What Unifies Us: The Sun and the Heart, by Jose Stevens |
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exception indigenous peoples on every continent revere
and honor the sun as the giver and sustainer of life.
Their shamans greet the first rays of the morning sun
with prayers and sacred postures to absorb its empowering
radiance and light—thanking it for giving life,
vitality, and sustenance.
They know that without the sun there would be no trace
of life on this planet or elsewhere in the solar system,
and they do not take this awareness for granted.
They know the sun shines upon all the continents, all
peoples, the good, the bad, the young and elderly, males
and females, people of all races, cultures, religions,
and philosophies.
They understand the sun is the source of energy, light,
and intelligence—the all powerful furnace regulating
the radiation necessary for perfect conditions on earth.
They know the sun is a powerful magnet holding its planets
in orbit and that it magnetizes to itself the light of
countless stars throughout the Milky Way to keep it in
communication with the source of all creation.
At the same time they understand the sun to be a giver,
a radiator of energy and light, a substation within a
huge energy grid transferring power from a central source
to every corner of the universe.
Shamans know that the medium of communication throughout
the universe is light and that all suns are in communication
through the light that each radiates in the seven primary
directions. When they honor the sun they understand that
it is the local representative of the great mystery of
creation, the great provider giving without reservation
to sustain all that is.
Indigenous peoples of the world from the Laps to the Mongols,
from the African Bushman to the Inuit, all know that everything
in creation is related in a meaningful way through a highly
ordered structure. For them the human heart is to the
body as the sun is to the planets. The heart is a magnet
drawing to it what it needs for happiness and wellbeing.
Simply put, the human heart magnetizes love to itself
and that is why love attracts. At the same time love radiates
outward from the heart to others just as the sun radiates
light and energy.
For indigenous peoples the heart is the sun for the body
and when it is aligned properly with the sun in the sky
all things come into balance and harmony. That is why
the Mayans, Aztecs, Incans, and native tribes from North
America greet the first rays of the morning sun and offer
their hearts to it with outstretched arms, heads back,
and chests open. For the Australian aboriginal peoples
and the Maoris of New Zealand the sun is the morning news,
the latest and greatest from Spirit, the great unifier.
From the sun they receive the three building blocks of
the universe, truth, love, and energy, the sacred trinity
shared by every being.
This sacred trinity comes with many names: Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit; Hydrogen, Oxygen, and Nitrogen; Deer,
Corn, and Peyote; Anaconda, Condor, and Jaguar; Father,
Mother, and Child; Positive, Negative, and Neutral; and
so on. These three forces are present everywhere and concentrated
in the sun, in the heart, and in every cell of the body.
From this powerful indigenous point of view there is truly
only one heart with many expressions, many rhythms.
Yet first world peoples with their advanced knowledge
of science hardly give the sun a second thought except
to splash on generous amounts of sun protection to guard
against skin cancer. |
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A Spark in the Dark
Written and illustrated by Richard Tichnor and Jenny Smith.
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| Told by Mary Ellen Gonzalez from the New Mexico Storytellers. |
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A Spark in the Dark and related merchandise is available at bookstores and at www.asparkinthedark.com
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A
Ritual to Read to Each Other |
If
you don’t know the kind of person
I am
and I don’t know the kind of person
you are
a pattern that others made may prevail
in the world
and following the wrong god home we
may miss our star.
For there is many a small betrayal in
the mind,
a shrug that lets the fragile sequence
break
sending with shouts the horrible errors
of childhood
storming out to play through the broken
dike.
And as elephants parade holding each
elephant’s tail,
but if one wanders the circus wont’
find the park,
I call it cruel and maybe the root of
all cruelty
to know what occurs but not recognize
the fact.
And so I appeal to a voice, to something
shadowy,
a remote important region in all who
talk:
though we could fool each other, we
should consider—
lest the parade of our mutual life get
lost in the dark.
For it is important that awake people
be awake,
or a breaking line may discourage them
back to sleep;
the signals we give—yes or no,
or maybe—
should be clear: the darkness around
us is deep.
Copyright 1960, 1998 by the Estate of
William Stafford.
Reprinted from The Way It Is: New &
Selected Poems
with the permission of Graywolf Press,
Saint Paul, Minnesota.
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Grandmother Moon Meditation, by Charlotte Pollard |
Sit comfortably. Close your eyes. Begin to breathe into your heart. Allow your breathing to find its own natural pace. Feel your body settle into a relaxed state of being.
Bring your awareness to the image of the moon. Remember, she is the reflection of the live-giving force. Remember, she holds the energy of the love of the universal grandmother.
She is present in the light of the late afternoon sun to remind you that you are also a reflection of the live-giving force. She is present in the darkness of midnight to remind you that she will protect you and guide you through the deepest part of your journey.
She moves the waters of your home—this planet. She moves the waters of your body to keep you nourished with life. She moves the waters of your soul to keep you ever expanding into the spiritual being that you are.
She is a memory keeper and a memory dissolver. She washes you with light and with love. She is the universal grandmother.
Now, with your full consciousness, draw down the energy of Grandmother Moon. Draw down the light and the love that she is.
Draw down the energy of the universal grandmother. Draw down the light and the love that she is.
Allow this energy to flood your heart center. Feel your heart center being bathed in this light, in this love. Allow your heart to be cradled and gently rocked by this light, by this love.
Allow this light and this love to move into every cell in your body. Allow this light and this love to surround and cradle every subatomic particle of your being. Become one with the perfect, reflected light of the life-giving force. Become one with the perfect love of the universal grandmother.
Within this soft, silver light of nourishment and protection—allow your heart to open. See your heart expand and open to the light and love that surrounds it, that cradles it, that permeates it.
Within your heart reside all the memories, all the stories that you believed were you. All the memories, all the stories that you believed were you.
Some of these stories are of great joy—moments when you allowed your heart to sing with great passion. You can see the reflection of these moments whenever you open your heart.
Yes, and some of these stories are of great sorrow—moments when you allowed your heart to weep with grief. You can see the reflection of these moments too—whenever you open your heart.
Yes, and some of these stories are mingled with anger and resentment—moments when you allowed your heart to shrink and harden. You can see the reflection of these moments too—whenever you open your heart.
And, some of these stories tell of moments of great peace—moments when you allowed your heart to reach great calmness—when the beating of your heart was in complete harmony with the rhythms of all life. You can see the reflection of these moments too—whenever you open your heart.
All these stories are true. All these stories are part of your existence—of your experience. All these stories are.
But, these stories are not you. You are larger than these stories. You are stronger than these stories. These stories are not you. You are larger. You are stronger than all the stories of joy, of sorrow, of anger and resentment, of peace, of harmony.
So, with your heart open—allow these stories—all these stories seep out of your heart. Feel these stories slip softly from your heart onto the surface of a vast lake filled with calm, clear water.
Watch these stories—all these stories—slide across the surface of this vast lake. Watch as these stories ride the current of the lake. Watch as these stories slip below the surface into the deeper currents. See them swirl and flow ever deeper into the calm, clear water.
Notice that these stories begin to mingle and merge with the stories of others—others who have shared similar stories of joy, of sorrow, of anger and resentment, of peace, of harmony. Notice that all these mingled stories go deeper and deeper and deeper into the water.
They go so deep that you can no longer see them. You can no longer hear them. You can no longer touch them. You can no longer taste them.
You can no longer distinguish them from all the stories from all the beings from all time. They are part of the great mystery again. They are merely stories laying deep in the current of time.
You have told your truth and have allowed this truth to open your heart. All you can see now is the beauty of the moon reflected in the stillness of the water of time.
And now, with your heart still open—allow the energy of the moon that is within you, within every cell of you—allow the energy of the moon to move the waters of the lake softly, rhythmically in and out of your open heart. Allow the calm waves of the lake to softly bath your open heart. With each breathe in—feel the waters of the lake soothe your open heart. With each breathe out—feel the waters of the lake wash clean your open heart.
In—out—in—out—washing your heart clean. Allow the flowing nature of water—the accepting nature of water—the forgiving nature of water—wash your heart clean. In—out—in—out—washing your heart clean.
And now, bring your awareness to your hands. Slowly, softly, with great care—lift up your right hand and cradle it under your left hand.
In your hands you hold this deep, calm lake of clear, cool water. It holds all the nourishment that you need. It holds all the wisdom that is. It holds all the love that is you. It holds all the peace that is.
Slowly, gracefully—open your eyes and gaze into that deep, calm lake of clear, cool water. See the refection of the life-giving force that is you. See the reflection of the love of the universe that is you. See the deep wisdom of you. See the deep peace that is you. Just you.
For, you are enough. You are the perfect reflection of all that is needed in this time to bring joy, to bring peace, to bring harmony into existence. You make it possible for all life to experience the joy, the peace, the harmony that is you.
In this reflection:
See the light you want to see in the world.
Be the light you want to be in the world.
Be the light.
Be.
You are the perfect reflection of the live-giving force of the universe.
You are the perfect reflection of the love that is the universal grandmother.
You are perfect in every way.
You are.
And, when you are ready, lift up your gaze and close your eyes once more. Savor the light that is you.
And, when you are ready, allow the energy of Grandmother Moon to rise up to her proper place in the sky. Savor the love that is her.
And return to this room, with these friends, in this place, in this time.
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Four Elements Invocation, by Charlotte Pollard
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Engaging in ceremony is a way for us to give back to the universe with gratitude some of the blessings that we have received. The ancients knew the importance of ceremony. Ceremony affects change in our world. Ceremony keeps the world in balance.
Some ceremonies are traditional and need to be learned from the elders of the culture who know them and should never be done without permission and should never be changed.
Other ceremonies can be created to celebrate or honor specific events in your life as long as you demonstrate respect and understanding. The following is the beginning, or invocation, of a ceremony used to open the Annual Board Meeting for One Heart, Many Rhythms. You are free to use and adapt this invocation for your purposes.
Air (direction of the East)
We call upon the element of Air—the breath of life and messenger of divine inspiration—to be with us during this journey of service. We ask you to show us the purity of thought and the freedom of action we will need to do this work in the world.
Fire (direction of the South)
We call upon the element of Fire—the vital cosmic force and the energy of both creation and destruction—to be with us during this journey of service. We ask you to show us how to use our passion and our wisdom to overcome our fears. Help us to leave this journey enlightened and ready to fulfill our potential.
Water (direction of the West)
We call upon the element of Water—the source of all life and the embodiment of spiritual wisdom—to be with us during this journey of service. We ask you to show us the depths of our emotions for being of service, to move that which is willing to flow, and to shape our formless potentiality into a plan.
Earth (direction of the North)
We call upon the element of Earth—our Great Mother Gaia—to be with us during this journey of service. We ask you to show us how to be nourishing of each other, to be fertile in our thinking, and to establish a solid foundation for action.
Center
We call upon the spirit of the Center—the unifying force of all life—to be with us during this journey. We ask you to show us how to be one with you in Spirit and one with each other in service.
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Gaia Meditation, by Joanna macy and John Seed |
What are you? What am I? Intersecting cycles of water, earth, air, and fire, that’s what I am, that’s what you are.
Water—Blood, lymph, mucus, sweat, tears, inner oceans tugged by the moon, tides within and tides without. Streaming fluids floating our cells, washing and nourishing through endless riverways of gut and vein and capillary. Moisture pouring in and through and out of you, of me, in the vast poem of the hydrological cycle. You are that. I am that.
Earth—Matter made from rock and soil. It, too, is pulled by the moon as the magma circulates through the planet heart and roots such molecules into biology. Earth pours through us, replacing each cell in the body every seven years. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we ingest, incorporate, and excrete the earth, are made from earth. I am that. You are that.
Air—The gaseous realm, the atmosphere, the planet’s membrane. The inhale and the exhale. Breathing out carbon dioxide to the trees and breathing in their fresh exudations. Oxygen kissing each cell awake, atoms dancing in orderly metabolism, interpenetrating. That dance of the air cycle, breathing the universe in and out again, is what you are, is what I am.
Fire—Fire, from our sun that fuels all life, drawing up plants and raising the waters to the sky to fall again replenishing. The inner furnace of your metabolism burns with the fire of the Big Bang that first sent matter-energy spinning through space and time. And the same fire as the lightning that flashed into the primordial soup, catalyzing the birth of organic life.
You were there, I was there, for each cell of our bodies is descended in an unbroken chain from that event. Through the desire of atom for molecule, of molecule for cell, of cell for organism. In that spawning of forms death was born, born simultaneously with sex, before we divided from the plant realm. So in our sexuality we can feel ancient stirrings that connect us with plant as well as animal life. We come from them in an unbroken chain—through fish learning to walk the land, feeling scales turning to wings, through migrations in the ages of life.
We have been but recently in human form. If Earth’s whole history were compressed into twenty-four hours beginning at midnight, organic life would begin only at 5 p.m….mammals emerge at 11:30 p.m….and from amongst them at only seconds to midnight, our species.
In our long planetary journey we have taken far more ancient forms than these we now wear. Some of these forms we remember in our mother’s womb wear vestigial tails and gills, grow fins for hands.
Countless times in that journey we died to old forms, let go of old ways, allowing new ones to emerge. But nothing is ever lost. Though forms pass, all return. Each worn-out cell consumed, recycled….through mosses, leeches, birds of prey….
Think to your next death. Will your flesh and bones back into the cycle. Surrender. Love the plump worms you will become. Launder your weary being through the fountain of life.
Beholding you, I behold as well all the different creatures that compose you—the mitochondria in the cells, the intestinal bacteria, the life teeming on the surface of the skin. The great symbiosis that is you. The incredible coordination and cooperation of countless beings. You are that, too, just as your body is part of a much larger symbiosis, living in wider reciprocities. Be conscious of that give-and-take when you move among trees. Breathe your pure carbon dioxide on a leaf and sense it breathing fresh oxygen back to you.
Remember again and again the old cycles of partnership. Draw on them in this time of trouble. By your very nature and the journey you have made, there is in you deep knowing of belonging. Draw on it now in this time of fear. You have earth-bred wisdom of your interexistence with all that is. Take courage and power in it now, that we may help each other awaken in this time of peril.
Reprinted from Coming Back to Life, by Joanna Macy and Molly Young Brown with permission of Joanna Macy,
www.joannamacy.net/
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Chief Sealth’s Message
delivered to his tribal assembly in 1854 in response to the U.S. Government’s decision to buy—take—his people’s land |
How can you buy or sell the sky, the warmth of the land? This idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them? Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing, and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people…. All things share the same breath.
We will consider your offer to buy the land. I will make one condition: the white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brothers…. What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts are gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit. For whatever happens to the beasts soon happens to man. All things are connected.
This we know. The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man does not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.
Excerpt reprinted from Coming Back to Life, by Joanna Macy and Molly Young Brown with permission of Joanna Macy,
www.joannamacy.net/
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The
Hoop of the World |
As
poetically summarized by John Neihardt,
Black Elk’s interviewer, Black
Elk saw that he was…”standing
on the highest mountain of them all,
and round about beneath me was the whole
hoop of the world. And while I stood
there I saw more than I can tell and
I understood more than I saw; for I
was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes
of all things in the spirit, and the
shape of all shapes as they must live
together like one being. And I saw that
the sacred hoop of my people was one
of many hoops that made one circle,
wide as daylight and as starlight, and
in the center grew one mighty flowering
tree to shelter all the children of
one mother and one father. And I say
that it was holy.”
Reprinted from The Hoop & The Tree,
by Chris Hoffman
with the permission of Council Oak Books,
LLC, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
www.counciloakbooks.com/
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The
Wheel of the Year, by Kate Kaufman
Greenway |
It
is a circle and a spiral. As we learn
the practice of feeling and honoring
the Turning of the Seasons, we come
home to our own spirit. Following the
Earth’s cycle of change can teach
us deeply about our own changing.
Tracking the Wheel of the Year within
ourselves through reflection, ceremony,
and time with the Earth, we learn about
the natural Cycle of Change: Birth,
Growth, Fading, Death, Rebirth.
We learn to flow more consciously and
gently through our own cycles of intensity
and receptivity; action and waiting;
through fruitful times and times of
letting go.
We can reclaim our Earth-honoring roots
by deeply opening into our own experience
of turning with the Wheel, by living
in tune with the creative forces of
Nature and Her Cycle of seasonal changes.
Reprinted with the permission of
Kate Kaufman Greenway, M.S.
Counseling Psychology-LPCC, a licensed
psychotherapist,
sexuality educator, and interfaith minister.
www.womanwiseways.com
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Outwitted |
He
drew a circle that shut me out—
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win.
We drew a circle that took him in.
Edwin Markham (1852-1940)
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Liberation |
If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time.
But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine,
then let us work together.
Aboriginal Woman
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| Designing
the Next Golden Age (excerpt from), by Jay
Harman |
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This entire universe and everything in
it is moving, and it all follows the same
type of path as moving water. What is
that path? As a kid, swimming in the Indian
Ocean, I noticed that the same seaweed
that would break off in my hand, if I
tried to hold onto it, wouldn’t
break off even in the wildest storm. All
seaweed, I noticed, changed its shape
in a particular spiral to let the huge
force of water go by. Its very survival
depends on the shape it takes. Water flows
in its path of least drag and resistance,
the most streamlined path, and the seaweed
is simply doing what nature insists. I
was captivated when I understood that,
and I’ve been fascinated by it ever
since.
I started to see this shape all around
me and looked more and more closely at
its many manifestations. It opened up
a whole universe of possibilities. The
same shape I saw in seaweed I saw in seashells
and in hurricanes. If you look at the
x-ray of a seashell, water going down
a drain, and a picture of a tornado, you
see the same spiraling shapes, the same
dynamic geometry. Human skin pores have
a similar shape. We even perspire in spirals:
It’s nature’s ultimate air
conditioning system.
Nature’s designs are stunningly
elegant. There are thousands of examples
of this type of shape in the natural world,
from weather patterns, to the flow of
blood in our veins, to the way we breathe,
to the swelling flows of lava and glaciers.
In fact, it underlies everything from
particle decay to galaxies. All things
that flow or grow do so in this shape
and only in this shape. Obviously, I’m
not the first person to notice these spirals
in nature. In fact it is the most common
archetypal symbol across all cultures
going back 50,000 years. Megalithic stones
from New Grange, a bishop’s crook,
Maori tattoos, prows of Viking ships,
Japanese paintings of waves—all
highlight spirals. All of the great civilizations—the
Greeks, Celts, Indians, Muslims, Native
Americans, Tibetans, Zulus, and Australian
Aboriginals—recognized this shape
and featured it in their folklore. In
many cases it was felt to be a representation
of the divine.
When I studied physics, astronomy, and
mathematics, I found that this shape also
fascinated many great thinkers throughout
history. It was referred to as the Golden
Spiral or the Golden Proportion and was
regarded as having sacred or mystical
properties. Plato called it the “building
block of the universe.” Pythagoras
even had a secret society built around
the spirals he saw in nature. Leonardo
da Vinci spent the last 10 years of his
life absolutely obsessed by these spirals,
and he painted whirlpools and flows. In
fact, all of the great artists of the
Renaissance used the math underlying the
spiral to base their art on. René
Descartes, the father of science, wrote
a major treatise on the spiral. Daniel
Bernoulli, the father of fluid dynamics,
had the spiral inscribed on his gravestone.
Einstein was the last of the great masters
to be captivated by the spiral. All these
minds were astonished by the spiral and
the complex math behind it. They saw it
as a universal blueprint for beauty and
functionally.
©
Jay Harman. Reprinted from Bioneers Letter,
Spring/Summer 2005, Vol. VIII, No. 1,
page 14.
Bioneers Annual Conference
Contact: Bioneers toll-free at 1-877-BIONEER
website: www.bioneers.org |
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Houses of Identity |
The perpetual, metaphorical home is at the crossroad where cultures meet. "I am continuously leaving safe houses of identity. When you leave the house of what is familiar to you–your family, your race, your social class, your nation, your professional area of expertise, you end up standing someplace in the road. I would call these places that are without houses crossroads of ambiguity. They are not comfortable places. But in them, one acquires the freedom to move."
"We need more bread breaking, less head breaking. More leaving the safe house of identity. More visiting. More walking a mile in the other guy's shoes. I think it's about the public taking responsibility and having its own discourse."
Anna Deavere Smith
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One Heart, Many Rhythms is a non-profit organization that works in partnership with first peoples of the world to conserve and express the traditions of their culture. We believe all peoples of the world and their way of life are precious and worthy of preserving, and that all ways of knowing add value to our well-being.
©2004-Present One Heart Many Rhythms |
