Prayers for the Earth
We live in a time when it is now more important than ever to rise above the sense of separateness from the natural world. We are invited by Native Americans and Indigenous peoples from around the world, poets, and mystics to become aware of the inter-connectedness of everything and everyone in the universe: The Oneness of the Circle of Life
Examining our world, we can see clearly everything that needs our care – the land that feeds all creatures, the air we breathe, the water which gives us life – and we know in our deepest spiritual self that life is sacred and we are each responsible for doing our part to live in harmony with the earth.
This we know: the Earth does not belong to us; we belong to the Earth. All things are connected, like the blood that unites one family. Whatever befalls the Earth, befalls the children of the Earth. We do not weave the web of life; we are only a strand of it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.
Come add your Prayers for the Earth and the life she gives to all as we drum, sing and dance ours prayers into sacred actions that will heal all creation.
Children are welcome to participate.
“The beauty of the trees,
the softness of the air,
the fragrance of the grass
speaks to me,
the summit of the mountain,
the Thunder of the sky
the rhythm of the sea
speaks to me,
And my heart soars”
-Chief Dan George
“Air, water, plants, animals and humans give themselves to each other. It is in this giving-themselves-to-each-other that we actually live.”
-Kodo Sasaki
An Iroquois Prayer
We return thanks to our mother, the earth, which sustains us. We return thanks to the rivers and streams, which supply us with water. We return thanks to all herbs, which furnish medicines for the cure of our diseases. We return thanks to the corn, and to her sisters, the beans and squash, which give us life. We return thanks to the bushes and trees, which provide us with fruit. We return thanks to the wind, which, moving the air, has banished diseases. We return thanks to the moon and the stars, which have given us their light when the sun was gone. We return thanks to our grandfather He-no, who has given to us his rain. We return thanks to the sun, that he has looked upon the earth with a beneficent eye. Lastly, we return thanks to the Great Spirit, in whom is embodied all goodness, and who directs all things, for the good of his children.
“Sowing the seed,
My hand is one with the earth.
Wanting the seed to grow,
My mind is one with the light.
Hoeing the crop,
My hands are one with the rain.
Having cared the the plants,
My mind is one with the air.
Hungry and trusting,
My mind is one with the earth.
Eating the fruit,
My body is one with the earth.”
-Wendell Berry