I AM ONE VAST LIVING PRAYER

 

I soar to the heights gathering sunlight

   and starlight, moonlight

      and the portents of comets.

I gather it all within me and shine.

 

I delve to the depths and let the deep

   dark comfort me. Let Earth

      love me up and down

Be held and nourished.

 

I feel myself as Mountain Woman,

   strong and grounded

Forest Woman, leaning into the mystery,

   surrendering to beauty and to not-knowing

Rivers Woman, flowing, moving

   through all emotions given to me

I am Desert Woman, laid bare, exposed.

 

I open my arms wide, feel my heart open,

   to encompass the wide horizons

      of Grasslands Woman. Limitless

Welcoming all who want to join me.

 

And into the very centre of myself,

   the seat of my soul, within this body

      that I embrace as the gift that it is,

         given to me for this precious lifetime;

             into my core, I welcome the gift, my Nature

The sacred, the divinity of woman, wild, within me.

 

I am one vast living prayer

~Barbara Brown

I was in a bookclub, diving deep into Mary Reynolds-Thompson’s “The Way of the Wild Soul Woman: 5 Earth Archetypes to Unleash Your Full Feminine Power.” We dove deep, connecting with, learning to embody, the five Earth landscape archetypes: Desert Woman, Forest Woman, Mountain Woman, Rivers & Oceans Woman, and Grasslands Woman—each one awakening different parts of our wild souls.

In our sessions together we were given journal writing prompts. This poem of mine came to me during the “Earth Archetypes and Spirituality” session, in response to the writing prompt: “I am one vast living prayer.”

Try it yourself as a writing prompt. It can be cathartic! 

Close your eyes, contemplate “I am one vast living prayer” for a few moments, then begin to write and see what comes through.

The above poem is what fell out of me.