ИСТИНА

Long time before the emergence of agronomy and soil science, people interacted with soils as a part of landscape, as a source of food, as an object of labor application in agriculture, and as the final destination of humans after death in many cultures. The perception of soils in ancient times was mythological as well as rational, and some echoes of its perception in a mythic context still exist in human culture. Recently the ecosystem services concept became popular in the studies of the nexus between humans and nature, and so-called “cultural ecosystem services” have been declared as an integral component of the value of ecosystems. But the importance of soil for the cultural heritage of our civilization is still not properly addressed. There is a common belief that spiritual and religious soil functions were important at the early stages of the development of humankind, or in present “primitive” cultures. However, also present world religions are partly based on the early generic beliefs, and contain some rituals related to soil. The soil is the place where dead people are buried. It was considered being the place of chthonic gods/goddesses, ancestor souls, local spirits, and uncanny creatures, but also of the not yet born life: the inner earth is in this regard a symbol of the deep netherworld. Because of this archetypal and ambivalent web of meaning which persists in known religious traditions as well as unconsciously in humans, many people have a rather negative attitude to soils. On the other hand side, the imaginary of a Great Mother who spends food from the deep earth and soil to humans, got a new meaning, when agricultural civilizations emerged in the Neolithic revolution. The dual, ambivalent mother godhead, giving and taking life, was considered to show its cruel face especially when not respected as she should, when there was no offering and no sacrifice to her: Then she sent illness or madness, starvation and death. The mythological understanding of soils has not only historical value; it is still alive in human culture. Unfortunately, in the modern urban subcultures people do not regard soil as “Mother Earth” and a cradle of food; in contrast, soil is either associated with dirt, dust, death and diseases, or just “functionalized” in a superficial way as a service provider. Strong efforts are needed to bring understanding of the importance of soils for humans, and old fairy tales and myths may touch people where popular science books do not.