The oldest religions on our planet are not the “great world religions” of Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam and Christianity, but the religions of the native people of the Americas, Africa, Ancient Europe, Australia, Polynesia and Asia. In these religions one finds deep memories of what essayist Frederick Turner calls “aboriginal mother love.” These religions arose in cultural periods that were matrifocal. They reverenced Mother Earth and her fruitfulness: they were nondualistic in their celebration of their celebration of the “sacred hoop” that binds all creatures of the earth together – the rock people, the cloud people, the tree people, the finned ones, the winged ones, and the two-legged ones. By following the cycles of seasons and harmonizing with the wisdom of Mother Earth they shared in the family of creation.
The Coming of the Cosmic Christ by Matthew Fox, p. 24