Earth-Shaking Testimony Delivered in Hel
URÐ’S WELL, Hel—On Monday, June 5th, 2023, the Council of Natural Order kicked off Earth Thing, the bi-millennial assembly at which attendees receive testimony from nature spirits and goddesses of various Midgard cultures regarding the state of Earth.
The once vibrant and enchanting beings largely appeared disheveled and disfigured, with the most unfortunate among them described as “absolutely repulsive” by onlookers.
Jörð, the Norse earth goddess, described an outbreak of worldwide wear and tear which has resulted in chronic itching, burning, and dryness in some areas, while other parts were razed by recent bouts of excessive moisture and stinging cold. “Earth’s fecundity under man’s stewardship has been shrinking for millennia, but this new rate of dysfunction is…disturbing,” she said, hanging her head.
An Appalachian Mountain goddess attended, but was unable to give oral testimony without her head, which had been removed and carted off to supply soapstone countertops to the suburbs. Decapitated goddess advocacy groups claim that the harvest of mountain goddess parts for profit has increased rapidly over the last two-hundred years.
“There used to be a season for everything,” said Demeter, Greek Goddess of the Harvest. “That is no longer the case. The current environment is quite hostile to abundance. I can’t just pop out seed sprouts one day and bring them to maturity the next. It results in abomination!” When asked if she’d been able to determine the root cause of a notable rise in rotten stalks, spectators gasped when she answered, “It’s most certainly something in the air.”
Envoys sent by the World Delegation of Displaced Forest Beings each described the horror of having limbs removed and burned to clear more land for agriculture and other industry. One African spirit told the Council that after she was fired, her left arm and leg became useless stumps. “I was a very committed producer before the attack, but I can’t seem to get back to normal,” she said. “I can only devote half of myself to work now.”
The day concluded with a somber ceremony as the names of those taken by industrial woodchipper in the production of biofuel were read into the record.
The Council of Natural Order will continue to hear testimony through next week before issuing a final verdict and ordering restorative actions.
editor’s note…
I hope you enjoyed this installment of The Wyldwood News. By itself, this publication is a work of fiction intended to both entertain and educate from a more diverse, other-than-human worldview. Thanks for reading!
Did you know The Wyldwood News also serves as the official newspaper of the nine worlds found in Norse Mythology and some of the articles directly relate to the Sága’s Fable Mind serial story? To get the full experience, read both! This article is a primer to Episode I of the Sága’s Fable Mind Series Prequel found here.
Enjoy!