Agriculture: The Root of Our Humanity and The Path Back to Humility
Photo by Rachel Claire
Introduction: The Origin of Agriculture
Agriculture is one of the most fundamental pillars of human civilization.
Agriculture comes from two simple ideas: ager, which means land, and culture, which is how we grow and create.
Put together, agriculture is really about cultivating the land.
But it’s more than just the art, science or practice of farming—it’s about our connection to the earth and how we live and grow alongside it.
Just as a seed is planted in the soil, watered by the rain, and nourished by the earth to grow into itself.
This same process is how we grows as humans—our creativity, emotions, and physical energy all coming together to bring something, ourselves, to life.
At its core then, agriculture isn’t about the food we grow—it’s deeply connected to who we are and how we grow as human beings.
After all, at our core, we are the earth itself.
To truly grasp the importance of agriculture is to understand our relationship with the ground beneath us along with the heavens above as we are part of all of it.
The Greeks called the spirit of the earth Gaia, seeing the land as something alive and sacred. The Egyptians had a similar idea, calling the earth gayab, blending the physical and the spiritual.
For them, farming while rooted it survival—became about something greater than themselves as they looked to the heavens to make sense of the cycles that they experienced here on earth.
Agriculture then becomes where it all begins—our relationship with the earth, our food, and even the way we ourselves as part of the world.
The Eternal Connection: Water and Earth
It was just the other day, I was listening to a song a friend sent me, and it shared a truth that stopped me in my tracks: the water in our bodies is the same water that’s been here since the beginning of the earth.
Think about that—there’s no such thing as “new water.”
The same molecules that flowed through the ancient rivers flows through our very veins today.
And it’s not just the water. The minerals, the elements, and the soil that made up the earth in its earliest days—that’s what makes up our bodies too.
That realization is humbling, isn’t it?
It’s a reminder that we’re not separate from the earth; we are the earth.
The very same matter that existed at the dawn of creation is in us now. Agriculture, then, is so much more than a practice or a science—it’s a reflection of that truth. It ties us to the rhythms of nature and invites us to remember that we’re not just living on the earth.
We are the earth.
Agriculture as a Sacred Act
When we fully understand this, something shifts. Agriculture becomes more than planting crops or growing food.
It becomes a sacred act—something that mirrors how we cultivate ourselves and our connection to the cosmos.
Every step we take, every choice we make, and every harvest we gather, whether literal or metaphorical, is connected to the very foundation of who we are and the story of creation itself.
This connection—simple yet deeply profound—is where everything begins.
Without it, we lose our footing. We become disconnected from what truly sustains us, not just physically but spiritually.
Reconnecting to it doesn’t just help us survive—it helps us thrive.
Agriculture then teaches us to how honor the cycles of life, to align with the rhythms of the earth, and to see ourselves as part of something infinitely greater.
Becoming Agriculture: The Human-Earth Relationship
Our earliest ancestors were shaped by the earth before they ever began shaping it.
They lived with the land, gathering fruits and using mud as camouflage for survival. That mud protected them from animals and insects, and over time, it became a symbol of who they were—“the people of the wet land.”
We evolved to use its resources to create tools, homes, and even a sense of culture. What started as a way to survival evolved into something bigger: the beginnings of civilization.
The mud that once served as protection became the foundation for everything—used it to build houses, clay tablets, vessels, and other tools.
Agriculture then shifted as it wasn’t just something that shaped humans, it became something humans learned to shape.
This very act began to deeply connect us to the earth’s cycles and rhythms in a whole new way, it was now not just for our own survival, but became information that helped us to manipulate and manifest it in a way that could have been perceived as becoming like God.
Manipulating Nature: A Double-Edged Sword
We have always worked with the earth to meet our needs and desires, whatever we perceive them to be.
In the beginning, this meant living in harmony with the land simply because we had no choice—it was only about survival. Over time, through our innovation and creativity, we began manipulating the earth in ways that allowed us to shape it to our own advantage.
One example of this is how we have selectively bred plants to grow better food.
This early practice once done by individuals or small communities to make gradual changes aimed at expansion and survival, has now evolved into modern biotechnology, where we optimize food in far more advanced and potentially devastating way.
However what is driving this behavior is the same, the only difference is the scale and the organizations behind it.
Today, corporations manipulate our food and the systems that produce it, driven by the same motivation to optimize and maximize—but now rooted in corporate profit rather than just survival.
While the human behavior behind agriculture hasn’t changed, the scale and the organizations driving it has. This shift prioritizes predictable outcomes and profits over our connection to what truly supports our well-being, the earth, and all living things in it.
As we’ve evolved, we’ve developed tools and systems that allow us to bypass nature’s natural cycles—cycles that, in the past, were essential to avoid things like famine. Back then, rituals and ceremonies helped people stay connected to themselves and the wisdom of the earth to stay in harmony with it.
Today, modern agriculture no longer includes these practices. While they may not seem necessary with our current understanding of farming, their absence leaves us disconnected from the deeper relationship with the earth that agriculture once represented.
While this may continue for some time, due our current agriculture being far removed from the true essence of economy, as was explored in yesterday’s post, it will not be able to sustain itself indefinitely.
In time, as we can already see, the cracks in this model will continue to be exposed, revealing the need for a system that truly honors the earth, our bodies, and the interconnected well-being of all, causing us to once again return and look towards our innate intelligence for solutions that will last the test of time.
The Need for Making it Make Sense
This isn’t about blaming or demonizing anyone from the past or present. It’s about recognizing our journey as a species—how we’ve taken what we’ve experienced and tried to make it work for our highest good.
At its core, this journey is driven by our most basic desire: to survive and live another day, while also striving for comfort and the best life possible, all within the limits of our own emotional, mental, and physical capabilities.
This drive, shaped by what we define as ego, has always been about making sense of our existence in a way that meets our needs and desires—a pursuit that remains just as relevant today.
However, this egoic structure, rooted in the illusion of separation, has led to devastating disconnection.
It’s what drives the cognitive dissonance at the heart of the dysfunction in our modern society today, where the drive to optimize our existence has prioritized self-interest over connection, creating the existential concerns we face now.
Yet, no matter how disconnected we may feel, or we may get, we are always of the earth—connected as one—bound by nature’s rules, which will inevitably seek balance.
Interestingly, this intellectual experience of separation has also provided us with the awareness to see ourselves as part of the earth once again.
It’s our drive to make sense of things—what some call the need to create meaning—that has been with us from the very beginning.
That same drive is still here today, and it’s why content like this and understanding agriculture—our foundation—is so important. Before we can create something better, we first need to understand where we are now and recognize how this is an evolved state of what our ancestors once believed.
By honoring what made sense to them, we can now reshape what makes sense to us today and create a better future. If we demonize their actions, we risk creating the opposites—extreme things—that would only perpetuate the same patterns of disconnection and disfunction.
True progress lies in understanding, honoring, and building upon the wisdom of the past to create balance and connection moving forward.
Ascension Into New Solutions
To find new solutions, we must look inward and reconnect with our innate intelligence.
However, this is easier said than done. Modern society has deeply conditioned us—biochemically, neurologically, and behaviorally—creating patterns that block access to our inner wisdom.
As a result, we collectively operate in ways that undermine our overall well-being and innate needs.
Egoic structures, often shaped by trauma, lead to cognitive dissonance and maladaptive strategies, further disconnecting us from ourselves.
This disconnection is reflected in much of what we see in today’s mental health struggles.
At it’s worst it becomes those who develop narcissistic tendencies who operate in ways that further perpetuate trauma and harm to those they are connected with.
And for many in addition to these traumatic dynamics, remain locked in cycles of poverty and limitation due to the constraints of our current economy, which prioritizes profit over collective well-being and self-actualization.
We’re at a point in our evolution where we can draw from the wisdom of history to embody what has always driven our species—the desire and drive to create what could be seen as heaven on earth.
Peace, love, equality and harmony for all.
But this will never come by way of escaping reality but only by means of transforming it.
Much of modern spirituality, though aimed at addressing pain and suffering, often end up creating communities that reflect the very systems responsible for the problems they seek to solve.
True ascension as a species won’t come by was of leaving the earth, and it’s problems behind, by obtaining some level of enlightenment.
It will only be by becoming deeply rooted in the earth that we recognize we’re not separate from it and begin to truly align with its rhythms, honor its balance, and transform how we live in harmony with ourselves and the world around us compared to seeing how we can escape through the form of spirituality.
Humility: The Path Back to Ourselves
The word “humility” comes from the Latin word humus, which means ground or earth and relates to this concept of agriculture.
Humility is about returning to our roots and recognizing our oneness with the earth.
It’s not about rejecting material possessions or living in poverty, which is a common misperception that began in the Middle Ages.
Instead, it’s about bending low, and both honoring and connecting with where we come from and who we are—earth.
When we kneel on the ground, it allows our egoic structure to connect with ourselves and what has always been this source of our nourishment.
Simple acts that humbles our ego, allow us to break down patterns that keep us feeling separate from ourselves, each other, and the divine.
It’s a reminder once gain, that we are the earth, and the earth is us.
We must truly get this before we can ever go on experiencing and expanding into anything else
Just like a tree can only grow taller by deepening its roots, we can only rise as much as we are firmly grounded.
Before we can expand into higher levels of consciousness, we have to embrace what it means to exist.
Reconnecting with the earth is how we reconnect with ourselves which is not something our egoic structure really has the means to understand. This is due to the way its been programed and patterned through modern society and education system.
Every action we take on the earth is a reflection of our selves.
When we remember this we find the true path back to our wholeness.
The Call to A Return
When we honor the natural cycles of sowing, growing, and harvesting, we honor not only the earth but also ourselves and the divine essence that flows through all things. These cycles are not just practical—they are sacred and ultimately rhythms that will lead us to ways that will sustain us, connect us, and root us into the truth of who we are.
This is the foundation of a civilization we need. We are at a critical moment in history.
The systems, including our own, now bypass’ earth’s natural systems, and this disconnection as we can se in the world, has devastating when we no longer live in alignment with the wisdom of the earth—of ourselves.
Every impact, imbalance or moment a pain we witness or experience is a call to return—a reminder that we are not separate from this planet but part of it.
To truly transform the way we live, we must answer this call. We must see that our actions on the earth reflect who we are. We must choose to honor the cycles of life, to reconnect with the natural rhythms that sustain us, and to see ourselves as stewards of this incredible place that we call home.
This is a call to no longer retreat or escape but to rise by way of bending low. It’s a call to plant the seeds of change, to nurture the soil of our lives, and to harvest a world that reflects the harmony and balance that we are so desperate to create.
This is the path forward. This is the path back to ourselves.
Inspired Ideas To Embody This Content:
Intimately Connect with Your Food
Intimately connect with your food and how it sustains you. Consider what you are consuming where it comes from. If it comes directly from the earth honor those who made this possible.
If it modified food to fit the demands of our current culture, honor our egoic structure driven that made it possible to have these kind of advancements and see how embodying this content will help guide humanity to more supportive innovations.
Avoid demonizing food and instead, shifting to focusing on building a deeper connection with it and finding the empowerment to choose the food that is in alignment with our highest values.
Incorporate simple choices like seasonal produce or even something as essential as drinking water by finding a natural spring. By connecting more intimately with our food, no matter what we are eating, we also more intimately connect with ourselves.
Foster Intentional Connection with the Earth
Set aside time to physically and intentionally connect with the earth.
This could be as simple as going on a walk, or standing barefoot on grass, or could even even be tending to a plant
These moments of grounding help you feel the energy of the earth and these small act of mindfulness fosters humility and gratitude and foster a connection to earth that over time will become a way of being.
Embrace and Practice Humility
Connect with what it means to you to live with humility—not as a denial of yourself, but as a way of recognizing your connection to something greater.
This looks like working with the patterned and programmed responses of your egoic structure that keeps us separate from the truth that we are part of all of the earth and not separate from it.
That means what happens to me is what is happening to everyone and everything. And that what is happening to others is something that is happening to me too.
When I begin to connect with humanity in this way, and humble myself, it looks like taking meaningful actions that supports myself and others, and it could also look like simply slowing down to appreciate the cycles of life.
Humility invites us to return within and remind ourselves that we are not promised a tomorrow.
As always, let’s co-create in this space together and build it into something that inspires, challenges, and transforms us. I encourage you to share your thoughts—on social media, in comments, or however you feel called to engage. Thank you for your time, attention and devotion to consuming this content.
With all of Me for All of Us,
@iamjenajena
If interested in consuming the Path to the I Am video #182 that inspired this post click here.
