Gratitude for Seeds
We give thanks for the brilliance of the tiny Beings who carry the code of new Life. We give thanks for the immense rich diversity and adaptability of seeds, for their responsiveness to weather and land and all the evolutionary forces which challenge and shape life-forms. We stand in awe of the seed’s ability to remember its divine idea of Plant and bring that forth from the soil, water and sun. We give thanks for the hope and the teachings of seeds: seeds which can stay quiet and still, looking like little specks of stone until conditions are just right for them to break open and grow.
We give humble thanks for the mighty grains which have sustained our varied civilizations—rice, corn, wheat, barley, oats, quinoa… We remember and honor our ancient ancestors who made covenants with the wild grasses and convinced them to stay and be tamed and feed us from fields and gardens. And we also offer up praise for the seeds that remained wild, making their own evolutionary ways, unshaped by humans. Some of them may hold secrets for saving our world. May they thrive in their wildness!
We give thanks to the preservers of seeds in all their diversity. And to the farmers who plant and nourish, harvest and save seeds with the love and reverence they deserve.
We offer our apologies as humans for our over-the-top manipulation of seeds. We ask to release the greed, carelessness and mistaken thought-forms that lead to wrongful actions toward the seeds.
We give our love to the beautiful, sacred carriers of Life with the intention that they may flourish in infinite diversity and boundless beauty.
Sowing the seed
My hand is one with the earth.
Wanting the seed to grow
My mind is one with the light
~ Wendell Berry *
We humans have often remembered that the planting of seeds is a sacred act. Intact cultures engaged in ceremonies for seed planting as well as for harvesting and storing seeds. Today’s gardeners may echo these rituals with their own inner prayers and group celebrations. If you or your community has an insight or a ritual, a poem or a planting song to share, we would love to hear about it.
* as quoted in Earth Prayers from around the World, ed. by E Roberts and E Amidon
