The Earthkeepers

The Elders, Ceremonial Leaders and Teachers hold the wisdom of our Ancestors.

They are to be honored and always treated with respect.

1) You are responsible for paying transportation expenses whenever you invite an Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher to a gathering, teaching circle, for a healing or for any ceremony.

·This includes airfare, transportation to and from the airport or simply gas for their car, making sure to cover all mileage.

2) You are responsible for providing all the Elder’/Ceremonial Leader’/Teacher’s meals.

·Ask ahead of time, if there are any dietary restrictions, i.e.: sugar, fat, red meats. Find out which are their favorite foods.

3) Always approach an Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher with tobacco for teachings, healings, or ceremony.

·Tobacco is not a gift to the elder directly; it is the means by which the Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher makes a connection with the Ancestors to receive instructions. It is a respectful way to recognize Elder’/Ceremonial Leader’/Teacher’s knowledge and spirit connection.

·When you ask for teachings in the traditional way, you never push. You wait until the Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher is ready to teach you. During the wait, the Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher is watching, praying, and listening.

The Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher may not get back to you for months, even years.

They may never respond, but they are still watching, praying, and listening. It is said that it is traditional to ask respectfully four times (This means with tobacco.)

The Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher can then decide if you really are truly interested and will do the work.

4) Do not disrespect Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher by interrupting while they are talking or working with another.

·If it is necessary for you to talk with them, stand in their field of vision a short distance away until they acknowledge you before you approach them.

·If they do not know you, introduce yourself and state what your purpose is. Then listen carefully to anything they may share with you.

5) Respect their traditions and teachings even if they are different from yours.

6) When transporting Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher be sure to show respect.

·Be considerate, help them by opening their door, assist them into the vehicle if they need help, and make sure they are comfortable.

7) When assisting them with their belongings, ask which ones you may touch.

·Their medicines may be in one of the bags and it is inappropriate for you to touch their medicine without their permission.

·Respect their silence on the way to a destination, and once you get to the destination. They may be tired from their journey or preparing themselves for the event. Please allow them to do so without interruption. If they invite conversation, they will let you know.

8. When housing Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher, respect their need for privacy and rest.

·Give them a room to themselves with a good bed and attend to any needs that they may have, especially food, beverages, and water.

·Introduce them to anyone they do not know.

·Inform them of the location of the bathroom, and where they may smoke or pray if they are smokers or pray with a pipe.

·If they wish to visit with you, they will make that known to you. Please do not keep them up all night visiting. Recognize their need for sleep.

9) Do not expect the Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher to do any work other than the ceremony or teachings that have been requested of them. If they wish to help in any way, they will offer.

10) When an Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher enters a space, offer them a seat and ask if there is anything that you can get for them.

11) When receiving teachings or healings from an Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher, it is customary to recognize the value of what you have received by gifting them accordingly.

·In time, as your understanding of the teachings deepens, it is appropriate to gift them again. In the past when we all lived in villages or closer together, all the Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher needs were taken care of. You need to recognize the gift they bring to you and help them so they may continue to share with everyone.

12) If you have the opportunity to visit an Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher in their home all of the same considerations listed above will apply. Additionally, you might consider the following as other ways to support them.

.Working in his/her garden

·Running errands

·Cutting & stacking wood

·Stocking refrigerator and shelves with food

·Care for pets

13) Working with and for an Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher is a lesson in humility and respect for each one of us fortunate enough to have that opportunity.

·If an Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher is awake, I cannot sleep.

·If an Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher is hungry, I cannot eat.

·If an Elder/Ceremonial Leader/Teacher is cold, I cannot be warm.

Thank you Creator for our Elders. Thank you Creator for our Ceremonial Leaders, Thank you Creator for our Teachers. Thank you Bear Warrior for bringing these instructions to us.  Thank you John for demonstrating the ways with an Elder.

Hugs, Tracy ~ Each person is responsible to find the truths they came to learn on Earth. We share what has come to us. Take what you want…leave the rest…we share because it is time. May each person come in-sync with Mother Earth so each might find their Ways.

Tobacco has been abused in our culture. It is a powerful plant that drinks in the Sun. It has been used as a medicine in different forms.

When it is used in a ceremonial way, it is obvious why it has been used to make offerings and to convey the sincerity of our purpose. It is a very good energy receiver. As we hold the tobacco in our hands, it begins to take on the energy of our prayer. Our prayers combine with the energy of the sun to radiate out into the world. When we leave the tobacco, when we let it out of our hand, the energy departs and is magnified by everything around it. It is a very synergistic (sacred) act.

Tobacco is often left when something is taken such as wood or water. If game is killed or even if a beautiful moment is shared with the land around us.

Used in ceremony, the tobacco offering is made to the fire or to a container at the center of the circle. It allows everyone to become involved in the ceremony by bringing each of them in their own way and in their own turn to the center of the circle.

Nonviolent Communication

The Seven Fires Prophesy explains the history of the people in terms of the keeping of seven fires. During each of the fires the people faced different kinds of contraction and expansion. Each time the changing of the fire lead to a world which was different than the one of their ancestors. Each time some of the people would get stronger and their spirits would soar, while others found only sorrow and grief at the passing of the old and familiar. We live in the time of the seventh fire. It is a time when the history of the people will change forever. 

• It is said that a new people would come. They would be wise in many ways, but like children in the ways of the Earth. But, it is said, they would be willing and eager to learn just like the curious children of the Mystery that they represent.
• It is said that the keeping of the fire would be passed to them, because they would cherish and understand it in a way that had been lost to many of the people.
• The ways of the fire will change in their hands. It will be different, but it will be strong in a way that it has not been for many many generations.
• The fire will flare up suddenly and then will be understood. The new people will share it with all who come to them with the same respect and curiosity that they came to the fire.

And it will warm the hearts and souls of many.

-John Armbruster

 Peak Oil News: A Sign of the Times

Tonight is the full moon, and a lunar eclipse. Here in Sedona, we have rain. Very grateful for that.

 Here’s what our friend John Armbruster had to say about the February full moon:

This is the moon of great preparation. The first glimpses of productivity coming out of a time of reflection and introspection. 

In this Moon we see the light of the sun having some power. There is revival and hopefulness. Begin the spring celebration. Give thanks for the days of darkness and diminishment for this time of quiet. 

We need to remember that the essence of a give-away is to identify an object that we are attached to and want very much to keep…but we give it away as a sacrifice or surrender if you will.   Remember, our emotional self is often connected to our possessions, and releasing them can heal us, as well as our relationships. I share this so our 2008 give-away blankets, instead of ”garage sale” type gifts on them that we no longer need or can use, can be full of gifts from the heart that help us all to heal.  

                                                                          

 I recalled the new era, called the “New Pachacuti”, which began in 1989 as shared by our Andean teachers. In that year, the Dalai Lama traveled to South America to meet with the Spiritual Leaders of the world. He acknowledged that the center of spiritual power on the Earth was moving from Tibet to the Andes with a shift from the male to female energies so we might come to balance. Mother Earth was moving the energy from Tibet to a mountain in Chile bringing it through every region of the earth for cleansing and adjustment.

When it passed through our Midwest region in 2000, John Armbruster listened to Mother Earth, and we did a ceremony called the Earthkeeper Dance for Peace, dancing on the back of the “Dragon”, which the earth energy is called as well as “Kundalini Serpent” and “White Serpent”.

Llama Norbu, who had left Tibet with the Dalai Lama, arrived a few years later to dance with us, honoring the ceremonies.

However, the “Dragon” was delayed or held back at the Panama Canal…and many of you remember doing ceremony in 2003 with the Mayans, (earthkeepers did one on the shores of Lake Michigan), so the “Dragon” could cross to it’s final resting place in Chile. In actuality, the Mayan Elders shared recently that they had done the ceremony in 2001 with the “Dragon” crossing in September of 2001. And by “coincidence”, we were dancing our second Earthkeeper Dance for Peace at that time, again with John Many Voices listening to Mother Earth to guide us.                                                                                                       

It’s very important to note, that there is no time in Spirit, so whenever the prayers are done is the right time. Not one person or one group’s prayers are more important than others. When the “critical mass”, if you will, of prayer is reached, each prayer that has happened and each prayer that will come is essential. It’s like time travel or more a “no time” phase that is foreign to us corporeal beings.                                                                                                               

I share all this now because the Elders say that by the middle of 2008, the final ceremonies will be completed to anchor and honor the “Dragon”, in preparation for 2012 and the ushering in of the new energy. Everyone of you who has been called to do ceremony, from offering a prayer as you head out for the day, to participating in a dance…remember, it is no small thing you do, as John liked to say. Mother Earth has responded. And I believe the ceremonies will go on and on and on!!!                                                                                                       

I observed the secret of Ceremony. Ceremony is often thought to be about the ritual or the skills of the leader. However, ceremony is truly about the light…the light within. Ceremony creates a world of balance, so each person participating can illuminate that which is within them, thus giving them an opportunity to transform and be in joy. And those opportunities arise during and after the ceremony…with folks experiencing their “buttons being pushed”…pushed so those areas in need of change or healing are illuminated…giving each person a chance to “make good”, or “make nice” as our young people say today.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

I learned it’s important to do ceremony with computers and be mindful of thoughts around them. Computers exist because of crystals. It is the living nature of the crystal/silicon that allows computers to do what they do. The crystals hold the program, and computers are nothing without the use of crystals. Not only do crystals hold programs but they hold thought patterns too. So be mindful of your thoughts around crystals. No wonder the Elders say, “leave handling or working with crystals to those who understand them”.                                                                                                                                                                             

I revisited that Creator already has placed within us all that we need. If you have forgotten who you are and think it’s someone else or something outside of you, then you have no power to find the solution. If it is someone outside of you who can only change the problem, then you’ll have to wait for some miracle worker to come and change it for you. However, if you see you are the problem, then you can see that you are the solution as well. You have the power to transform.                                                                                                                                                                         

Finally I am to share that I learned the answer to any question….and the answer to any question is always, LOVE.