We should remember that we are dependent on Mother Earth for all we have and give thanks. In particular, it seems fitting to begin work in a garden with an offering to Mother Earth, but whether you have a garden or not, you can do this as often as seems fit.
Sit or stand in the garden with a jug of wine. Open your senses to its sights, its smells and its sounds. Take your time. Now go deeper. Sense the life there – the plants and animals – and how it interconnects. Go deeper. Feel the life stirring in the earth, the source of all things. Feel the energy of the Goddess moving through it. Say:
Mother Earth, you are life, you are abundance,
You produce all in Nature, you produced me, your child.
You are first in all things, you surround me;
You are beneath my feet.
You give me the food I eat, the water I drink.
From you comes all I see, all that breathes.
Pour the wine on the earth (this is called a libation). Say:
Mother Earth, I give thanks for this place,
For the sun and the wind, the rain and the land.
Mother Earth, I give thanks for all that lives here,
The winged creatures, the crawling creatures,
The flying creatures, and the four-legged creatures.
Mother Earth, I give thanks for all that grows here.
Blessed be.
Spend as long as you wish reflecting on this.
© Anna Franklin, 2022