BURNING TIMES
Isis
Astarte
Diana
Hecate
Demeter
Kali
Inanna
Pan
Poseidon
Dionysus
Kernunnos
Mithras
Loki
Apollo
In the cool of evening
They used to gather
'Neath the stars in the meadow
Circle near an old Oak tree
At the times appointed by the seasons
And the phases of the Moon
Near the center of them
There stood a woman
Equal with the others
But respected for their work
One of the many we call the Witches
The healers and the teachers
Of the powers of the Earth
The people grew from the knowledge she gave them
Herbs to heal their bodies
Spells to make their spirits whole
Hear them chanting
Healing incantations
Calling forth the Wise Ones
Celebrating in dance and song
(Repeat chant of names)
There were those that came to power
Through Domination
And they bounded in the 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 Witches
Whose powers they had feared
It was all a cause
Against the Nature People
Nine million European women died
And the tales were told of those
Who by the hundreds holding together
Choose their death in the sea
Chanting the praises of the Mother Goddess
A refusal of betrayal
People were dying to be free
(Repeat chant of names)
Now the Earth is a Witch
And the men still burn Her
Stripping Her down with mining
And the poisons of their wars
But to us the Earth is a healer
Our teacher, our Mother
She spins a web of life
That keeps us all alive
She gives us the visions
To see through the chaos
She gives us the courage
It is our will to survive
(Repeat names)
BURNING TIMES
The songs are sung to rouse our anger
Of martyred witches gone to the fire
But what is served by righteous singing
When all we do is stew in our ire?
Nine million dead in four hundred years
More in that time simply died of disease.
Why do we dwell on long-passed dead
When we are alive in times like these?
Rise up, Witches, throw off your masks
And cease crying guilt for ancient crimes;
Earth and all her children need us,
For all face now the Burning Times.
In the face of that hostile power,
How did the old knowledge stay alive?
How do we have a Craft to practise?
Our ancestors knew how to fight and survive!
How do we honour our blessed dead?
Slavery threatens all but the few!
We must teach their cunning ways;
Everyone needs the skills they knew.
Rise up, Witches, gather your strength,
And let your power spread and climb;
Earth and all her children need us,
For all face now the Burning Times.
I'll not cast off science's works
Witches all forces to Will can bend.
I'll not accuse, for war and waste,
Some patriarchy of faceless Men.
Men do not cast the only votes;
Women alone do not demonstrate.
Rather than shut out half the race,
Who, if not we, will change that state?
Rise up, Witches, gather your strength,
And let your power spread and climb;
Earth and all her children need us,
For all face now the Burning Times.
I will not blame a Father's Church --
Blame and guilt are Their tools, not mine.
And even in the shuls and churches
Allies there will I seek and find!
I will not answer hate with fear;
Nor with a smug, cheek-turning love;
I will not answer hate with rage;
By strength alone will I not be moved!
Rise up, Witches, gather your strength,
And let your power spread and climb;
Earth and all her children need us,
For all face now the Burning Times.
I will not hide in my sacred grove --
The factories and cities yet ring me about.
I will not climb my ivory tower --
The real world exists though I shut it out.
I will not work for Church nor State
Who serve themselves while they serve us lies.
Nor only for my Witchen kin
But for the family of all alive!
Rise up, Witches, gather your strength,
And let your power spread and climb;
Earth and all her children need us,
For all face now the Burning Times.
So if rebellion means to fight
A State lost sight of why it was built,
If heresy's to reject a Church
That rules with force or fear or guilt,
Then let us all be rebels proud,
And shameless heretics by creed!
A tyrant's hand subjects the Earth
More heretic rebels are what She needs!
Rise up, Witches, gather your strength,
And let your power spread and climb;
Earth and all her children need us,
For all face now the Burning Times.