Saturday Goddess Blogging

Erce -- Celtic Harvest Goddess

Erce, Erc, Erce, Mother Earth,
Hail to thee, Earth, mother of men,
Be fruitful in God's embrace,
Filled with food for the use of men.

This prayer for a fruitiful harvest may be all the we will ever know about the Goddess Erce, who is possibly of Basque origin.

Some say that: A modern interpretation of Celtic Pagan paths is to represent Erce as a triple goddess. This is a method of illustrating the seasonal changes which occur as the Wheel Of The Year turns. Erce is a youthful flower maiden during the early part of the year. She matures and becomes a mother during the Summer, before aging into the crone at Winter-time. Thus, I'm including her in our series of posts about harvest Goddesses, as we rush headlong into Mabon.

I was at the farmers' market this morning, collecting signatures to get Hillary on the ballot. The stalls were overflowing with tomatoes, corn, squash, peppers, eggplants, peaches, apples, chard, and cucumbers. A grandmother stopped to sign the petition, accompanied by her granddaughter, who will be voting for the first time in this coming election. I think my sunglasses covered up the tears that welled up into my eyes. When my grandmother was born, women couldn't vote. My mother died before a woman ever made a serious run at the WH. My brilliant DiL alerted me to this volunteer opportunity. The first time that this young woman votes, there will be a woman's name there on the balllot, reminding her, regardless of the candidate for whom she chooses to vote, that women can be leaders. We're moving towards a harvest in more ways than one. The wheel turns and turns and turns. It would turn without me, but I'm a witch and a witch's job is to help to turn the wheel. I like the feel of my shoulder up against it.

Hail, Erce!

Art found here, here, and here.