In Memory Of Tanya

Selected poems and readings for Tanya

At a wiccan/pagan cremation service on 23rd June 2004 we remembered Tanya with these readings, and the Gayatri Mantra:

From The Prophet - Kahlil Gibrian

If you would indeed behold the spirit of death, open your heart wide unto the body of life.

For life and death are one, even as the river and the sea are one.

In the depths of your hopes and desires lies your silent knowledge of the beyond;

Like seeds dreaming beneath the snow your heart dreams of spring.

Trust the dreams, for in them is hidden the gates to eternity.

…For what is to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?

…Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.

And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.

And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

...And it is with this belief and this knowledge that I say,

You are not enclosed within your bodies, nor confined to houses or fields. That which is you dwells above the mountain and roves with the wind.

It is not a thing that crawls into the sun for warmth or digs holes into darkness for safety. But a thing free, a spirit that envelops the earth and moves in the ether.

O Great Spirit

Whose voice I hear in the Winds,
And whose breath gives life to all the world,
Hear me now for I am small and need your strength and wisdom.

Let me walk in beauty ,
and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple sunset.

Make my hands respect the things you have made,
And my ears sharp to hear your voice.

Make me wise,
so that I may understand the things you have taught my people.

I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother
But to fight my greatest enemy - myself.

Make me always ready to come to you with clean hands and straight eyes.
So that when life fades I may come to you without shame.

For Just A Moment - Brenda Penepent

For just a moment
I’m sure I saw
a flicker of light ahead.
Perhaps it was your smile.
Though past now, remembered,
in my heart
like the small sound of
a butterfly passing by.
No night
is so dark
that can not be brightened
with memories of you.
Raindrops carry along
your blessings from heaven
to wash away my tears
and bring me hope anew.

I Did Not Die - Melinda Sue Pacho

Do not stand at my grave and forever weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn’s rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and forever cry.
I am not there. I did not die.