December 10th 2008
The remnants of their bodies can not be forgotten,
Their souls lay,
Their souls lay,
In each particle of the Earth,
The sand and dirt of the desert,
The dirt and rich soils in the forest,
The mountainside particles of crumbled rock,
The sand on the shores of lakes,
Oceans,
Seas,
Tumble,
Turn,
Twist,
Flow,
Catch on the breeze or gust of wind,
Particles on our hands,
As we touch each particle of sand,
To listen,
The remnants of their bodies can not be forgotten,
Tress grow from their remnants,
Grounding into Mother Earth,
Reaching up to Gitchi Manitou,
The food we eat comes from the rich soils and sands,
Grounding our energy in a vibration of harmony,
Of balance with Gitchi Manitou,
Of Mother Earth,
The remnants of their bodies can not be forgotten,
In all that we see,
In all that we do,
In the tale,
In the wisdom these remnants hold,
All around,
A new light,
A new way,
Honored,
Heard,
Seen,
Felt,
Touched by body,
Mind and spirit,
If we listen,
The remnants of the bodies forgotten will be known.
6 voices speak:
This is truly beautiful and amazing!:)
"The remnants of the bodies forgotten will be known."
...gives me shivers.
Spoken like an invocation - you are invoking your power for sure.
In ritual when invoking the Earth we say, "stones and bones, stones and bones"
This acknowledges that it is the infinite bones of our ancestors that make up the ground we walk on.
Sloth Womyn - Yes, it really is an invocation! See I don't know much about Wicca/Pagan traditions but I feel like I know it through my poetry and meditation. I am glad that I am learning more through your blog.
Although my tradition is a western one, pagan is defined as "non-christian". So any Earth centered tradition could be considered pagan. I can see from your writing that there is a very common thread that runs through these Earth Centered traditions even if they are from opposite sides of the planet.
However, it is important to add that it is not okay to use someone else' culture to further one's own religious goals. Ror example, I would NEVER claim to be a priestess in the Ojibway spiritual tradition just because I read a book on it. Nor would I dare to even invoke an Ojibway Deity in ritual. That is a form of exploitation that many "pagans" take part in, even if they don't know it. My tradition is rooted in Roman mythology, a revival pieced together from all that was left of a small, oppressed group that worshiped Goddess instead of God. I feel ties to Celtic tradition because my grandfather is part English and I remember small parts of past lives in that culture. I know many women who are white and invoke "Oshun" or "Yemaya" who are African Deities. I think that they don't really know what they are doing.
Sloth Womyn - I totally understand. Basically if you did take something from the Ojibway tradition to use in your spirituality/rituals/magick it would be cultural exploitation or cultural appropriation. In Native traditions this is a very sensitive issue because many people from the outside culture have or do appropriate Native cultures.
I am familiar with Yemanya, Oshun and many other Goddesses. I really feel that people need to get information from tribes, cultures and traditions and really respect/honor the information if they are going to use it in their rituals, etc. If the culture is appropriated it is not respect. It is also important to honor and respect the culture because of genocide and annihilation. It is like saying, what more can you take away from us? This is my critique of the new age community. Where did they get their information from, what are they using the information for and are they using the information for economic gain? One person I love to critique in regards to this is Doreen Virtue. She is a privilege white women who uses information from various traditions to make a profit and live in her plush home in Languna Beach, California. She is most definitely exploiting cultures and people for her gain.
This poem totally reminds me of Sleeping Bear Dunes. I don't know if you had it in mind when you were writing it, but the Michigan landscape really calls out to me as I'm reading.
Dolly - It is about Michigan indeed. I mean I have lived in Michigan most of my life. I love the land and water here. I am glad that you can feel that through this poem.
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