The Old Religion Poem by Mary Champion

Oh, Mother Earth!

In ancient times,
when we were young,
we knew you as our Mother.
We feared you
and gave you due reverence.
We knew that you nourish us
with the bountiful harvests of your body.
You revive us
with the streams of living water
that spring from your mysterious depths.

When we burrowed beneath your surface,
Seeking those materials
that our essential nature drove us to employ,
then, when we had fashioned these treasures with our hands,
we returned a portion to you,
in grateful thanks.

And we knew, Great Mother Earth,
in those ancient times when we were young,
that in death we must return to you
to await rebirth.

Oh, Mother Earth!

As our infancy progressed towards adolescence
we became arrogant
and began to take you for granted.
We treated you, in the time honoured teenage way
as an hotel.

We plundered you greedily,
far in excess of our needs
and gave no thought
to the harm we did you.

Great Mother Earth!

Now, at last,
we are beginning to learn your Wisdom
we are beginning to see',
but still too blinded by our greed,
to live in accordance with our new perception.

Oh, Mother Earth!

Who is there to lead us out
of this wilderness of our stupidity?
Who will remind us how much we need you?

We look to the lifeless planets of our Solar System,
and imagine we can find new worlds
to rape and pillage and plunder.
But there is only you!
You are all we have
you are all we need.
The only Living Earth -
Our Mother!

You fashioned us to be your Saviour,
but we are become death!