First the disclaimer: today’s blog is a product of my own heart and in no way reflects the policy of this conservation organization. Joshua’s Trust is apolitical and non-denominational and is not affiliated with radicals or crazies. Even retired ones.
Only the Yippiest among you will remember the exorcism and levitation of the Pentagon from October 21, 1967, and the chant “Out, Demons, Out”. Led by Ed Sanders, poet, author, and co-leader of the band The Fugs, the group of hippies, leftists, and anarchists actually got permission to raise the building off the ground – but only 10 feet. You can’t make this stuff up. FYI – it didn’t work (and there still seem to be some demons around).
The idea and structure of this current prayer, as well as some of the words, come from Ed Sanders’ incantation at that event, updated for this new century and new challenge. Take it as my response to the despair we all may feel at times. I ran it by Sanders when I wrote this for the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day – which crashed and burned because of the Coronavirus. He approved, so I revive it again now. As Ed suggests: “Nonviolent direct action. At once.” That’s what we do at Joshua’s Trust each day, isn’t it? Thank you all. Bless you. (Go ahead, recite it out loud. It won’t hurt.)
Let us join here today in a planetwide community, young and old, to demand the healing of Earth. With howling trumpets, with crying violins, with our enraged voices, we hereby offer this fervent litany. With the energies of seeing, touching, singing, working, and loving, we invoke the limitless powers of the cosmos to bless our holy ceremony.
In the many names of the ever-breathing planet: In the name of Gaia, in the name of Pan, in the names of Yoruba Orisha and Magna Mater, in the name of all the creatures who have lost their habitat, in the name of all living beings killed out of greed, convenience and fear.
In the name of sea-born Aphrodite, in the name of the Apple-Tree Man and the Dryads and Naiads, in the name of Yahweh, Jesus, Allah, and of course Dionysius. In the name of Artemis, in the name of Papatuanuku, in the names of Ashoka-sundari, Saint Francis, and the long-gone nymphs of Yasgur’s Farm.
In the names of Prithvi, Abnoba, Viridious, Neptune, Kali, and Tuli, in the names of Anubis, Asimov and Abbey, in the names of Eisely and Emerson, Carson, Leopold, and the Area 51 Elvis is Alive coffee klatch.
In the name of the unnameable, we call upon the Great Spirit. We call upon the Spirit to come down as warm jungle rain, to swim out of deep turquoise waters, to rise up from fire-filled Earth.
In the name of the eternal cycle, where all good things come around again, we call on you now. We call on the bees and the trees, and the rhizomes that remember, we call upon the Woolly Mammoth and the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, we call on the volcano and the glacier and the lightning, and the comets that bring life – help us defend the Earth. Heal the Earth. Heal the Earth. Heal the Earth.
George Jacobi
With every year it seems the threats against the Earth, or nature, or the environment, or whatever you chose to call it grow stronger. The management of climate change is now a major concern and will require our best efforts. Meditations and prayers on Earth Day are a good reminder that we all share the same planet and should join together to protect it.
Thanks George, and Ed!
Write on, fight on.
First April Fool’s Day, then Earth Day. I insist on an article about Walpurgisnacht!