First Nite... The ceremony continues

Every moment of every day, replenishing, recreating things are going on around us. All that is natural can restore us to a natural order... the walking movement called "time."
Time is the ceremony moving with rhythm and prayer. Holiness is attached to time as it moves so it creates a natural healing situation.
The ceremony begins when the "singer" begins to sing over the "one sung over." The one sung over will raise his voice with all the other participants and sing along this song:

They were given, they were given.
Those were given, those were given.
The Sons of the Sun were given. Those were given, those were given.
The Sons of White Corn were given. Those were given, those were given.
The Dark Cloud above the Earth was given. Those were given, those were given.
The Flash of Lightning was given. Those were given, those were given.
The Thin Dark Wind was given. Those were given, those were given.
The Arrow Lightning's voice was given. Those were given, those were given.
The Long Life One, the Happiness One.
Those were given, those were given.
They were given, they were given.
Those were given, those were given.
The Sons of Moon were given, those were given, those were given.
The Sons of Yellow Corn were given. Those were given, those were given.
The Ones that stand above were given. Those were given, those were given.
The White Rainbow was given. Those were given, those were given.
The White Wind with its body was given. Those were given, those were given.
The voice of the Corn Ripener was given. Those were given, those were given.
The Long Life One, The Happiness One.
Those were given, those were given.
They were given, they were given.
Those were given, those were given.

The song goes from the "Sons of the Sun". Rain falls from dark clouds, onto our mother the earth. Causing the White Corn Sons to push up through the broken soil into the light. The Arrow Lightning's voice of thunder spoke, and The Thin Dark Wind moved.
Those were given by the Long Life Happiness One.
The one who stands above, crescent moon shining in the dawn. Colors of the Rainbow appearing in the east. What the Long Life Happiness One has done to create us is being re-enacted again and again.
As the singer chants over and over again, "these are given", People remember that creation was GIVEN! The voice of the corn ripener beetle was given, their voices reminding us of corn ripening.
The rattle for singing, the herbs, the corn pollen, the white corn meal,the clouds and rain,lightning and thunder, these are given. They are the means of sustenance and healing.
All are sacred, and are just some of the things that are provided.
Sacredness is embedded in all of creation because the Creator touches it. The Giver Of All, has made it possible to work with pollen and medicines to bring balance back.


I am what I am, Walk in beauty!

Three trees

I know that I was going to talk about the blessing way this time, but I just felt like telling a story first.....


There was a time when a huge tree lived on the shore of an even bigger lake. She was a very tall and strong tree, roots sunk deep into the earth...
In due course if life she put forth three little seedlings. They grew under the protection of their mother, and in time, they themselves became very strong .
Their mother spent many hours telling her children about the world and all that is in it. Explaining all the activity they saw on the lake, and telling stories about life.
She began one day to explain about the eventual "harvesting" that they would have to endure.
Their mother told them that at some point after they were fully grown, the woodsmen would come and cut them down, and create something else with them.
She asked them what they wanted to be. and the first tree answered, "I have been standing here for a long time, and I have watched mothers with their babies in a cradle, I love those little babies and I think that I would love to be a cradle."
She then asked the second tree and the answer was this, "I have been standing here for a long time, I have watched the ships on the lake carrying their cargo of beautiful goods. I would like to be a ship and carry important goods!"
Then the mother asked the third tree and the answer was this, "I have been standing here for a long time, I would like to remain standing here a just point up to the Creator!"
The time that their mother had been talking about did come, the woodsmen came and cut down the three trees.
The first tree was fashioned into a feeding trough where animals ate, and the tree was very much disappointed and heart broken.
The second tree was made into a fishing boat, with people that were rough on it and didn't keep it clean at all. The tree was very distraught also.
The third tree was just quartered and thrown into the lumber rack to season for years. This tree was also very heart broken over this.

Years had passed, their lives had not turned out the way that they had hoped for, and all three were saddened with depression.
Then it came to pass that during the winter there were a young couple traveling and the woman was heavy in labor, about to have a child. The feeding trough saw the whole thing, the effort that it took that young woman to bring forth this new life. He heard the cries of the young woman and the cries of the infant child. When this child was placed in him, all sadness drained from his soul and he was filled with joy! "Never could I imagine that I would have the honer of holding this child.... Thank You!!!"
Some thirty years would pass and that old fishing boat was out on the lake, caught up in a storm. The people on board were frightened and yelling, "Lord save us!!" All save one, He was asleep in the bow of the boat. When this man awoke, He spoke down the storm and the waters were stilled. The tree, now fishing boat, realized who was on board and said, "Never could I imagine that I would have the honer of carrying this man... Thank You!!!"
Just a short time later the third tree had become dry and hard. Someone came a took him out of the rack, and made a cross beam out of him. He was then taken to a place where there was a man ready to carry him away. The man was being chastised while trying to carry this big cross beam, he even dropped him three times on the way. But this did not anger the tree, it was being filled with remorse, and sadness for this mans treatment at the hands of others.
The man finally made it to the top of a rocky hill and the cross beam was placed over another beam and nailed together.
To the trees horror, the man was then thrown down to the ground and nailed to him, raised up and dropped into its resting place. The tree then said, "Never could I imagine that I would have the honer of holding this man, pointing Him to the Creator, Thank You!!"

The point of the story is this, There is a work that has been started in us. We don't see the end result because the work is not completed yet. We shouldn't be heart broken, or disappointed because things are not turning out the way we expected them to. Some times it requires us to go to the threshing floor of the One who has created us. Gold is not gold until it endures the refiners fire.

The work that has been started, WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED!!! So it seems better to give thanks for whatever trials that we face, for they are the bringers of true spirit taught love that comes from the broken. They are just squeezing out the pulp and creating the new wine!
Look around at all the beautiful creation, it cries out to us to see and participate in this great work that is shaping all things into the likeness of His Son...
I am what I am..... for now.....

Coyote Way Blessing Way Ceremony Part 2

Te'aanagha' Bikah' hozoni, Long Life Happiness One. This is the name for the one who spoke all things into being. Te'aanagha' means something like always being of the best quality, not failing in health, always being in a good mood, that sort of idea. It is the male side, having a strong sense of direction and purpose. A sacred way of life that goes on and on, " Long Lived One."
Bikah' hozoni, is the female side, letting us know that we are loved and cared for. Feeling that we belong. Happiness is such a feeling.
When one gets out of balance with the earth, oneself, and the Creator, coming back to "life" is a process. The day moves from morning, noon and evening, and night. And it is the same with creating happiness. When a person is happy they smile, are content, and feels inner peace and joy.
The more happiness you have the better. As one gets closer to the Creator, one is given more and more ho'zho', long life happiness, through what has been given you.

When a deer or some other animal gets hurt, they lay down somewhere that they can be still, and healing begins. Healing is a simple and natural thing. The point is to be healed.
Humbleness is a good attitude for what is natural. Knowing that all is not known by any one except the Creator alone. Allowing one to get in touch with the ceremonies that are going on, around and inside us.
In my mind, I know that a person should feel free, valued and respected, and have an inner sense of worth. Enjoy every bit of food and swallow, giving thanks for the nourishment. Recognizing my gifts, and knowing that my life matters. Truly alive, vital with eyes shinning. My mind totally comprehending what is going on, and fully awake every moment. On the right path toward fulfillment, with a clear sense of purpose. Spirit filled, inspired, fully aware and in touch with the deepest reality, Te'aanagha' Bikah' hozoni.
In short, Ho'zho'.

Now having said that, There is no way that I feel that way 100% of the time. Nor do I think that anybody else does either. IT ISN'T NECESSARY!! The only necessity is that I am moving towards ho'zho'.
I feel as created, spiritual beings, we have to look beneath the surface of life and try to understand it better. Too many times people just live superficial lives, far away of what is natural and what the creator has given us in nature. Losing sight of who and what we are meant to be, and never having what was intended for us. Intentionally moving away from what is given and denying our true identity.
Looking deeply is just the start. When "going with the flow" ceases, we can be brought back to what is given and who we were meant to be... people that are selfless lovers.
That is the set up, next we move to the ceremony proper.
I am what I am

The Blessingway, a path to Long Life Happiness

In this life there is a ceremony going on with all creation. Time is only the next "movement" in this ceremony. The "Blessing Way Ceremony" is just one "movement" in the dance of everlasting beauty.
The first step in introducing you to this ceremony is to tell you the story of how Coyote got himself killed.

Coyote was a bright, very curious, creative being. But he also was very "hungry" and was always running around looking for something to "eat". Someone who played both sides, showing early hunters how to catch and kill animals.
Many Humans have somewhat of a Coyote in them. We are imaginative, but always hungry. Getting ideas and plunging into action head first.
We, like Coyote, sometimes act without being mindful of results and hurt others and ourselves.
Greed and violence make Coyote sick. He steps outside the normal predator prey relationships.
But by getting himself killed, he creates a bridge between humans and Long Life Happiness.

Coyote, being very curious by nature, was watching the birds and thinking about the advantages of being able to fly.
So he began to speak with the bird people, "How come you can fly? How do you do it? Tell me your secrets!" To this the birds replied, "We are birds, we are supposed to fly. You are Coyote. You are not supposed to fly. Creator made you a coyote and you are to live as you are."
But Coyote did not change. He persisted with his questioning, and probing, and "scientific" investigations.
He even went so far as to try to force the bird people to bestow upon him something they could not. He wanted them to declare him a bird.
He had imagined who he could catch, and how much he could eat by being able to fly. His actions got so bad, the bird people got together and decided that something had to be done, if coyote could fly, things would be very bad for everyone.
So the Hawks dove down and shot him with feathered arrows and he died.
After sometime he was found by Horned Toad. Horned Toad said, "Poor coyote, he didn't know what he was doing. He should not be dead."
So Horned Toad called together the plant people, the bird people, all the animal people. They had great discussions and it was decided to let Coyote live again.
Water, plants, the whole of creation helped the arrogant one, introduced by his own behavior to suffering and death, to live again.
A healing ceremony began in a place called Narrow Canyon, Coyote himself was the first one sung over in the Coyote Way (Blessing Way) ceremony.

I will go through the major points of the ceremony beginning with the next post. It will take many parts to get through it all as it is a ceremony that lasts several nights and days.
Until next time, I am what I am....and that is different than yesterday, and hopefully not the same as tomorrow.

The "Great Awakening"

It was dark that night, in the garden. A man was being tormented by the most important decision of his young life. Just in his early thirties, he was carrying the weight of the world. The decision was simple, the cost... everything.
You know the story, who doesn't in this day and age. The Physical example of the spiritual reality has been twisted by mankind for over two millennium.
The hope of Easter is a stone being rolled away, and an empty grave being all that is left.
I say why wait until you are dead to have your "stone" rolled away. The concept of death having no hold on us is true in my mind and heart. But people can walk around "dead" all their lives without even knowing it. Not realizing that the same spirit of life that is within all of us is the one that rolls away stones to reveal empty graves.
Our lives are eternal because they are all part of the same life that has been from everlasting to everlasting. The rub has always been when people tried to use " exclusive availability" to exert power over other people. The example of " first man" walking through the garden in the cool of the afternoons, with Long Life Happiness, takes care of that argument. "Exclusive availability" is a lie.
The only condition if you can call it one, is "Living" faith. If faith in itself has no power, only the object of that faith, may or may not. So it seems to me that faith in life would always be better than that which is not.
The "stone", that we sometimes place over what we have fashioned out of our hearts, can be rolled away by the renewing of our minds and hearts with that love that comes from The Most High Power Whose Ways Are Beautiful.
The concept of the resurrection has many different interpretations. But there is something in the fact that people can change in ways that they become " reborn". Reborn to a new life due to the realization that they are all one part of the Long Life Happiness, the eternal life. And joy and loving kindness abounds in their hearts and manifests in their lives.
My prayer for this Easter Sunday is this:
Mankind would wake up. Wake up to the realization that we all are children who need to mature so that we as a whole could resurrect our hearts, and all walk in beauty that we might achieve the highest love that ends all strife among people. Not just world peace, that is a by product of love, but the love that heals wounds, without scars.
I hope that this Easter, everyone remembers one thing. That it was love that spoke all things into being, and that love is available to all. Your stone doesn't have to remain in place...
I am what I am

The vision

I sat on the ground one day and had a vision of my self, I was inside as well as outside

We came to the conclusion that we needed to build a sweat house, so we began to speak it into existence. We said, “Let us build a sweat house, that we might gain wisdom and knowledge, learn mercy and compassion, and have a threshing floor, a place where the wheat is separated from the chaff.”

Here it is. We used eight poles for the main support structure and then filled in the spaces with smaller ones. They are all locked together at the top. The bark from the poles was used for chinking and the dirt dug out of the floor was filled over the outside to about the height of about two feet. A layer of roofing shingles, chicken wire, and eight, eighty pound bags of pre mix , fiber reinforced, stucco. The floor is dug out to the depth of about two and a half feet, and a small hole dug to the right of the door where the grandfathers will be seated.

The sage was lit, and a blessing was sent to the four directions. The grandfathers were blessed with the smoke, all four directions around the sweat house. A blessing with corn pollen followed next. Then a prayer for thanksgiving.

Then we went inside to do the same thing. Smoke out the four directions and the place where the grandfathers sit.

All this was done with great mindfulness of the miracle of the creation, and thankfulness to the Most High Power Whose Ways Are Beautiful.

This is a place where loving kindness abounds, where there is no judgment, only truth, individual and collective. A place where one can leave oneself behind and meet oneself anew. A place of rebirth and renewal. A gift from the Holy People, for our behalf…

I would like to thank Gaelyn, who I love, for taking the pictures and showing me how to….

I am what I am