Chi Miigwetch, Sea..

I hope that some of our other readers in here will also be moved to contribute, too.. Sure.. there will be repetition at times, but if you have read through these threads slowly and let the words sink in.., you will probably repeat less than you think you have..

"Every human longs for peace and love."

---- Hiawatha

NATIVE AMERICAN MEDICINE - Wuan Geronimo Flores

Wuan Geronimo Flores who can be called a true Holy Person, claims to have inherited the gift of his great grandfather, Geronimo: the ability to heal through the movement of energy. Flores has the capacity to speed up his own energy, and to transfer this quickened force into a patient, thereby, helping a person to become spiritually centered, so that their ailments can disappear.

Flores does not need to know the nature of a person's illness, because symptoms are physical manifestations, and Flores works on a more subtle level. He will look beyond appearances to get to the root of a problem. He says of his work: "The healing, which incorporates Native American and universal [principles], takes place in a sacred space. This is the part of an individual's home that is special to them, a place they gravitate to, where they feel the most secure and comfortable. We go to that place and the person lies down. Ever since I was a child, one of my talents has been getting people to relax deeply by putting them in a trance-like state. Then there is the actual moving of energy, the speeded up energy from my body going into theirs. All the while I am concentrating on the individual, and that can be achieved through different ways: through chants, prayers, or just through central focusing.

"This is very visual for me. I start seeing a picture of the person. As I concentrate, the image of the person gets transposed, until there are nothing but stars floating in space. I see the exact same body, only now it is made of nothing but stars. I see metallic dots of blue, silver, purple and black filling up the space and raining down on the person. The colors are calming and cooling, almost as if they are utilizing a certain frequency for the person's relaxation. Once a person has calmed down--they may even fall asleep--the energies that they were holding on to are easily released.

"I will see different things, depending on the person. One man had AIDS, although I didn't ask him what he had or how he got it. But on an energy level, he looked like a meteorite, an astroid, a cavern. He was submerged in a swamp, with tiny pollens ticking away from the inside. That's what his body was going against.

"Once that was removed, his body naturally healed itself by reproducing cells that he needed to get rid of the disease. And sure enough, about two weeks later, his cell count went from 4 to 300.

"So, that's what I do. I work as a guide, as a Holy Person and I work on a very deep level. My aim is to release energy blockages so that a person's own energy can take over and restore balance."

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*Note: I have found, that we all describe our own interpretation of things things that happen through our healing work with many different words.., but often, they are taken at face value and mis-interpreted, because most words do not come close to truly relaying the experience(s).. It's sort of trying to describe the color brown to someone who has no knowledge about colors and is blind...

---- Jag

JOHN JOSEPH - Holy Person Of The Chinook Tribe

John Joseph, a Holy Person with the Chinook tribe of the lower Columbia River, and a nurse practitioner in Washington State, helps Viet Nam veterans suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome, with the purification ceremony: "They have lost their spirituality, and this is a good way to help them find it. The lodge is a safe haven. No one can hurt them. Intrusive thoughts, the anxieties of the day, and the problems of living with post traumatic stress are left outside the door. They are able to speak about things that hurt them during the war and about things that hurt them when they came home. They are able to speak about the triggers that interfere with their lives today, even though it is 20 years later. They're able to speak, cry, yell, regurgitate harmful emotions, and put them in the fire.

Joseph says that that true healing comes from being able to express oneself in a safe environment: "Everything said in the lodge remains there. Nothing is repeated outside of it. This gives a person a real opportunity to cleanse the heart, and to place things into the fire." He adds that the healing is amplified by being in the presence of the heated stones: "There is stone medicine, Inyan medicine; the sizzling and popping from the water on the stones actually gives a spirit direction. There's wonderful healing in that."

"Many vets tell me that they feel considerably better for some period of time after they leave the lodge. Often they will come back and ask, 'When are we going to do another lodge? I am absolutely stressed to the max.' We do four, five, or six a year, sometimes more, depending on the number of requests.

"Once they start to get their spirituality back, their physical appearance changes. They start to keep their hair. They become neater in the way they dress. Their thought patterns become more cohesive, without constant intrusions. They can even think straight, in many cases. Sometimes children tell me that their dads sleep for two days after a sweat lodge, when they only slept two hours before. So, there's a wonderful release, and a wonderful return of cohesiveness to their lives, after the purification lodge."

JAMIE SAMS - Jamie Sams is a Holy Person of the Cherokee and Seneca tribes

Jamie Jamie Sams is a Native American Holy Person of Cherokee and Seneca decent, who explains that medicine has to do with anything that makes us feel whole. Indians view medicine as a person's gifts, including their inner strengths, talents, and abilities. "When we look at the idea of medicine," Jamie Jamie Sams says, "we have to embrace the total person: the body, the heart, the mind, and the spirit. When any of these part are out of balance, then there is a need for healing."

The processes used in healing depend on the type of illness. First a person must be diagnosed to see whether their sickness is physical, spiritual, emotional, or mental. Then it is treated accordingly. When the body is sick, herbs, flowers, and other plant matter can be used to promote recovery. Mechanical help is also used, such as setting bones when broken. Spiritual illnesses are handled by medicine people who may work with a person's dreams, or with what they experience on other dimensions that need to be healed. Some tribes also take into account the influence of past lives. Emotional healing for family upsets, a broken heart, or other problems, and psychological healing for mental illnesses are handled differently still. "Sometimes we need to heal our impatience," Jamie Sams says. "And sometimes we need to heal our frustrations. Many times we need to heal the internal criticism that our brain is constantly carrying on, which makes us feel less than. But always, we need to take a look at that which does not work in our lives, and makes our behavior out of balance towards ourselves and others." Here, Jamie Sams explains important principles of healing for specific circumstances:
Mourning

"In indigenous cultures, when someone that we care about is dying, there is a very intense need to mourn. When you don't release the mourning, it will make you sick. Certain Anglo cultures have a different concept. If you release the mourning, you are looked at as if you lost control over your emotions. The spirit of the person who has passed away that you cared about is not then free to move on into the spirit world because the mourning was not complete. The people did not purge their bodies of this sense of grief." Jamie Sams adds that mourning to Native people is like a bow. The people moving on are the arrows. Mourning a loss allows the spirit to fly into its new non-physical life.

Healing Pollution for Ourselves, Our World, and Our Future

Jamie Sams notes how we poison our systems on multiple levels: "Bitterness, hatred, and resentment are toxins from our heart, while jealousy and greed poison our thoughts. Then we harm our bodies with unhealthy foods and artificial substances, and hurt our spirits with a lack of gratitude.

In this sickened state, human beings tend to lose balance, and begin to see the world around them as something to abuse as well. "The things that we have done to ourselves internally," notes Jamie Sams, "we have also done to the earth, which is our sustenance."

Native Americans realize that living according to right principles not only helps ourselves and our planet, but insures a future for generations ahead. Jamie Sams notes that, "When we gather herbs to assist someone, we thank each and every plant that the earth mother sends, and we pass the first seven plants to always remember to leave enough for the next seven generations. In doing that, we are honoring the ninth clan mother who looks toward tomorrow for what our children and their children will need on the earth."

Healing Humiliation

Regarding humiliation, Jamie Sams writes, "Humiliation is the one event in human life that becomes unforgettable. The loss of human dignity at the hands of another can be forgiven, but it is rarely, if ever, forgotten. Healing humiliation and the loss of dignity is something that comes from inside a person. No healer, psychologist, doctor, medicine person or teacher can do it for somebody else. Consciously shaming another has dealt many a blow throughout time. Kicking people when they are vulnerable is a tactic of insensitive bullies. The world has been fraught with this behavior since its inception. It never seems to happen when we are feeling strong. It almost always happens when we are dealing with our own self-doubt and self criticism.

"We can heal the need to experience this reflection if we protect ourselves. The key is to notice that if we stop beating ourselves up internally the bullies of the world will quit picking on us externally. In Native American thought, we understand that the external world, and the things we experience in day to day life are mirror reflections that show us what we are doing to ourselves internally. If we honor who we are without an arrogance or sense of pride, but do it in a balanced way, and we walk life in a manner that allows us to honor and respect every other living thing, then we don't bring the experience into our lives that would necessitate us being shown how it feels to be bullied or humiliated by another human being."

Healing Personal Integrity

"One of the things that human beings need to heal is the idea of hypocrisy. We say walk your talk. Don't talk your walk. Human beings have learned over the years that spoken words are cheap and promises are often broken. And that, in many cases, is a commitment that is not being honored. So, many times we ask people who have walked the crooked path to heal their personal integrity. That's a facet of healing that most people do not look at.

In our grandparents and our great grandparents day, a person's word was their bond. But in this modern world, most times, if we give our word, we aren't sure that the person we give our word to, and they give their word back is going to honor their personal integrity, because the sense of self has been eroded to the place where we cannot embrace the idea that integrity is everything, that if a person honors themselves, that promise is made to themselves. When you make a promise to another person, you are making it to yourself. That's another aspect of the great smoking mirror. And when you do not honor your promises to another, you have reflected back to yourself through that great smoking mirror, what you actually think of yourself, which must be very little, because the integrity in your bond and your word was not honored by you, so how can others honor that same thing."

"Our Father is the Sky! Our Mother is the Earth!
Our Life is our song! May our Songs Create joy!
May our Children always Smile."

---- Two Feathers

WHITE BUFFALO PROPHECY - CHIEF ARVOL LOOKING HORSE

*VIDEO TO WATCH --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHqVdZmpRgI

Chief Arvol Looking Horse, 19th generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe. The leader of the Lakota Dakota Nakota Oyate, the great Sioux nation, is a man with a vision.


A Great Urgency: To All World Religious and Spiritual Leaders

My Relatives,

Time has come to speak to the hearts of our Nations and their Leaders. I ask you this from the bottom of my heart, to come together from the Spirit of your Nations in prayer.

We, from the heart of Turtle Island, have a great message for the World; we are guided to speak from all the White Animals showing their sacred color, which have been signs for us to pray for the sacred life of all things.

The dangers we are faced with at this time are not of spirit, mistakes that we cannot afford to continue to make.

I asked, as Spiritual Leaders, that we join together, united in prayer with the whole of our Global Communities. My concern is these serious issues will continue to worsen, as a domino effect that our Ancestors have warned us of in their Prophecies.

I know in my heart there are millions of people that feel our united prayers for the sake of our Grandmother Earth are long overdue. I believe we as Spiritual people must gather ourselves and focus our thoughts and prayers to allow the healing of the many wounds that have been inflicted on the Earth.

As we honor the Cycle of Life, let us call for Prayer circles globally to assist in healing Grandmother Earth (our Unc�I Maka), and that we may also seek to live in harmony, as we make the choice to change the destructive path we are on.

As we pray, we will fully understand that we are all connected. And that what we create can have lasting effects on all life.

So let us unite spiritually, All Nations, All Faiths, One Prayer. Along with this immediate effort, I also ask to please remember World Peace and Prayer Day/ Honoring Sacred Sites day. Whether it is a natural site, a temple, a church, a synagogue or just your own sacred space, let us make a prayer for all life, for good decision making by our Nations, for our children�s future and well-being, and the generations to come.

Onipikte (that we shall live)

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Chief Arvol Looking Horse sees a great danger threatening "Grandmother Earth" and a great hope for restoring her wholeness. So he is calling all nations to prayer of any kind in an effort to return the planet to balance, the people to spirit.

I asked him why this path is the right path to take. "A man or a woman without spirit is very dangerous," Looking Horse explained in a recent phone interview. According to this Sioux chief, the absence of spirit is causing suffering everywhere. "We are in a time of survival," he said. "But we don't want to believe it because we have forgotten our spirits. We have forgotten that Grandmother Earth has a spirit." Disconnected souls are hurting others without even knowing they are hurting others." Those being hurt include animals, trees and waterways.

The Sioux have an inclusive worldview, but it was not shared by the transplanted Europeans who undertook genocide on Indian land, culminating in the Wounded Knee massacre of 1890. That final brutality broke the "hoop" binding Indians together; however, Sioux prophecy foretold that in a hundred years the people would be reunited. Although surviving tribe members and their descendants were stripped of religious freedoms (returned to them only 32 year ago by the U.S. government), the rituals were kept and the prophecy not forgotten.

So the Sioux nations set out on horseback to "mend the broken hoop" of their nation in 1986 at a sacred site known to non-Indians as Devils Tower or the Great Horn Butte; their ritual went on for four years and concluded in 1990, 100 years after Wounded Knee. During the course of that long ritual, Looking Horse was surprised by a vision that came to him of peace and unity that included not only the Indian nations but all the nations of the world, each gathering with ritual plants around sacred fires on every continent. The Sioux chief felt called to oversee a much broader mending.

---- Juliane Poirier


But who was going to listen even to the chief of a people largely ignored in the country where they lived? "It's everyday life for us that we hold Grandmother Earth sacred, we hold the trees and the plants, everything has a spirit. We need people to be really respectful for each other. The Great Spirit put us here all together. If we're going to survive, we need to have spirit and compassion. We're asking people to go to their sacred places or sacred spaces to pray." "Sioux Indian chief calls all nations to action."

NATIVE AMERICAN VISION QUEST


Those of us on a spiritual path and more specifically on a Vision Quest believe that we are put on this earth for a special reason, but that reason is not always clear to us. We want to know what we need to accomplish in life for our highest benefit, and, in turn, the benefit of the world. The quest can reveal our life's purpose, but it is an arduous journey into the core of our being that we should only embark upon with sincerity. William Walk Sacred cautions, "It's very important for people to realize that this is not fun and games. Going into the spiritual world is very serious. If the intent isn't clear, the spirits will not give the vision. The most important thing is being clear in your heart as to what you are seeking for yourself and the people of the world."

How to embark on a quest varies greatly from tribe to tribe. Walk Sacred's experience, as a Cree Indian, involved a long period of preparation, which he says is designed, in part, to weed out all but the most committed. Walk Sacred describes this procedure in great detail in a link below. But now let's hear from a revered teacher and sacred walker "Eagle Man"! Ed McGaa "Eagle Man", is the author of Native Wisdom, Perceptions of the Natural Way, and Mother Earth Spirituality.

Eagle Man 's Vision Quest

"One time, I Eagle Man had a medicine person put me up on the hill. Another time, I had two very powerful medicine people as my mentors. They simply said, 'Go up on this place, and vision quest.' They never accompanied me, nor did they have a sweat lodge waiting for me. They just took me up on the hill and placed me. They told me to do it and I just did it.

"I went to the mountain, and I parked my car down below. I took my peace pipe, and I simply walked up to the top of the mountain. In those days, believe it or not, when you went to Bear View Mountain, there was nobody there. Now it's quite crowded because Native spirituality has become so popular. But when I used to go there, I would be the only one on the whole mountain. So, I'd walk way up there and I'd fast. I'd drink no water. I'd simply take four little flags--red, white, black, and yellow--and place them around me, in a square. I'd stay in the square. If I had to go to the bathroom, I'd go away, of course, and then come back. But that's it. I'd sit in my square, and watch the sun come up in the morning, and set at night. I'd see the moon come up, and I'd see all the phases of the earth. When you're fasting, your mind becomes more alert. You simply contemplate your life. And when you fall asleep, your dreams become more vivid.

"As each day goes by, the phases of life go through their cycles. At night, the stars come out. Pilades will actually dance for you if you're a vision quester. They light up, almost like a neon sign. I know people find that hard to believe, but that's just the mystery of the ceremony. An eagle will hover right over you knowing that you're in ceremony. Thunder and lightning come by, and you just endure it. It's no problem. Lightning can be flashing all around you, and you'll laugh. The Great Spirit is not going to take your life up there while you are vision questing. And if it does, who cares? You're in a good state. But you don't fear nature or God. The Great Spirit made you. Why should you fear it? You become more confident once you follow this natural road.

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"So, this is an Eagle Man vision quest. It's performed by you and it's for yourself. You don't have to go through anybody. You can communicate to the Great Spirit through observation. Of course, it's nice to have a medicine person there to help you interpret the experience. When I came down from the mountain, the medicine man asked me, 'What did you see?' I said that I didn't see too much. 'This eagle just came and hovered over me, and lightning cracked close to me.' 'Were you afraid?' he asked? 'No, I wasn't afraid. In fact, I laughed. And I saw four horses before I went up the mountain. But they were real, live horses.' 'What color were they?' he wanted to know. He was even interested in these pre-vision quest scenes, as well as my dreams."

Eagle Man suggests that most people attempting a vision quest go into the mountains for one or two days at most, as the majority aren't stronger to go up for long periods of time. Although the point of this is to finish the quest without the convenience of camping gear people should take their medications and drink water if it is a necessity.

---- http://www.native-americans-online.com/native-american-vision-quest.html

"We once thought you people came to live with us. You still could have that chance. We're still here, and we live on this land. We don't live in your libraries in the pages of your books. This project is not for digging up our pottery-or for digging up our bones, for that matter. It's not even for digging up data and statistics about us.

We have a long surviving and sacred tradition and an experiential wisdom that's been passed on for more centuries than you people can imagine. This is your chance to benefit from that. All you have to do is be quiet and listen and quit worrying about proving and believing. I want this to happen because this is still our home here, and you are our guests here-and because you still do not understand our home and you are spoiling it."

Mad Bear - Tuscarora Holy Man of the Tuscarora Nation of the Six-Nation Iroquois Confederacy

(Lots of reading, but I haven't posted for awhile, so I'm sharing extra, today..)

NATIVE AMERICAN GHOST DANCE

The ghost dance is a ceremony for the regeneration of the earth, and, subsequently, the restoration of the earth's caretakers to their former life of bliss. Not surprisingly, the religion experienced its height of popularity during the late 19th century, when devastation to the buffalo, the land, and its Native American guardians was at its peak. Between 1888 and 1890, various tribes sent emissaries to a man named Wovoka, who claimed to be a visionary, and who was hailed as a Messiah by many desperate Indian nations. Wovoka maintained that Spirits had shown him certain movements and songs after he had died for a short period of time. In a manner reminiscent of Christ, Wovoka preached non-violence, and most tribes abandoned their war-like ways in preparation for future happiness.

The dance quickly spread to various American Indian nations, and as it spread, it took on additional meanings. While performing the ceremonial dance, it was believed that you could visit relatives who had left their bodies. As so many Native Americans had lost friends and relatives, this aspect of the ceremony was particularly healing. The Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho expanded its meaning further after being told in dreams that wearing certain designs on clothing would protect them in battle. These beliefs served to ward off fears of imminent danger from suspicious and sometimes hostile white onlookers, but other than inspiring colorful stories being passed around like you'd see in modern photo books it proved futile in the end.

The ritual dance unified Indian people, even tribes with a tradition of conflict. The solidarity of these groups frightened government officials, whose worst fears were realized years earlier when the Arapahoes, Cheyennes and Sioux came together to defeat Custer. As mentioned earlier, most ghost dancers did not embrace warlike behavior. Yet, the government reacted to this outburst of Indian behavior by gunning down ceremonial dancers at Wounded Knee during a peaceful ceremony. Even women and children were shot in the back as they were trying to escape. Many say this was in retaliation for the massacre at Little Big Horn, since the seventh cavalry was again involved.

Perhaps the government was also frightened of the dance's spiritual power. According to a historian of that time, James Mooney, during one investigation of the ritual dance, U.S. troops reported seeing approximately 125 people at the beginning of the dance, and twice that number at the end, with no one new coming into the circle!

The native dance is indeed magical, according to Gabriel Horn, author of Native Heart: An American Indian Odyssey. Horn, also known as White Deer of Autumn, says the spirits of ghost dancers are ever present: "The Minneapolis Institute of Art put on the first and only exhibit of ghost dance shirts and dresses worn by men, women, and children. The room was black and the clothes were suspended in two circles. You could even see the bullet holes and the blood stains on the shirts from the slaughter of ghost dancers at Wounded Knee under the orders of the government.

"Several Native Americans went to the exhibit, elders as well as young people. The museum would keep it open at night, just for us. We would sit in a circle, surrounded by these ritual dance shirts and dresses, and pass a sacred pipe. We were listening to hear what we could hear, and watching to see what we could see. We wanted to get in touch with those people, those spirits, those ghosts of the past, to reconnect, and to show them that we still carry this love for the earth.

"I will never forget the night that an elderly Ojibwa, Old Man Bill, said to me, 'There were only 14 of us when we went in to sit among the ghost dance shirts and dresses. Look at all the people now.' I looked up and saw what he meant. An hour later, we were sitting down at a table, looking at each other. Who were all those other people? It became very crowded.

"Another time a student of mine came to the exhibit. She was crying by a ghost dance shirt. I looked in the shirt to tell her its story because each one told a story. The shirt wearer's last name was there, and it turned out to be the shirt of her grandfather. There was no way she could have known that when she went in."

The ghost dance is practiced today, but privately. "It is performed for the same reasons," White Deer of Autumn says, "because we are losing a lot of our relatives to cancer and alcohol, and the earth is in dire need of healing."

----> http://www.native-americans-online.com/native-american-ghost-dance.html

George Catlina��s Creed:

"I love a people that have always made me welcome to the very best that they had.

I love a people who are honest without laws, who have no jails and no poorhouses.

I love a people who keep the commandments without ever having read or heard them preached from the pulpit.

I love a people who never swear or take the name of God in vain.

I love a people ��who love their neighbors as they love themselves��.

I love a people who worship God without a Bible, for I believe that God loves them also.

I love a people whose religion is all the same, and who are free from religious animosities.

I love a people who have never raised a hand against me, or stolen my property, when there was no law to punish either.

I love and don'��t fear mankind where God has made and left them, for they are his children.

I love a people who have never fought a battle with the white man, except on their own ground.

I love a people who live and keep what is their own without lock and keys.

I love a people who do the best they can. And oh how I love a people who don'��t live for the love of money.

Gakina-awiiya (We Are All Related)"

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"��Teach us love, compassion and honor…that we may heal the Earth, and heal each other."
��

---- Ojibwe Prayer

NATIVE AMERICAN NAMES

Legal names are given, but Native American names are earned.

Gabriel Horn gives a personal account of why and how his Indian name was chosen: "By the time I graduated from college, I had already done my battles for the people. I had protested against stereotypes of Native Americans, I had fought for a Native American literature course on campus, and I had asked for participation in the United Nations. My immediate family believed that I had earned a name. The name came to my uncle, a traditional Cherokee man, who had a vision of a white deer coming to him and singing my name. He knew it was to be White Deer.

"My godmother, my uncle, and some close friends attended the Native American names ceremony. A pipe was filled with tobacco, and offered to each direction, as they called out my name. They called it out to the east, the south, the west, and the north. They called it out to the sky and to the earth. They called it out to the plants. They called it out to the animals. In other words, I was introduced to the universe as White Deer. That was my rebirth. In a sense, I was a born again Indian at that point." Receiving a new name was a healing experience. I was now completely comfortable with my Indian identity, whereas before I felt fragmented, not totally in touch with who I was."

Name changes can be physically as well as psychologically healing. Some time later, White Deer became ill, and a longer name was the solution: "I had gotten very sick, and was near death. A very old Ojibwa medicine man from Canada came down to Minnesota. I believe he was over 100 years old, and he didn't speak any English. During the ceremony of healing for me, a manifestation appeared in the room. At that point, the medicine man said that the entity wanted me to also be called Autumn. I was now White Deer of Autumn. The ceremony ended, and my sickness was healed.

"The name, of course, bestows certain powers and responsibilities. The power of the deer is its awareness, its keenness, and its protective nature. The white is purity, purity of heart, mind, and words. Autumn, I was told, is a time when change is most visible. It's a time when change is at its most powerful. And so, I was named for that season."

Native American names can be passed down, as western names often are. The distinction is that you are not stuck with one name all your life. This represents different beliefs about human potential, says White Deer of Autumn: "Crazy Horse passed on his name to his son, who took the name Worm as he got older. So, we can pass on names, too. The idea is that you're not stuck with the name you were given at birth. In western society, it's almost as if you can't change; you can't evolve; you can't grow. From a native perspective, your name reflects who you are. White Deer of Autumn reflects what I've done. But as I go on in life, I may want to let go of that and take another name. I have that right. So, naming is the ability to evolve and change in your identity. I think this is healing, both physically and emotionally."

---> http://www.native-americans-online.com/native-american-names.html

STORY TELLING

Telling stories can revive our spirits and transform our perceptions of the world. Even when a story is not believable, it can contain elements that speak to the human experience. This point is made by Tchin, an award winning Blackfoot and Aragansett artist and story teller from Norfolk, Virginia. Tchin shared this story with me about the creation of autumn, and then told me about the psychological healing such a story can promote:

"In traditional Native American culture, adolescent males and females are not allowed to be alone together. A young man and young woman never see each other unless the young woman is chaperoned. Her aunts, her sister, her mother, or someone else is always with her.

"Parents come together, at the right time of year, when the moon is in correct part of the sky, and plan a hoop dance. The hoop dance is where all the eligible young people come together to be introduced. They learn about the clans of the other people, and about who they can marry as well as which marriages are taboo. People dance, and frequently change partners. This way, everyone gets to be introduced to each other.

"During this hoop dance, the parents noticed one couple that did not change partners. In fact, they even heard some of the conversation. The young lady was saying that she worked in her mother's fields during the day. And the young man said that his uncle was teaching him to play the flute.

"The next day, the young man went down to the field with his flute and played a song. People hearing the flute didn't know what it was. They would say, "Listen to that sound blowing through the trees. I wonder what it is.' But the young lady knew it was the young man playing the flute for her. It made her so happy that her heart jumped.

"She wanted to send him a message, so, she went to a tree, and asked the tree for a leaf. After receiving that gift, she placed it into a stream. The stream took the message down to where the young man was playing. He knew it was from the young lady. It made him so happy that his heart jumped. He picked up the leaf, and went home.

"Day after day, the young man would go down to the stream and play his flute. And day after day, she would go to the tree, ask for a leaf, receive that gift, and place it into the stream, where it would travel to the young man. As the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, their love for each other grew strong and powerful, even though they never spoke a word to each other.

"Then one day, the young man's uncle came to him and said, 'Young man, it is time that you stopped fooling around down by the stream, and that you learned how to make a living. I'm going to take you out and teach you how to hunt.' It made the young man really happy to know that he would learn how to make a living by hunting. If he learned this, he could take his place in the village. If he could make a living, he could get married. And he knew with whom he wished to marry. So, with great joy and expectations he went out to learn how to make a living.

"Day after day, the young lady would work in the fields of her mother, and not hear the flute of the young man. She wondered why he no longer played for her. Maybe he had to help his aunt. Maybe he had to do something for his uncle. He had to help the elders. He had more important things to do. As days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, she exhausted all the possible reasons why he could not come and play. And after all of these reasons were exhausted, she came to the thought that he might be playing his flute for some other woman. When this thought came to her, a great pain stabbed her in her heart causing her to fall to the ground. Her parents, who loved her strongly, called to all the medicine people to doctor their daughter. But even in those days, people did not know how to heal a broken heart.

"After many months, the young man came back, very much a new person, with new muscles, and a joyful outlook on life. He ran down to the stream and began to play his flute. But no leaf flowed downstream. At first, he thought to himself, 'It's too late in the day. Maybe all the people have gone home.' Then, as he was walking back to the village, he saw the young lady's brother. It made him happy and they talked about all kinds of things that happened to him while he was learning to hunt.

"Eventually, he got around to asking the brother, 'How is your sister?" The young brother bowed his head and said, 'I guess you have been gone for a long time because they placed my sister over there in the rock.' When the young flute player heard what had happened to the young lady, the pain stabbed his heart so great that he fell to the ground.

"The flute player was in tears, saying, "Please take me to where they placed your sister." The young brother agreed, and they walked the distance to the rock, where she was. He left the young flute player there never ever to see him again.

"The young man took out his flute and played a song. Then something miraculous happened because, you see, love is strong, and true love is ever lasting. As that young flute player played his song, all the leaves on all the trees began to fall.

"You know that I am telling you a true story, and you can prove the truth of this story telling to yourself because around October and November, if you were to go out, you could look at the trees, and you could see that when you look around, all the leaves on all the trees start to fall. This is because love is strong and powerful. Now you know why all the leaves fall off all the trees at that time of year."

---> http://www.native-americans-online.com/native-american-names.html

JAMIE SAMS: ON STORY TELLING

Jamie Sams, author of Earth Medicine: Ancestors Way of Harmony for Many Moons, says Story Telling is a wonderful medicine because they allow us to find ourselves without someone pointing a finger at us. We take what we need from the story to heal ourselves. The story telling Sams does helps people feel more whole, which, in turn, enables them to find inspiration, bring forth their best talents, and help make the world a better place. She wrote this one for children:

"While the river moved over rounded stones, and Night Hawk circles in the twilight, the young mother whispered to the child who suckled at her breast: You are the blessed that fell from the stars and took root in my heart, little one. You rested inside of my body, and I carried you there for nine moons. It gave me joy to carry the burden of such love. I toiled for many hours to give you birth. And finally, the earth mothers magnitude threw you into your earth walk. Now that you are here, I want you to know how my heart sings. The love I bear your father is the stuff of dreams. He has walked the path of strength and has been strong enough to share his dreams with me as well as his tears. He has lent me his courage. And I have respected him with all that I am. Together we have walked many trails and have faced each challenge heart to heart. In you, I see his courage, his determination, his laughing eyes, and his curiosity. In you, I see my gentleness, my compassion, and my desire to live life with joy. There is a love between your parents that fills each day with song. I want you to remember always that you are, and will forever be, a product of that love."

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Another story telling by Sams is based on the belief that our spiritual essence is the glue that keeps us together. When we are spiritually out of balance, we may try to compensate for a feeling of inadequacy by developing intellectually, physically, or by expressing ourselves artistically. But these can never heal a wounded spirt. The eyes reveal this unsettled state of being, which is why we feel afraid to allow people to look into our eyes when we are off balance. Sams addresses this issue with a short, but profound, story entitled "The Openings of the Orinda."

"The little girl asked her wise grandfather why the Great Mystery gave eyes to two legged tribes of humans. Grandfather smiled silently, remembering her grandmothers eyes that were reflected in the little ones face. And then he replied, "Your eyes can see the world around you and take in the beauty of creation. Your eyes can shed the tears that cleanse your hurt, allowing you to heal. Your eyes were meant for seeing all that the Earth Mother places in your path. So these things can be recorded as memories of your passage in this earth walk. Yes, little one, our eyes have many ways to teach us how to see the truth. Your eyes can betray your thoughts and feelings to others because they are the openings to the spiritual essence.

"One day, you will find a warrior to share your life with. When that time comes, you will be able to look into his eyes and see him with your heart. Through his eyes, the opening of his Orinda, his spiritual essence, you will know if his spirit can shelter you, and if his heart is pure. When you look into his eyes, seek the truth of his nature. If he looks away, he is not strong enough to shelter your love for him. If he looks directly into your eyes and allows your hearts to connect, adding his strength to your own, you will know that he is a courageous man worthy of sharing your earth walk."

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Finally, Sams writes about the need to prepare for a move to an age of illumination and peace. This requires that we all work on ourselves to let go of malice, envy, greed, and judgement. The ultimate result of this personal transformation will be a better world society for ourselves and our children. If we cannot do this during peaceful times, a disaster will occur as an ultimate wake up call. In this story, Sams is saying that we cant change society, but we can change ourselves. We cant change others but if they are showing malice towards others, there are times when we can intervene:

"The woman scrubbed herself with sand at the rivers edge. After a long winter, the sand washing felt good as the layers of dead skin rolled off the soles of her feet. Lost in her thoughts, she did not notice anything amiss until she heard a little girl crying. Looking up, she saw the childs stepmother scrubbing the childs skin raw. It was bleeding.

"In a heartbeat, she was on her feet, running through the water, whisking the crying child from the stepmothers grasp. She rocked the little girl, whispering to her, and then handed the child to one of the other women. Without any anger, she softly spoke to the erring woman, Feather, I understand how hard its been for you to raise my decreased sisters child. She was your old rival, the first wife to your husband. I will speak to her father, who was once my brother. He will understand if I lighten your burden by taking the child to my lodge to live. "Feather spat on the ground and used a hand signal to indicate that she was done with both of them forever and stormed off. The woman stood in the water watching her retreat, thinking of how much effort it must take to be that hurtful. She turned back to the river and made the blessing sign with her hand, showing her gratitude to the Creator for her own medicine and her name, Offers Kindness."

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Jamie Sams concludes that people have an idealized concept of Native American people, but that the red nations are going through the same healing process as the rest of the world. The lives of American Indians changed drastically with the arrival of the white man, partially because local dialects were changed to standard English, and many of the old ideas and concepts were lost. Before the world was seen in a conceptual way, and everything was viewed as a circle. With the arrival of the Europeans, Indians adopted the idea of cutting the circle to divide and conquer. Since these ideas have been part of Indian life for hundreds of years, Native peoples, like everyone else, are in need of overcoming ideas of separation.

....."All the peoples of the earth are going through the same thing because we have been in this fourth world of separation for over 60,000 years. It is very important that we encourage the potential and the desire in each and every person that wants to transform, that wants to go beyond the limitation, hesitation, and separation that we have created in our lives. To do that, we have to embrace the realized self, the part of us that can become our potential. When we do that, we are standing at the final frontier. The final destination is always the same--healing and transformation."

---> http://www.native-americans-online.com/native-american-names.html

I apologize for not being as frequent with my posts, in the last few months... The world (Mother Earth & her many children) are going through some dramatic transformation, as most of you already know...

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THE WAY OF THE WARRIOR

The Way of the Warrior reminds us that we have a responsibility to live by a code of ethics that serves to help us reach a higher standard of living.

We have this built in code in our DNA that speaks to us of right and wrong. Our duty to ourselves is to reach inside and interpret this code when we are faced with hard decisions about what to do in difficult situations.

Today we have a tough time finding this code in the face of so many contradictions in society. However the Way of the Warrior is as valid today as it was 10,000 years ago when we evolved into reasoning beings.

What I have done is to set these out in 7 different Codes that can be easily printed and posted to your hallway mirror as the last thing you look at before you exit your home into this alien world where evil waits to distract.

In truth these codes are the same as those taught by the BUSHIDO masters in the Far East and are as valid here in the West as they are anywhere! These are the codes lived by every Native American who has been raised in the traditions of our Elders since time began on this continent. It is indeed strange how these rules of Creator can be felt even in the remotest depths of every land where Honor lives.

May you always walk in the Highest Path that has been set by the masters that came before you!

----- Two Feathers / Kainaiwa Clan - Blackfoot

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THE WAY - CODES OF CONDUCT

HONESTY AND JUSTICE

Be acutely honest throughout your dealings with all people. Believe in justice, not from other people, but from yourself. To the true Exemplar, there are no shades of gray in the question of honesty and justice. There is only right and wrong.

POLITE COURTESY

A Warrior has no reason to be cruel. They do not need to prove their strength. An Exemplar is courteous even to his enemies. Without this outward show of respect, we are nothing more than animals.

(*NOTE: I would argue the last words chosen here..., as the author (and/or editor) is using the wrong distinction, in my opinion..
Animals, Birds, The Standing Tall, insects, the Stone People ..etc/etc/etc.. are all equal, in Creator's eyes..
Only "Man" is truly disrepectful.... - Jag)

HEROIC COURAGE

Rise up above the masses of people who are afraid to act. Hiding like a turtle in a shell is not living at all. A Fighter must have heroic courage. It is absolutely risky, It is dangerous. It is living life completely, fully, wonderfully. Heroic courage is not blind, it is intelligent and strong.

HONOR

A true person of honor has only one judge of honor, and this is him/herself. Decisions you make and how these decisions are carried out are a refection of whom you truly are. You cannot hide from yourself.

COMPASSION

Through intense training the Fighter becomes quick and strong. He is not as other men. He develops a power that must be used for the good of all. He has compassion. He helps his fellow man at every opportunity. If an opportunity does not arise, he goes out of his way to find one.

COMPLETE SINCERITY

When a Warrior has said he will perform an action, it is as good as done. Nothing will stop him from completing what he has said he will do. He does not have to "give his word." He does not have to "promise."

DUTY AND LOYALTY

For the Warrior, having done some "thing" or said some "thing," he knows he owns that "thing." He is responsible for it, and all the consequences that follow. A Warrior is immensely loyal to those in his care, to those he is responsible for, he.... (or "she")....remains fiercely true.

---> http://www.native-americans-online.com/native-american-names.html

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Blessings..!!!!

I wish so much for this to come true. All religions together in one prayer and with respect to each other. How beautiful and how powerful it would be. It would change a lot of things - to better. When I see this message and prophecies I cannot stop thinking about revelations in Medzugorje, Bosnia, where all people are daily for the last 24 years called to prayers for peace and called to love for each other in order to prevent catastrophs. Timing also fits.

We should listen. And act.

"In these times when trouble and violence are increasing, we have no choice but to face this mounting chaos as one family of people."

- White Buffalo Day Proclamation, August 27th, 2002

"I�m just a human being trying to make it in a world that is very rapidly losing its understanding of being human."

- John Trudell, Santee Dakota, poet and indigenous rights activist

Not Native�s but:

"May your choices reflect your hopes, not your fears."

- Nelson Mandela

"Where there is vision the people live. They are made rich in the things of the spirit; and then, as the logical next step, they are rich in human life."

- Phil Lane, Sr., Yankton Sioux