Song, Chant, Poetry, Stories and Satire for the Pagan Community

This entry made: 11/04/1997

Title: The Burning Times
Lyrics by: Charlie Murphy
Tune: original
Date:
Source: http://www.mudcat.org/cgi-bin/as_web.exe?April97+D+1654969
Recorded on: "Eye of the Storm," Jennifer Berezan; "Carry Me Home," Todd Alan; "Music Celebrating the Goddess," Triple Crescent; "Faerie Goddess," Elaine Silver
Subject: Burning Times

In the cool of the evening they used to gather
'Neath the stars in the meadow
Circled near an old oak tree
At the time appointed
By the seasons of the earth and the phases of the moon
In the centre often stood a woman,
Equal with the others and respected for her worth
One of the many we call the witches
The healers and the teachers of the wisdom of the earth
The people grew in the knowledge she gave them
Herbs to heal their bodies
Spells to make their spirits whole
Hear them chanting healing incantations
Calling on the wise ones
Celebrating in dance and song

Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Inana

There were those who came to power through domination
And they were bonded in their worship of a dead man on a cross
They sought control of the common people
By demanding allegiance to the church of Rome
And the pope declared the inquisition
It was a war against the women whose power they feared
In the holocaust against the nature people
Nine million European women died
And the tale is told of those who by the hundreds
Holding together chose their deaths in the sea
While chanting the praises of the mother goddess
A refusal of betrayal, women were dying to be free

Now the earth is a witch and the men still burn her
Stripping her down with mining and the poison of their wars
Still to us the earth is a healer, a teacher, a mother,
The weaver of a web of life that keeps us all alive
She gives us the vision to see through the chaos
She gives us the courage, it is our will to survive