Yes, Deer Hearts,
Despite all the snow, and the erratically plunging temperatures as the Mother adjusts Herself, it will soon be Spring. Monday in fact, at 6:29 a.m.Eastern time. The photo above was taken by me last week at Smith College’s Plant House. Not only was there glorious color everywhere, but also the scents were divine. And today, I saw my first robin, so we just have to keep the faith, eh?
Last week, I was rooting around in Joseph Campbell’s The Way of the Animal Powers researching my next Totem article, when I happened to find the entire text of Chief Seattle’s 1852 letter to the President of the United States after he was ordered to turn over his people’s tribal lands to the government. I’d never seen the entire text of it before. It was much more powerful in its entirety than the well-known excerpts with which you are probably familiar. For this reason, I am willing to transcribe the entire thing as my Equinox gift to us all. Chief Seattle wrote it during a time when the buffalo were being slaughtered, and native people everywhere were being forced off the land that was their Mother, away from all that was sacred to them, to be disinherited from their homes, land and way of life. Their hearts were on the ground.
Then where does one go to create and live in sacred space. Is it an inner journey or an outer one? Or does one follow the other? At the beginning of 2017, Archangel Michael, as transmitted through Celia Fenn suggests to us that this year, each of us shifts our environment through intention and focus. One can perhaps begin with a small area, by setting up an altar, then maybe a single room, then the entire living area as Sacred Space. As we do this, it signals to the Earth that we are willing to transform our environment, community, and the Earth Herself into Sacred Space. I add that even if no one else you know is willing or able to do this – even one person blessing, rather than hating – caring, rather than walking past – one person willing to redirect his or her energies toward being present, compassionate, peaceful — this, my friends, makes more of a difference in the energy continuum than you can ever imagine. IT HAS POWER! Each of us who loves this garden planet must stand for her now, must be for Her; must love Her as we have never loved before.
Then, if you are willing to be conscious instead of reactive, send a voice and/or meditate for, and with all life, and do sacred ceremony as your heart and love lead you, then together, we will generate a deeply rooted Sacred Earth consciousness that will benefit all 4 kingdoms: Animal, Plant, Mineral, and Human. These ceremonies will link us up with the Mother, who is on her own return journey to Sacred Space.
There is a movement now to action since the election in many areas of society. Whatever each of us decides to DO, I ask that first you check in and be willing to meditate and do ceremony on the energetic level first. Let us all be really clear that we will become the energy we are employing. We will benefit all Life if our impetus is Love; we will bring more peace if we act peacefully, and if we are willing to empathize, compassion can not be far off. Finally, knowing that we are LOVE and WE ARE LOVED is the game changer.
There will be more frequent occasions in the coming months to deepen our connection with the Earth and all Her creatures. Here at Slice o’ Heaven – my home, I will be hosting 3 Shamanic writing circles, where participants will be having experiences with Nature as the Prompt, and then writing about them. This will be a separate announcement coming soon.
Finally, gathering with like-minded kin in ceremony is something I will be facilitating for those of us who are willing to put our hearts on the altar for Mother Earth’s healing at this time. Contact me to let me know if your heart leads you to participate in this way, as I will be communicating with those who have indicated that’s where they are at.
Okay, here’s Chief Seattle’s message:
The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky? The land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?
Every part of this earth is sacred to my people – every shining fine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people.
We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins. we are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our bothers. The rocky crests, the juices in the meadow, the body heat of the pony, and man, all belong to the same family.
The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water, but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you our land, you must remember that it is sacred. Each ghostly reflection in the clear water of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water’s murmur is the voice of my father’s father.
The rivers are our bothers. They quench our thirst. They carry our canoes and feed our children. So you must give to the rivers the kindness you would give any brother.
If we sell you our land, remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also receives his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life. So if we sell you our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers.
Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth, befalls all the sons of the earth.
This we know: The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood which unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.
One thing we know: Our god is also your god. The earth is precious to him and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator.
Your destiny is a mystery to us. What will happen when the buffalo are all slaughtered? The wild horses tamed? What will happen when the secret corners of the forest are heavy with the scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills is blotted by talking wires? Where will the thicket be? Gone! Where will the eagle be? Gone! And what is it to say goodbye to the swift pony and the hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival.
When the last Red Man has vanished with his wilderness and his memory is only the shadow of a cloud moving across the prairie, will these shores and forests still be here? Will there be any of the spirit of my people left?
We love this earth as a newborn loves its mother’s heartbeat. So, if we sell you our land, love it as we have loved it. Care for it as we have cared for it. Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you receive it. Preserve the land for all children and love it, as God loves us all.
As we are part of the land, you too are part of the land. This earth is precious to us. It is also precious to you. One thing we know: There is only one God. No man, be he Red Man or White Man can be apart. We are brothers after all.
In kinship,
Cie ~ Thunderbird Starwoman