Word of Power

[cedar_grove]

Earth, holy mother, source of nature,
you feed us while we live, yu hold us when we die.

Everything comes from you, everything returns to you.
What else could we call you but Our Mother?

Even the gods call you that. Without you
there is nothing. Nothing can thrive, nothing can live

without your power. Queen and goddess, I invoke you:
you are all-powerful and my needs are so small.

Give me what I ask in exchange, I will give you
my thanks, sincere and from my deepest heart.

--Roman prayer to the earth.

How infrequently, however, do most of us today acknowledge this web that supports and sustains us? In many cultures, the first action each person took each morning was to bow in prayer to the sun and to the earth, expressing gratitude for the warmth and light that enlivens the planet, and for the earth's plentiful food and water. How rarely do we, today, follow such ancient practices?

There's a saying that always stuck with me all through my training and teaching of the Craefte. It was this: "Please and Thank you, are also words of power."

I am one of these rare few in life that has always, in some way, acknowledge these transitional moments. Oh not always with some grand gesture of bowing and scraping, but in some way perform some kind of morning and evening orisons, even it it's just a moment's thought, (and no - 'Oh God is it morning already?' doesn't count. Yes, from time to time, I ahctually stopped what I was doing, turned a specific direction and spoke some words that began, "hail to thee..." but not always. Sometimes its with a simple thought I've welcomed and respected and thanked the Old Ones as they reach out to help give us life.

To that end there's something very special about watching the sun rise, and well as pausing to watch the sun set. This was my morning and evening. Having gotten up early to type and talk with Mir, the sun slowly rising around the conversation was energising - a reminder that no matter where we are in the world, the same sun shines down on us... and to watch the sky darken, knowing that we survive under the same moon and stars. This was my day - my orisons - the memory I will take with me into the next morning.

Only trouble is, is that now, having been up so long - I'm tired.