because I have been given much a pagan reimagining honoring the goddess

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Because I Have Been Given Much

a pagan reimagining for Earth and Goddess

1.

Because I have been given much, I too must give;

Because of your great bounty, Earth, each day I live;

I’ll pour out gifts upon the ground,

And let my thanks in deed resound,

That all who thirst may here be found.

2.

Because I have been sheltered, fed, by your good care,

I cannot see another’s lack and I not share

My hearthstone warm, my barley bread,

My roof-tree’s blessing overhead,

That every guest be comforted.

3.

Because love has been lavished so upon me, Earth,

A wealth I know that was not meant for me to hoard,

I’ll give my love to those in need,

Shall show it by both word and deed:

Thus shall my thanks be thanks indeed.

4.

Because the Goddess walks the field in grain and thorn,

Because Her voice is in the rain and in the storm,

I’ll bow to root and branching vine,

Pour out the honey, pour the wine,

And honor Her in all that’s mine.

5.

Because Her dark and fertile womb gives life its start,

I’ll carry the Goddess deep in my blood, deep in my heart;

I’ll tend the fire, I’ll keep the rite,

I’ll dance the edges of the night,

And be Her hands in morning light.

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Pioneer Women Bled as They Walked

a reclamation of the pioneer women’s walk, in seven verses

1.

Pioneer women bled as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

Pioneer women bled as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

They bled from the womb and they bled from the breast,

And silently bore the weight of the west.

Pioneer women bled as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

2.

Pioneer women bore as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

Pioneer women bore as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

They birthed in the dust, and they severed the cord,

And buried afterbirth deep in the ford.

Pioneer women bore as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

3.

Pioneer women buried as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

Pioneer women buried as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

They buried their babies in shallow graves,

And marked them with stones that the prairie gave.

Pioneer women buried as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

4.

Pioneer women rose as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

Pioneer women rose as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

They rose from the birth-blood, they rose from the clay,

The Goddess within them refused to decay.

Pioneer women rose as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

5.

Pioneer women kindled as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

Pioneer women kindled as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

They kindled the ember of moon in their breast,

And suckled their daughters with fierceness, not rest.

Pioneer women kindled as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

6.

Pioneer women became as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

Pioneer women became as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

They became the wild roots, the storm, and the stone,

They carved their own names into marrow and bone.

Pioneer women became as they walked and walked and walked and walked.

7.

Pioneer women still walk when we walk and we walk and we walk.

Pioneer women still walk when we walk and we walk and we walk.

Their blood is the river we carry inside,

The strength of the women who never died.

Pioneer women still walk when we walk and we walk and we walk.