Reflections: Harvest Gathering

By Morwen Two Feathers, 1998

For many years I have walked my Path

Attuning to the cycles, the rhythms, the songs and stories of the land and sky

Inspired by the Old Religion of Europe

To work with the elements, the directions, the circle

I let my ceremonies arise from my heart

And my rituals are good, and Spirit works through me.

I rejoice to find similarities

Between my ways and the old ways

Of the original people of this land.

It tells me that the Spirit we each serve

Is the same Spirit.

 

I am saddened that this fundamental truth

Is lost among the pain

That still lingers, the legacy

Of history.

 

But still, this is the truth:

I follow the ways of Spirit.

I do, I will, and I have an absolute right to

• do ceremony and ritual in circle, in my own way
• work with animal guides and helpers
• work with the plant teachers
• work with the stone people
• work with the drum in a sacred way
• honor the four directions and the Wheel of Life
• give offerings to the ancestors, and to the land

 

These ways are not stolen

Not even borrowed

They have been given freely

Directly by Spirit

 

Spirit speaks to anyone

With heart and mind open to hear.

No one people

Owns the ways of Spirit.

 

I pray that the wound be healed

That we may walk together

Side by side

Each in our own way

Honoring Spirit in each other

And doing the work that must be done.

 

So mote it be.