Invocation

Cullasaja Falls

Invocation  

Come be with us,  Mother Gaia.
Come be with us and among us.
Do not hover around us like a pale mist.
Do not settle on our shoulders                          
as though You’d fasten wings on us.
Do not dare us to fly.
Instead, grow infinitely slowly, from below.
Come to us through the soles of our feet,
from the souls of our beings.
Come up from ten thousand leagues,
from Your own source, Mother,
from the imagination’s fire, beyond perception.
Come up from Your flaming furnace, vermillion molten lava.
Radiate into our souls cell by cell,
so that walking is a pleasure,
so that leaping is a joy,
so we walk in beauty, connected to You,
returning when we will,
empowered with Your being,
earth made, dust to dust,
loving You, never to part.

Annelinde Metzner
June 28, 1992



From this invocation which I created in order to called forth the presence of Mother Gaia, the spirit of the Earth, I have taken some of the lines as lyrics for a choral piece, "Come Breathe With Us Gaia."   Watch and listen as my medley of three Goddess songs are beautifully performed by Womansong of Asheville at her 25th anniversary in 2012, with wonderful dancing by Shelli Stanback.


These songs and many others are available here on this site.   The songs in print, and including two CD's with the songs in parts, are in my songbook, "Lady of Ten Thousand Names."    Beautiful CD's and DVD's of our concerts are also available.  
       Simply click on the "BUY" tab above to access these items with Paypal.

Community garden

Community garden in Black Mountain NC

Community garden      

Do you love your little patch of Earth?
Does She feel you kiss her warm brown skin as you step?
Every day, do you thank Her for how she feeds you?
Go to the garden, and sink your fingers into Her living soil,
her rich humus full of life, and giver of life.
Plant some plants, plant some seeds!
What is a seed, what is it for your life?
Are there seeds, small sprinkles and dark, firm pods
planted in you, in your mind, in your heart?
Go to the garden, plant and share!
Watch each day for the new surprises She has in store.
Greens and all colors, and all for you to eat!
Grow just enough for yourself, your family,
and give some away.
Give some away until the joy of Her, of our Mother Earth
drips from your fingers like the juice of new grapes,
‘til the joy of Her sparkles in your eyes.
Give this away too, so whomever you meet
feels that energy, the energy of Her,
of Life, of resurgence and rebirth,
of all that returns when we bend just a little,
and plant.

Annelinde Metzner
Community Garden
May 23, 2013

Broccoli

Hoop garden

Herbs at the community garden

Gardeners hard at work

For all of us

Chickweed

For all of us

From our perch beside the little branch
behind boulders and an ancient root sculpture
in the brilliant new green of May,
we sit and see what there is to see.
Lichen of all colors,
flowery and tenacious,
spiderwort, chickweed (yum!)
and mean old poison ivy,
saying “hi” from the rock face
right behind our heads.
Though we are each sixty,
the boulders laugh out loud
at our foolish youth.
Watching and watching, we wonder
who in the woods is watching us?
Straight and low, a pheasant flies,
annoyed by our disruption.
I gaze and gaze, and suddenly there appears
a yellow trillium, the wood’s own gold,
singing her own song in the moist humus,
for nothing, for no one,
for all of us.

Annelinde Metzner
May 4, 2013
Little Pine

Red trillium (Wake Robin)

May apple

Red Oleander

Red Oleander

Red Oleander                                        

A salamander pale green as the new leaves of May

opens its orange lung-sac, brilliant, to the sun.

Three times at every pause!

In the breeze, red Oleander bends on her long stem, celebrating.

I am drawn down a quiet lane by the scent of jasmine

beguiling my heart, a path toward joy.

The dear Earth wafts up into me,

warm as fresh-baked bread,

filling my womb with Her love.

With my feet in the sand,

I pull Her love up into me,  to power my days.

Mother holds me tenderly, the mourning dove

in her palmetto-basket nest, giving, giving,

we Her babies, Her vast dream,

we Her future and Her now.

The black fin of a dolphin arises from the sea, ancient as days,

loving Her into the fathomless tomorrow.

Annelinde Metzner

Folly Beach

May 2010

Spring in Appalachia