Goddess Centered Practice
In the woods behind my house rest a collection of nine large flat rocks. Daily, I walk down to these “priestess rocks” for some sacred time alone to pray, meditate, consider, and be. Often, while in this space, I open my mouth and poetry comes out. I’ve come to see this experience as "theapoetics"—experiencing the Goddess through direct “revelation,” framed in language. As Stanley Hopper originally described in the 1970’s, it is possible to “…replace theology, the rationalistic interpretation of belief, with theopoetics, finding God[dess] through poetry and fiction, which neither wither before modern science nor conflict with the complexity of what we know now to be the self.” Theapoetics might also be described, “as a means of engaging language and perception in such a way that one enters into a radical relation with the divine, the other, and the creation in which all occurs.”
Poem: Under the Moon
Don’t mind me,
I’m out getting lost
under the moon,
watching bats wheel
and vultures go to bed
and listening
to whippoorwills and starsong.
Don’t seek me,
I’m dancing with sunset,
studying the shapes
of clouds and leaves,
serenading violets
and waltzing with wild berries.
Don’t try to tell me
what to do
or ask me when the taxes
are due
I’m busy slipping between shadows
and under raindrops
and finding out where the river flows.
Don’t worry about me
I’m dialoging with crows
and dandelions,
watching butterflies dance
and remembering the witching
that was lost
when we stopping looking for the moon
and forgot to listen to flowers.
Don’t call me back,
I’m uncovering magic
and remembering dreams,
following secrets laid down
by moss and mushroom
and tracking down wisdom
in holy books of bark and stone.
Happy Beltane! Two relevant side notes: my Facebook group is co-hosting an online Beltane concert/ritual with the incomparable Celia Farran on May 1!
I also have a free May Magic prayerbook available in my most recent newsletter here.
Comments
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Tuesday, 01 June 2021
Thank you so much! I didn't see your comment until today.
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Molly,
Loved the poem! Thanks for sharing the "May Magic" prayerbook with us, great stuff as always.