We seek renewed reverence for the biosphere as
the ultimate context for human existence....
We seek renewed reverence for the biosphere as
the ultimate context for human existence....
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Pantheist Relicsby Harold W. Wood, Jr.
Most religions have some sort of "holy relics," sometimes condoned by the Church, sometimes not. In traveling in Buddhist countries, one frequently encounters temples which are said to house something like a lock of hair of Buddha, or perhaps a piece of bone from a holy saint. The same thing is found throughout Europe in old Catholic churches and cathedrals. If Pantheists have "holy relics" as well, it seems to me they are primarily things that work against human hubris - against the self-idolatry that humans are the end and crown of creation. There are some fascinating artifacts on our planet that help us realize that the human race is not the center of the Universe after all. Here are a few of my proposals for Holy Relics -- let's see if any members can contribute some further nominations! Sequoia giganteum - the Earth's most massive living being. Although some plants are said to be "larger" in the sense of covering more acreage of real estate (e.g. soil fungi found in the Great Lakes region), and other organisms are older (the Bristlecone Pine, Pinus longaeva , with trees in excess of 5,000 years; and the genetic material in certain creosote bushes, Larrea tridentata, which grow in large concentric rings that may be over 9,000 years old), the sheer size of these trees helps to put us in our place in an obvious and direct way understandable to everyone, not just scientists. The southern Sierra Nevada range of California is the home of these ancient trees. The General Sherman Tree is the largest, found in Sequoia National Park. Methanococcus jannaschii - a strange microbe that was recovered just recently by
the deep sea vessel Alvin from a volcanic vent on the Pacific floor. This microbe
lives at crushing pressures 245 times greater than at sea level and at scalding
temperatures just a few degrees below the boiling point of water. The microbe belongs to
an ancient kingdom of organisms known as the Archaea, often found in extreme environments,
like hot springs or deep sea vents. Despite their obscurity, the Archaea constitute a
third kingdom of life, alongside the Prokarya, cells like bacteria that have no nucleus,
and the Eukarya, organisms with nucleated cells, which include all plants and animals. Allan Hills 84001 (ALH84001) - a Martian meteorite found in Antarctica recently reported to contain the indicia of life within its rocky mass. During an exhaustive study of minuscule fissures in the surface of the Mars rock, a team of NASA researchers found what they say could be fossils of tiny extraterrestrial organisms stuck to the surfaces. These "carbonate globules," as they are called, formed perhaps a billion years more recently than the rock. According to a report in Science, the researchers studied thin samples that included the preexisting fractures and found clear distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). These organic molecules contain multiple connected rings of carbon atoms. On Earth, PAHs are found in ancient sediments as fossil molecules resulting from chemical changes that took place in the remains of dead marine plankton and early plants . A series of contamination checks and controlled experiments indicated the organic material in the meteorite was not a contaminant of Earthly origins.. However, further study is necessary to determine whether these PAH's may have instead been formed during early star formation by non-biological means. As indicated by author-scientist Carl Sagan of Cornell, "If it is truly a microfossil from ancient Martian history, it is a transforming discovery in the history of science. Not just that, but it provides a profound perspective on our place in the universe." "Pantheist Relics" |
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