posted March 11, 2003 01:49 PM
The River of LifeŠOnce a people lived along the banks of the river of lifeŠ
The river of life is a river of sweet water, that awakens the seeds of
spring and nourishes all growing thingsŠ
The river of life is a storm wind, blowing fresh across the earth..
The river of life is the deep molten fire that shakes the continentsŠ
And the people should have had all they needed for happiness and joy,
But they were plagued by a terrible monster, the triple-headed monster of
Greed, Hate and War.
Greed sucked up all the colors of life and wound them into threads locked
inside his fortressŠ
Hate severed the threads of love and taught the people to fear each otherŠ
War threatened destruction to anyone who opposed the monster¹s ruleŠ
And the people were separate, and afraid, and poorŠ
The threads of connection were frayedŠ
The fabric of care unravelledŠ
And War took the young and marched them off to slaughter and die in places
far awayŠ
Greed stole their future...
The river of life ran dry.
The women saw the springs go barren, the new sprouts fail, the trees die,
and the hills turn brownŠ
And they wept and mourned, and didn¹t know what to do.
The women, too, were divided, for some had more and some had less.
Old wounds and present injustices kept them apart.
But as War shook his fist, and threatened to unleash
weapons to destroy the earth.
The women heard the earth herself whisper,
"If you want to know where power lies,
Turn and look into your sisters¹ eyesŠ"
They turned to each other,
One woman said to another,
"Let me bind your wounds,"
"Let me bring you waterŠ"
"Let me dry your tears.."
"We must amplify love, and throw off dread,
Take back our power and spin a thread,
A life line, held in our strong hands,
A living web of shining strands."
And their hands remembered how to spin.
They spun freedom rising like the wind,
They spun threads of life, the cords of fate,
Rivers of love, stronger than hate,
They spun Justice burning like a flaming star,
They spun the peace that overcomes war.
"So come mothers and grandmothers,
Lovers and daughters,
Come spinners and weavers,
Tool makers, potters,
Dancers and dreamers,
Fixers and changers,
Singers and screamers,
Forget all the dangers,
Come ancestors, guardians, Goddesses too,
You who teach us, you who speak true,
You who plant, and you who reap,
You who soar and you who creep,
You who cook, and you who drum,
You who have been, and you yet to come,
You who fight with the sword,
You who fight with the pen,
Unreasonable women,
Unmanageable men,
Come harpies and banshees and gorgons and Witches,
Come sweet loving hearts and furious bitches!"
"Break the chains that have kept us bound,
Weave a web to pull the monster down."
"We are sweet water, we are the seed,
We are the storm wind to blow away greed.
We are the new world we bring to birth,
The river rising to reclaim the earth."
-Starhawk