development being rooted in traditional Christianity, see farming as a religious act because of the belief that the Supreme Being has commanded them to till the earth and have dominion over it. The farmers grow their crops and organize their fields parallel to the control that their Supreme Being has over them as humans or mortal beings. Everything done is in respect to the powerful one and that they have blessed the people of the land with the gift to food and essentially energy and life itself. There is also a strong religious connection with agriculture within the Pagan groups who believed that their connections with the spirits would create a positive relationship with the land. Many rituals surrounding the planning for planting seasons and harvests along with corresponding feasts rooted many early agricultural societies with spiritual expressions. All of these practices all also corresponded with the natural cycle of the seasons or the cycle of life making the process of agricultural cultivation a very spiritual process. The Pagans even had specific gods and deities specifically related to earthly matters such as growth and creation. Historically it has been noted that Buddhist communities also faced hardship when their focus shifted to materialistic matters, yet were prosperous and happy during times of agricultural focus. There is also a myth grounded in the Aggañña Sutta which explains how the Buddhist people were able to grow and harvest food easily until they became clouded by "the selfish desire to control nature". External links Spirit of Agriculture - a blog detailing the concept of spiritual agriculture The Spirit of Agriculture.com - a web forum on religion, ethics and the agriculture/food system inspired by the book The Spirit of Agriculture (George Ronald, Oxford 2006) See also Religion and agriculture Fertility rite List of fertility deities Earth goddess Fall of man#Agricultural revolution List of agricultural deities References Spiritualism Religious studies