Who gives us life–
you have many names–
the seed, the root, the vine, the flower in the field,
the lily, the rose, the fertile garden,
the cedar, the cypress, the cherry, the tree of life,
the fountain, the dew, the living waters,
the cloud raining upon the earth,
the lighthouse, the harbor, the shell and the pearl,
the star of the sea, the cresecent moon,
the morning star, the air we breathe,
the cup, the vessel, the channel, the conduit,
the food of the spirit—
You need no kingdom.
You belong to everything,
the very elements that make up
the earth and the cosmos.
You bestow mercy and grace to all,
saint and sinner alike,
rejecting both power and glory,
vengeance and servitude.
May we honor your gifts
with gratitude and humility,
mending and treasuring
the fragile balance
that sustains them.
We remain, stubbornly,
Human
Dear Humanity,
Open your eyes and your hearts.
Honor and practice what preserves life
not what destroys it.
Take only what you need,
and return as much as you can.
Be patient and persistent
and don’t lose hope.
I remain, forever and ever,
Your Mother.
NaPoWriMo asks us today to write an exchange of letters.
Also linking to earthweal. Did you know it’s Earth Month?
K. 
I was going to say this reads like a litany of the names for Mary. Then I saw the second image. I wonder if she’d been there at the beginning, as would have been logical for a mother goddess, whether Adam and Eve would have been kicked out of the garden?
Nature doesn’t go in for that kind of arbitrary punishment, but we certainly do.
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I’ve always been amazed at all the nature lore around Mary/Marian. There are Marian Gardens all over the United States. Her many names are just a reflection of that. It’s clear where her origins lie.
I never thought about a mother goddess at Eden, but of course she must have originally been there…but of course the Patriarchy Ego must erase her, along with her compassion.
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I was interested to read somewhere that the Holy Family stuff was cobbled together by the Roman Church to convert the pagans. The German, Norse and Celtic tribes refused to worship a god who didn’t have a mother, and a father god who didn’t have a wife. They wouldn’t believe in it, nor that the mother could be airbrushed out of the picture. And they liked things to come in threes. So Mary was grudgingly conceded as Jesus’ mother, though not as The Mother, on a par with The Father.
In my experience, that distinction never had much weight. God was Jesus and the Holy Family was the important thing and the hundreds of saints. The metaphysical Jesuit stuff about Holy Spirits and God the Father who had a son who wasn’t really human and who died but didn’t really, is just not worth beating your brains up about.
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You can’t think about it too hard. But I agree, Mary is much more important to a lot of Christians than God. He’s someone off in the distance; she is part of their lives. That’s why her symbolism is so much richer.
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Wonderful, Kerfe–both the litany of praise and her response. And your art, of course.
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Thanks Merril. I saw a post about Earth Day, which made me think of how to honor the earth.
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💙
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Thanks for the reminder, I’ll do something for Earth Day next week. Poems to the Mother — like this one — would very much belong. (Mothers are so patient with their errant kids!) –
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Thanks Brendan. It took an internet story to remind me about Earth Day as well. I hope we are not wearing out Her patience!
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She is one forgiving mother. If only there was no need for that forgiveness.
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If only…
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very powerful poems … it seems that greed and devices have blinded us to our current reality, timely reminder!
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Thanks Kate. We do need to get outside of ourselves.
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absolutely, take care Kerfe!
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“Take only what you need,
and return as much as you can.”
Yes. Enjoyed this, Kerfe.
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Thanks Charlotte.
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This all works very well together as a seamless piece. Great slide show on the video.
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Thanks Jade. Not all the prompts work for me, but thus one did.
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You’re very welcome. You know Our Mother well.
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I do.
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The Mother of God. How I see Her. We can think of Her as the Origin of Everything. She’s been reduced to one small planet (earth) by the patriarchy. I found a chant called Adi Shakti that helps to bring the idea of Her back home. Loved the artwork.
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Thanks Petru. She’s been reduced but she hasn’t gone away. That gives hope.
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I see Jane mentioned the garden of Eden. There’s a similar folktale in the Grimm’s collection.
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Ahh. Reassuring. Thank you.
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Thanks Manja.
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“You need no kingdom.
You belong to everything…”
Aaahhh. Precisely, simply and beautifully stated. ❤️
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Thanks Bela.
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‘We remain, stubbornly,
Human’
That’s really the problem and possibly the solution isn’t it?
It’s comforting to imagine nature as a forgiving mother who is always willing to offer us another chance.
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We don’t deserve it, but we need it.
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