 |
 |
 |
|
Corn Dance
Meredith was roused from these dark visions by a rattling sound. Wearing masks, the women filed into the cave, led by the tallest. They stepped in a snake-like motion, circling the fire, dancing and chanting, and carried ears of blue corn with dry yellow husks, which they rattled as they walked.
Masks
As they came close, Meredith could see that the old women were wearing the masks of beautiful young maidens with smooth and gleaming black hair falling down below their shoulders, and fine robes adorned with black triangles, red squares and turquoise stripes, tied at the waist with braided bands.
The maidens paused for a moment, then continued their dance, three times around the circle one way, then reversing direction, three times around the other way, shaking their corn rattles and chanting, swaying and bobbing their heads.
At last their leader Gray Dawn stood forward to speak.
Bountiful Harvests
Gray Dawn, dressed as a beautiful young woman, raised her blue corn rattles high in the air. She lowered them suddenly, shaking the husks, and stamped on the ground. Three times she repeated the shaking and stamping.
"Mother Earth," she prayed, "look upon your children with favor. Grant us bountiful harvests and plentiful game."
Forgive Our Brothers
Gray Dawn paused for a moment, thoughtful, then said, "Oh! Great Mother, forgive your foolish human brothers for their blindness and greed, for despoiling your sacred body and wasting your precious gifts of oil and metal, for cutting down the trees which shelter and protect the earth and keep the air pure, for poisoning your fish and game, your oceans and rivers."
She looked around at her people gathered there and spread her arms, praying, "Mother Earth, may you be cleansed and restored, and freed from this suffering and death, and may you once more bring forth joyful and abundant life as you did when the world was young."
Meredith, listening, was moved by the thought of the suffering of the earth. An image came to mind of her own mother's suffering. She was deeply troubled by the vision and desperately wanted to run in search of her lost mother. But her attention was drawn to Gray Dawn who said, "Our cousins the Navajo sing this Song of the Earth:
Now the Mother Earth,
And the Father Sky,
Meeting, joining one another,
Helpmates ever, they.
All is beautiful.
All is beautiful.
All is beautiful, indeed."
Sobbed Miserably
Meredith listened, and her heart melted. All the grief that she had bottled up for so long, that she had repressed so that she could work, that she had transformed into an urgent driven obsession to save the world from eco-disaster, to keep her from feeling loss, came bubbling forth. She sobbed miserably, shedding bitter tears. She missed her mother and father terribly. If only she had had a little more time with them.
Tell Her We Love Her
However, before long the tears began to wash away her terrible grief. She turned her attention to Gray Dawn who was saying, "Father Sun, as you shine upon Mother Earth each day, give her your strength. We pray for her to be healed and to live again in all her glory. Tell her we love her. Tell her we honor her."
And now Meredith felt, with these words, that if her mother were suffering, at least her father would be there to comfort his wife.