There is a road in the hearts of all of us, hidden and seldom traveled,
which leads to an unkown, secret place.
The old people came literally to love the soil,
and they sat or reclined on the ground with a feeling of
being close to a mothering power.
Their teepees were built upon the earth
and their altars were made of earth.
The soul was soothing, strengthening, cleansing and healing.
That is why the old Indian still sits upon the earth instead of
propping himself up and away from its life giving forces.
For him, to sit or lie upon the ground is to be able to think more deeply
and to feel more keenly. He can see more clearly into the mysteries of
life and come closer in kinship to other lives about him.

- Chief Luther Standing Bear

That is a very succinct way of putting it. I have always preferred sitting on the ground. :)

Yes... It resonates well with me, too.., especially when I think back to my childhood... and my preference at that time... It also has significance with dealing with the animal world.., as you are placing yourself down to their level.. (just like a baby enjoys it more, when you bend down to talk to her/him..).. I think it connects to trust..., as well as honoring the spirit..

Thanks, Jaded..!


PS: Can you turn your head upwards in the avatar photo, ...or maybe "take a pic with your head sideways" so it loads straight up..? LOL!

I believe I "may" have posted this near the beginning of the thread, already.., but Grandfather wants me to post it again:..:

In the presence of this house, Grandfather, Wakan-Tanka, and from the directions where the sun sets, and from the direction of cleansing power, and from the direction of the rising sun, and from the direction of the middle of the day. Grandfather, Wakan-Tanka, Grandmother, the Earth who hears everything, Grandmother, because you are woman, for this reason you are kind, I come to you this day. To tell you to love the red men, and watch over them, and give these young men the understanding because, Grandmother, from you comes the good things, good things that are beyond our eyes to see have been blessed in our midst for this reason I make my supplication known to you again. Give us a blessing so that our words and actions be one in unity, and that we be able to listen to each other, in so doing, we shall with good heart walk hand in hand to face the future. In the presence of the outside, we are thankful for many blessings. I make my prayer for all people, the children, the women and the men. I pray that no harm will come to them, and that on the great island, there be no war, that there be no ill feelings among us From this day on may we walk hand in hand. So be it."

----- Prayer before the U.S. Senate - 1975
by Frank Fools Crow, Old Lord of the Holy Men Ceremonial Chief and Medicine Man of the Lakota Nation


* Wouldn't this be a good United Nations prayer & speech right now, with a few little words changed..?

I offer it, as so... So be it..

(Below.. is an excerpt from Chokecherry Gall Eagle, about Grandfather Fools Crow & the book I mentioned many times: Fools Crow: Wisdom & Power -- Thomas Mails)

"....this phenomenal book is written to help all of humanity that seeks spiritually, to arrive at light, spiritual powers, and ascended consciousness through transcending and travel beyond flesh. " To enter the perception of eternity, or timeless spiritual awareness, is to change fundamental levels of consciousness. This begins with changing our feelings or having them changed by circumstance."......."Likewise, we confine ourselves by keeping consciousness limited to body outlines and solidity. Yet, when your body disappears in one place, and appears somewhere else instantly, solidity is suddenly just a vague idea you once had. "...... What is apparently lacking in the Christian way is the learned mystic who guides others along. Yet Jesus said that the student who finishes his studies will be on the same level as his teacher."....."In the realm of spiritual awareness, we also use creative powers.Flying as a sphere of light, we can even generate another solid body- not a mere apparition.We can even create objects, and they stay manifest. " These few quotes hint at what the book contains.beyond the lodge of the sun-revised edition, by Chokecherry Gall Eagle,examines consciousness, sweatlodge, healing and healers, spiritual powers, medicine powers, sacred pipe , peace pipe, sundance, fasting, vision quest, eagle feather,perception, consciousness, transcending, ascending, astral travel, philosophy, without dogma, or religion and religious affiliation; you are encouraged to follow your own unique path that no one else can decide for you, You must become clear and recognise your path; and this book helps you get there !".....

When reading an amazing book years ago, called: "The Book Of Elders" (lots of links to it on the net!) I had a BIG laugh at the saying that came from the Hopi Elder in there.. Humor is a big part of healing:

"DON'T WORRY..... BE HOPI ...!!!!"

Here's one of my own prayers to share:

"A PRAYER FOR THE WORLD"

"I pray for all humans..., all animals, all trees, and all plants.....
I pray for all insects..., all rocks, all mountains, and all birds.....
... And for everything else.., and everyone else...,
That make up the Spirit, of this home we call Earth.

I wish for peace, love and happiness..., to fill their hearts and souls....
And for all of the evil and misguided thoughts, actions, intentions & ways...,
To be swallowed, dis-empowered, ... and taken away from here....
..and transmuted to good......forever..... and ever......

And thanks to Great Spirit.... for guiding us all...,

......From past.., ....into eternity....

.................So it must be.."

I have been moved by Spirit, to come back and make one more post in this thread today.....

Some have told me that my songs say my message in a much better tone, than my normal words do.

So..., here is a gift to all of you..., for the time & knowledge we have shared here... And I hope the message of this song, has a good meaning to all...

"WE'VE GOT TO HAVE LOVE"

I see the world..., inside it's sadness....
Oh, what has happened..., to the love........
People die..., in utter madness........
It's not what God, was thinking of......
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
(BRIDGE)
People...., take some time to see.....
People..., take some time to be......
..... A little closer..., to your heart...........
People..., take some time to choose......
People..., find some love to use.......
... Before you ruin..., another start......

___________________________
CHORUS:
We've Got To Have Love..... (4X)
___________________________

I hear the children..., of all races......
Cry with suffering..., and their pain......
I watch the tears..., run down their faces....
It's like a ..., never ending rain......
-------------------------
(Repeat: BRIDGE & CHORUS)
------------------------
And so..., I say to you, my brothers......
Reach down..., deep inside your soul......
Find the love..., like of a mother.....
And help your sister..., from the cold.....
-----------------------
(repeat: BRIDGE & CHORUS)

*THE END*

---- Written: 1995/SOCAN - The song can be heard on My Space: INTRANSWAY, if you're interested)

Thanks for letting me share this with you, even though it doesn't directly correlate with the subject of this thread.

The Twenty Third Psalm - Indian Version

The GREAT FATHER above a SHEPHERD CHIEF is.
I am His and with Him I want not.
He throws out to me a rope and the name of the rope is love
and He draws me to where the grass is green and the water is not dangerous,
and I eat and lie down and am satisfied.
Sometimes my heart is very weak and falls down
but He lifts me up again draws me into a good road.
His name is WONDERFUL .
Sometimes, it may be very soon, it may be a long long time,
He will draw me into a valley.
It is dark there, but I'll be afraid not,
for it is between those mountains that the SHEPHERD CHIEF will meet me
and the hunger that I have in my heart all through life will be satisfied.
Sometimes he makes the love rope into a whip,
but afterwards He gives me a staff to lean upon.
He spreads a table before me with all kinds of foods.
He puts His hand upon my head and all the " tired " is gone.
My cup he fills till it runs over.
What I tell is true. I lie not.
These roads that are "away ahead" will stay with me
through this life and after;
and afterwards I will go to live in the Big Teepee
and sit down with the SHEPHERD CHIEF forever.

- Author Unknown

The Invitation

It doesn't interest me what you do for a living.
I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart's longing.

It doesn't interest me how old you are.
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for your dream, for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn't interest me what planets are squaring your moon.
I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow, if you have been opened by life's betrayals or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain! I want to know if you can sit with pain, mine or your own, without moving to hide it or fade it, or fix it. I want to know if you can be with joy, mine or your own, if you can dance with wildness and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes without cautioning us to be careful, to be realistic, to remember the limitations of being human.

It doesn't interest me if the story you are telling me is true.
I want to know if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself; if you can bear the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul; if you can be faithless and therefore trustworthy.
I want to know if you can see beauty even when it's not pretty, every day, and if you can source your own life from its presence.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still stand on the edge of the lake and shout to the silver of the full moon, "Yes!"

It doesn't interest me to know where you live or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up, after the night of grief and despair, weary and
bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

It doesn't interest me who you know or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand in the center of the fire with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn't interest me where or what or with whom you have studied.
I want to know what sustains you, from the inside, when all else falls away.


I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and if you truly like
the company you keep in the empty moments.

- Oriah Mountain Dreamer

A Native American Prayer for Peace

O Great Spirit of our Ancestors, I raise my pipe to you.
To your messengers the four winds,
and to Mother Earth who provides for your children.
Give us the wisdom to teach our children to love, to respect,
and to be kind to each other so that they may grow with peace in mind.
Let us learn to share all the good things you provide for us on this Earth.

-- U.N. Day of Prayer for World Peace 2

Cheyenne Prayer for Peace

Let us know peace.
For as long as the moon shall rise,
For as long as the rivers shall flow,
For as long as the sun shall shine,
For as long as the grass shall grow,
Let us know peace.

-- Cheyenne Prayer

The Great Spirit

The Great Spirit is in all things, He is in the air we breathe.
The Great Spirit is our Father, but the Earth is our Mother.
She nourishes us, that which we put into the ground, She returns to us...

-- Big Thunder (Bedagi) - Wabanaki Algonquin

Earth Prayer

Grandfather, Great Spirit, once more behold me on earth and lean to hear my feeble voice.
You lived first, and you are older than all need, older than all prayer.
All things belong to you -- the two-legged, the four-legged, the wings of the air, and all green things that live.
You have set the powers of the four quarters of the earth to cross each other.
You have made me cross the good road and road of difficulties, and where they cross, the place is holy.
Day in, day out, forevermore, you are the life of things.
Hey! Lean to hear my feeble voice.
At the center of the sacred hoop
You have said that I should make the tree to bloom.
With tears running, O Great Spirit, my Grandfather,
With running eyes I must say
The tree has never bloomed
Here I stand, and the tree is withered.
Again, I recall the great vision you gave me.
It may be that some little root of the sacred tree still lives.
Nourish it then
That it may leaf
And bloom
And fill with singing birds!
Hear me, that the people may once again
Find the good road
And the shielding tree.

-- Black Elk 3

Navajo Chant

The mountains, I become a part of it�
The herbs, the fir tree, I become a part of it.
The morning mists, the clouds, the gathering waters,
I become a part of it.
The wilderness, the dew drops, the pollen�
I become a part of it

-- Navajo (Unknown)

Sioux Prayer

Grandfather Great Spirit
All over the world the faces of living ones are alike.
With tenderness they have come up out of the ground
Look upon your children that they may face the winds
And walk the good road to the Day of Quiet.
Grandfather Great Spririt
Fill us with the Light.
Give us the strength to understand, and the eyes to see.
Teach us to walk the soft Earth as relatives to all that live.

-- Sioux Prayer

Native American Prayer

Give us the wisdom to teach our children to love, to respect and to be kind to one another that we may grow with peace in mind.

- Native American (Unknown)

Mohawk Prayer

Oh Great Spirit, Creator of all things;
Human Beings, trees, grass, berries.
Help us, be kind to us.
Let us be happy on earth.
Let us lead our children
To a good life and old age.
These our people; give them good minds
To love one another.
Oh Great Spirit,
Be kind to us
Give these people the favor
To see green trees,
Green grass, flowers, and berries
This next spring;
So we all meet again
Oh Great Spirit,
We ask of you.

Zuni Prayer

Cover my earth mother four times with many flowers.
Let the heavens be covered with the banked-up clouds.
Let the earth be covered with fog; cover the earth with rains.
Great waters, rains, cover the earth. Lighting cover the earth.
Let thunder be heard over the earth; let thunder be heard;
Let thunder be heard over the six regions of the earth.

-- Zuni Prayer for Rain

May All I Say

May all I say and all I think
be in harmony with thee,
God within me,
God beyond me,
maker of the trees.

-- Chinook prayer, Pacific Northwest Coast, North America