An Ode to the Elders

by Sequoia Starr

Thank you, wisdom keepers, celestial violet flame emblems who peer with knowing eyes through the knots in the trees.

From the humbled sanctum of my heart, I hold for you a golden rose of gratitude, an offering to nourish you, ancient spirit guides in physical and ethereal, in reciprocal radiance of our inevitable bond.

Grandmothers and grandfathers, mothers and fathers of the collective awakening, teachers and guides, thank you and I love you.

Thank you for guiding the way through stubborn bush and naive thorns which prick the soft skin enveloping my seeking soul.

For through your words I am brought to the graveyard of humility where the corpses of immature emotion lay now in peace.

Your song it weaves like vine through the wild unknown, bridging communities and hope, so we may hold hands united just as the leaves do.

Your strength is centered and immovable like a great Oak, and I look up to you, inspired by the storytelling lines which appear with your smile and imply the divine joy of simplicity.

Thank you for the softness in your steps and the great impact they make.

Thank you for paving the path on which I now walk, for styling footsteps small enough to fit into and big enough to be challenged to greatness.

I step forward into them with honor, inspired to breathe new winding roads through mountainous murals and thrust my curious limbs upon unexplored terrain.

Thank you for leading by example, for being a lifeline through the ages, for keeping the soul-steeped stories alive.

For guarding the cauldron of rebirth, keeping watch on the roaring plains unseen by an unseasoned eye.

For understanding why laughter is so important and encouraging the release of such needs to have everything all figured out.

I acknowledge your emphasis on virtue and the way you listen without judgement, as if the years have carved valleys of unwavering devotion into this oceanic love.

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I am grateful to know that if I call to you, I will be held, for you carry the nurturing essence of Mother Earth and the warming light of Father Sky.

When I reach a crossroads, I trust your experienced vision will reflect a remembering through my own and the righteous yearning for direction will be soothed.

A remembering of why I am doing this work, of who I am beyond the nonsense.

You remind me to sit quietly and listen and to rage boldly in sacred rebellion, to love fiercely and to demand revolution as it is alive and evolving within me.

Thank you for care taking the treasure of delicate truths and the teachings of the great mystery, mixing medicinal teas with your auric ambiance and invoking serenity with your lavender liberty.

For cradling the skull, cloaked and courteous with your time and with your knowledge.

I bow to you for writing the pages I read for inspiration, for singing the chants of cleansing I bathe in, for carrying the torch and speaking the words I need to hear precisely when I need them.

For mimicking the raven and showing me how to spread my own wings.

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I am grateful you help me see those things in myself that I can’t, for pushing me in front of the mirror when I am terrified of some perceived embarrassment.

Thank you for teaching me compassion and sovereignty, patience above urgency.

You teach me to savor each moment of the journey, that there is no rush to arrive anywhere, and that my unique medicine is incomparable to that of others, that they are all necessary.

You teach me to extract poetic incantations from the magick in my blood and speak them loudly with confidence.

Without you, I would wander blindly, but your strength gives me hope and reason.

The acts of courage and generosity which shine through silvery strands of braided hair, which twinkle like miniature universes in the corners of your eyes, are enough to keep my head held high.

You challenge me into discovering my gifts and you restore my faith when I feel like giving up.

I witness the masterpiece that is the great web you have woven, and I recall the art of being alive, of being in service.

You do so much for this planet, and it is important that you know, I am eager to hear you speak your wisdoms.

This world needs your guidance, your authentic expression, your earthy and grounded realness and the celebration of the rights of passage which honor your initiation into elder-ship, into crone-hood, into teacher, into leader, guide, storyteller, wisdom keeper.

This world needs you to claim that honor, so that we are inspired to do the same.

In eternal gratitude to all of my guides, mentors, to all of the elders which have blessed and continue to bless my path and those who have yet to appear.

Love,

your daughter, your granddaughter, your eager child.

 

IN CONCLUSION

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About the Author:

Sequoia Starr is a practicing The Witches Spiral who facilitates workshops on Earth Magick as a path of empowerment. She is a visionary writer, energy healer and tarot reader who has studied shamanism, yoga, tantra, wicca and witchcraft over the years. She celebrates as well as encourages the continuous exploration of the Great Mystery. Check her out on Facebook and Instagram!

 

featured image via Unsplash