#6 Ritual of Spring

 Yesterday I went into the forest with my harvesting basket for a spring ritual ~ gathering the abundance of green food Gaia pours out each spring.  A carpet of green to walk amidst, graze while gathering, curl up and nap upon.  To dream wild dreams and waken with breezes ruffling my feathers. Back indoors for alchemy: making wild greens pesto!  A bracing spring tonic.

 As I walked and gathered, I greeted each congregation of plants by name and asked permission to harvest them for my human beloveds.  A joyous “yes” whispered around me and among the trees.  Here are the wild beings I gathered: chives, onions, dandelion, garlic mustard, wood sorrel, violets, chick weed, corn salad, and the tiny bright green buds of our hemlock tree, for a lemony twist.

 Would you like my recipe?  No measurements, just go by taste!

---lots of spring greens: stuff them into the blender

----fill the blender about 25% with fresh olive oil

---add balsamic vinegar, less than the olive oil

---a few tablespoons sweet sherry

---as many garlic cloves as you like, maybe 4 or 6

----a handful of walnuts

Blend till smooth and creamy.  Add water bit by bit if too thick.

Taste and adjust as needed

 

And here, an excerpt from A Litany of Wild Graces: Meditations on Sacred Ecology.  More poems?  Check the Books page.

 

Remembering native people

and the timeless girl

at the spring, I bring

a child of five years. 

We sing offerings and prayers,

gather spring greens. 

I recite their names: 

a litany of wild saints. 

She repeats:

Shepherd’s purse

Cleavers

Chick weed

Wild Onion

Violets

Watercress.

Green words of resurrection,

resilience.  The mountain and

her people are still here.