It is November, a time of year that we are reminded to give thanks. The Haudenosaunee, though, practice giving thanks on many occasions, throughout the year. Their “Words Spoken Before All Others,” also called the Iroquois Thanksgiving, is a Gaian Litany. It offers thanks to Mother Earth and Father Sky, to land formations and bodies of water. To food and medicinal plants, and trees who offer shade. To the animals who burrow, swim, fly, those who are furred and scaled, finned and feathered. We as well can give thanks on many occasions ~ in fact it is our human responsibility to give thanks ~ in this way we help to hold the balance.
Let us step into earth’s sanctuary and begin to know the nature of each being, the qualities of each plant medicine. Learn the names and ways of these other than human persons ~ this litany of wild saints. Bring joy and gratitude. Call the names of these beings; know they are listening, they understand. The language of the heart needs no translation. May this Gaian litany be
Invocation; to call forth
other-than-human presences.
Invitation; to join in the great
conversation of beings.
Participation in a living
geography
botany
zoology
cosmology
a vocabulary of Oneness.
This is litany in its most untamed and fecund form. Call the names of
land formations
water mothers
plant beings
animal cousins
fire spirits.
A ripple of gratitude echoes toward the past, refracts into the future. The long round of time glistens with a thread of human remembrance.
Litany is creative word
Word is animate being
Being is the breath that sings
among us.
Let us sing their names as we walk.
This is from my book A Litany of Wild Graces
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