As a boy I was a chorister and was brought with with the beautiful prayers of the Anglican Communion. The Cranmer Prayer Book being on a par with Shakespeare as the epitome of English writing.
What was to fill the gap? This has become my prayer. It is the end of a remarkable book called the Sun and the Serpent. It is an exploration of the ancient worship in Britain of the Natural World. Here it is.
There will come a time when humanity will choose to go against Nature, to exploit her bounteous gifts, causing a sickness across the planet. People will forget the ecstasies of communion and life will become drab and colourless. In those coming dark ages, though, a deep sense of loss will cause the beginnings of a Great Return. They will look at the landscape and the old temples, built to withstand the cataclysms of millennia, and understand once again the sacred laws of Existence. When this day comes, humanity will have come of age. It will consciously acknowledge its role in the creative impulse that comes from the sun, fertilizes the Earth and calls forth the flame in the hearts of men and women to worship Life and the miraculous forces behind Creation.
