From: casspa@CSOS.ORST.EDU (Paul Cass) Subject: Crones & Geezers and Virtual Ritual Date: 15 Aug 93 23:23:51 GMT In article <6461@cruzio.santa-cruz.ca.us>, wrote: >>A great horned owl hoots in the night. >CASSPA> A great horny coot howls in the morning. > Crone Heather throws Geezer Casspa a wicked sidelong glance and they > share an ancient chuckle. > Everyone shakes their rattles and beats their drums and emits their > toad-like calls. They all chant together, > Weave, weave, weave us together > Weave us together > In unity and love. > And as the chant grows in the night, a cone of power raises over the > ritual circle. The cone of power forms the image of the Goddess > Eris, complete with Golden Apple. > The chanters let the cone of power fly to the hot tub. The Goddess > Eris holds high her Golden Apple and the hot tub revelers are > stunned by the beauty of the glittering fruit. On the side of the > Golden Apple, the words "For the Fairest One" are inscribed in fiery > letters. The Goddess Eris (Crazy Woman) towers 30 feet above the > virtual hot tub. With a look of utter nonchalance, Eris tosses the > Golden Apple square in the middle of the hot tub. Before the melee > erupts below, the towering Goddess of Chaos vanishes into the light > of the Crone Moon. > How will the revelers solve this ancient puzzle? > > Back at the Circle, Crone Heather's eyes glitter with suppressed mirth. > "The heyoka energy is powerful tonight," she says, "Coyote is on the > prowl." > "Who wants to lead the next chant?" asks Crone Heather, "Paul? > Sandra? Triona? Toad? We have space for all ritual, all > visualization, all meditations here. This space is safe, this space > is open for creation for all." > This space is open for YOUR ritual, whatever it may be. > Heather Madrone I don't have a ritual to share just now, but I do have a poem by Joanna Macy that I would like us to read aloud. Bestiary short-tailed albatross whooping crane gray wolf peregrine falcon hawksbill turtle jaguar rhinoceros In Geneva, the international tally of endangered species, kept up to date in looseleaf volumes, is becoming too heavy to lift. Where do we now record the passing of life? What funerals or farewells are appropriate? reed warbler swallow-tailed butterfly Manx shearwater Indian python howler monkey sperm whale blue whale Dive me deep, brother whale, in this time we have left. Deep in our mother oceani where once I swam, gilled and finned. The salt from those early seas still runs in my tears. Tears are too meager now. Give me a song...a song for a sadnessi too vast for my heart, for a rage too wild for my throat. anteater antelope grizzly bear brown bear Bactrian camel Nile crocodile American alligator Ooze me, alligator, in the mud whence I came. Belly me slow in the rich primordial soup, cradle of our molecules. Let me wallow again, before we drain your swamp, before we pave it over and blast it to ash. gray bat ocelot marsh mouse blue pike red kangaroo Aleutian goose Audouin's seagull Quick, lift off. Sweep me high over the coast and out, farther out. Don't land here. Oil spills coat the beach, rocks, sea. I cannot spread my wings glued with tar. Fly me from what we have done, fly me far. golden parakeet African ostrich Florida panther Galapagos penguin Imperial pheasant leopard Utah prairie dog Hide me in a hedgerow, badger. Can't you find one? Dig me a tunnel through leaf mold and roots, under the trees that once defined our fields. My heart is bulldozed and plowed over. Burrow me a labyrinth deeper than longing. thick-billed parrot zone-tailed pigeon desert bandicoot Southern bald eagle California condor lotus blue butterfly Crawl me out of here, caterpillar. Spin me a cocoon. Wind me to sleep in a shroud of silk, where in patience my bones will dissolve. I'll wait as long as all creation if only it will come again ~ and I take wing. Atlantic Ridley turtle pearly mussel helmeted hornbill sea otter humpback whale monk seal harp seal Swim me out beyond the ice floes, mama. Where are you? Boots squeeze my ribs, clubs drum my fur, the white world goes black with the taste of my blood. gorilla gibbon sand gazelle swamp deer musk deer cheetah chinchilla Asian elephant African elephant Sway me slowly through the jungle. There still must be jungle somewhere, my heart drips with green secrets. Hose me down by the waterhole, there is buckshot in my hide. Tell me the old stories while you can remember. fan-tailed flycatcher flapshell tortoise crested ibis hook-billed kite bobcat frigate bird In the time when his world, like ours was ending, Noah had a list of animals, too. We picture him standing by the gangplank, calling their names, checking them off on his scroll. Now we also are checking them off. ivory-billed woodpecker brown pelican Florida manatee Canada goose We reenact Noah's ancient drama, but in reverse, like a film running backwards, the animals exiting. ferret curlew cougar wolf Your tracks are growing fainter. Wait. Wait. This is a hard time. Don't leave us alone in a world we have wrecked. -- * * * * * * * "It is possible to join forces, to identify common goals, and to agree on common action." - U.N. World Commission on Development and Environment casspa@jacobs.cs.orst.edu