Friday, May 1, 2009

O for a circle of Witches!


The extinct stars look down
over the centuries of the Horned God.
From the dark recesses
of the Caverne des Trois Freres in Ariege,
to the horned Moses of Michaelangelo in Rome,
from the Bull of Minos and his leaping Dancers
poised on the horns of the dilemma...

From Pan laughing and fucking
and making light of all devils,
to the devil himself, the Man in Black,
Conjured by the lusts of Christians...
From Osiris of the Upper and Lower Kingdoms,
To the Minotaur of azure crete and his lost labyrinth...
From Cernunnos to Satan--
God of dark desires--
What a decline in horny gods!

O for a goat to dance with!
O for a circle of Witches
Skyclad under the horned moon!
Outside my window the hunters are shooting deer. Thus has your worship sunk.

O god with horns,
come back.
O unicorn in captivity, come lead us out
of our willful darkness!
Come skewer the sun
with your pointed horns,
And make the cave, the skull, the pelvic arch
once more a place of light.

Erica Jong, from her book Witches

Happy Beltane!!!

2 comments:

Ellen Catalina, LCSW said...

Almost speechless. Never knew that Erica Jong had this in her. I love people who can surprise me 20 years later. Had no idea. Wonderful poem.

Apuleius Platonicus said...

It is spectacular, isn't it? I can't remember the first time I came across it. I think I was just googling around looking for information on Pan - and it just popped up.