on writing!
November 8, 2013 at 4:02 pm
Thanks for checking out my blog! I just started following your blog and like your stuff as well. That’s so cool that you got to grow up off the grid. I’m jealous. I basically grew up in a city and then was moved to the suburbs to live in a townhouse. Never got to have the experience of living in the wild, except for the occasional camping trip. I’m definitely interested in learning how to live a much more natural life style though – in terms of finding out the ways of paleo people and so on. I would definitely love to live on a farm one day and raise my own chickens and grow my own vegetables.
I mainly worship the Celtic Gods such as Brigid and Ceridwen, but sometimes Odin has appeared to me as well. Lately though, I’ve had a Hawk Spirit visit most of my meditations and haven’t interacted with any human type beings. So I’m beginning to question if most spirituality is too human oriented, even Pagan spirituality.
But anyways, thanks for the add. I’ll definitely check out your stuff as well. I couldn’t find a place to contact you or reply to your post on your blog. You can private message me on the Metal Gaia facebook if you like.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/266929436743782/
November 8, 2013 at 4:10 pm
Oh yeah, I avoid ways for drive-by commenters to attack and run! LOL. animistblogcarnival@gmail.com
I ran away from fb because it stole too much time, time thief! 🙂
I was just reading about how all world religions are humancentric, but when you get back to gather-hunter indigenous people it is kincentric, focusing on the whole bioregion. I think we’ve become so divorced from the land that we cannot have relationships with animals, plants, land guardians, river Goddesses, and we have no tribe invested in a history with a place, so we have made all our myths (stories of belief and how to live) be about humans. More Neopagans know about Coyote than about coyotes.
Oh man I miss cities so much!!! I found they have more access to nature than the rural areas and for sure the suburbs. The grass is always greener on the other side! http://lifthrasirsuccess.wordpress.com/2013/10/24/we-environme/ talks about why I miss big cities. I’d move to Detroit if I could live in cities. Always has a killer music scene (Alice Cooper, MC5, Stooges, then the Detroit Cobras etc) and seems to be in DIY revolution of art and environmentalism and money and housing like NYC in 1970s-1980s before yuppies moved there. NYC was so cool when it was left for dead.
Gimme an email shout! Are you a musician?
November 9, 2013 at 4:58 am
Thanks for the email, I’ll respond to your questions via email.
November 10, 2013 at 4:16 pm
This blog has been very inspiring for me, thank you. I look forward to further reading 🙂
December 26, 2013 at 1:14 pm
Sure, no problem! Thank you for reading!
December 30, 2013 at 10:03 am
May i make a suggestion on your blog that you do what most people do. Don’t let comments automatically appear on your page but make it so you have to approve them, then you can trash the one’s that are from the kooks. Of course free discussion is a good thing and other’s points can be heard, but sometimes with me i just get enough is enough. You can even send them to your spam folder. I empty mine every day just to see how sneaky companies and others are and i think WP does a great job with spam. All you have to do is look that the url of the commenter to see where they are coming from. You have a great blog MG.
January 29, 2014 at 11:38 am
Yeah, I probably should be better about that. I am conflicted, because I don’t want this place to turn into an echo chamber or a circle jerk. But I really do need to get rid of stuff that is obvious spam or trolling – I am guilty of feeding the trolls, lol. They are like that goat who wanders around shitting on your yard, but you feed them anyways.
January 29, 2014 at 12:07 pm
I know you and i both want positive and negative feedback, but those xian trolls. Gods i hate it when they “like” a post just to get their Gravitar on yr page and the only way to stop them is track them back and harass them but then that is what those victims want and it is not worth my time. All i could do is turn the “like” button off but too many people like that. I prefer to comment myself.
January 29, 2014 at 12:47 pm
Hey MG – don’t know if u follow TWH but here is their new music post n some are pagan, have yet to check them out, enjoy. BSSS http://wildhunt.org/2014/02/pagan-music-updates-heather-dale-anilah-omnia-and-more.html
February 12, 2014 at 1:45 pm
Oh wow, thanks. I haven’t been posting much this week because I’ve been kind of under the weather, but I’ll try to post something soon.
February 12, 2014 at 2:50 pm
i haven’t been posting much either, working on a coven FB page https://www.facebook.com/gary.hoke.31 that is just for witches n pagans, not what so and so had for breakfast, lol, but i think you qualify so if u r on FB and want to befriend i would be honoured. have u ever been to our coven’s page? The FB page is just a bigger www footprint for that blog at http://covenofthecatta.wordpress.com/ take care and hope u find some good music there and i will explore it in the next few days probably during the storm tomorrow before i start shoveling again, arrghh when is spring coming or any temps above freezing, was minus 3 this am, arrghhh. Blessings and rock on.
February 12, 2014 at 3:11 pm
I’ll definitely check out your page. Blessings to you as well!
February 12, 2014 at 3:58 pm
I just sent a facebook friend request to the first link you provided, my facebook name is “Jessica Shred.”
February 12, 2014 at 4:00 pm
thanks for telling me, and if you want to delete this that has yr name on it feel free to do so as i have it now, otherwise i would have been like who is that?
February 12, 2014 at 4:38 pm
I like the wordpress page too. I just clicked follow.
February 12, 2014 at 4:01 pm
Thought you would find this of interest, makes sense to me, like a river off course the jet stream is shifting because of temps http://archaeologynewsnetwork.blogspot.com/2014/02/jet-stream-shift-could-prompt-harsher.html#.UwOO5oWylhU
February 18, 2014 at 12:52 pm
Very interesting. I think climate change is definitely going to cause more severe weather. Many people think it’s just about the planet getting hotter, so when several snow storms happen they discount planet change. But they don’t understand that it’s actually about weather instability – which creates more snow storms, more hurricanes, more droughts and so on. Thanks for the link!
February 18, 2014 at 12:54 pm
MG – my gf was headed in her home health job to some fundy schitzo xians and singing “Just like witches at black masses” and i cannot find what Oz song it is? Is part of the War Pigs album? can u send me the link? Tnx.
February 27, 2014 at 9:16 am
Yeah, it’s from Black Sabbath’s War Pigs.
February 27, 2014 at 10:55 am
Thanks Goddess of Metal and Wood.
February 27, 2014 at 11:49 am
Haha, no problem.
February 27, 2014 at 11:59 am
I’ve been following your blog for a while and absolutely love what you do here.
With that in mind I wanted to give you a little signal boost by nominating you for the Witchy Blog Award. Congrats!
http://stoneofdestiny.wordpress.com/2014/09/01/things-overdue/
September 1, 2014 at 3:41 pm
Thank you so much. I’ll try to answer these questions in due time. I appreciate it!
September 3, 2014 at 10:27 am
Awesome, just totally Awesome. 🙂
November 13, 2014 at 6:15 pm
Thanks!
November 14, 2014 at 10:19 am
MG – it appears you do not follow The Wild Hunt so i wanted to send you this link to an environmental book and their review of it. Enjoy. Lee / BSSS http://wildhunt.org/2014/11/guest-book-review-this-should-change-us.html
December 2, 2014 at 8:21 pm
Ahh, I have just started reading your blog, and I have thought it is fantastic! My wife and I have been searching for something post-Christianity, and something Earth related feels more natural – being a part of a nature instead of apart of nature. Anyway, thanks for all this stuff, and keep it up! It helps us, especially as we attempt to get our feet more grounded in something more… true.
July 23, 2016 at 10:13 pm
Glad you like it!
July 24, 2016 at 12:41 am
Looking forward to reading more of your blog…this is right up my alley! Seems like it’s hard to find women who are into metal (at least in person) – so I am very happy to see you!
April 4, 2017 at 2:06 pm
Glad you like my posts!
April 4, 2017 at 2:08 pm
Hail and Howdy!
Interesting reading. I’ll have to find time to delve deeper!
September 18, 2017 at 12:30 am
Thanks for reading!
October 9, 2017 at 12:42 am