Fernlee, Ontario

Interplanetary Assistance

Take Me To The Pilot - Elton John

It's too bad that you have no interest in music, Scoober..

A

Azure - King Curtis

bandicoot

smudging shell

Resurrection - JUDAS PRIEST

YES

back for more

zitella

Greetings, Sea..

telespectroscope

zucchini

Big hugs for everyone..!

The Sacred Firekeeper

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

(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

"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

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