Musings

She Is

She is the singer and the herbalist
She is the addict, the counselor and the cook.
She is the survivor and the activist.
She is the one who looks like a delicate page,
or a tender Sir Galahad.
She is tall and gangly with long coarse hair.
She is heavily jeweled and her thighs are dimpled.
She is strong jawed and beige skinned.
She is dressed in tie-dye and sensible shoes.
She is pretty with a golden mane
that flows when her shoulders rock with laughter.
She is turbaned and squeaky voiced.
She is big and dark with spikes for hair.
She is young and smooth and ovaled.
She is solemn and
She is silly.
She is gentle and she is rough.
She is frail and she is tough.
She has nothing to do with the models
she's been shown.
She's a real woman.
She is Real.
She is.

- Beverly Tricco

I see the Goddess
In my mind
I close my eyes
An angel appears
I take her into me
Breathing in light and love
expanding
Knowing that I am the next generation
of Light Beings
In this body
On this earth
Co-creating the future

- Teresa Marie Verde

Burning Times

In the cool of the evening they used to gather beneath the stars in the meadows, circle near an old oak tree at the times appointed by the seasons of the Earth and the phases of the moon. In the center often stood a woman equal with the others and respected for her word, one of the many we call the Witches, the healers and the teachers of the wisdom of the Earth. The people grew through the knowledge she gave them, herbs to heal their bodies, spells to make their spirits whole. Hear them chanting healing incantations calling forth the wise ones, celebrate in dance and song.

Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Inanna

There were those who came to power, domination and they bonded in the worship of a dead man on a cross. They sought control of the common people by demanding allegiance to the church of Rome. And the Pope declared the inquisition. It was a war against the women whose power they feared. In this holocaust against the nature people, nine million European women died. And the tale is told of those who by the hundreds holding together chose thier death in the sea while chanting the praises of the Mother Goddess. A refusal of betrayal, women were dying to be free.

Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Inanna

Now the Earth is a Witch and the men still burn her, stripping her down with mining and the poisons of their wars. Still to us the Earth is a healer, a teacher, a mother. She's the weaver of the web of life that keeps us all alive. She gives us the vision to see through the chaos. She gives us the courage, it is our will to survive.

Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Inanna

- Charlie Murphy 1980

Back to Book of Shadows

Back to A Pagan Place