SONG:
Trees, trees, trees, trees
Every dream I dream of trees
Redwood, cedar, oak, and madrone --
Let them all grow
DEB: Imagine yourselves inside of a cedar timbered longhouse in the middle of a vast forest of ancient trees. The door of the longhouse is carved to look like the gaping mouth of a salmon. The walls and ceiling are made of cedar bark, painted with red, black, and white animal designs, and everything smells of cedar and woodsmoke. A red wool tapestry covered with white cowrie shells drapes the doorway. Inside, a raised platform extends around the walls, surrounding a large floor with a central firepit. Over the firepit is an opening for the smoke, and you can see the stars through the opening. You are sitting on the platforms, which are lined with warm blankets and furs, and very comfortable.
JANE: It is dark inside the longhouse, and silent. All you can hear is the sound of the wind in the trees outside, and the crackling flames of the fire. The only light comes from fireglow, and from the moon through the opening in the roof. Suddenly in one corner a robed figure appears, shining and luminous. Perhaps it is Grandmother Moon herself! The words of a 14th century Persian poet, Hafiz, spring to mind:
- POEM: A Potted Plant
I pull a sun from my coin purse each day.
And at night I let my pet the moon
Run freely into the sky meadow
If I whistled
She would come back wagging a marvelous tail
- Of stars.
There are always a few men like me
In this world
Who are house-sitting for God
We share his royal duties.
I water each day a favorite potted plant
- Of his --
This earth.
Ask the Friend for love
Ask Him again
For I have learned that every heart will get
- What it prays for
Most.
(pause)
"My pet the moon" -- er, we mean no disrespect, Grandmother!
Deb: But Grandmother Moon smiles, and in her smile we see our own grandmothers. In the light of her face, we see the faces of our great-grandmothers. In the gesture of her hand, we see the hands of our ancestors extending back through time.
We see in the being of Grandmother Moon both the first grandmother and the first grandfather -- the first ancestors.
Jane: Let's honor them with that ages-old song from West Africa. You know the one -- Porimamine, Porisamine: "praise to the grandmothers, praise to the grandfathers".
- SONG: Porimamine, Porisamine (invite Community to sing along)
JANE: Grandmother Moon smiles and speaks to us:
Deb: "Welcome to the Spirit House. I thank you for that song of honoring, as do all the mothers and fathers from throughout time. And in thanks to you we offer you a gift."
JANE: A gift, Grandmother?
DEB (still as Grandmother Moon): "Many treasures exist in the Spirit House. Tonight I offer you one: the Grandfather Stone. Touch it and you will know magic indeed."
JANE: The Grandfather Stone appears in the middle of the room, in front of the fire pit. It is a wonderful stone, about three feet high with layers of crystals of many different colors, and shot through with red and white veins. We reach out to touch it with reverant fingers: (Singing bowl)
Jane: Oh! The stone is under water, I see a vast ocean full of all kinds of strange and marvelous creatures!
Deb: I see great beasts wandering the forests, they are taller than the trees! This truly is a wonderful stone! It contains the memories of the whole world - a history of everything and everyone who has passed through time.
(To audience) What do you see?
(singing bowl)
What a wonderful gift - a way to remember every bright meadow of time!
JANE: (Deb - harp improv)
- Poem: The Bright Field by R.S Thomas
to illuminate a small field for awhile, and gone
my way and forgotten it. But that was the pearl
of great price, the one field that had
the treasure in it. I realize now
that I must give all that I have to possess it.
Life is not hurrying on to a receding
future, nor hankering after
an imagined past. It is the turning
aside like Moses to the miracle
of the lit bush, to a brightness
that seemed as transitory as your youth
once, but is the eternity
that invites you
DEB: Suddenly the red doorway cloth swings aside and a tall, powerful man enters. He's dressed in furs and leathers, and has huge antlers sprouting from his head. His hair and beard curl around his face and shoulders like the leaves of a tree. It's our old friend, the Green Man.
JANE: He raises a glass to us and gives us a song to sing about how to honor the world, and our lives. It goes like this -- sing after me:
SONG (Call & Response):
If the people lived their lives
as if it were a song for ringing out the light
providing music for the stars
to be dancing circles in the night
DEB: The Green man raises a mug of ale and gives a toast to dance and to song. We play one of his favorite tunes in return:
ABBOTS BROMLEY HORN DANCE
JANE:
The Green Man reminds us to always treasure the moment, honor the past, and
rejoice in the future. In celebration of the dance of life, we'll play
one final set of dance tunes from the distant islands:
HEBRIDES DANCES
JANE: Thank you for joining us on our journey.
DEB: Remember to sing your songs --
JANE & DEB: and dance your dance!
Take me back to Harper Of The Paper Crane
Take me back home