A Fierce Devotion to Earth Work, Integrity & Humility

There’s a part of me that wants to scream.

And I know that scream doesn’t come from bitterness or judgement. It comes from devotion.

A raw, bone-deep love for Papatūānuku for this sacred land, for the grids, the temples, the rivers and stones that hold our ancestral memory. No matter where our ancestors came from.

It’s not just this land sacred places all over the world are being remembered, honoured, and visited. But this whenua… this land… she holds me. She’s where I reside.

So I speak from here, from the soil beneath my feet, where my devotion is rooted.

It’s not that the rise in gridworkers and light beings is wrong quite the opposite. The collective is rising. People are remembering. The hard work is finally being done. 

We're being called to the waterfalls, to the mountains, to the lakes, to the ngahere (forest). Drawn to the sacred places where the veil is thin and the pulse of the earth is strong.

And that is truly a beautiful moment.

But what’s clawing at me  what’s sitting like a stone in my gut  is the energy of taking that’s quietly threading its way into these sacred acts.

I’m watching people visit powerful portals across Aotearoa and the rest of the world, doing energy work, holding ceremony. And yeah it looks stunning on social media. I keep asking myself, again and again:

Are we truly in reciprocity with the Land, or are we unknowingly re-enacting the colonizer mindset  just dressed now in crystals, offerings, and sage?

This isn’t about skin color. Colonization isn’t just a race. It’s a mindset.

A pattern. A trauma line.

And it can live in anyone who hasn’t stopped to unearth it from the roots.

And here’s the uncomfortable truth: spiritual ego is sneaky.

It can dress itself in feathers and flowy skirts.

It can whisper, “I’m doing this for the Earth,”

when really, it’s craving an energy high. A hit. A powerful post. A moment of transcendence not true connection.

So here’s the fire I want to bring forward:

What are you GIVING before you take?

What are you offering in return for the energy you receive?

Not just a trinket. Not a shell, a flower, a crystal unless you’ve truly asked, felt, listened.

And does that offering belong to the whenua?

Will it nourish the ecosystem or harm it?

Let’s get really fucking honest. This right here this is what grinds my gears the most:

Are you leaving behind something that will decompose gently into the earth…

or are you unknowingly planting an invasive species in your so-called devotion?

Is your offering actually sacred or just rubbish dressed up with good intentions?

Are you scattering glitter, sequins, synthetic petals or shit that might choke the life from this land  while telling yourself it’s beautiful and meaningful?

Are you scrawling your name on trees or rocks, like some spiritual badge of honor?

Etching “I was here” like it means something?

I hope to hell you’re not. Not if you’re calling yourself a devotee of Mother Earth.

Because if you are honestly? You need a side slap and a long, hard look at your offerings.

That’s not devotion work. That’s ego working.

True devotion asks more of us. It demands we tread lightly. It calls for humility not entitlement masked as ceremony.

It’s asking:

• Do I need to be here or do I just want the energetic hit?

• Have I truly asked permission from this land?

• Am I leaving behind something that gives life or just something that makes me feel better about taking?

Sometimes the most sacred thing you can leave… is nothing.

Just your presence.

Your reverence.

Your silence.

Your breath in harmony with the trees.

Sometimes, energy work looks like picking up the rubbish others left behind.

It looks like tending to a place long after the rituals have ended.

It looks like not sharing the location of a sacred spot  because the mana is not yours to broadcast.

This is the question we must all sit with especially as earth devotees:

Are my footsteps honoring the earth, or are they imprinting ego into her soil?

It’s not enough to mean well. Intention is just one layer. The Earth feels our being, not our words.

And if we’re not checking ourselves  if we’re not pausing before we “activate” or “download” or “clear a portal”  then we are no better than the takers who came before us.

So if this makes you uncomfortable? Good.

That discomfort is your teacher.

Let it humble you.

Let it refine your practice.

Let it burn through the remnants of ego still disguising itself as spirit.

Because this work?

It’s not about you.

It’s about your relationship with Earth.

And that is sacred.

Leave only footprints. And make sure those footprints are prayers, not demands.