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Earth People Magazine

Volume 4 Number 3

Cover Picture

“James A. Garfield Velarde”

‘Sketch’ by: Margaret Bond of W.A.

I am very grateful and honoured to have permission to print this picture, particularly now that Margaret can’t even see well enough to read her issues of ‘Earth People’. This picture was obviously done when her eyesight was better. As a result of her diminished sight I am now making the magazine available on tape, the best I can do reading the magazine myself out in the bush with only 12 volts. For more information on Margaret and the front cover picture, see Sitting Owl’s Editorial.

MARGARET BOND AND THE FRONT COVER PICTURE
Margaret has been an enthusiastic reader and Western Australian distributor of ‘Earth People’ since it started in 2000. She did the sketch of ‘Bull Chief of the Apsaroke’ on the front cover of Volume 1 Number 2, and she supplied the pictures and some of the information on many of the Native Americans that have appeared in past issues of this magazine. And I still have one of her sketches that have not appeared yet! 

Last I spoke to Margaret, which was when I suggested that I make a tape with me reading the magazine for her (her eyesight was failing), she informed me of the upcoming ‘World Peace and Prayer Day’ Gathering at the Grampians. This gathering is said to have Arvol Looking Horse in attendance. Arvol is the current carrier or keeper of the original Sacred Pipe that was given to the Lakota by White Buffalo Calf Woman. 

The following is what Margaret sent me with her sketch.
James A. Garfield Velarde

His name was James A. Garfield Velarde, and he was a 19th Century Jicarilla Apache. His name was a legacy of Spanish missionaries, and a tribute to the 20th President of the United States. In a sense, both of Velarde’s namesakes betrayed him and his people: Long before his death, at the reported age of 108, the Apache ancestral homeland and distinctive culture had been decimated by the impact of European civilization. Yet remarkably the Apache heritage and identity survive, as do those of more than 300 other Native American tribes.

Virtue is one of the passive qualities of power. When you pull back the bow, preparing to set the arrow and define your target, you use the strength, the will, and the focus that you have collected within that part of yourself called virtue. Virtue is where you find inner truth. It is a place of illumination, and as that radiance grows within you, it becomes integrity. Without virtue, there is no inner balance. Virtue comes from the unknown, quiet things that you do for the world and other people. With each act, your spirit shield becomes stronger and more beautiful with the symbols of your inner life. Like the deer, they are quiet symbols. Virtue marks your path on the other side. Like the one who walks last, the virtuous person is in a position of power. Power often comes quietly. Walk in beauty and virtue.

An altar of sacredness, a sanctuary, is created in any place in the wilderness where higher thought is gathered. The monarch butterfly symbolises the transformation to higher consciousness. The Buddha symbolises the shaman spirit in reflection and meditation. The deer in virtue and innocence are drawn cautiously toward the spirit being. The abalone shell symbolises the aura of light around the sacred space and being. The deer spirits imply innocence, caution, and beauty in the walk toward your virtue. Virtue is a south teaching (North teaching for the southern hemisphere Ed.), because it requires an understanding of your physical desires.

Printed with permission 
From: ‘The Power Deck’

Materials of Medicine Part 3

 (Home Herbal Medicine)

By: Colin Hill (Laughing Snake)

CREDITS:

Colin Hill (Laughing Snake) has sourced his work from: Jethro Kloss (Author of: ‘Back to Eden') and the Queensland Institute of Natural Science for the course: ‘Herbal Medicine’. Sitting Owl has added just a little to this work by cross-referencing from many sources, especially ‘Kitchen Pharmacy’ by Rose Elliot and Carlo De Paoli, and a variety of writings from Dr Maurice Blackmore (founder of Blackmores Laboratories) 

How to Use the Herbs

 As the following information is simply a collection of information, it is recommended that if problems persist or if there is any doubt you seek advice from a professional medical or naturopathic practitioner. All the herbs in this book can be cultivated in a home garden, and an organic garden is preferred. 

Warning on dosages

When in doubt don’t. Please check with one of the many herbalists available for correct uses and dosages. 

Tisane or Infusions

These are made by pouring boiling water on the fresh or dried herbs and allowing a few minutes to infuse, usually from five (5) to twelve (12) minutes. The strength varies with different herbs, and can be sweetened to taste with honey, raw, or brown sugar. 

Brews or Decoctions

These are made by simmering the herb in water for ten (10) minutes. The proportions are the same as for the teas above. Boiling destroys the active principle or ingredient of some herbs and these are better taken as teas or eaten raw in salads and other food dishes. Dosage varies, but it is difficult to take an overdose of any of the herbs in this book. Herbal medicines act gently and slowly. Instant miraculous cures are as unlikely as harmful side effects. The curative properties of these herbs have been known and described for centuries, so are tried and true. It is recommended that you begin with a smallest dose and gradually increase it This is a hot or cold pack applied to the skin, often over a wound or other damage. It is made by mixing hot water with chopped or ground herbs in a muslin (cotton gauze) bag, often used to draw pus and other debris from a wound. Onion, Linseed and Comfrey are particularly suited to this technique

Nettle (Stinging Nettle)

for Everything

(Urtica Urens or Urtica Dioica)

KEY CONSTITUENTS:

Neutral to warm (Increases Yang)
SEED: Secretin. 
LEAF: Flavonoids (Quercetin); Amines (Histamine, Choline, Acetylcholine And Serotonin); Glucoquinone; Minerals (Calcium, Potassium, Iron, Silicic, Acid); Vitamin C; Lecithin; Chlorophyll; Enzymes.

Therapeutic actions of the whole herb:

DEPURATIVE: A remedy to purify the blood.
ASTRINGENT: Contracts organic tissue, reducing secretions or discharges.
TONIC: Increases strength or improves the general tone of the whole system.
STIMULANT: Quickens the physiological processes.
DIURETIC: To excite the secretion of urine, or the driving off (reduction) of fluids.
DEPURATIVE: A remedy to purify the blood.
ANTIINFLAMMATORY: Reduces inflammation.
ANTIASTHMATIC and ANT BRONCHIAL qualities.
HAEMOSTATIC: Stops bleeding.
ANODYNE: Allays (represses), soothes or mitigates pain (Pain Killer).
VERMIFUGE: Expels intestinal worms.
EMMENAGOGUE: Promotes menstrual discharge.

Nettle Tea with a sprig of Thyme is used for mild asthma relief and bronchial problems. The herb is also used as a remedy for kidney troubles and prevents scrofula, which is tuberculosis of the lymph nodes in the neck. Nettle will expel gravel from the bladder and increase the flow of urine. Used for neuralgia, a poultice of the fresh steeped leaves will relieve pain, but do not leave poultice on too long or over use for pain, this herb tends to blister the skin if over used. The tea of nettle increases the menstrual flow and it kills and expels worms. It is also used for diarrhoea, dysentery, piles or haemorrhoids, haemorrhages, gravel or stones, and anaemia. For chronic rheumatism, take the fresh bruised leaves and rub on the skin.

To make a decoction use one teaspoon to a cup of water and simmer on the stove for 10 minutes, strain and use. A tea made with the root of nettle will help in the first stage of dropsy. And it is used for haemorrhages from the urinary organs, lungs, intestines, nose, and stomach.

Use the boiled nettle leaves to stop bleeding almost immediately if applied externally.

Nettle tea is good for colds and flu, pleurisy, fever, and la grippe; is an old remedy for backache and is great for eczema. Use a tisane (tea) to help break up and expel phlegm from the lungs and stomach; clean out the urinary canal and the leaves alone increases breast milk production. It is good for acne and as a blood builder and purifier.
Use nettle tea or decoction for a skin, scalp, and hair tonic to bring back the natural colour of the hair; use as a last rinse when shampooing. Add a little apple cider vinegar to the fresh decoction for hair use, as it helps rid dandruff and brings back new life and natural lustre to hair.

To make a stronger decoction try making a decoction from the root and the leaves, as it reduces prostate enlargement. A strong decoction of this nettle herb can be used for atrophied parts of the body. Wash the herb all over the arms, legs, shoulders, anywhere there is wasted muscles. Bath in it for severe atrophy.

Use nettle tea for cleansing, detoxifying, hay fever, allergic rhinitis, mild asthma, nappy rash, insect bites, and the fresh expressed juice of the leaves to treat stinging nettle stings.

It is good to know that when the stinging varieties are dry it does not sting you! So please try not to stress about stinging nettle, use it, it has great medicinal virtues, the same as the non-stinging varieties.
Keep in mind that the herb nettle’s mineral content is high and is a great tonic for depleted and frayed nerves and is a restorative after long illness.
Also use the young freshly picked tender leaves with salad greens mixed with herb salad.

MIXED HERB SALAD RECIPE

Marigold petals, Mixed lettuces, Chick weed plant, spinach, silver beet (young leaves), Chicory leaves, Dandelion leaves (young ones), Fresh picked radishes (use the leaves), Shallots. Serve with French garlic dressing or your favourite variations. Of course, don’t forget the Nettle.
Bon Appetite

Mulberry

for Fevers and Thirst

(Morus Nigra Family: Moraceae)

Therapeutic actions of the berry and juice:

Cooling (Yin)

NUTRITIVE: Serving to nourish.
REFRIGERANT: Cooling the body.
LAXATIVE: Relieving constipation.
DIURETIC: To excite the secretion of urine, or the driving off (reduction) of fluids.
ASTRINGENT: Contracts organic tissue, reducing secretions or discharges.
FEBRIFUGE: Drives away or removes fever.

The Mulberry tree is found in most states of Australia, as it is a very adaptable tree, which thrives in a cold climate as well as a subtropical one. The fruit or expressed juice makes an excellent tonic for those who are convalescing from febrile (fever) or infectious diseases, influenza etc. It is cooling to the blood and quenches thirst. In the sick room, when anyone has a fever, this drink is preferred for its tonic action and thirst quenching qualities over any other beverage. The leaves of the mulberry are used for rearing silkworms.

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Symbols of God and Jesus

Excerpt from: ‘A Joseph Campbell Companion – 
Reflections on the Art of Living’ pp164 – 171
Selected and Edited by: Diane K. Osborn

All imaging of God, if the word is going to mean anything besides “this is what Mother taught me,” is supposed to refer to that which transcends all knowledge, all naming, all forming; and, consequently, the word has to point past itself. In our tradition, the idea of God is so strongly personified as a person that you get stuck with that problem whenever you think of God.

God is not an illusion, but a symbol pointing beyond itself to the realisation of the mystery of at-one-ment.
Jung, in his book Answer to Job, deals with the image of God that has come down through the centuries. How can we relate to it? Well, the Old Testament image, Yahweh, is of a lawgiver, a very strong dictator, and an angry father. And in the Book of Job, you have the epidermization of that image.

Here is this Job, who has been a good man, and Yahweh, the God, boasting to the devil, Satan, says: “Have you considered Job? How loyal he is to me? How he loves me?” And Satan says, “Well, you’ve been pretty good to him. Make it tough and see how long this is going to last.” Yahweh says, “I bet ya.” And Satan says, “I bet ya.”…

So that’s the situation, and after the wager, things get rough. What a time Job has! His family is killed, his wealth is taken from him, and he ends up on a heap of ashes with a case of boils. His friends, so-called “comforters,” annoy him further by saying, “You must have been a pretty bad chap to deserve all this.” He says, “No, I’m good.” And he’s right: he is good.

Well, with this challenge to God, he finally has to come through and show himself. I mean, it’s a big deal. So, God shows himself, and what does he say? He says, “Who are you, you little worm, to question me? How dare you even consider that you could understand what is happening to you? Could you fill Leviathan's nose with harpoons? I did. Try it.”

Job is completely cowed. He suspends human judgement. He says, “I have heard of you with the hearing of my ears. Now I behold you with my eyes, and I am ashamed. I cover my head with ashes.”

Now, reading that in terms of its real spiritual message, what it means is that you cannot judge your destiny in terms of something that was done to you by somebody. I mean, what is actually happening there – although it is not admitted – is that the image of God as a person is exploded. When you get to the trans-personal, you can’t speak of “justice” and “injustice.”

What about all the landslides along the Big Sur coastline and the millions of dollars of damage they’ve caused? If you take these acts of nature as something that somebody has done to the people living there, you have the whole thing messed up. But that’s not the way the Book of Job has been understood. It has been understood in the way of submission to a person. And a person who would pull a deal like that on somebody is a pretty unappetising type.

Actually, the Book of Job, which dates from around the fifth century B.C., is anticipated by a Babylonian text from about 1500 B.C. called the “Babylonian Job,” in which a king, who has been sacrificing to the deities and building them temples, has been overcome by, I think it was, leprosy. He tries to interpret his afflictions in terms of what he has done in worship as a payment. Now, if you think of worship as a form of payment for something, you’re on the wrong track altogether.

The Book of Job really breaks down that idea. But if you are going to hold to the image of God that is presented in the Book of Job, you have something that needs a little bit of refreshment.

So then the Christians, as a next step, take the idea of the Incarnation of the second person of the Blessed Trinity offering himself in love to the world to be a higher, more illuminated, form. In other words, God has been tempered by taking the form of man and experiencing the world of man.

But, says our friend Jung, this is not the answer either, because Christ was a divine incarnation born of a virgin, so he really wasn’t man, he was God. Yet, Jung argues, “God wanted to become man and still wants to.” So he provided for his continuing incarnation, as it were, within man as the Holy Ghost, the third person of the Blessed Trinity. So, if you want to see God in the world, recognise it in mankind. That’s the essence of Jung’s answer to Job: Don’t throw this blame back on God, on the universe, or on anything of the kind. Realise that all notions of God are historically conditioned images for qualities that are to be recognised as actually being in man.

There is a darling little woman who comes to my lectures in New York, who was a nun. She left the convent after hearing a couple of my talks. She did. That’s one of my great credits, you old bastard up there. The last time I was lecturing and she was in the group, she came up to me afterwards and asked.

“Mr. Campbell, do you think that Jesus was God, was God’s son?” I said, “Not unless we all are.” “Ahh!” she said, and off she went.

And that’s what Jung is saying in his Answer to Job: it is actually the work of man that is projected in the image of an imagined being called God. And so, historically, the God image is really a mirror image of the condition of man at a given time.

Yet, I think most people take their image of God very concretely. Except for the French. A survey was taken in which people were asked, “Do you believe in God? Do you believe in hell?” The French – I think, seventy-five percent of them – did not believe in God, but did believe in hell! I like Alan Watts’ reply: “If you believe in God, I don’t. If you don’t, I do.”

My belief is that nobody experiences the ultimate rapture, because it’s beyond pairs of opposites, so if anyone did, there’d be nobody there anyhow. Jung is amusing on that point. “If you go beyond subject and object,” he wonders, “who is there to have the experience?” I think to give oneself a ground for anything other than monastic living, all one has to do is realise that such a thing is implied; that is to say, a mystery that is beyond subject, object, and all pairs of opposites is a mystery on the ground of which we ride.

When the physicist explores the depths of the atom or the outer reaches of space, he discovers pairs of opposites and mysteries that science hasn’t been able to penetrate. When it does penetrate to the next level, it’s still mysterious. They’ve got so many sub-atomic particles. One is named after Joyce’s “quark.” It seems to me that’s about as mysterious as you can get. There is the transcendent. Know it’s there, and then don’t worry about it. Simply behold the radiance everywhere.

That font of life is the core of the individual, and within himself he will find it – if he can tear the coverings away.
Jesus and the Crucifixion

What has always been basic to Easter, or resurrection, is crucifixion. If you want resurrection, you must have crucifixion. Too many interpretations of the Crucifixion have failed to emphasize that relationship and emphasize instead the calamity of the event. If you emphasize the calamity, you look for someone to blame, which is why people have blamed the Jews.

But crucifixion is not a calamity if it leads to new life. Through Christ’s crucifixion we were unshelled, which enabled us to be born to resurrection. That is not a calamity. So, we must take a fresh look at this event if its symbolism is to be sensed.

If we think of the Crucifixion only in historical terms, we lose the symbol’s immediate reference to ourselves. Jesus left his mortal body on the cross, the sign of earth, to go to the Father, with whom he was one. We, similarly, are to identify with the eternal life within us. The symbol also tells us of God’s willing acceptance of the cross, that is to say, of his participation in the trials and sorrows of human life in the world, so that he is here within us, not by way of a fall or mistake, but with rapture and joy. Thus the cross has dual sense: one, of our going to the divine; the other, of the coming of the divine to us. It is a true crossing.

In the Christian tradition, Christ’s crucifixion is a major problem: Why could the saviour not have just come? Why did he have to be crucified?

Well, various theological explanations have come down to us, but I think an adequate and proper one can be found in Paul’s Epistle to the Philippians, where he writes in chapter 2 that Christ did not think that God-hood was something to be held to – which is to say, neither should you – but rather, yielding, he took the form of a servant even to death on the cross. This is joyful affirmation of the sufferings of the world. The imitation of Christ, then, is participating in the suffering and joys of the world, all the while seeing through them the radiance of the divine presence. That’s operating from the heart chakra, where the two triangles are joined together. [The Star of David. Ed.]

That’s what I see in the Crucifixion. Of all the explanations I’ve read, it is the only one that makes, what I would call, respectable sense. The others are all concerned with a wrathful god who has to be appeased by the sacrifice of his son. What do you do with a thing like that? It is a translation of the sacrifice into a very crude image. The idea of God being entity that has to be appeased is just too nasty a concretion.

Not the animal world, not the plant world, not the miracle of the spheres, but man himself is now the crucial mystery. Man is that alien presence with whom the forces of egoism must come to terms, through whom the ego is to be reformed. Man, understood however not as “I” but as “Thou”: for the ideals and temporal institutions of no tribe, race, continent, social class, or century, can be the measure of the inexhaustible and multifariously wonderful divine existence that is the life in all of us.

The Kingdom of God is within us. Easter and Passover remind us that we have to let go in order to enter it. The space age demands that we change our ideas about ourselves, but we want to hold onto them. That’s why there is a resurgence of old-fashioned orthodoxy in so many areas at the present time. There are no horizons in space, and there can be no horizons in our own experience. We cannot hold onto ourselves and our in-groups as we once did. The space age makes that possible, but people reject this demand or don’t want to think about it. So they pull back into one true church or black power or the unions or the capitalist class.

Easter and Passover offer the perfect symbols, for they mean that we are called to new life. This new life is not very well defined, which is why we want to hold onto the past. The reality of living in space means that we are born anew; not born again to an old-time religion, but born to a new order of things: there are no horizons. That is the meaning of the space age. We are in a free fall into a future that is mysterious. It is very fluid, and this is disconcerting to many people. All you have to do is know how to use a parachute.

St. Augustine speaks of Christ’s going to the cross as a bridegroom to his bride. There is an affirmation here. In the Prado, there is a great painting by Titian of Simon of Cyrene as he willingly helps Jesus with the cross. The painting captures the free, human, voluntary participation we all must have in the Easter-Passover mystery. That is what we are all challenged to do. Self-preservation is only the second law of life. The first law is that you and the other are one.
The hero’s death and resurrection is a model for the casting off of the old life and moving into the new.

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Eagles and Crows

I am very blessed to have some eagles that occasionally come over the bit of bush I call home. I may have mentioned that one spring when they came over, the one that was obviously a mother eagle seemed to come close to me, as if to proudly show me her young offspring who was trying to follow her every move.

Lately I have noticed that I get a call that indicates that the eagles, now only two, presumably a male and a female, are around. The call is actually one or two crows that are harassing one of the eagles. At first I didn’t think much about it, as I was so grateful and in awe just watching these magnificent birds. After a few visits I wondered why the crows were harassing them, after all, surely the crows might benefit from one of the eagles’ kills. And the eagles were certainly no threat to the crows. The crows were definitely aggressively seeking out and chasing the eagles. I now realise that there are two reasons for this behaviour.

Firstly, and purely physically, the crows may be doing it to protect their young, as it is springtime and there is new life all over the place. But secondly, or should that be firstly, there is a spiritual message that I believe they want me to relay to you all.

The eagle represents the Great Spirit or God, that transcendent force that is beyond anything we can actually think about, beyond any pair of opposites. The crow, however, represents that universal law of the pairs of opposites and of the duality, that same force, but in the field of time and manifestation. As we are all manifest beings, it is only through the knowledge and understanding of this duality that we can come to know the Great Spirit, God etc.

So the message, as I see it, is for us humans as beings in the world of manifested duality, to aggressively seek the Great Spirit that is beyond the duality. Aggressively here meaning: persistently, patiently, with all our will, with all our might, with all our time, and with all our resources. Or was it a personal reminder to me that that transcendent God aspect of myself will always be harassed and limited by my manifested dual aspect of myself. I have taken the message to mean both, as messages like this and from dreams, visions etc. can have hundreds of messages from our higher or lower unconscious trying to make us aware or conscious of its/our powers, gifts or habits.

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From:
COLIN'S COOKING COLUMN

By: Colin Hill
(Smiling Snake)
(The Ditch Wizard or Herb and Food Shaman)

I, Sitting Owl, would just like to remind readers that ‘cooking’ can refer to any transformation with fire, including the spiritual transformations from the kundalini fire. Incidentally, Laughing Snake has laughed his head off so his name has changed to Smiling Snake.

The Experience of My First Inipi Ceremony or Sweat Lodge

Before The Lodge

It just so happens that the place where the Lodge is is the exact spot where friends and I came to do meditation and relaxing with nature and Mother Earth in about 1968-1969. Sitting Owl directed while I helped to set up and prepare the lodge and Grandfather Fire. While the Grandfather Stone people where being reheated, Sitting Owl’s prayers of Gratitude to Great Spirit inspired me to do the same. Then I sat down to bring myself into a relaxed meditative state of consciousness. I began talking about the auras of trees and how they seem to pulsate with white light and a golden outline as if they’re breathing. This was to assist Sitting Owl in opening his third eye, inner eye, mind’s eye or mind screen, and to enhance my own experience in the lodge. The Stone People were red hot now, so we smudged ourselves and went on in to commune with Wakan Tanka and his helpers.

The First Round

Before Sitting Owl closed the lodge door I was already sweating my guts out [For overseas readers that means sweating profusely. Ed.] And then he put some water on the stones. When he sang the welcoming song my third eye opened and I saw specks of rainbow coloured tiny stars of energy. When he had finished singing I saw a whirling golden orange coloured vortex of energy, like a funnel, coming from outside the lodge, through the roof and into the Stone People pit. Circular waves then pulsated from the pit and lit up the whole lodge. When I described that to Sitting Owl, he said that it was probably the Great Spirit entering the lodge. Then I saw a huge silhouetted bear with a golden coloured outline, and then I saw an eagle circling the roof of the lodge from where Spirit came in. While Sitting Owl was explaining the significance of these visions, the lodge was so hot that I almost blacked out. Thank Great Spirit; Sitting Owl then opened the door to end the first round.

The Second Round

As Sitting Owl was introducing the subject for this round’s prayers, being the four directions and there associated elements, I had to concentrate on doing yogi breathing to keep myself from blacking out. At one stage I had a vision of a deer’s head with antlers, later he explained deer as the medicine of gentleness. While Sitting Owl was finishing his prayers I felt heaviness on the top of my head like wearing a crown. I realised that this was Great Spirit helping to heal my chronic inner ear infection that I have had for ten years. With my clairaudience I heard Great Spirit say, “Help me heal you”, so I immediately put my Rieki hands over my left ear and left throat, meanwhile I was still almost blacking out. With my inner vision I then saw Great Spirit, in the form of golden light, swirling around my inner ear. 

I then just managed to say some prayers before finishing the round. We were both so in need of fresh air that once the door was open we both collapsed with our heads hanging out gasping for air. This was not a painful experience, because it was actually quite blissful and wonderful.

The Third Round

I was so blissed out during this round that I just laid down while Sitting Owl said prayers for the two-leggeds. Then, I just managed to sit up to say my own prayers for the two-leggeds. While Sitting Owl waited for the steam to take my prayers up to the Great Spirit I had visions of a green and brown coloured turtle and an ambrosia coloured butterfly with a golden outline. Sitting Owl explained that turtle is Mother Earth and butterfly is transformation. Again we both collapsed with our heads hanging out gasping for air.

The Forth and last Round

In this round we sang some songs. And when David sang the departing song in the Lakota language I could see the song coming from him like bubbles of silvery white clouds. After that I had a vision of a spider and then a purple spotted beetle. It was as if after the Great Spirit had left the lodge I saw white and golden doves circling out through the roof. While I was waiting for Sitting Owl to leave the lodge and thank Maka (Mother Earth), and as I did some deep breathing, I experienced ecstatic physical tingling over my entire body, right down to my bones. As I was departing, and just after I had given thanks to Mother Earth, I again saw the purple spotted beetle. While I waited for Sitting Owl to cut the cord of his rebirth (Splash water over his body to ground himself) I was on my hands and knees gasping for air, still half in the lodge. 

However, even the cutting of my own cord was a groovy and blissful experience. By the way, cold water on a hot body and chest boosts the immune system by increasing the ‘T’ cell (white cell) production, thus healing any infection of body.

After the Lodge

This is when we sat around the Sacred Fire feasting on the offering fruits from the altar, and we quickly recovered as we debriefed, giving thanks to the Great Spirit for the awesome and FANTASTIC!! Experience of my first sweat.

Epilogue

As I entered my tent to sleep I was still seeing visions of speckles of light and a spider and its web. As I collapsed on my bed in a state of ecstatic bliss saying thank you to mama and papa, I realised that Great Spirit was still with me, always has been, and always will be. And I’ll be back for many more sweats, as I am still in awe over this technique of communing with the Great Spirit. So Sitting Owl is also a pretty good cook, through him the Great Spirit cooked me up pretty good! I feel more balanced, grounded, focused and whole; and I’m looking forward to the next journey. I recommend this same experience for everyone in the world.

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The Magic Knife

By: Aidan Butterfield

Copyright retained by the author, September 1999.

There is a magic knife
That cuts but leaves no wound,
For without its cleansing stabs
Perhaps we would be doomed.

It cuts right into our concepts of life
The change to which we do resist,
But when forced to look at what comes out
‘Tis a large and ugly cyst.

It cuts right to our very core
Yet never leaves a scar,
It disembowels with great pain
But our soul it does not mar.

This knife it cuts away the false
Images of what we think we see,
And bares the soul once more to light
And truths that set us free.

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