(As delivered at the Blessing of the Beasts ceremony, September 10th 2022 on Whitstable Beach, organised by Sadie Hennessy. This is a longer version, not the version that was used, which you can find here.)
We are gathered here together, dear ones, to remember and give thanks to our fellow creatures on this earth.
Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts.
The furry ones, the finned ones, the feathered ones, the four-legged ones.
Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts.
The small ones. The large ones. The scaly ones. The warm ones.
Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts.
The clever ones. The foolish ones. The playful ones. The crazy ones.
Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts.
To all the creatures who share this planet with us, whose journey through life is as certain as our own.
Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts.
Who know love and loss just as we do. Who know savagery and kindness. Who know fear and hope and grief. Whose dreams are as real as ours. Who know peace better than we do. Who know life better than we do. For the beasts are here to heal us. The beasts are here to teach us. The beasts are here to guide us. The beasts are here to be our friends.
Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts.
For the beasts are everywhere that we are. In our parks and gardens. In our living rooms and parlours. In our walks and in our reveries. In our collective dreaming.
Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts.
For we are only beasts ourselves. Beasts with words, nothing more. Our nature is their nature. Our world is their world. Our future is their future. Our life is their life. Without them we cannot live.
Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts.
In the winter they will warm us. In the spring they will give us adventure. In the summer they will exercise us. In the autumn they will walk us home.
Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts.
In our isolation they give us friendship. In loneliness they give us companionship. In sadness they give us solace. In grief they give us love.
Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts.
For they are creatures of love just like ourselves. They know us and love us. They care for us as we care for them. They give us their love as we give them ours.
Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts.
With eyes that see and tongues that taste. With hearts that beat and blood that stirs. With senses that delight and appetites that crave. With electricity in the brain and motivation in the limbs. With all the needs that we have: in caring for them we care for ourselves.
Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts.
Bodies that grow cold and hearts that grow warm. This strange miracle we call life. This unknown unknowable. This breath that breathes us. This air that fills our lungs. This boundless sky. This earth that feeds us. This water of life. This planet that bears us, rich in its diversity. This moment in time. This appreciation of who we are, of what we are, and where we live, let us share it with our companion animals, with our familiars, with our family of friends, who cannot speak but who communicate in their different ways, who remind us of the fundamentals of our existence, and give us back what we sometimes forget, our own humanity.
Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts.
For as we give so we will receive. As we lose, so we will find. As we go so we will return. As we labour so we will rest. As we journey, so we will arrive.
Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts.
Give thanks to all our beastly friends.
And remember: we are only really beasts ourselves.
Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts. Blessed are the beasts.
In the name of the Father Sun, Mother Earth and the Breath of Life.
Forever and ever.
Ah-beast.
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Fierce Writing 