The Earthkeepers

In Northeast Illinois/ Northwest Indiana (Illiana), many had the privilege of doing ceremony over the twelve years that John Many Voices Armbruster journeyed through the Midwest. John had the gift, through his ceremonial practices, of awakening in us the understanding and connection to Mother Earth. Whether you agreed or disagreed with him, he opened each person’s heart to come in-sync with the beat of Mother Earth.

For the last four years of John’s life, the Blue Heron People of Illiana hosted the Earthkeepers Dance for Peace, which John led as the Ceremonial Leader. It was an undertaking that took a village to make happen, an undertaking that still continues today.

We were part of the group that birthed the Earthkeepers Dance for Peace and we were fortunate enough to guide the monthly ceremonies and lodges that led up to the dance.

In the twelve-year journey with John, many teachings came, each person, experiencing them in their own way. We are grateful to share our learning and experiences periodically as they come. Thank you to Mark for inviting us to do so.

Tanakia, Dave, Tracy, and Janisse Younce

John’s Foresight on Ceremonial Practice by Dave Younce

John Many Voices Armbruster taught that, “Ceremony must serve the people. The wisdom of any tradition must serve the people. It is not for the people to serve the wisdom or the tradition that produced it.”

It was so important to him that he wrote about it in a book. He said, “In order to do that, as an Earthkeeper, it is vital to look at Ceremonial Practice from a universal perspective. It is from the heart that ceremony comes.

It is done for the planet.

It is done for the people

It is done as an expression of the power of our personal Creator.

It is dynamic and ever changing as is the energy of the planet and each individual”

With that as his base, John taught that ceremonies could alter energetic reality. He saw it in four stages.

First Stage
“We are tentative. Our lives function but we are hurt, we are angry, we are happy and enjoy life now and again. We sometimes look for reasons for pain and sometimes we pray.

However, we start noticing that when we participate in ceremony, meditation or prayer, that something changes. It is as if the atmosphere of our lives clears after days of hazy weather. We look around at the world renewed and uplifted. However, old thought patterns, verbal habits and emotional baggage get in the way. The clouds come again and we wait for the next upliftment, like we wait for the weather to change.”

Second Stage

“Our confidence starts building. We are beginning to see that our practice mirrors our life. We internalize the cleansed “atmosphere” of our lives after ceremonies. It is as if the ceremonies are becoming less important and our own processes are becoming important. Often our ceremonial practice is graced with some sense of responsibility. This responsibility is either for a sacred object or a function within the ceremonial practice.”

Third Stage

“Our purpose seems to shift. The internalization of the ceremonial vibrations is part of our lives. However, though the importance of our own processes is still real, the importance of ceremony is even greater. This is because the purpose of the ceremony has changed.

In the first two stages our ceremonial practice was used to move energy. It was used to clear the sludgy vibration of our lives. At the third stage, we are taking full responsibility for creating these vibrations in our lives so we do no NEED the ceremonies, because our ceremonial practice has become a dynamic, synergistic experience that expands our energy and our zest for life. It has become a purpose in it’s own right. Our day to day lives are beginning to be celebrations.”

Fourth Stage

“We are making decisions based on the level of balance we are feeling with people and situations. We now see that as we take more and more responsibility for our choices, we have more opportunities from which to choose.

We live with great purpose. That is not to be misinterpreted as meaning that our purposes need to be great. We can live doing very ordinary things in our lives, but we can do them with clear understanding of their importance as our contribution to the world.

We can balance our energies very quickly. In other words when conditions of life,i.e. pain, can be experienced and transmuted into power fast enough that the individual seemingly never misses a beat.

The spirit calling power is quick and ever present.. It is almost like a person in the shaft of light.. Blockages appear and disappear very quickly as part of the natural synergistic process.”

He would say, “Remember that in reality, all these stages are present in our lives from time to time. It is up to us to choose the level we wish to live at, at any moment. Ceremonial Practice can help us in that choice every day.”

The Four Directions or the Four Winds or the Four Powers of Life are talked about in the cosmology of most peoples. The division of the horizon is very current for modern people in the four compass directions.

However, for many indigenous peoples, the Four Directions had symbolic meaning, ritualistic importance, and ultimately Ceremonial Power.

To acquire the power of the Four Directions it is said the Hopi traveled from their emergence point (Sipapu) to the Four Directions of the continent so that they could find the center of their world. It is said that they brought parts of each of the directions to that center and hence live in the power of life in a very strong way because of that. It is interesting that Black Mesa where the Hopi live is a core part of the North American continent. It has roots deep into the Earth’s mantle and is rotating independently of the rest of the continent. They may have truly found the “back of the turtle” of “Turtle Island” (North America).

Many people ask about the significance of the Four Powers or Four Directions. Many have written about the colors and animals associated with the directions.

However, to assign one set of meanings to the directions is to have a very narrow view of the world, much like the man who says that there is only one path to God, or the farmer who only wants one kind of crop in his field. It is dangerous. It is self defeating.

Because the planet is so different in its many aspects, so the powers are different in their aspects. In North Dakota the North represents cold, snow , long nights, and the white of blinding snow. In Florida, it might represent the great winds, shifting sand, relief from small biting insects… etc etc… So it is wise to consider the powers of the directions as they relate to the place that you are located.

However there are some universal characteristics which can be associated with the Sun. But even North and South characteristics are reversed in the southern hemisphere.

East- This is the place where the Sun rises. It is the power of beginnings and innocence. It is the place of intention and focus. Beginning, Childhood and Innocence, Spring… (more)

West- This is the place where the Sun sets. It is the place of endings. It the place where we look to see the memories of things. It is about letting go and moving on. It is in this place that we go into the dark of the night and find the wisdom which have in our inner being. Completion, Maturity and Humility, Autumn… (more)

South- This is the place where the Sun lives. In winter the Sun comes up more and more to the South and lies closer to the Southern horizon at noon each day until the winter Solstice. This is the place of vitality, the place where the lifeforce of the planet resides. This is the place of action, of doing. work, goals, passion. This is the place of desire. Growing, Youth and Impulsiveness, Summer…(more)

North- This is the place where the Sun moves towards but never really completely reaches. It is the place of night, of mystery, of hidden wisdom. It is the place of the Great Mystery. It is about stillness, and listening for the inner wisdom that comes from the experience of the other three directions. It is the place of the elders and the ancestors. Understanding, Old Age and Patience, Winter… (more)

The Sunwise or Clockwise direction (clocks run the way they do because the shadows on the sundials ran that way) is the direction of creation or advancing. The counterclockwise direction is for healing, undoing, or traveling back to a new beginning. (going back in time so to speak.)

The Medicine Wheel Ceremonies call the Four Powers and connect them for a time so that people can send their prayers to all parts of the creative process in their lives and to all parts of the world and to all parts of time.

A naming ceremony is about deepening our identity, more than about changing it. Seeking a spiritual name often helps cleanse us of our past. It cleanses us of old beliefs, old prejudices and judgments. It helps us make a new start. By clearing away so many things, it helps us see ourselves in a deeper way.

The naming ceremony is a quest. At each turn, it has two parts. There is the requesting and giving of the name. There is the accepting of the name. You may ask several very sincere people to give you your name. Each will see you in a different way. Each will speak the name that matches that seeing. Each name given will carry some truth.

But it is up to you to accept that truth as being your own. It is up to you to own and understand that part of you which the name points to. It is up to you to pick the name given which points to the very core of yourself, the very part that is essential in every thing that you do.

The ceremony begins with the giving of tobacco and sometimes a gift to the name giver. It is good to smoke the pipe together, to speak of your life and your vision.

The name giver can give the tobacco and gift back, by leaving it where you placed it. If so he/she will not give you a name. You will need to go to someone else. There is no stigma to this, and in fact it is a very honest thing to do.

If the name giver takes the tobacco then you should wait for three days before expecting a name. It may take longer, sometimes much longer, before the name comes. Be patient. It will come in time.

Once the name comes and you accept it, it is good to take a sweat lodge and cleanse yourself of the old name. Praise it for what it has done for you, say what it is you would like to leave behind with it. Pray hard, sweat hard, feel the change in your body. It is good to change styles of dressing, wearing your hair, places you live, even places you frequent. This will help you be seen in a different way by people. It will help the old skin fall away.

After the sweat it is good to have a feast and a give-away. This is a nice time to pass on things that belonged to “the other person” as a remembrance of the goodness that was your other life. It also makes the break with the past more precise, more loving, and more to the point.

The awakening of the drum is an important part of becoming the caretaker of such a sacred instrument. When we make a drum, buy a drum, or are given a drum it is always a good idea to take some time and make prayers with the drum. I have been taught, and it seems to be true, that drums have a life of their own. They bring the people together and watch over them energetically. They create a space for prayer in two ways.

First they create an emotional togetherness. As we drum and rattle together we begin to feel in a real way that we are all there together. It is good to drum early in the ceremony until the drumming becomes second nature. At first it seems to go a little too long. then people begin to shrug it off and start getting into it. Then they start feeling those feelings that are associated with early alpha state.

Secondly the rhythm and the tones and overtones of the drums induces changes in the brain which create the sense of peace and openness that allows people to come together and to speak from their heart.

So it is that when we take on the responsibility of the drum we need to be in relationship with it. That is why we state our intention and work with the energy around the drum. We blend our prayers with the quality of the drum so that when we drum our prayers echo out into the world.

Drum awakenings depend on whether we do the awakening when the drum is being made or after it is made and it is about to be given, or received.

This is the First Spring Moon. It is a time to bless the smoking mixture for the Sacred Pipes. This is the Easter Moon. The Northern Hemisphere will now resurrect itself from the dark introspection of winter.