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Earth People Magazine

Volume 3 Number 2

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By: The Dreamcatchers
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From: ‘The Way of the Animal Powers – Historical Atlas of World Mythology’ 

By: Joseph Campbell

“The Calumet [Sacred Pipe or Chanunpa] is held, stem to sky, so that the One Above may be the first to smoke. Then the Indian will himself send puffs in reverence to the four directions. His tobacco is an incense: his medicine pipe, an altar. The buffalo skull at his feet is a relic and sign of the necessary sacrifice of life to life and, in this regard, a token of the mysterious covenant of man and nature. Between its horns, two decorated eagle feathers have been laid in symbolic offering: they are white and black, as in life and death all things are two… That on his right is male; on his left female. And each is two, half light, half dark; daylight and darkness, summer and winter. Man himself is two; two eyes, ears, nostrils, hands, and feet; one for man, one for woman, or standing in the sun and behold! – body and shadow, body and spirit.”

Contents

Sitting Owl’s Editorial

Learning and the Enemies of a Man or Woman of Knowledge. 
Excerpt By: Carlos Castaneda 

Commitment 
By: Lynn V. Andrews 

Native American Mythology

Medicine Wheel for Southern Hemisphere 

The Face of God 
By: Lynn V. Andrews 

Imagination 
By: Lynn V. Andrews 

Shamanism the Course 

Transformation 
By: Lynn V. Andrews

Offering
By: Lynn V. Andrews

I Don’t Think You Love Me… 
By: Flame Morning Star 

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Sitting Owl’s Editorial

Well there has been a number people having trouble learning this spiritual stuff. Therefore I have printed some important information about learning in the article ‘Learning and the Enemies of a Man or Woman of knowledge’. I think the two most important points made in this article is that firstly, if we want to learn or become a person of knowledge, we must face our fears with a full awareness, and yet not be influenced by them. And secondly, that there is pretty much no end to our learning and attempts to overcome our natural enemies, as the last enemy is old age.

I have also printed a copy of my ‘Medicine Wheel’, as I feel that this information should be so ingrained onto our psyche so as to be seen and experienced in every situation of life.

I also suggest that everyone takes a good look, and thinks deeply and personally about Lynn’s article, ‘The Face of God’, as I still see many people who are hanging on to their personas and beliefs as if they were their soul. Please be a warrior and have the courage and patience to let go, not repress, and to open up to the nature that is within and around all of us.

The only reason I ask the above of you is because my own experience is that all healing comes when we are prepared to let go and open up, and it always comes with a great sense of release and relief.

Now I hope you will sit back and not only enjoy this issue of ‘Earth People’, but I hope you will learn about life, and how to live a genuine human life under any circumstances. But I certainly hope that you are all still learning from the past issues.

Hugs

Author Unknown

It’s wondrous what a hug can do.
A hug can cheer you when you’re blue.
A hug can say: “I love you so”,
Or “Gee! I hate to see you go!”

A hug is: “Welcome back again!”
And: “Great to see you!” or
“Where’ve you been?”
A hug can soothe a small child’s pain
And bring a rainbow after rain.

The hug! There’s just no doubt about it.
We scarcely could survive without it.
A hug delights and warms and charms,
It must be why God gave us arms.

Hugs are great for fathers and mothers,
Sweet for sisters, swell for brothers,
And chances are some favourite aunts
Love them more than potted plants.

Kittens crave them. Puppies love them.
Heads of state are not above them.
Hug can break the language barrier.
And make the dullest day seem merrier.

No need to fret about the store of ‘em.
The more you give,
The more there are of ‘em.
So stretch those arms without delay
And give someone a hug today.

Before I begin this excerpt I would like to say a couple of things about learning. By the way, out of all the books I have read by Carlos, this is the only thing I feel is worth sharing.

While I was at school I had a very good English and poetry teacher who explained that to remember anything indefinitely you must repeat the information bit by bit until it can be remembered. But then you must recall and repeat it every minute for one hour, every hour for one day, every day for one week, every week for one month, every month for one year, and then every year.

However this only allows one to learn information. The information needs to be understood how it can help in all aspects of life before it becomes knowledge, but knowledge must be used and applied to life regularly to become wisdom. All too often people can regurgitate information and knowledge about life, but they still suffer problems that could easily be solved if the knowledge and information was applied to their every-day life experiences.

As the following excerpt shows, learning is a never-ending process, that takes a great deal of alertness, courage, patience, and persistence.

He [don Juan] hesitated for a while, but then began to talk.

“When a man starts to learn, he is never clear about his objectives. His purpose is faulty; his intent is vague. He hopes for rewards that will never materialise, for he knows nothing of the hardships of learning.

“He slowly begins to learn – bit by bit at first, then in big chunks. And his thoughts soon clash. What he learns is never what he pictured, or imagined, and so he begins to be afraid. Learning is never what one expects. Every step of learning is a new task, and the fear the man is experiencing begins to mount mercilessly, unyieldingly. His purpose becomes a battlefield.

“And thus he has tumbled upon the first of his natural enemies: Fear! A terrible enemy – treacherous, and difficult to overcome. It remains concealed at every turn of the way, prowling, waiting. And if the man, terrified in its presence, runs away, his enemy will have to put an end to his quest."

"What will happen to the man if he runs away in fear?”

“Nothing happens to him except that he will never learn. He will never become a man of knowledge. He will perhaps be a bully or a harmless, scared man; at any rate, he will be a defeated man. His first enemy will have put an end to his cravings.”

“And what can he do to overcome fear?”

“The answer is very simple. He must not run away. He must defy his fear, and in spite of it he must take the next step in learning, and the next, and the next. He must be fully afraid, and yet he must not stop. That is the rule! And a moment will come when his first enemy retreats. The man begins to feel sure of himself. His intent becomes stronger. Learning is no longer a terrifying task.

“When this joyful moment comes, the man can say without hesitation that he has defeated his first natural enemy.”

“Does it happen at once, don Juan, or little by little?”

“It happens little by little, and yet the fear is vanquished suddenly and fast.”

“But won’t the man be afraid again if something new happens to him?”

“No. Once a man has vanquished fear, he is free from it for the rest of his life because, instead of fear, he has acquired clarity – a clarity of mind which erases fear. By then a man knows his desires; he knows how to satisfy those desires. He can anticipate the new steps of learning, and a sharp clarity surrounds everything. The man feels nothing is concealed.

“And thus he has encountered his second enemy: Clarity! That clarity of mind, which is so hard to obtain, dispels fear, but also blinds.

“It forces the man never to doubt himself. It gives him the assurance he can do anything he pleases, for he sees clearly into everything. And he is courageous because he is clear, and he stops at nothing because he is clear. But all that is a mistake; it is like something incomplete. If the man yields to this make-believe power, he has succumbed to his second enemy and will fumble with learning. He will rush when he should be patient, or he will be patient when he should rush. And he will fumble with learning until he winds up incapable of learning anything more."

“What becomes of a man who is defeated in that way, don Juan? Does he die as a result?”

“No, he doesn’t die. His second enemy has just stopped him cold from trying to become a man of knowledge; instead, the man may turn into a buoyant warrior, or a clown. Yet the clarity for which he has paid so deary will never change to darkness and fear again. He will be clear as long as he lives, but he will no longer learn, or yearn for, anything.”

“But what does he have to do to avoid being defeated?”

“He must do what he did with fear: he must defy his clarity and use it only to see, and wait patiently and measure carefully before taking new steps; he must think, above all, that his clarity is almost a mistake. And a moment will come when he will understand that his clarity was only a point before his eyes. And thus he will have overcome his second enemy, and will arrive at a position where nothing can harm him any more. This will not be a mistake. It will not be only a point before his eyes. It will be true power.

“He will know at this point that the power he has been pursuing for so long is finally his. He can do with it whatever he pleases. His ally is at his command. His wish is the rule. He sees all that is around him. But he has also come across his third enemy: Power!

“Power is the strongest of all enemies. And naturally the easiest thing to do is to give in; after all, the man is truly invincible. He commands; he begins by taking calculated risks, and ends in making rules, because he is a master.

“A man at this stage hardly notices his third enemy closing in on him. And suddenly, without knowing, he will certainly have lost the battle. His enemy will have turned him into a cruel, capricious man.”

“Will he lose his power?”

“No, he will never lose his clarity or his power.”

“What then will distinguish him from a man of knowledge?”

“A man who is defeated by power dies without really knowing how to handle it. Power is only a burden upon his fate. Such a man has no command over himself, and cannot tell when or how to use his power.”

“Is the defeat by any of these enemies a final defeat?”

“Of course it is final. Once one of these enemies overpowers a man there is nothing he can do.”

“Is it possible, for instance, that the man who is defeated by power may see his error and mend his ways?”

“No. Once a man gives in he is through.”

“But what if he is temporarily blinded by power, and then refuses it?”

“That means his battle is still on. That means he is still trying to become a man of knowledge. A man is defeated only when he no longer tries, and abandons himself.”

“But then, don Juan, it is possible that a man may abandon himself to fear for years, but finally conquer it.”

“No, that is not true. If he gives in to fear he will never conquer it, because he will shy away from learning and never try again. But if he tries to learn for years in the midst of fear, he will eventually conquer it because he will never have really abandoned himself to it.”

“How can he defeat his third enemy, don Juan?”

“He has to defy it, deliberately. He has to come to realise the power he has seemingly conquered is in reality never his. He must keep himself in line at all times, handling carefully and faithfully all that he has learned. If he can see that clarity and power, without his control over himself, are worse than mistakes, he will reach a point where everything is held in check. He will know then when and how to use his power. And thus he will have defeated his third enemy.

“The man will be, by then, at the end of his journey of learning, and almost without warning he will come upon the last of his enemies: Old age! This enemy is the cruellest of all, the one he won’t be able to defeat completely, but only fight away.

“This is the time when a man has no more fears, no more impatient clarity of mind – a time when all his power is in check, but also the time when he has an unyielding desire to rest. If he gives in totally to his desire to lie down and forget, if he soothes himself in tiredness, he will have lost his last round, and his enemy will cut him down into a feeble old creature. His desire to retreat will overrule all his clarity, his power, and his knowledge.

“But if the man sloughs off his tiredness, and lives his fate through, he can then be called a man of knowledge, if only for the brief moment when he succeeds in fighting off his last, invincible enemy. That moment of clarity, power, and knowledge is enough.”

You need commitment to focus on your target, take aim, pull back the bow, and then shoot your arrow, knowing you will hit the bull’s-eye with every shot. To hit the bull’s-eye requires total commitment of your spiritual and physical being. You need only the commitment to walk down the path through the gateway into your true destiny. It is a process of gathering. You gather your emotions, your mental strength, and your abilities as you would gather sheep. It can be a long process, but your commitment gives you endurance. It is the next step after defining your act of power. Materialise your dreams and begin to live them. Build that magnificent dream lodge within you with total commitment.

A moon gateway looking into the garden of higher consciousness and the sphere of universal consciousness within symbolises our commitment along the path of enlightenment, from one space or level of consciousness to another.

Printed with permission from:

‘The Power Deck’

For those of you looking for the entertainment of the mythical stories, I’m sorry, but you will still have to wait, because there are still some aspects of Mythology and life that I need to introduce so as to give you a full understanding and appreciation of Native American Mythology.

It is impossible here to give the understanding of mythological stories according to time and place as all boundaries change and merge. As a result different researchers and collectors of these stories give different names and even spelling of the tribes, which over time and space, have also merged and or split. Even the general areas referred to differ according to the researcher’s understanding of the mythical stories and their owners.

Therefore the most important aspect of mythological stories is not the differences and where they come from, which is the historical aspect, but the similarities, which is the psychological aspect. So much so that the reader, at times, will recognise the same message in a story as that which may be found in the Bible or European folk tales. In fact one of my sources, ‘Folk Tales of the North American Indians’ by Stith Thompson, has arranged his collection of stories in the following way, that I found helpful to see the motifs and messages in the stories. Those who are familiar with Mythology will probably recognise these motifs.

1. Mythological Stories. (In The Beginning).
2. Mythical Incidents. (Or World Creation).
3. Trickster Tales.
4. Hero Tales.
5. Journeys To the Other Worlds.
6. Animal Wives and Husbands.
7. Miscellaneous Tales.
8. Tales Borrowed From Europeans.
9. Bible Stories.

To me the most important mythological symbol is the circle, so to conclude my introduction I would like to discuss the Medicine Wheel as understood by the Lakota People, also known as the Sioux or Dakota.

Lakota means ‘peace’ in their language, and Wallace Black Elk refers to their way of living as the Earth People Philosophy. Earth people are humans who live with awareness of spirit and nature that is within and around everything, and they give sacred reverence to all things at all times. Earth people are steadfast and honest, they know that everything is a circle as created by Tunkashila (pronounced Toon kash sheela meaning Grandfather), or God. He is the wisdom, the sky, light, and giver of life to all things. They know that Grandmother, the earth, giver of matter is the knowledge.

Man was given the four cosmic forces or basic ingredients that give rise to, and form everything in existence. Humans were given one drop of wisdom (fire), one drop of knowledge (rock), one drop of power (water), and one drop of gift, love, or talent (green - meaning living). Earth people know that we are part of the fire, part of the rock or earth, part of water, and part of the green or living.

The Earth People philosophy is very much the same to what has been termed ‘The Perennial Philosophy’ and in humanity’s ancient roots was ‘The Way of the Shaman’. A true shamanic experience brings an inner balance and knowing rather than a belief. It also brings a sense of peace and bliss, which is your true being, that comes only when you can live every passing moment of life without being influenced by any fear, desire, or social duty to live any particular way.

So to be an Earth Person we must understand nature, and to do this, the Lakota use the Medicine Wheel to help learn and understand the energies of nature, both within the environment and ourselves. However their nature, in the Northern Hemisphere, like the sun, moves clockwise in a southerly arc. So to adapt the Medicine Wheel to the Southern Hemisphere, we must swap the aspects of the North and South, and then move anti clockwise over a northerly arc. (see chart).

To finish off I would like to give an example of my morning and evening prayer, which is never exactly the same, but follows an understanding of the Medicine Wheel and goes something like this:

My Morning Prayer

Tunkashila, Grandfather, Creator of all things, Great Spirit, I give thanks for giving me life to walk another day on this Earth Mother. I thank you for all of your creation and all spirit.

Maka (pronounced Mucka), Grandmother, the Earth, giver of all matter, I give thanks for giving of your self so that I may live in this physical body, and to walk on your surface another day.

To the East, I give thanks for giving us spirit, the enlightenment and far-sighted-ness of the great Eagle, and for the birth of the Sun, Morning and Spring, and I give thanks for the element Fire.

To the North, I give thanks for the trust and innocence of the Mouse, for the warmth of Midday and Summer, for the Moon and the element Water.

To the West, I give thanks for the introspection and intuition of the Grizzly Bear or Koala, for the change of Evening and Autumn, for the Earth and the Minerals.

To the South, I give thanks for the knowledge and wisdom of the Buffalo or Kangaroo, for the coolness of Midnight and Winter, for the Stars and the element Air.

May all spirit work within me.

MITAKUYE OYASIN (pronounced Mit uk wee –arsin, which means for all my relations (from the mineral people through all plants and animals to all human beings).

And here are some songs:

GRANDMOTHERS, GRANDFATHERS
By: John Palmer (Fire Wolf)

Grandmothers, Grandfathers show us your way, guide us with our light through your spiritual way.
Arapaho, Shoshoni, Navaho, Sioux, spirits cry out we’re waiting for you.
Take us to the time when the buffalo roam, success wasn’t judged by the things that you own.

Chorus: heya hey hey heya heya hey ho, heya hey hey heya heya hey ho.

Spirit of the Indian, show me your home. Guide me on your red road with your circle of stone.
Cherokee, Black, the Comanche and Cree, open my eyes, let me feel what I see.
Earth mother waits with her life in your hands, time has come to replenish our land.
White man, black man, yellow and red, save our mother before she is dead.

Chorus X 2.

MOTHER I FEEL YOU
Unknown, but added to

Mother I feel you under my feet, Mother I feel your heart beat.

Chorus: Hey a Hey a Hey a Hey a Hey a Hey Ho.

Now new additions:

Father I feel your breath on my side, Father I know I am alive.
Chorus
Spirit of the East you give birth to the Sun, spirit of the East you’re illumination.
Chorus
Warmth of the North you give innocence, warmth of the North you’re the adolescence.
Chorus
Change of the West you give intuition, change of the West you’re looks within.
Chorus
Wisdom of the south you give air to breath, wisdom of the South you’re the Elderly.
Chorus

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Ani and I sat in a small tea-house just off the trail leading south out of the village of Buktimang. A small white puppy wiggled around a corner of the adobe building. He curled himself onto one of my feet and began to chew on my toes. I looked across the rickety wooden table at Ani, whose brown ears were filled with gold coins. A dhaka shawl made out of sewn layers of thin cotton in faded shades of pink and white was draped around her shoulders. She rested gently on her elbows as she examined a thin round metal object in her hand. An old red ribbon was tied to a loop in the top of the shiny disc. Chewing on her lip, she moved the disc in different directions so that it caught glimpses of sunlight and reflected them onto the thatched roof of the portal. At one point she caught the light in such a way that a rainbow splashed across her forehead and dipped into an earthen pot sitting on the red-mato-covered floor. When a young boy brought us tea, she covered the small shield with her hand and polished it on her sari skirt until he left. I had not seen it before.

“What is that, Ani?”

“Reflection means many things,” she said, ignoring my question.

An unexpected clap of thunder jiggled the rafters as a warm rain began to fall outside.

“Reflection is a beautiful word, don’t you think?” Ani looked at me over her teacup and, squinting one eye, she continued. “Reflection means thinking about things in the past or the future. To reflect does not necessarily mean to think about things that really exist. Reflection could also mean a mirroring, yes?”

“Yes,” I said, as she uncovered the shiny disc again and held it up to the rays of sunlight slanting through the rain.

“This light comes from the sun. You cannot touch it. Does that mean it is not real?”

“No. Although some people say they need to be able to touch something to believe it is real.” I wondered what she was getting at and was fascinated by the way she was playing with the light.

“Now look into the tea water. What do you see?”

I looked into the teacup as a pool of brilliant sunlight was reflected into it, illuminating even the dark bottom of the porcelain cup.

“I see the reflection of the sunlight.”

“Yes. The sun and its reflected light are two quite different things, wouldn’t you say?”

“I would.”

“Which is real?

“The sun is real and the glow of light in the tea water is only the refection of the sun.”

Holding up the shiny disk, Ani said, “This shield is a mirror for the sun. Now you see the sun reflected in its face and now you don’t. Here, you try it.” Ani handed me the disk.

It felt warm and smooth between my fingers. I examined it carefully. It was carefully handcrafted and it felt very old in its simplicity. It was a gold-silver colour as if it were a mixture of metals. It had three circles with dots in the centre in the three directions, and in the north was a copper loop with a strip of red cloth hanging from it. It was a slightly convex circle about 2 and 1/2 inches across and thin but stable. I held it up and saw a somewhat distorted reflection of my face (with mottled red and yellow from the area in the background.) Then I held the small shield up to the remaining view of the sun through the mist of low rain clouds. A radiant refection of sunlight bounced off the table. I played with the light for a while, directing it onto the red mato floor where three children giggled as they huddled together spying on us. Then the cloud layer became more dense over the dark hills and the sun was obscured from sight. My tiny mirror became a flat dense gold colour, no longer as shiny. I kept turning the disk trying to find more sunlight.

“There, that’s your problem. Do you see it?” Ani clapped her hands and laughed after sitting and watching me in silence.

“What – just because there’s no more sunlight?”

“Let the sun go away. You are attached to the sunlight”

“But I enjoy the sunlight on the metal.”

“But the sun has moved behind a cloud.”

“Yes, I’m quite aware of that. Ani what are you getting at?”

“I’m just observing your discontent.”

“I don’t understand. I’m not discontented.”

“You are dwelling on the past. You carry the past inside of you, right here.” Ani tapped her head with her long forefinger. “Let the sun be gone, let it disappear.”

“Okay.” I placed the shield on the table between us.

Ani giggled at me. “You are still clinging to the sun. Like you do to Bahni.” Ani took the shield and held it up to me. “Look into the mirror.” Ani commanded.

I looked into the shield and saw my face.

“Has the reflection of your face changed this mirror one little bit?”

I thought for a while about atoms and molecules and then said, “No.”

“Has the mirror changed or altered because it once reflected the sun or maybe even the face of God?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Give me your camera.”

I handed Ani my camera. Deftly she set the flash and standing up she became a caricature of a photographer, kneeling down on the ground and twisting this way and that to catch the right angle and as much light as possible. She snapped several shots as a chicken fluttered noisily out of her way and the children jumped up and down shouting “Hallo, hallo,” with their tiny brown palms reaching for rupees.

“Ha! Ha!” Ani shushed to them in a commanding tone and they immediately quietened down. I gave them a few rupees and they disappeared behind the wall.

“The film in this camera is forever obsessed with the thought of you. Your face is imprinted on its memory forever. The film clings to your image. It is obsessed with you.”

“I understand,” I said, getting confused.

“This mirror reflects your image now,” she said holding the disk up so I could see myself. “But it is different from the film that also reflects your face. Do you understand why?”

I picked up the camera and the mirror. It never failed. Whenever one of my teachers asked me a direct question my mind would go absolutely blank. Ani took the metal mirror out of my hand.

“This mirror is not obsessed with the past like the film. The mirror reflects life, whatever is placed in front of it. When that reality shifts and changes, the mirror is left unchanged.”

“I see.”

Ani looked into the mirror and playfully arranged her hair. “The mirror sees a new reality. It sees me, but does that change me?”

“Does it change you? Yes, perhaps.”

“That’s right. Mirrors can change us greatly, because they enable us to see things that we may not have noticed. Like spinach caught between our teeth or the dark side of the soul.” Ani winked at me. “But the mirror,” Ani held the shield up between us like a sacred effigy, “never changes. The mirror is the sacred witness to everything that chooses to be reflected within its sphere. It has much to teach you.”

“Are you saying that I must learn to become a mirror.”

“Yes, to become enlightened is to become like a mirror. If you have reflected the sun and then the sun sets, you can happily reflect the moon. We leak most of our power by our attachment to the images we reflect. We are like the film in your camera. If we become a famous jhagrini or healer in our life we become a jhagrini, not a woman living her medicine who happens to have developed the gift of healing. It is the same for everyone – bankers, doctors, housewives. We never see who we are. We are obsessed with our own reflection.”

“Is the mirror the source of reflection?” I asked.

“You are considering what is real, are you not?”

Yes, I’m thinking about whether the mirror is a source.”

Only God is the source, and like the mirror we are mirror images of God,” Ani said, tapping the metal disc with her forefinger.

“Then what is the mirror?”

“The mirror enables us to understand the nature of our reflection, just as the physical body is a sacred tool, a device for the process of evolvement into higher realms. Our physical existence provides mirrors for learning. The mirror is part of the teaching.”

Printed with permission.

By: Lynn V. Andrews

Exploring the wilderness of your own soul through contemplation brings you to the altar of your imagination. To have a circle of imagination in your being, walk with the untamed, wild, instinctual side of your nature, all the time knowing its power, like a woman aware of her own pregnancy and yet moving through the round of daily tasks. You need focus on the unborn life for its nature to continue to grow. Remember always that inspiration often comes after reflection, after the seed of creative work, the energy of the universe comes to you and imagination flows.

The cave opening represents the gateway to the west, into the universal spirit or unconscious. The sky is filed with soft white clouds, which represent your dreams in life and the sacred dream of the Great Spirit within each of us. Know that what you imagine is real. In this pragmatic life, we forget the importance of imagination. Imagination and visualisation can be at the root of your successful ceremony called life. Power is often created through the ability to use the imagination in a pragmatic way. This is about primal passion, the origins of our instinctual nature. Beneath our seemingly simple reality is a whole other world that can be reached only through our imagination.

Printed with permission from:

‘The Power Deck’

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Shamanism - The Course

Question 5. How do you think Shamanism can help the global environment?

Shamanism is the primal ground from which all spiritual traditions have emerged. It is the ancient religion of our ancestors, who took nature as their spiritual teacher. Today it is these teachings that may save the modern world from choking itself with the toxic by-products of its own ignorance. Shamanism roots us in our common mother, the earth, reawakening an awareness of all living things as her extended family, and refreshes ancient memories of harmonious human community and offers us hope. Shamanism requires us to understand our common humanity and overcome our differences. This can help us through the destructive earth changes. When humanity is in chaos like it is now, the simplest teaching is to respect each other, nobody is better than anybody else; we just have different lessons.

Gombuhu, a Mongolian shaman said, “Humans and the world, we are one and the same thing. And yet your people run around making holes in your forests. What you have forgotten is that when you make a hole in the world, you make a hole in yourself. My job, is to close in holes in people. Bad things can come through those holes.”

We need to change our behaviour to the planet and not take her for granted, and strengthen the connection with mother earth. By connecting with the earth we ground our ideas, we activate them, we heal ourselves, and at the same time we gain access to the wisdom of the universe. The earth is the storehouse of knowledge, which we can channel when we attune ourselves to her vibration. The earth, also magnetises our electro-magnetic energy, and her energy vitalises us. We can harmonise with her by listening to the drum, which represents her heart beat, or through quieting ourselves in nature.

We can all play a part in the creation of universal peace and harmony simply by transforming any conflict or negativity we hold within ourselves. When we are willing to do this, and commit ourselves to the intent, unseen powers come to help and guide us. We have the opportunity to open our consciousness to other realities, to parallel universes, as these other realms are open for us to reach and explore. The way each of us can develop our gifts, and fulfil our potential, is to walk the path of heart. It is the path we walk when we honour all of nature, and those of spirit, giving equal respect to all life, and seeing all thing, all events, all people, as our teachers. It is the path we walk when we seek to express peace and harmony, and tolerance, alongside unconditional love. Realise we are all one with the universe. Understand that all animals, birds, insects, trees, flowers, herbs, and stones all have a spirit and lessons to share with us if we will only listen. In these ways, we can help the global environment.

To help connect to the earth, we can be self-reliant in growing our own fruit and vegetables; watch yourself grow as your plants grow, conserve water, recycle waste, plant trees and use environmentally safe products.

Sitting Owl’s Comments

I obviously agree with most of your discussion here as there are many ticks in the margin, some of them big ticks, however transforming negativity is a case of becoming aware of the other opposite, eg; seeing the male in the female and the good in the bad. All things are both. Parallel universes are what some shamans refer to as other worlds, and are states of consciousness that Carl Jung referred to as archetypes. And they must indeed be explored and understood, as they are energies that are effecting us all, every moment of every day. I have some reservations about your last paragraph, as we need to be less self-reliant and more inter-dependant, as we all have our own gifts to share. Conserving and recycling is OK, but we must stop the manufacturing of many products and waste nothing. The sale of Environmentally SAFE products is often a cover-up to continue production, and society’s quick and easy mentality, like relying on flushing toilets and showers, all very wasteful of water. Remember the universal cleansing products of Fire, Water, Earth, and Air. 

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Transformation

By: Lynn V. Andrews

The power of your intent leads you around the sacred wheel of endeavour. Begin today with trust and innocence in the early hours. Imagine a quiet pond, and see the reflection of your true self. At noon take a moment to close your eyes and dream. Image the transformation that this day offers you. Seek the strength and wisdom, through your ability to love, to bring this transformation into action and into the words you speak. At night give thanks for the illumination you have found. Know that the form of your intent leads you to the power of transformation.

The pond represents the serenity of your unconscious mind and the rebirth of awareness in the west. The steps in the north lead to a sacred place of prayer and worship of the Great Spirit. Find a sacred sanctuary within the universe of your soul. The lotus blossoms represent your transformation beginning to bloom, and the doves of peace take the messages in your heart to the Great Spirit.

Printed with permission from:

‘The Power Deck’

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Offering

By: Lynn V. Andrews

Every day of our lives we take from Mother Earth our energy for life. We forget the ancient tradition of the sacred give-away. Take a moment to sit in silence and count the magnificent things you have in this life, even if only the wondrousness of being given life. Reflect on the Great Mother, Mother Earth. Ask yourself: “What have I given back to her lately to heal her?” Then think of the higher vision of life and balance on this earth, and realise that the greatest gift you can give this earth and your fellow humans is your own enlightenment. In this way you tear away the veils of ignorance and present the magnificence of your being to everyone who experiences you. Everyone around you is lifted and inspired. This is your offering.

Offering is symbolised by a prayer tie placed on an elm tree. The wind takes the prayer to the Great Spirit. The sphere of totality stands in a place of nourishment, a fountain that is given from Mother Earth. The truth of Mother Earth is reflected into the boundless space of eternal life.

Offering is a teaching of the physical give-away to spirit.

Printed with permission from:

‘The Power Deck’

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I Don’t Think You Love Me 

I Don’t Think You Care

By Flame Morning Star

I don’t think you love me.
I don’t think you care.

REMEDY
Do you respect a book?
Well hold me and caress me like you do your book.

Feel me, touch me, like you do your guns, with feeling – love and attention – gentleness.

Look at me, the way you would look at a magnificent sunrise.
See the beauty of it – of me.

Spend time attending the garden with me – share our quietness together.

Think of me as your warm, warm shower, letting you unwind from the day’s chaos – feel my warmth and love reaching every part of your body and mind – feel yourself relaxing with me.

Think of me as your sturdy old car, its taken a few small dints, but will always be there, has hardly let you down, except when your attention failed in up-keep of her (friendship).

Everything in life needs nurturing in some way.

I ask for the most simplest and fairest.
SHOW ME YOU CARE.
SHOW ME YOUR LOVE.
To give me – for you to give me – ATTENTION – TIME, Talking, explaining, not telling.
Cuddles and touch, warmth, comfort, protection.
Looks, understanding, appreciation, love, sharing, caring, and togetherness.

And above all, please do not ASSUME – things. Ask me, it might just be you, and what you think.

And when you come to the end of this story.

If you think it’s shit, and it stinks, then I say to you: It’s a waste of time me being here, it shows me very, very clear.
That you don’t love or care or want me dear.

But please consider one major point. When you got your first gun,
You had to work out how it worked.
When you got your first car,
You had to find out how it worked.

And if you have no use for computers or haven’t enough patience to work them out, then there is no bloody hope for us.

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