Gaia Speaks

Mother of All © Thalia Took

by FireHawk

Background
According to the Greeks, in the beginning there was only formless chaos. From this chaos a form arose, it was Gaia. She is without doubt a mother goddess. She created the earth (her body), the heavens, and time. The Greeks thought her to be the "primeval prophet" and the inspiration for the oracles at Delphi andDonona along with others. The Greeks swore their most sacred oaths to Gaia even as Zeus ruled the pantheon on Olympus.

Her Story
Look with your eyes, you will not see me. Listen with your ears, you will not hear me. But open your heart and I am everywhere. I am all of creation. All things are part of me and I am in all things. I gave birth to the sky, my body is the earth. From my womb sprang all matter of creatures. All things in the known universe come from me and some things that are known only to me. Since I existed before time I am not controlled by it. It is not my mistress, it is my child.

I am birth, I am life, I am death, I am rebirth. All things are of me and all things return to me. I reclaim what I have gifted with life and give it life again. Life begins as primordial pudding in the dark, the all-consuming dark. There it is nurtured & protected as it flourishes and grows. When I add the spark of mystery, it takes a form and becomes its own destiny. When it has completed its cycle, it returns to the dark, the all-consuming dark to rejuvenate, regenerate, and be transformed to be born again.

All these things are of my creation. I even gave birth to the gods that challenge me and contest my sovereignty. They are but rebellious children that think they know best, and who think they have improved on the design. They think that they are all powerful but fight amongst themselves and with their mortal cousins. I fear that many seasons will come and go before they meet themselves coming from another place. Do not take me for a foolish and weak mother, know that just as easily and quickly as I have given life, I can reclaim it. I always reclaim my children, sometimes in season, and sometimes not. I will protect my children from harm, even when those who would harm them are also my children.

You say to me, "Mother, how will I know when I have found you, how will I know which words are yours?" I say to you, look into the stream, see the fish swimming by, there am I. Hear the sparrow singing its sweet song in the tree-tops, there am I. Be witness to the lion taking down the antelope and devouring it, there am I, and there am I. From the soft April breeze that tickles your cheeks and fills your nostrils with the newness of spring, to the harsh winter wind that freezes your cheeks and burns your nose, there am I. From the babbling brook to the raging floodwaters, there am I. From the warm summer sun that makes my children whimsical and just a little lazy to the forest fire that transforms everything in its path to ash and charcoal, there am I. From the mightiest of mountains to the tiniest grain of sand, there am I. From the most gargantuan of whales to newborn minnows, there am I.

Everything you see, everything you touch, everything you smell, everything you taste, everything that your senses can contain and more, there am I. Dishonor me and you dishonor yourself. Honor me and you honor yourself. Treat me well, for I do not take kindly to belligerent children.

Graphics Credits