“Our ancestors held that both Spirit and the universe are eternal, but in dark times, both may be overwhelmed by fire and water. As we have grown in understanding, so has mankind, like the Great Spirit, developed the power to destroy by fire and water. But, like the Great Spirit, we may use our power, not to destroy, but to create and sustain. I pray that Spirit grant us the wisdom to nourish and sustain our Mother, the Earth, as she nourishes and sustains us.
May we always sow more than we reap. May we always recognize our kinship with all of Earth’s beings: with the stone ones that define this circle. The green ones that give us food and medicine, the feathered ones who carry our prayers to the heavens, the furred ones who are our guardians and guides, the scaled ones who slide between the worlds-all who grow or walk upon the earth, who crawl beneath it or fly above it, all who swim in her rivers, lakes and oceans.
I swear the oath our ancestors swore: If we break our covenant with Mother Earth and the creatures that the Great Spirit has made, may the ground open up and swallow us, may the waters rise up and overwhelm us, and may the heavens fall and crush us. So let it be.”
The setting is the ending of a Samhein celebration at Avebury Henge from the novel Overshoot by Mona Clee published in 1998. The book may be a work of fiction but eleven years later we find ourselves closer and closer to the latest incarnation of God’s Little Acre: west of the rock of rising sea levels and west of rock of rising temperatures. With just as many naysayers now as there were over a decade ago. Unfortunately the modern day Druid’s curse may end up falling on all of us; not just the blind ones who still believe that we can do whatever we want to our wounded earth and keep avoiding the consequences.
This is a better than average book by the way. Ms. Clee has an absolutely wicked sense of humor even when she is writing about the possible end of the world. It’s one of those books where you find yourself laughing because the humor is so wicked; but you’re tempted to cry because the books’ plot is so horribly possible. The main character is an eighty plus old gal who leads up a sort of commune near Oakland for the geriatric set called Withering Heights by the residents. San Francisco is half drowned and the rest of the Bay Area is was baked to a turn by the mid 2020’s.
You might be able to find a copy in the paperback section of a library and Amazon has used copies.
3 comments:
Those first few paragraphs really resonated with MY spirit. It is a much truer interpretation of our connection to the spirit world than any of our modern religions, at least in my view. I have to go get that book, now...
And do you ever want to just scream because the people around you don't see what you see?
More than once I've wanted to just cry out "don't you see it!!!!!!"
As a practicing Pagan, I find this to be right on...and it scares me.
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