Sacred Fire

How the Universe Doubled – November 2021

From Sacred Fire, 1998, by Nancy Wood

 

The doubling of the Universe took place when people

were sleeping, except for a few old women

who remembered how passion was created

to save the world from boredom. In dresses

made of spiderwebs, those old women

 

Sang a love song, heard from star to star and tree to tree,

even from fish to fish and blossom to bee.

Those who were in tune with one another

responded, and those who were not

slept their lives away. As the old women

 

Watched, the heat of love expanded, on and on, with colors

so bright they singed the edge of indifference

in one night. The Universe doubled

with the passion of those old women,

who believed the power of their feminine selves

would overcome

the doubtful hearts of men.

The earth is all that lasts – December 2020

From Sacred Fire, 1998, by Nancy Wood

 

The Earth is all that lasts.

We who have been asleep for years

return to plant seeds in abandoned gardens.

We summon the rain and beg for the sun

to release its energy to our care.

 

The Earth is all that lasts.

We who were flattened by our inability

to rise above the wreckage of the past

are eating shadows

in order to stay alive.

 

The Earth is all that lasts.

We who were invisible, except

to those with similar vision,

stand here possessed by our old lives.

We are unwilling to disappear from our origins.

We have replaced shame with serenity,

doubt with desire.

Our skin is bursting with new muscle.

We are one with snowmelt and with Fire.

Seekers of Unearned Wisdom – July 2019

From Sacred Fire, 1998, by Nancy Wood

 

Seekers of unearned wisdom,

inhabitants of the original emptiness,

what are you doing among our people,

trying to discover our secrets of tranquility?

 

You who want everything fast,

you don’t have time to wait for

eggs to hatch. Sunsets take a long time

to appreciate; so do migrating geese, or

the way a leaf unfolds. Sit quietly

on a rock and feel the pulse

of Creation. Take the temperature of Earth

 

By placing your fingers inside her sacred body.

Let us bless you with the Circle of Life

and teach you how to sit still while moving.

You won’t last long unless you forget

how unimportant

is the importance of your time.

The Fire of Life – April 2018

From Sacred Fire, 1998, by Nancy Wood

 

Every day I bathe myself in light

and write my name in stars across the sky.

Every day I am the Fire of Life, burning

with the intensity of the Sun. The Wind cannot

 

blow away such passion, nor can Rain drown

the ash of love, knowing it will burn again.

Every day I bathe myself in light and dance

 

to the music that rivers make on their

way to the sea. The Earth hears my prayers

and gives my body a familiar form,

feminine in nature, strong and surviving.

 

Every day I write my name

in stars across the Universe: I am love.

The power of my flame

rises with the fury of my dreams.

Animal Wisdom – March 2018

From Sacred Fire, 1998, by Nancy Wood

 

At first, the wild creatures were too busy

to explore their natural curiosity until

Turtle crawled up on land. He said:

What’s missing is the ability

to find contentment in a slow-paced life.

 

As the oceans receded, fish sprouted whiskers.

Certain animals grew four legs and were able

to roam from shore to shore. Bear stood

upright and looked around. He said:

What’s missing is devotion

to place, to give meaning to passing time.

 

Mountains grew from fiery heat, while

above them soared birds, the greatest

of which was Eagle, to whom penetrating

vision was given. He said: What’s missing

is laughter so that arguments

can be resolved without rancor.

 

After darkness and light settled their

differences

and the creatures paired up,

people appeared in all the corners of

 

the world. They said: What’s missing

is perception. They began to notice

the beauty hidden

in an ordinary stone,

the short lives of snowflakes,

the perfection of bird wings, and

 

the way a butterfly speaks

through its fragility. When they realized

they had something in common with animals,

people began saying the same things.

They defended the Earth together,

though it was the animals who insisted

on keeping their own names.