Wetiko: the Virus of Selfishness
When you look at the world today what do you see? What kind of world are we creating? What kind of problems do we face? And why do we face them?
There are many viruses affecting the world today but I believe the most deadly virus is that of greed and selfishness. Wetiko is a word that comes to us from the Cree Tribe of the Native American family of Canada. Wetiko is a word that refers to an evil person who never worries about the well-being of others.
For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
1 Timothy 6:10
In Paul Levy's book Dispelling Weitko, he writes there is a contagious psychospiritual disease of the soul, a parasite of the mind, that is currently being acted out en masse on the world stage via a collective psychosis.
This mind-virus—which Native Americans have called "wetiko"—covertly operates through the unconscious blind spots in the human psyche, rendering people oblivious to their own madness and compelling them to act against their own best interests.
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money."
Matthew 6:24
As a student of ancestral traditions of plant medicine, I have learned many things. Some of my favorite teachings are phrases we say such as:
Somos uno - which means we are one.
Aho me tequiase - which means to all my relations because we are all related.
Somos la naturaleza - which means we are nature.
These phrases represent a fraction of the lessons the elders of the tribes of North and South America have to teach and share with humanity. These are tribes that have lived sustainably with nature for thousands of years. And yet when the western world came to the Americas, we gave the tribes the name "savages". In my mind, savages live without respect for nature. Savages are infected with Wetiko. Savages are infected with selfishness and greed.
Let me list some facts:
The world is on the precipice of an environmental catastrophe.
Climate scientists warn us that we must maintain warming below 1.5°C but our current CO2 emissions are exceeding that threshold.
From transport and housing to food production and fashion, our current civilization is driving climate and ecological breakdown.
Who are the savages living without respect for nature?
In 2014, the top carbon dioxide (CO2) emitters were China, the United States, the European Union, India, the Russian Federation, and Japan.
Perhaps it's time for us to look in the mirror and ask ourselves:
Am I living from a place of Wetiko?
Am I proud of the world I am building for my children and my children's children?
The universe is nothing if not poetic. It's fitting that the rise of the psychedelic revolution coincides with a mental health epidemic in the west. Westerns are seeking ancestral ways of healing because western medicine has failed them. Where are these westerners going to heal? They are going to the tribes. To the medicine women and men. To the healers who know how to use plant medicines for healing. To the "savages" who know how to live sustainably with nature. I wish we would learn to revere these elders and their ways. I pray that we will listen to them and learn what they have to teach us.
It’s no coincidence that almost every single sector of industry is contributing to the planet’s downfall, either. A deeper issue underlies our collective responsibility in the malaise enveloping the planet’s ecosystems: to cure the wetiko infecting the human spirit.
The insanity Paul writes about is the idea we are separate from nature. The idea we can use nature and bend it to our will is insane. We are made of the same air, earth, water, fire, and spirit. When we corrupt water and drink it, we kill ourselves. When we pollute the air and breathe it, we kill ourselves. When we tarnish the land and eat food from it, we kill ourselves. This is the definition of insanity and the meaning of wetiko. To truly bring ourselves into harmony with the natural world, we must return to seeing ourselves - the human family - as part of nature.
The sages teach: change yourself to change the world. So I will seek to eliminate the selfishness in my life. I promise to use my gifts, my talents, and my resources to do good and to give my life in service to make this world a better place for my family, for the human family, and for the next generation.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths
(Prov. 3:5-6)
Curing selfishness is not easy. For me, it begins with faith in a higher power and the knowing that this life is but preparation for the next. So I pray I can live my life in service to our creator and to our home mother earth. It is with this understanding, I make an intention to build businesses - not for the sole basis of profit - but for impact. And I pray that others do the same.
Without clean air, without clean water, and without a healthy earth, there can be no life.
☮️❤️