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.